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PRS SE Soapbar II

 

Review of the PRS SE Soapbar II by The Man in the Jar

Features of the PRS SE Soapbar II

Tuners - Sealed PRS branded mini-tuners with large tuning knobs. These work extremely smoothly to bring the guitar into tune against the balancing pull of the four-spring vibrato block.

Headstock - Characteristic pointy PRS three-a-side design.

Nut - A large and solid-looking black plastic nut abuts the rosewood of the fingerboard.

Neck - The set mahogany neck has a nice chunky feel that doesn't quite go as far as a Les Paul. It's comfortable in the hand and gives a solid feel for playing complex, controlled passages and chord runs.

Fretboard - The rosewood has a very tight grain and is almost black in colour. The round dot markers are very attractive. When you look closely they reveal themselves as being made of two different materials that show a crescent-moon effect when they catch the light.

Frets - Medium frets with a nicely rounded profile that make bending strings a joy.

Action - Good straight from the box.

Body - The SE Soapbar II has a slab body which is formed from mahogany with a flamed maple top. This gives a nice solid weight which is reassuring on the strap without being uncomfortable. The flamed maple glows nicely under the blue matteo finish (SE Soapbar II's that are finished in a solid colour are all mahogany and don't have a maple top). The sides and back of the body as well as the back of the neck are finished in gloss black. The lower cutaway is enhanced by a considerable scalloping of the face of the guitar which does a lot to improve the access to the higher frets. 

Bridge - This is an all-in-one wrap-over bridge and stoptail. The strings are inserted through the bridge from the front to the rear and they wrap over the top to rest on the saddle. There are no individual saddles; the bridge is instead one big saddle, similar in concept to that found on an acoustic guitar. The stepped diagonal nature of the PRS bridge allows for accurate (but not adjustable) intonation. The height of the bridge is adjustable via two large screws, one at each end of the bridge assembly.
Beware if you completely de-string the guitar for maintenance - the bridge assembly is held in place by string tension alone and will fall off its fixed brackets without it. 

Pickups - Two lovely blocks of soapbar sit in black casings, each with a central row of pole pieces. 

Controls - One master volume, one master tone and one three-way-selector switch. Simple.

Strap-buttons - Medium-sized in the usual places.

Output Jack - On the bottom edge of the body in an oval chrome plate.

Finish - Excellent throughout.

 

Sound of the PRS SE Soapbar II

Aaaah!  Soapbars; they are lovely. Stick Soapbars on a Dachshund and I'd be tempted to play it.

Running clean the bridge pickup delivers a reedy treble-end that has a nice scooped complexity in the mids and lows. You could use this for the occasions where you might otherwise be reaching for your Strat. The neck pickup dollops out a gorgeous syrupy blues tone that invites you to sit and noodle for hour after pleasurable hour.
Combine the two on clean and the scooped complexity (sorry, I can't think of a better way to describe it) of the tone almost begs for Rock 'n' Roll soloing or Bo Diddley syncopated rhythms. Glorious!
A touch of overdrive to add an edge puts cream on the pudding. But don't take it too far. Heavy overdrive muddies the clear voice of the Soapbars and the strengths that they have at clean settings start to become weaknesses.     

 

Overall Impressions of the PRS SE Soapbar II

The buying decision will rest on whether you like Soapbar pickups. I love them, have done from the first time I tried them. But I know guitarists who have had the equal and opposite reaction. If you've read this far I think I can assume you love them too. If so, you will do very well if you find Soapbars in a more playable and better constructed guitar than the PRS SE Soapbar II. 

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