#7010 – PRS Special 22 Semi Hollow – antique white

£3799.00

MAIL ORDER: click here for additional details
Click on a photo to view larger image and slideshow

Overview :- Without a shadow of doubt, the PRS Special 22 Semi Hollow  is one of the most versatile guitars I’ve ever played – That doesn’t mean it is equipped with loads of switching options, but half the available tones are useless and unusable – Far from it, as all options are excellent and fully useable – Take the best selling PRS Custom 22, with a pair of humbuckers – Add the semi hollow option, plus switchable coil tap options, along with a centre ‘Strat’ based pick-up, to help deliver those classic out of phase quack tones, that will be familiar to any one who has played a Strat – No one guitar does it all, but the Special 22 Semi Hollow does a lot and does it very well – Click here to visit the PRS web site, with a host of info on the Special 22, along with a useful video clip of the guitar in action – Then click here to read a good review of the Special 22, courtesy of Guitar Player

I’ve now sold new and used PRS Guitars for well over 35 years and some may recall a few years ago when Guitars4You were amongst the UK’s leading stockists – I still retain a good relationship with the UK team and we speak on a fairly regular basis – Such chats often update me with regards to  the odd B stock grade guitar that is available for me to buy – Some are ex-display following various guitar shows and/or evening clinics – Some are ex product review models, from say Guitarist Magazine – Some just have a subtle finish blemish – But all are offered to me with a more favourable price tag – Hence my acquisition of this new PRS Special 22 Semi Hollow, with a cool antique white finish – Complete with the deluxe PRS case and relevant tag – Shows a date of birth as May 2023  – Following a detailed tour of the shiny nitro gloss finish I have yet to find a blemish – If it is there then it is very subtle and I can’t find it   – The Special 22 has spent some time on my bench for my usual evaluation, a new set of strings (10-46) and to fine tune the set-up – So a new PRS at a more favourable price

Full spec + product info :-

Feel/playability :- The one piece neck possesses the medium depth C pattern neck profile – Feels a tad slimmer than a regular LP 50’s profile, so no phobias please about chunky hard to play fat necks, as the Special 22 plays like a dream – Granted it possesses a touch of girth so think of it as a medium size profile with half an ounce of extra meat on it – Either way it is comfortable and easy to handle, with a slick action that easily responds to a light touch – C neck profile measures .876″ around the top nut end and fattens out to .963″ around the 12th fret – Effectively the same as the best selling Custom 22 for those who are familiar with that PRS model  – Set-up with a set of 10’s and a good fluid action throughout the length of the 22 fret dark and even grained rosewood fingerboard – A set of jumbo frets allow for easy and controlled string bending, so no issues to dig in and rip into a very big blues bends

Tonal character : – Very simply, this versatile Special 22 has the ability and option to start off with your regular humbucker options ( neck only, both, bridge only) then blend or add single coil options as required – In a very easy to use package –  Go back to the first paragraph above, and if you select the PRS web site page, the video clip will explain all options and hopefully you’ll find it easy to follow – The 5 way blade switch allows you to select neck only, or bridge only, with the switch in the outside/extreme positions  (ie 1 or 5) – The middle position of the blade switch, position 3, delivers both humbuckers on together – So the options you’d expect from a Les Paul, 335 or SG etc – Each of these three humbucker blade switch settings, now has the option of giving you access to coil tap mode – Simply utilise either of the two mini toggle switch’s – One for each humbucker – So humbucker or coil tap/single as required – Now go to the middle position of the blade switch, so both humbuckers on together, and check out both pick-ups on humbucker mode, or both on single/coil tap mode, or one on humbucker and one on single/coil tap, as required – Finally position 2 + 4 of the blade switch, now brings into play the middle Narrowfield pick-up – So those classic ‘out of phase’ tones, and again each humbucker can be left in humbucker mode or coil tap as required – That should be all 11 options – All very useful – So Gibson- esq rock humbucker,  to funky Nile Rodgers/Chic, or SRV Strat-esq blues – In one package – Note, it is not possible for you to have access to the Narrowfield middle pick-up on its own (it only comes into play in those ‘out of phase’ positions – 2 or 4 of the blade switch) – Hope that is easy to follow

Granted the coil tap modes won’t suddenly turn a two humbucker based guitar into a vintage Strat – But the coil tapped and out of phase options are more than useful to delve into funky Chic, SRV blues, or melodic Knopfler based tones, as and when required – Hence more versatility from a two humbucker based guitar  – In my opinion these ‘single coil’ options work better with the amp in clean mode, or with a more subtle gain – Funky Chic, Little Wing or Texas Blues – Sure, the guitars strength is as a humbucker based guitar – But its versatility is thanks to these coil tap options – They are not thin or weedy, so full bodied, rich and smooth with funky/crisp clarity – The humbucking tones are probably familiar to those players who already own, or played a PRS Custom 22 – Rich and smooth – Warm with excellent articulation – Lush/jazz flavoured from the neck pick-up – More bite and attack from the bridge pick-up – Morph from Pete Green/BB King blues/clean to Santana/EVH rock as you select neck or bridge, via a clean amp setting or hi-gain amp setting – It is not a jack of all trades, master of non guitar – Yet neither is it a stereotypical guitar that has one main function and offers little out of this environment – Finally the master volume and tone pots work smoothly as you roll off from 10, down towards 5 – So more emotional control as you roll off the amp gain, from full on (10) to a clean voice (around 5/6/7)  – As I stated earlier, no one guitar does it all – But the Special 22 does a hell of a lot

MAIL ORDER - click here for card payment & additional delivery info

For additional product info, to arrange a showroom visit + viewing, or indeed any other questions, then please do not hesitate to contact me.

Call: 01335 345777 or email: mark@guitars4you.co.uk. Please note that showrooms visits are strictly by appointment only.

Please read below

Guitars4You is not another corporate high street guitar store - My selection of premium grade guitars is about quality not quantity. Every guitar has been selected, inspected and approved by me, with particular attention to the set-up and playing performance. Every sale, phone call, email and mail order transaction is handled by me. A journey that is now over 40 years old, has fuelled my knowledge, experience, love, devotion and passion for exceptionally fine guitars.