RatingsPros:Smooth and responsively playable. Versatile acoustic/electric tones. Cons: Piezo is still a bit quacky. No acoustic tone control. Street: $1,549 PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo prsguitars.com
| Tones:  Playability: Build/Design: Value: |
The quality of PRS’s SE guitars makes the Annapolis builder’s accessibly priced line one of the most rock-solid in the business. With the addition of SE Hollowbody II Piezo model, it’s also becoming one of the most versatile.
Dual Identity
The SE Hollowbody II Piezo feels sturdy and smooth and features several elements that are typically seen in higher-end models, like fretboard and headstock binding, bird inlays, and an immaculate flame-maple veneer. (Our review model was outfitted in an eye-catching peacock blue burst.)
Kudos are due to PRS for making the piezo technology discreet but accessible. The control setup includes individual volume knobs for the magnetic and piezo pickups, a master tone control and a 3-way toggle. There are also dual output jacks for mixed piezo/magnetic output and magnetic pickup output only. Depending on your setup, you can flex the acoustic muscle of the SE Hollowbody II Piezo in a few ways. One option is to run two cables—one to an amp and the other to a DI—and then balance the piezo and magnetic output with their respective volume knobs. You can also run a single cable out of the mixed output and blend the sounds.
The humbuckers are “S” versions of the company’s 58/15 pickups. Through my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, the pickups were full and round with airy highs. I didn’t notice quite as much punch and presence as a typical PAF-style humbucker, but the shared DNA is easy to hear. Paired with a Wampler Paisley Drive and an MXR Dyna Comp the bridge pickup was clear, rich, and biting without any nasally top end.
Combined pickup positions that feel anemic are a pet peeve of mine. Thankfully, the SE Hollowbody II Piezo falls nowhere near that category. With both pickups engaged and the Dyna Comp doing its thing, I could cop convincing Strat-style rhythm tones—and with just a touch of the piezo I could accentuate the highs and mids.
Piezo Paradise
PRS collaborated with L.R. Baggs to create a new piezo bridge system for the SE Hollowbody II Piezo. No piezo system gives you the warmth, body, and air that a condenser mic and a big dreadnought can—even in a hollowbody instrument. But good piezo systems deliver great presence and clarity, and that is certainly the case here. Growing up in the late ’90s, thin DI piezo sounds are burned into my psyche. (I’m looking at you, Dave Matthews.) Since then, manufacturers have done a lot to minimize the quack that plagues piezos, and this system marks a noticeable advance, delivering “acoustic” tones that are rich and not-too bright.
I enjoyed mixing the pickups far more than I expected. Just for kicks, I dialed up a crunchy Marshall-style tone and played with various magnetic/piezo mix levels. As you’ll hear in the clips, the piezo acted almost like an EQ by accentuating certain frequencies that keep the low end from sounding too muddy. On strummy rhythm parts I tried the reverse and blended in just a bit more magnetic clean tone to smooth out any piezo harshness.
The Verdict
Will the SE Hollowbody II Piezo replace a D-18 for all your acoustic needs? Probably not. Will it give you tone-shaping flexibility and ease your load when you travel? Hell yes! At a third of the price of the Core version, this guitar could easily become a go-to workhorse for any player who likes exploring varied tones, minds their expenses, and treasures the ability to travel light.
Watch John Bohlinger test drive the PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo:
Gibson originally launched the EB-6 model with the intention of serving consumers looking for a “tic-tac” bass sound.
The Gibson EB-6 was announced in 1959 and came into the world in 1960, not with a dual-horn body but with that of an elegant ES-335. They looked stately, with a thin, semi-hollow body, f-holes, and a sunburst finish. Our pick for this Vintage Vault column is one such first-year model, in about as original condition as you’re able to find today. “Why?” you may be asking. Well, read on....
When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye. The real competition were the Danelectro 6-string basses that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere and were suddenly being used on lots of hit records by the likes of Elvis, Patsy Cline, and other household names. Danos like the UB-2 (introduced in ’56), the Longhorn 4623 (’58), and the Shorthorn 3612 (’58) were the earliest attempts any company made at a 6-string bass in this style: not quite a standard electric bass, not quite a guitar, nor, for that matter, quite like a baritone guitar.
The only change this vintage EB-6 features is a replacement set of Kluson tuners.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
Gibson, Fender, and others during this era would in fact call these basses “baritone guitars,” to add to our confusion today. But these vintage “baritones” were all tuned one octave below a standard guitar, with scale lengths around 30", while most modern baritones are tuned B-to-B or A-to-A and have scale lengths between 26" and 30".)
At the time, those Danelectros were instrumental to what was called the “tic-tac” bass sound of Nashville records produced by Chet Atkins, or the “click-bass” tones made out west by producer Lee Hazlewood. Gibson wanted something for this market, and the EB-6 was born.
“When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye.”
The 30.5" scale 1960 EB-6 has a single humbucking pickup, a volume knob, a tone knob, and a small, push-button “Tone Selector Switch” that engages a treble circuit for an instant tic-tac sound. (Without engaging that switch, you get a bass-heavy tone so deep that cowboy chords will sound like a muddy mess.)
The EB-6, for better or for worse, did not unseat the Danelectros, and a November 1959 price list from Gibson hints at why: The EB-6 retailed for $340, compared to Dano price tags that ranged from $85 to $150. Only a few dozen EB-6 basses were shipped in 1960, and only 67 total are known to have been built before Gibson changed the shape to the SG style in 1962.
Most players who come across an EB-6 today think it was a response to the Fender Bass VI, but the former actually beat the latter to the market by a full year.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
It’s sad that so few were built. Sure, it was a high-end model made to achieve the novelty tic-tac sound of cheaper instruments, but in its full-voiced glory, the EB-6 has a huge potential of tones. It would sound great in our contemporary guitar era where more players are exploring baritone ranges, and where so many people got back into the Bass VI after seeing the Beatles play one in the 2021 documentary, Get Back.
It’s sadder, still, how many original-era EB-6s have been parted out in the decades since. Remember earlier when I wrote that our Vintage Vaultpick was about as original as you could find? That’s because the model’s single humbucker is a PAF, its Kluson tuners are double-line, and its knobs are identical to those on Les Paul ’Bursts. So as people repaired broken ’Bursts, converted other LPs to ’Bursts, or otherwise sought to give other Gibsons a “Golden Era” sound and look ... they often stripped these forgotten EB-6 basses for parts.
This original EB-6 is up for sale now from Reverb seller Emerald City Guitars for a $16,950 asking price at the time of writing. The only thing that isn’t original about it is a replacement set of Kluson tuners, not because its originals were stolen but just to help preserve them. (They will be included in the case.)
With so few surviving 335-style EB-6 basses, Reverb doesn’t have a ton of sales data to compare prices to. Ten years ago, a lucky buyer found a nearly original 1960 EB-6 for about $7,000. But Emerald City’s $16,950 asking price is closer to more recent examples and asking prices.
Sources: Prices on Gibson Instruments, November 1, 1959, Tony Bacon’s “Danelectro’s UB-2 and the Early Days of 6-String Basses” Reverb News article, Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, Tom Wheeler’s American Guitars: An Illustrated History, Reverb listings and Price Guide sales data.
Billy Gibbons is an undisputable guitar force whose feel, tone, and all-around vibe make him the highest level of hero. But that’s not to say he hasn’t made some odd choices in his career, like when ZZ Top re-recorded parts of their classic albums for CD release. And fans will argue which era of the band’s career is best. Some of us love drum machines and synths and others don’t, but we all love Billy.
This episode is sponsored by Magnatone
Originally released in the 1980s, the Victory has long been a cult favorite among guitarists for its distinctive double cutaway design and excellent upper-fret access. These new models feature flexible electronics, enhanced body contours, improved weight and balance, and an Explorer headstock shape.
A Cult Classic Made Modern
The new Victory features refined body contours, improved weight and balance, and an updated headstock shape based on the popular Gibson Explorer.
Effortless Playing
With a fast-playing SlimTaper neck profile and ebony fretboard with a compound radius, the Victory delivers low action without fret buzz everywhere on the fretboard.
Flexible Electronics
The two 80s Tribute humbucker pickups are wired to push/pull master volume and tone controls for coil splitting and inner/outer coil selection when the coils are split.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.
Gibson Victory Figured Top Electric Guitar - Iguana Burst
