With a blendable piezo pickup, Annapolis’ affordable electric hollowbody becomes extra versatile.
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:
Buzzo’s signature squish machine is surprisingly subtle. The PG Hilbish Compressimiser review.
Recorded via Shure SM57 and Apogee Duet to Garage Band with Rickenbacker 370-12, Fender Jazzmaster, and Fender Vibro Champ.
Electric 12 string track features a arpeggiated loop and lead through the Compressimiser at 70-80% squish and 30% level.
The lead track is run through a Strymon Flint ’60s reverb and then through the Compressimiser at 70-80% squish and 30% level.
RatingsPros:Transparent, sensitive, subtle compression. Rangey controls. Awesome enclosure. Cons: Can be noisy. Street: $225 Hilbish Compressimiser hilbishdesigns.com | Tones: Ease of Use:  Build/Design:  Value: |
I don’t know about the rest of you Melvins fans, but when I consider the guitar sound of the mighty Buzz Osborne, compression isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Travis Beans? Sunn amps? For sure. But even if you did know Buzz used MXR Dyna Comps, there is little in the Melvin’s recorded output that would compel you to run straight to Big Al’s Guitar Hut to score one. As it turns out, though, King Buzzo considers pedal compression essential—so much so that he now has a compressor designed and built in his honor: the Hilbish Compressimiser.
Apart from the image of a cartoon fawn mischievously weaponizing its flatulence, the Hilbish looks as classic and utilitarian as an old Craftsman tool chest. It feels sturdy and substantial like one, too. In further affirmation of Buzzo’s absurdist sense of humor, perhaps, the circuit board takes up a small fraction of the enclosure’s space. The Compressimiser may be unnecessarily huge, but it looks incredible. And if you don’t like it, you can go talk to Buzzo about it.
As the diminutive board suggests, the Compressimiser circuit isn’t complicated. Like a vintage Ross compressor or its close relative, the MXR Dyna Comp, it utilizes a simple control array—just output volume and compression. A control layout isn’t all the Compressimiser shares with Ross-derived compressors. There’s an audible resemblance, too. The Hilbish, however, relies on a Voltage Controlled Amplifier to generate compression, like some outboard studio comps. The Hilbish also feels more direct and less complicated than a Ross—if that’s possible. Consider a car analogy: If a Ross is a ’64 Ford Falcon, fresh off the lot with with all the extras, the Compressimiser is a Falcon stripped-down for drag racing, where the only concern is translating piston spark to horsepower in the straightest possible line.
Pillow of Winds
Though streamlined and uncluttered, the Compressimiser is not barbaric or lacking cultivation. On the contrary, the Hillbish’s VCA compression feels smooth, warm, and quite transparent. Compared to the pretty decent sounding old Dyna Comp I have, the Compressimiser is much more open and oxygenated at aggressive compression levels. It’s often felt rather than heard. This might confound a few expectations, given the Melvins associations, but sometimes the best word to describe the Compressimiser is “gentle.”
The fact that the Hilbish doesn’t beat you over the head with dynamic-flattening squish doesn’t mean it lacks potency. The extra sustain is considerable and silky, and applying it liberally never seems to suck the air from your signal. The output volume control, meanwhile, puts a lot of extra kick and headroom at your toe tips. At the lowest compression levels, it’s a fantastic boost, lending body and thickness to clean tones and exciting high-mid harmonics. The Compressimiser can be a bit noisy—a trade-off for the unconstricted, straight-line circuitry, perhaps. And if you play in mostly mellow settings, the Compressimiser’s occasionally high noise floor may preclude using high compression or output levels.
Built to Bolster Buzz
The Compressimiser sounds fantastic with fuzz and distortion. And, just as with clean tones, it doesn’t excessively or negatively color the output of a fuzz. Paired with a silicon Fuzz Face, it highlighted the pedal’s most exciting tones while corralling the saggier aspects of its output. Alongside a Civil War Big Muff clone, it added welcome and perceptible focus—stripping back strident, sizzling overtones, and adding punch in the pedal’s midrange without inducing tone claustrophobia.
The Compressimiser’s high output and capacity for transparency also means you can boost fuzz tones without dulling their livelier side. Adding clean boost to fuzz usually generates extra amplifier compression, which can rob you of dynamics anyway. But if you tend to use a high-headroom amp like a Fender Twin or Hiwatt (or a solid-state unit, like Buzzo), boosted settings give you acres of extra room to roam.
The Verdict
You may not equate subtlety with the world of the Melvins. But the Compressimiser has it in spades. It’s classy sounding, fairly linear, and does the things most folks want a good vintage Ross or Dyna Comp to do: enliven buried harmonics, generate smooth sustain, and lend focus to fuzz and distortion without blunting color or excitement. It probably won’t be the quietest compressor you meet. But in exchange the Hillbish delivers compression that sounds and feels unfettered, transparent and, at times, even thrilling.