A sonic arsenal under your command
The PRS Special Semi-Hollow is all about tonal dexterity, thanks to its complement of proprietary PRS pickups and versatile switching scheme. Stationed at the bridge and neck are 58/15 LTs, which produce a rich, organic vintage tone. This is the warm and clear sonic elixir that propelled the original 58/15 pickups to the top of many guitarists’ favorite PAF-style humbucker lists. The 58/15 LT is based on that successful design, but it’s wound with fewer wire turns for even more clarity and nuance. Cranked through a good tube amp, the 58/15 LT can produce raging overdrive with fat, snarling tone that nevertheless maintains crystalline note separation within chords.
PRS’s Narrowfield, deployed in the middle position of the Special Semi-Hollow, is a remarkable pickup that delivers the best characteristics of a humbucker, a P-90, a traditional single-coil, and a mini humbucker. Technically, the Narrowfield’s dual coils classify it as a humbucking design, while its svelte form factor is reminiscent of a mini humbucker (with which, perhaps not surprisingly, it shares certain tonal characteristics). Mini humbuckers have long been prized for their ability to maintain clarity in overdrive conditions while bucking the hum.
The Special Semi-Hollow is equipped with two mini-toggle switches that split the pickup coils for sparkly single-coil tones, while a 5-way pickup selector switch serves up spanky reverse-polarity tones in positions 2 and 4. The immense flexibility of the Special Semi-Hollow’s unique pickup and switching arrangement gives you an instrument that can serve up any electric guitar sound you could ever need for a live gig or a special studio session.
Pattern profile neck for optimized playability
The PRS Special Semi-Hollow is spec’d with PRS’s Pattern profile neck. A hallmark of PRS quality, neck shapes are, of course, critical to your playing experience. Perfected after years of prototyping, the Pattern neck is an updated Wide Fat PRS neck style based on neck shapes Paul Reed Smith designed in the 1970s and 1980s for Carlos Santana, Peter Frampton, and Howard Leese of Heart. Fast and comfortable, the Pattern profile always feels just right. In reality, most electric guitarists employ a combination of thumb-over and thumb-behind fretting-hand positions in their playing, and the Pattern profile lets you switch seamlessly between the two.
PRS Special Semi-Hollow Features:
- Chambered mahogany body; flame maple 10-Top
- korina neck, Pattern profile
- 22-fret Ebony fingerboard with Bird inlays
- Neck pickup: 58/15 LT
- Middle pickup: Narrowfield
- Bridge pickup: 58/15 LT
- 5-way blade pickup selector
- Master volume and Tone controls
- 2 mini-toggle coil-split switches
- PRS Gen III Tremolo vibrato bridge
- Designed and crafted by PRS luthiers in Maryland, USA
Tech Specs
- GENERAL
- Number of Strings6
- Left-/Right-handedRight-handed
- BODY
- Body TypeSemi-hollowbody
- Body ShapeSpecial
- Body MaterialKorina
- Top MaterialCarved Figured Maple 10-Top
- Body FinishGloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer
- Color faded purple jeans
- NECK
- Neck Materialkorina
- Neck ShapePattern
- Neck JointSet Neck
- Radius10"
- Fingerboard MaterialEbony
- Fingerboard InlayAbalone Birds
- Number of Frets22
- Scale Length25"
- Nut Width1.6875"
- Nut MaterialBone
- HARDWARE
- Bridge/TailpiecePRS Gen III Tremolo
- TunersPhase III Locking
- ELECTRONICS
- Neck PickupPRS TCI-tuned 58/15 LT Humbucker
- Bridge PickupPRS TCI-tuned 58/15 LT Humbucker
- Controls1 x master volume, 1 x master tone
- Switching2 x mini coil-tap switches, 5-way blade pickup switch
- MISCELLANEOUS
- StringsPRS, .010-.046
- Case IncludedHardshell Case