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PRS SE Santana
PRS SE Hollowbody II
VS
Playability
77
Sound
72
Build
59
Value
74
Score
69
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Playability
70
Sound
72
Build
59
Value
72
Score
67
FIND IT ON:
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PRS SE Santana vs SE Hollowbody II

Reasons to Get
PRS SE Santana over SE Hollowbody II

Body Type
Solid Body vs Hollowbody
Feedback free
Number of Frets
24 vs 22
Allows to reach higher notes
Bridge
Tremolo vs Fixed
Simple vibratos without too much maintenance
Scale Length
24.5'' (622.3mm) vs 25'' (635mm)
Easier bending, shorter fret separation and warmer natural tone
Fretboard Radius
11.5'' (292.1mm) vs 10'' (254mm)
Flatter fretboard makes it easier to play single notes and bend
Value Score
74 vs 72
Better price/quality relationship

Reasons to Get
PRS SE Hollowbody II over SE Santana

Release Year
2020 vs 2001
From a more recent year
Number of Frets
22 vs 24
Warmer neck pickup
Body Type
Hollowbody vs Solid Body
Warm tone, lighter and acoustic sound
Bridge
Fixed vs Tremolo
Good sustain and needs no set-up
Scale Length
25'' (635mm) vs 24.5'' (622.3mm)
Lower action and brighter natural tone
Fretboard Radius
10'' (254mm) vs 11.5'' (292.1mm)
More curved fretboard helpful to play chords without muting strings

Other Key Differences
PRS SE Santana vs SE Hollowbody II

Bridge Pickup
PRS Santana S vs PRS 58/15 S
Different Bridge Pickup
Neck Pickup
PRS Santana S vs PRS 58/15 S
Different Neck Pickup
Fretboard Wood
Rosewood vs Ebony
Different Fretboard Wood

Shared Features
PRS SE Santana vs SE Hollowbody II

Body Wood
Mahogany
Same Body Wood
Neck Wood
Mahogany
Same Neck Wood
Headstock
3-3
Same Headstock
Nut Material
PRS Propietary
Same Nut Material
Strings
6
Same playing style
Switch Positions
3
Same pickups versatility
Volume Knobs
1
Same volume control
Tone Knobs
1
Same tone control
Pickups
HH
High output without hum
Neck Thickness at 1st Fret
0.86'' (21.8mm)
Same neck comfortability
Neck Thickness at 12th Fret
0.96'' (24.4mm)
Same neck comfortability
Nut Width
1.688'' (42.9mm)
Same string separation at the nut
Paint Finish
Poly
Resistant paint that ages well
Pickups Power
Passive
Cleaner sound and no battery needed
Decorative Top
Beveled Maple Top with Flame Maple Veneer
Finished with beautiful natural wood patterns
Neck Profile Type
Vintage
Thick neck that gives you a better grip
Neck Joint
Set
Neck is glued to the body
Type of Frets
Medium Jumbo
You'll feel the fretboard when pressing down the strings

Common Strengths

  • Pickup Alter Switch/Knob
  • High-Quality Nut
  • Top Pickup Brand
  • Expensive Wood

Common Weaknesses

  • Neck-Through Build
  • Locking Tuners
  • Stays in Tune (Evertune)
  • High-Quality Frets
  • Compound Radius Fretboard
  • From a High-Quality-Standards Country
  • Luminescent Sidedots
  • Strap Lock
  • 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • Active/Passive Preamp

Table of Contents

Price History Comparison

SET PRICE ALERT
SET PRICE ALERT

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Which One is Better Overall?

After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that the PRS SE Santana is probably the better product overall with its final score of 69 compared to the PRS SE Hollowbody II's 67 score, although not by a lot.

The PRS SE Santana wins when it comes to playability, value for the money. On the other hand, the PRS SE Hollowbody II has the upper hand when it comes to.

If you got small hands, none of these instruments will make a big difference when it comes to comfortability.

Which One is Better for Beginners?

If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, the PRS SE Santana is the better choice.

The PRS SE Santana meets 4 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the PRS SE Hollowbody II meets only 3. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.

New Player Friendliness

PRS SE Santana
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Short scale
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Comfortable neck
  • Locking tuners

New Player Friendliness

PRS SE Hollowbody II
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Comfortable neck
  • Locking tuners

Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing an instrument, you should pick the one more compatible with your personal style. Still, below we'll try you to give you our results as objectively as it's possible to help you decide.

PRS SE Santana Overview

  • From PRS's 2001 SE series
  • Carlos Santana Signature
  • Made in Indonesia
  • 6 strings
  • 24.5"'' scale
  • 11.5" Fretboard Radius
  • Beveled Maple Top with Flame Maple Veneer top
  • Mahogany body
  • Mahogany neck
  • Rosewood fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: PRS Santana S (Humbucker/Passive)
  • Neck pickup: PRS Santana S (Humbucker/Passive)
  • 1 volume and 1 tone Speed knobs
  • 3-way Switch
  • PRS Patented Tremolo, Molded bridge
  • Wide Fat Set neck
  • 24 Medium Jumbo frets
  • PRS Designed Tuners tuners
  • Compare Specs >

PRS SE Hollowbody II Overview

  • From PRS's 2020 SE series
  • Made in Indonesia
  • 6 strings
  • 25"'' scale
  • 10" Fretboard Radius
  • Beveled Maple Top with Flame Maple Veneer top
  • Mahogany body
  • Mahogany neck
  • Ebony fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: PRS 58/15 S (Humbucker/Passive)
  • Neck pickup: PRS 58/15 S (Humbucker/Passive)
  • 1 volume and 1 tone Speed knobs
  • 3-way Switch
  • PRS Adjustable Stoptail bridge
  • Wide Fat Set neck
  • 22 Medium Jumbo frets
  • PRS Designed Tuners tuners
  • Weight between 6lbs (2.7kgs) and 6.15lbs (2.8kgs)
  • Compare Specs >

Sound Quality Comparison

The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.

Woods Used in Both

Mahogany wood pattern used for guitar building
Mahogany

Mahogany is a fairly rare wood nowadays. It's used mostly for bodies due to its relatively lightweight. Gibson popularized it with their Les Paul guitars during their golden years, so this wood has a lot of good reputation behind it. The most expensive type comes from South America and it's still used by Gibson even today. Find out more about Mahogany.

Woods Used in the PRS SE Santana

Rosewood wood pattern used for guitar building
Rosewood

Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.

Woods Used in the PRS SE Hollowbody II

Ebony wood pattern used for guitar building
Ebony

Ebony is a high-end wood, so it is not cheap. It's only used for fretboards because it's also very heavy. It does an excellent job as a durable material while looking elegant. Find out more about Ebony.

Winner: Tie.

Pickup Configuration

Both pickup configurations are HH. Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.

Pickups Quality

Both come with very good pickups from at least one of the specialized brands in the market. With pickups like these, you probably won't need an upgrade anytime soon.

However, the PRS SE Hollowbody II has a slight sound quality advantage when taking into account other factors like the type of pickups, magnet, position, etc.

Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.

Winner: PRS SE Hollowbody II.

Versatility Comparison

Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.

Switch Options

Both are equal when it comes to the pickup switching option.

Both offer you the same type of pickup mod: Coil Split.

Coil Split lets you disconnect one of the pickup coils. When used with humbuckers, it turns them into single-coil with lower output and cleaner tone.

They both share the following switching options:

PRS SE Santana and PRS SE Hollowbody II pickups switch and push knobs diagram
PRS SE Santana and PRS SE Hollowbody II's switch options

When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.

Winner: PRS SE Santana.

Final Sound Quality Scores

PRS SE Santana
Pickups 85
Sustain 65
Versatility 74
Tuning Stability 65
Sound 72
PRS SE Hollowbody II
Pickups 90
Sustain 70
Versatility 59
Tuning Stability 70
Sound 72

Build Quality Comparison

When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the PRS SE Santana compares to the PRS SE Hollowbody II.

Country of Origin

The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. Both in this comparison where made in Indonesia.

Indonesia is becoming the most popular country for guitar building because they can make good instruments for a low price. Some people think that they're 'the new China' when it comes to build quality. But the truth is that Indonesian guitars are more consistent, although Chinese quality has improved a lot in the last few years.

Winner: Tie

Nut Material

If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.

In this case, both have PRS Propietary nuts. It's similar to TUSQ nuts, but they're not as hard, and the tone is not as bright. However, the material is self-lubricating, and it's usually well cut, so they have good tuning stability.

Fret Material

Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.

Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.

Winner: Tie.

Bridge

The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.

The PRS SE Santana's brige is a Tremolo. Tremolo bridges give you more versatility than fixed bridges. They let you perform the intense vibrato effects that would be impossible with a fixed bridge. However, since the bridge floats and there's less contact with the body, the strings lose sustain slightly faster. They can also be a bit harder to restring and set up correctly than fixed bridges.

On the other hand, the PRS SE Hollowbody II's is a Fixed. It's a simple bridge that is very beginner-friendly since it doesn't require any set-up. You can swap strings easily. It might also give more sustain since it doesn't have complex moving parts that make the strings lose vibration. However, it doesn't have the same versatility as a tremolo bridge.

Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.

Winner: Tie.

Tuners

Both come with regular tuners. Both come with PRS Designed Tuners.

Winner: Tie.

Neck Joint

Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.

Both have a Set neck joint. This neck is tightly glued to the body. They give you the least versatility because you can't swap them for a neck that fits your hand better if you want to, unlike bolt-on necks. Some people think this gives more resonance and sustain, but there's no real difference if the bolt-on joint is well built.

Winner: Tie.

Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:

Strengths & Weaknesses
PRS SE Santana
  • Expensive Wood
  • PRS Propietary Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Coil Split Pickups
  • Tremolo
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in Indonesia
  • No Neck-Through Build
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock
Strengths & Weaknesses
PRS SE Hollowbody II
  • Expensive Wood
  • PRS Propietary Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Coil Split Pickups
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in Indonesia
  • No Neck-Through Build
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Tremolo
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock

Final Build Quality Scores

PRS SE Santana
Quality of materials 48
Features 60
Quality Control 70
Build Quality 59
PRS SE Hollowbody II
Quality of materials 48
Features 60
Quality Control 70
Build Quality 59

Playability Comparison

Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.

Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.

Nut Width

PRS SE Santana Nut Width
Both Guitars Have The Same Nut Width

The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, both have a nut width of 42.9mm (1.688'').

This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 6-string guitar. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.

Scale Length

PRS SE Santana's Scale Length
PRS SE Santana's Scale Length
PRS SE Hollowbody II's Scale Length
PRS SE Hollowbody II's Scale Length

The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.

The PRS SE Hollowbody II has the longest scale: 25". The PRS SE Santana is only 24.5" long. This is a 0.5'' (12.7mm) scale length difference.

This longer scale means that the strings need more tension to get in tune. This is good if you want to avoid fret buzz, which can happen when the strings are too loose and touch the frets while vibrating. This is especially important when playing in lower tunings. This will also let you reduce the gap between fretboard and strings (low action) to make them easier to press down. However, this higher tension will also make it harder to perform bends and vibratos as the strings will feel stiffer.

This also means that the frets have a longer separation between each other, so this will make it harder for people with smaller hands when playing some chord positions.

Another characteristic of a longer scale is that it makes the guitar sound 'snappier' or brighter. This is due to the extra separation between harmonics and overtones produced by the tension. This influences tone more than any other factor (except the pickups).

Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.

Neck Profile

PRS SE Santana Neck Profile
Both guitars have the same neck profile

No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.

Both the PRS SE Santana and the PRS SE Hollowbody II have a Vintage-shaped neck. This means that it's thicker than most modern necks, and makes it a better fit for playing chords and slow solos. Some people prefer this type of neck because it gives them a better grip thanks to the extra mass. Still, the vast majority prefer a thinner, faster, and more ''modern'' neck.

Fretboard Radius

PRS SE Santana Fingerboard Radius
PRS SE Santana's Fingerboard radius
PRS SE Hollowbody II Fingerboard Radius
PRS SE Hollowbody II's Fingerboard radius

Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.

In this case, the PRS SE Hollowbody II's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the PRS SE Santana's. This extra arc will make playing chords easier in this model. You won't be as likely to mute the strings, especially if you have big hands. However, playing single notes and bending will be easier on the PRS SE Santana.

Still, both are closer to a Stratocaster radius than a Les Paul, so both of them will favor chord playing rather than soloing.

Hand Size Comfortability

Everyone has a different hand size, and that's why it's recommended to try a guitar before buying, even if others tell you that it's comfortable to play. However, we can know whether a guitar favors small or large hands just by knowing its exact measurements.

After taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that both in this comparison favor large hands .

PRS SE Santana:
Big Hands
Small Hands
PRS SE Hollowbody II:
Big Hands
Small Hands

Fret Size

PRS SE Santana and PRS SE Hollowbody II Frets Size
Both have a similar Medium Jumbo fret size

Both have a Medium Jumbo fret size. These are slightly shorter than full Jumbo frets, so you'll still feel the fretboard when pressing down the strings. However, they interfere less with your fretting hand than medium-size frets. This is a good size if you like easy-to-press frets, but would still like to feel a bit of the fretboard when playing.

Final Playability Scores

PRS SE Santana
Bending & Vibrato Ease 80
Chord Playability 85
Solo Playability 65
Playability 77
PRS SE Hollowbody II
Bending & Vibrato Ease 75
Chord Playability 80
Solo Playability 55
Playability 70

Specs Side-by-Side

PRS SE Santana vs SE Hollowbody II
General PRS SE Santana SE Hollowbody II
Brand: PRS PRS
Year: 2001 2020
Configuration: HH HH
Strings: 6 6
Made in: Indonesia Indonesia
Series: SE SE
Colors: Yellow Black Burst, Tri-Color Sunburst
Left-Handed Version: No No
Body
Type: Solid Body Hollowbody
Body Material: Mahogany Mahogany
Bridge: PRS Patented Tremolo, Molded PRS Adjustable Stoptail
Neck
Neck Joint: Set Set
Tuners: PRS Designed Tuners PRS Designed Tuners
Fretboard: Rosewood Ebony
Neck Material: Mahogany Mahogany
Decoration: Birds Birds
Scale Size: 24.5" 25"
Shape: Wide Fat Wide Fat
Thickness: 1st Fret: 0.86'' (21.8mm) - 12th Fret: 0.96'' (24.4mm) 1st Fret: 0.86'' (21.8mm) - 12th Fret: 0.96'' (24.4mm)
Frets: 24 Medium Jumbo Nickel Silver 22 Medium Jumbo Nickel Silver
Fretboard Radius: 11.5" 10"
Nut: PRS Propietary PRS Propietary
Nut Width: 42.9mm (1.688'') 42.9mm (1.688'')
Electronics
Bridge Pickup: PRS Santana S (Humbucker / Passive) PRS 58/15 S (Humbucker / Passive)
Middle Pickup:
Neck Pickup: PRS Santana S (Humbucker / Passive) PRS 58/15 S (Humbucker / Passive)
Switch: 3 Way 3 Way
Knobs: Speed Speed
Pickup Mods: Coil Split Coil Split
Volume Controls: 1 1
Tone Controls: 1 1