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Post by SteveM on Nov 4, 2021 21:37:18 GMT -5
One has caught my eye. Any experience with these.
Are they keepers, or do they fall back in the rotation?
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Post by rickyguitar on Nov 4, 2021 22:36:25 GMT -5
I like mine. Comfy, good sound. Reasonable build quality. One pot crapped out in less than a year though.
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Post by bluzcat on Nov 4, 2021 22:52:59 GMT -5
I had a Zach Myers I tried to love. Having owned the real deal (a PRS Custom 22 that I should have kept) I just couldn’t bond with it. For an import it was very nice. My first one had a weird crack on the edge under the veneer. PRS took it back and sent a replacement. As I said, I didn’t gel with it so I moved it on.
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MoJoe
Wholenote
Posts: 855
Formerly Known As: quiksilver
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Post by MoJoe on Nov 4, 2021 23:34:13 GMT -5
Semi P90 long time ago. Meh..
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DrKev
Wholenote
It's just a guitar, it's not rocket science.
Posts: 424
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Post by DrKev on Nov 5, 2021 4:08:54 GMT -5
I think the SE line are great value for money. Great guitars. In my case, I just don't bond with PRS guitars, just not my cup of tea. But if one has caught your eye you should definitely check it out.
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Post by LeftyMeister on Nov 5, 2021 8:16:40 GMT -5
I just don't bond with PRS guitars I've had an urge to buy a PRS several times throughout the years but then see this comment often. It's kept me from laying out the cash.
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Post by Leftee on Nov 5, 2021 8:29:00 GMT -5
I bought a SE 24 a couple years ago - whale blue. It was a good player but the pickups didn't do much for me. And I really don't like 24 fret guitars any ways. I did swap out the pickups and it was better. Still... it wasn't a keeper so off it went. I've got an Ibanez SZ520QML that I picked up for little money at a GC several years ago. It had active pickups install, so I installed pickups more to my liking. I like this guitar far better than the SE I had. I still have it. It also has a pretty beefy neck - not something you might expect from an Ibanez.
The Ibanez:
I would like to try a 22 fret SE, but PRS doesn't make any lefties. All we get in the SE line is the 24. And then we don't get any other offerings until the Custom range. And those, I suspect, are ordered by dealers.
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Post by LeftyMeister on Nov 5, 2021 9:16:33 GMT -5
^^ I did notice all of their lefty offerings have uncovered pups. For some reason, I prefer covered pups on a dual-bucker guitar. It's just the aesthetics. If you ever sell that Ibanez, let me know.
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Ayns
Wholenote
Posts: 767
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Post by Ayns on Nov 5, 2021 9:57:51 GMT -5
I’ve had a PRS SE 245 for about 10 years. It is well made, looks great, plays great…….but……… I’ve never really *loved* the tone. In fact I’d finally decided to sell it, but instead I fitted a set of Gibson Burstbuckers that I had lying about, and although I think it’s an improvement, I still don’t love it Decent value for money though. :-)
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Nov 5, 2021 10:27:52 GMT -5
They're good. As mentioned above they tend to be a bit on the vanilla side sometimes. That is good for some, not for others. Strangely, we haven't had a lot of these come through the shop for pickup swaps, so I can't say for certain that putting your favorite set in will transform it into something you'll love, though it seems reasonable. The stock electronics are a fair bit better than Epiphone or Ibanez's offerings in lower price points, so that makes sense.
Usually when I have one in my hands I play it a bit longer than other guitars. Occasionally I find one that is cool enough I check the price to see if I can justify it, but I haven't bought one yet. It usually is one of the semi-hollows that catches my fancy.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Nov 5, 2021 10:38:03 GMT -5
I was pretty attracted to the Zach Myers model, finally found one in a shop and it ticked all the boxes for me. Didn't buy it but really dig the style, trampas green and chunky neck. Biggest turn off for me is the signature, but as I recall that's just on the truss rod cover.
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Post by zenland on Nov 6, 2021 15:54:33 GMT -5
I've owned three PRS SE models. One bought from Prolux at the old FDP. LP style with 2 P90's and wish I still had it! (freaking Great Tones)
SE One Korina I bought from walshb and still have it. It's a different flavor with only one P90 but a very cool guitar.
SE22 that I fell in love with from the first time I picked it up. It might have what some consider generic tones from the pick ups but I think they are well suited to the instrument. Definitely has its on voice. I have 9 other electrics if I need something different.
The first PRS I owned was a McCarty Hollowbody Spruce Top. Used it in a trade for a boutique amp! Bad move, Never Again!
I really like them for the price point on the ones I've bought.
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Davywhizz
Wholenote
"Still Alive and Well"
Posts: 444
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Post by Davywhizz on Nov 7, 2021 6:04:14 GMT -5
For many years I always took a third guitar kept in slide tuning to gigs, as well as two Teles in standard. It was just for two or three songs so I preferred something not too expensive. The guitar that lasted the longest was a black PRS SE Soapbar II. It sounded good, stayed in tune, looked the part under lights and was easy to play. The quality of materials and parts seemed fine, also the build quality and finish.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Nov 7, 2021 18:09:29 GMT -5
I like 'em; they are equal to the Yamaha Pacifica line in that they are perhaps the best bang-for-the-buck (quality, playability, and tone) in the "affordable" new guitar market: they generally need nothing after the purchase. About 10 years ago I got a 2nd hand WMI/Korea-made PRS SE Bernie Marsden sig that's a killer player. It's got the wide/fat neck and it's comfy to play. I pulled the stock B&G open coil 'zebra' pickups out because they were too hot for my liking, and I installed a pair of Stooge Mac Parsons Street PAF clones. One of my pals at work is pestering me to sell it to him because he and his wife (both play guitar and both work there) are in love with the thing.
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Post by Leftee on Nov 7, 2021 19:15:58 GMT -5
I’d have a Bernie Marsden SE in a hot second.
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Post by LeftyMeister on Nov 7, 2021 19:20:14 GMT -5
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Post by Taildragger on Nov 8, 2021 12:37:18 GMT -5
I have one of the early, 2 X P90, red, single-cuts with the wide/fat neck. Electronics aren't top-flight, but the workmanship and playability are otherwise excellent, especially for such an inexpensive instrument (I think I paid about $350/new with gig bag). I find the neck carve really comfortable and the fretwork is perfect.
I mostly play bass now, but if I was playing more guitar, I'd take the time to swap in higher-quality pots and output jack.
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Post by walshb 🦒 on Nov 8, 2021 19:42:06 GMT -5
I've owned two SE's and there was nothing wrong with either one of them. One of them, the Korina mentioned above, I added a tone knob to, which made it much more versatile. After I sold it to Zenland, he called to tell me how much he loved it. Hopefully he still does!
I just never bonded with either one, and I can't tell you why. Not a thing wrong with them. Maybe I just had other guitars that I played more; I still have too many.
I hope you like yours if you buy it Steve!
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Post by rdr on Nov 9, 2021 12:11:52 GMT -5
I had an SE Santana which was well built and played well. Put in a treble bleed which it badly needed. I just didn't bond with it and sold it. I also had a semi-hollow Soapbar model which was really light and sounded great. And it was blue. For some dumb reason I sold it. I'd buy it back if possible.
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Post by zenland on Nov 12, 2021 19:03:14 GMT -5
he called to tell me how much he loved it. Hopefully he still does! Yes, I do! All of my guitars are in rotation though! Just having fun playing them.
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Post by Stinger22 on Nov 13, 2021 18:43:00 GMT -5
One has caught my eye. Any experience with these. Are they keepers, or do they fall back in the rotation? Picked this up a couple of weeks ago. Fit and finish about perfect. Took time on a setup and plays great. Set it just a hair lower and a hair straighter than my Fenders. Not sure on the PU's yet still dialing in. $800 new well worth the money.
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Post by mikedetorrice on Nov 14, 2021 11:42:22 GMT -5
I have had a PRS SE Santana for a number of years now. It's an excellent guitar that's well made, sounds great and is a really good bargain at it's price point.
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Post by LTB on Nov 15, 2021 5:52:33 GMT -5
Maybe it was the pickups, I don't know but after Playing a friend's PRS McCarty I could not bond with it.
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Post by LTB on Nov 19, 2021 1:28:34 GMT -5
I bought a SE 24 a couple years ago - whale blue. It was a good player but the pickups didn't do much for me. And I really don't like 24 fret guitars any ways. I did swap out the pickups and it was better. Still... it wasn't a keeper so off it went. I've got an Ibanez SZ520QML that I picked up for little money at a GC several years ago. It had active pickups install, so I installed pickups more to my liking. I like this guitar far better than the SE I had. I still have it. It also has a pretty beefy neck - not something you might expect from an Ibanez.
The Ibanez:
I would like to try a 22 fret SE, but PRS doesn't make any lefties. All we get in the SE line is the 24. And then we don't get any other offerings until the Custom range. And those, I suspect, are ordered by dealers.
Beautiful Guitar Leftee! Bet it will play and sound good with a new set of string!
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Post by hushnel on Nov 22, 2021 11:39:46 GMT -5
I helped out a buddy at Christmas one year buy buying his PRS SE. I didn’t have it very long. I preferred my Telecaster. I traded it for the Guild Starfire bass when my buddy decided he didn’t want it back.
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herb
Wholenote
Posts: 159
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Post by herb on Nov 27, 2021 18:50:34 GMT -5
I had a Standard 22 Goldtop that I bought in the mid 90's. Great build but just didn't feel right and the sound was a little bit foreign? Wanted it be a Les Paul. It wasn't. Sold it and bought a Les Paul, which I still own.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Nov 27, 2021 23:46:41 GMT -5
Great build but just didn't feel right I was the same way with PRS guitars as you were for many years, because I expected them to be like other guitars. But they had an odd feel to them, and I could never quite nail down what it was. Back during the FDP days there was a discussion on the different feel of PRS compared to Gibson and Fender, and it got me thinking about how we interface with a guitar. So I used a micrometer to measure the necks on a few Gibsons and a few PRSs and discovered the geometry of the two designs was opposite from each other. On a Gibson neck, going from the nut to the body, the width across the frets changes less than the thickness (front to back). On a PRS, it's the neck's thickness that changes less than the width, going up the neck toward the body. It's a very subtle thing, but it is something you can feel if you've played guitar for a few years, and it does feel a little weird until you get used to it. I was never able to completely warm up to any PRS for a long time because my experience with them was in small bites, either in a shop, or if a pal had one and I picked it up and played it. They certainly played well and sounded fine, and the quality was always exceptional. But that 'feel' thing kept me away. I had several pals who were pro players that loved their PRS guitars. I finally decided to give PRS a fair shake and get one, and live with it for a while. After a few weeks of playing the Custom 22, I got used to the feel and it became as familiar as any other guitar.
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Post by LeftyMeister on Nov 28, 2021 8:35:55 GMT -5
^^^ What you describe about the feel is the same with the compound radius neck on my Warmoth build. It took a long time to get used to the feel, but now I'm no longer conscious of it when I pick it up.
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Post by achase4u on Dec 15, 2021 12:56:16 GMT -5
Got an SE Hollowbody Standard this year. I think it's a fantastic guitar, especially for the money. Love it.
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Wrnchbndr
Wholenote
Posts: 353
Formerly Known As: WRNCHBNDR
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Post by Wrnchbndr on Dec 15, 2021 13:31:46 GMT -5
On the bench… From the dozen or so SE models that have passed across my bench, without fail they’ve consistently been the most well crafted non-USA economy minded built guitars I have ever encountered. I only refer to them as economy minded because of the cost of their US built brethren. The only thing I have needed to do to these beyond the scope of the average Guitar Center tech hack is an adjustment of the nut slots and that is something any real guitar tech can do. An Epiphone or a Squire can be a great guitar but its a crap-shoot on how much effort will be needed to make it an awesome guitar if in fact it can be done. The PRS SEs have been consistently well made and I have yet to find one with a disagreeable flaw.
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