School me on the PRS SE Custom 24

benvall

So I've just been browsing the web and found this
http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/electric_guitars_detail.asp?stock=13070114081458

PRS SE LTD Custom 24 with spalt top. I know the SE are made in Korea but are they any good? I've always been a Strat and Les Paul guy. 

I must admit I'm drawn to this PRS because of the look. I can't really justify spending 1.5k on a USA PRS. Oh and I'd want it with a trem are these trems any good, hold their tuning etc.

I've got to go to Surbiton this week so if I get time I hope to swing past Guitar Guitar in Epsom to have a look.

Sorry if this has been covered before I had a quick look and couldn't see anything about the SE.

Thanks

ICBM

I played one recently - not in that finish, a standard flame-top one - and I thought it was overpriced and really not very good. And I am a PRS fan. Very disappointing - I liked the original Santana SE when it came out, and though it was excellent for the money, and I particularly liked the SE One. But this one was very generic, no different from any other mid-market Korean guitar except £200 or so more expensive. It felt cheap, the hardware looked cheap and it sounded bland and characterless.

For not very much more - well OK, possibly a fair bit more but still well under a grand - you could get a second hand USA CE, which is so much better it's really not even worth thinking about the SE at its new price in my opinion.

fretfinder

+1 to the second para above!

guitarfishbay

If you are a Strat/Les Paul guy and want a trem have you considered the SE Singlecut trem?

It will probably be a much easier transition to than the SE CU24 out of the current lineup.  Personally I find going between my 22 fret PRSs and Strat/Les paul pretty easy, but the 24 fret models are bunched up more towards the neck side (like an SG) so do feel fairly different.  Older models worth a look include the several versions of the Santana, the first one looks like a CU22 and later ones look like his actual US signature.  It is definitely worth trying both 22 and 24 fret models as some people have strong preferences one way or the other and some really don't mind.  They seem to do that spalt top with the Santana too, if that floats your boat (I do prefer the CU shape personally though!).

The trem is an import copy of the US trem, and seemed ok in mild use when I've tried it.  Be aware that the SE's don't tend to come with locking tuners and the US versions do, so there may be performance differences with tuning stability there.  I'm not enough of a trem  aficionado to know if locking tuners really help beyond quick string changes if you've got good string winding technique.

The pickups on these guitars are usually decent if lacking in character compared to aftermarket standards.  I'd only be looking at changing them if you know what you want to move towards, otherwise they're perfectly fine IME.

Col_Decker

How about a 2nd hand Limited edition Santa SE with Hard Case (white). Much like the one under my bed atm ... for sale

 

 

guitarfishbay

ICBM said:

I played one recently - not in that finish, a standard flame-top one - and I thought it was overpriced and really not very good. And I am a PRS fan. Very disappointing - I liked the original Santana SE when it came out, and though it was excellent for the money, and I particularly liked the SE One. But this one was very generic, no different from any other mid-market Korean guitar except £200 or so more expensive. It felt cheap, the hardware looked cheap and it sounded bland and characterless.

For not very much more - well OK, possibly a fair bit more but still well under a grand - you could get a second hand USA CE, which is so much better it's really not even worth thinking about the SE at its new price in my opinion.

The CE is no doubt a much better guitar but if we're going second hand I've often seen SE's going in the £2xxs whereas CEs are usually mid £6xxs upwards depending on condition.

Also we need to stop praising the CEs otherwise everyone will find out and they'll stop going for bargain prices :-$

ICBM

guitarfishbay said:

The CE is no doubt a much better guitar but if we're going second hand I've often seen SE's going in the £2xxs whereas CEs are usually mid £6xxs upwards depending on condition.

Definitely - but that's comparing a second hand CE with a second hand SE, and is about a true reflection of their relative values.

My point was that I wouldn't buy a new SE at £600+ when you could get a second hand CE for somewhere between the same price and a couple of hundred more.

The SE isn't a terrible guitar but it also isn't a £600 guitar in my opinion.

The earlier ones like the Colonel's were better as well as cheaper too, I think.

guitarfishbay

The £600 guitar goalposts are really shifting in the new price bracket though.  The SEs are comparable to the higher range LTDs and Schecters, and some of the Ibanez and Jackson range in price, and I don't think many of those guitars are considerably better than the SE's.  

Arguably the 1000 series LTDs have superior hardware (mostly aftermarket parts like Duncan/EMG/Tonepros) but they're scarily now in the £7xx price bracket these days.

stonevibe

I saw a USA Custom 24 Navarro go for £1000 a week ago on Ebay.

Wouldn't waste your money on the SE Customs as they aren't great guitars and you can do a lot better buying other brands for the money most shops want for a new SE.

I own an SE One and a USA Custom 24 and so I'm not a 'price' snob. Both are good guitars. 

Just every SE Custom 24 I have ever played has sounded dead to me.

Col_Decker

stonevibe said:

I saw a USA Custom 24 Navarro go for £1000 a week ago on Ebay.

Wouldn't waste your money on the SE Customs as they aren't great guitars and you can do a lot better buying other brands for the money most shops want for a new SE.

I own an SE One and a USA Custom 24 and so I'm not a 'price' snob. Both are good guitars. 

Just every SE Custom 24 I have ever played has sounded dead to me.

*cough*

 

note the forsale sign above? Let me re-word your post ...

"Wouldn't think twice about shifting on a kidney to get my hands on a SE Custom as they're great guitars. I used to have 3 kids, now I've only got two as I sold one just to look at a PRS Se through a shop window".

 

benvall

Thanks for the info so far guys. I'm not sure where to start. I've never even touched a PRS so i guess my next move should be to get off my a$$ and get to a guitar shop.

ChrisMusic

PRS have recently put the price up across the SE range, and quite significantly IIRC.

Does anyone here know why, or how they justified the hike?

I have a SE Soapbar II, bought from ddlooping of this very parish, with a pair of Iron Gear 90s and Gotoh bridge/tail thingy.

It is a great guitar, plays very well, and I am impressed and pleased with it, and for not too much money either.

The necks vary across all PRS ranges, I think the C24 SE is only wide thin, and most other SEs are wide fat  (which is neither wide nor fat - but that's the marketing department for you).  You need to play a few and find what suites.

I must say I do like the spalted maple look.  Tempted, but at the new prices I have kept my foot off the GAS pedal.

If it's a good guitar you can always swap out the parts, but that adds significant extra expense.

Then a good guitar is a good guitar, no matter what brand, range, or country it comes from.  And they each have their own personalities.

Adam_MD

I don't think prs prices have gone up anymore than every other guitars brands did over the last few years. Your looking about £1k new for a us standard strat, over 2k for a les paul and Baja teles have gone from about £349/399 to about £600. Prs se range has increased by about the same margin as a Baja, though admittedly will not hold their value as well as a Baja.

ThePrettyDamned

I remember when the SE's went from a bout 200 quid for the simpler 'one' series to 400 ish quid for the customs.  Now, frankly, these are MUCH better guitars.  And possibly made in the same factory!

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/esp-ltd-mh-1000nt-stb-see-thru-blue/33522

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/esp-ltd-ec-1000t-fcsb-faded-cherry-sunburst/41095

That second one has Duncan Alnico Pro II pickups - I'm certain they're the same ones Slash used to use!

Edit: obviously, these are new prices I'm going by.  But used, I agree with ICBM - wait for a real USA PRS to come up that's been a bit battered.  

stonevibe

ThePrettyDamned said:

I remember when the SE's went from a bout 200 quid for the simpler 'one' series to 400 ish quid for the customs.  Now, frankly, these are MUCH better guitars.  And possibly made in the same factory!

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/esp-ltd-mh-1000nt-stb-see-thru-blue/33522

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/esp-ltd-ec-1000t-fcsb-faded-cherry-sunburst/41095

That second one has Duncan Alnico Pro II pickups - I'm certain they're the same ones Slash used to use!

Edit: obviously, these are new prices I'm going by.  But used, I agree with ICBM - wait for a real USA PRS to come up that's been a bit battered.  

I'd have to agree with you there.

These LTD guitars are ridiculously great value for money and a lot nicer than the SEs.

Bucket

Alternatively, wait a while for a Jap Tokai PR to come around, I picked up a top-of-the-range one for £350 recently (about half the price of the fairly inferior SE)... they're rarer than rocking-horse shit though, so maybe not the best advice

The Tokai is a very nice guitar though, if you can get one.

benvall

Just a quick update. I went into Guitar Guitar in Epsom and tried the PRS SE LTD Custom 24 with spalt top. I thought it was pretty good. Probably a bit over priced. I liked the wide thin style neck. I wasn't that keen on the pickups.

The guy said "try this S2" http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/electric_guitars_detail.asp?stock=13070114153358 It retails at £1249. It had a chunker neck but was lighter than the SE. I couldn't really tell the difference between the 2 other than the upgraded hardware on the S2. Both played well (for the 10 mins I was in the shop). I prefered the feel, weight (and look) of the SE but like i said wasn't that impressed with the pickups on either.

Has anyone else played / own an S2. What the opinion on these. Thanks

ThePrettyDamned

No idea on the s2, but se pickups are pretty dull and naff. To think, for the same money you could get a guitar with locking bridge, earvana nut and duncans...

The s2 looks like a stripped back custom, so corners might have been cut.

guitarfishbay

Not being impressed with pickups on PRSs isn't anything new!  I've decided to live with the #7s in my singlecut because they're fairly good but the HFS/VB combo in my CU22 will more than likely go when I've got the budget to do so, just too much other stuff needs bought first!

Every time I've tried a PRS SE I've felt the pickups are designed specifically to sound inoffensive to the largest number of people possible.  They can work for a lot of things but they aren't anything to write home about.

Personally I think a PRS looks much classier than an ESP.  The abalone stuff on the 1000 series guitars does not float my boat at all and the waving flag inlays on the ECs don't look right to me.  Some of them are quite good guitars and IIRC they have a volute which is something a lot of guitar manufacturers should have on their necks.  They used to have a stealth series which was solid black and no inlays IIRC, they looked really nice for my tastes.  But looks are the ultimate IMO/YMMV, the guitars themselves are worth a go in the price bracket.

ThePrettyDamned

guitarfishbay;42759" said:

Not being impressed with pickups on PRSs isn't anything new!  I've decided to live with the #7s in my singlecut because they're fairly good but the HFS/VB combo in my CU22 will more than likely go when I've got the budget to do so, just too much other stuff needs bought first!

Every time I've tried a PRS SE I've felt the pickups are designed specifically to sound inoffensive to the largest number of people possible.  They can work for a lot of things but they aren't anything to write home about.



Personally I think a PRS looks much classier than an ESP.  The abalone stuff on the 1000 series guitars does not float my boat at all and the waving flag inlays on the ECs don't look right to me.  Some of them are quite good guitars and IIRC they have a volute which is something a lot of guitar manufacturers should have on their necks.  They used to have a stealth series which was solid black and no inlays IIRC, they looked really nice for my tastes.  But looks are the ultimate IMO/YMMV, the guitars themselves are worth a go in the price bracket.

I hate the binding on my Ltd 1001. It's fairly well done, but so gaudy and... Grim. But it remains one of the best guitars I've played.

They do have a volute, too. And the neck heel is carved away, which is good, but the looks are... Well, you need to be comfortable with them. I'm not, not really, but... Meh.

ICBM

benvall said:

The guy said "try this S2". It retails at £1249. 

You can get a proper USA Custom for that second hand - probably in near-perfect condition. Or a Standard or CE for less, in any combination of 22 or 24 fret, neck sizes, trem or stoptail, etc.

Seriously, don't waste your money buying a lesser model new.

Guitar Guitar are not exactly renowned for bargain prices either...