Thougts on the PRS SE series?

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sarge117

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Anyone here ever try the SE series PRS guitars?

Just trying to get some opinions on these guitars.

Basically I am looking for a decent secondary guitar. Not looking for a collectors item. Just something that plays nice, sounds great and freaking stays in tune. Preferably NO tremolo

I have an old ESP I bought in Germany back in 89 or 90 that fits the bill well as my main guitar.

Currently my secondary guitar is a Mahogany Gibson Les Paul Studio. I really liked it at first but over time I have grown more frustrated with it. I noticed that I would be tweaking my amp because it didn't sound right only to find the moment I put down the Les Paul and plugged in the ESP my tone returned. Not to mention the Les Paul does not stay in tune worth a damn which was something I have read has been a problem on low end Les Paul's.
 
now this would interest me too... I'm eyeing a Mark Tremonti SE signature, but basically any PRS would interest me. I've heard good things about their standard line (over $1 K models) but I'd like to hear what people have to say about SE's.........and they look simply beautiful. In the meantime, I'll keep on saving......
 
I've played a few at GC. I've honestly been less than impressed. I much prefer the Ibanez ARC300 if you can find one anymore.
 
sarge117 said:
Anyone here ever try the SE series PRS guitars?

Just trying to get some opinions on these guitars.

Basically I am looking for a decent secondary guitar. Not looking for a collectors item.

Just something that plays nice, sounds great and freaking stays in tune. Preferably NO tremolo
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YES - they play nice, YES they sound great, Yes they stay tune.

At least mine does. I use the soapbar II SE model as my MAIN guitar. I've played about 4-6 shows a month with it for the last 3 years, 3- 1 hour sets, about 45 songs total each night, doing leads in at least 1/2 the songs, so the string are getting bent plenty. It never goes out of tune hardly ever. The G string did tend to slip once in a while until I used some of that Nut Sauce stuff, now it never goes out of tune. In fact Ill throw it in its case and by the next show it comes out of the case in perfect tune.

Sound quality, with my tube amps those Soaps are AMAZING. The best p-90 type sound ive ever had. The action is sweet.

I dont think with a solid state amp those pickups would work all that well.

Some of the other SE models with humbuckers are very hot pickups and can be a little too hot for me, but if that is what you like then cool.

Best guitar ive ever owned. The entire guitar works together from wood to pickups to give it its sound.
 
I played the PRS SE Paul Allender the other day and it's a fantastic guitar, and a great price.
 
metalj said:
YES - they play nice, YES they sound great, Yes they stay tune.

At least mine does. I use the soapbar II SE model as my MAIN guitar. I've played about 4-6 shows a month with it for the last 3 years, 3- 1 hour sets, about 45 songs total each night, doing leads in at least 1/2 the songs, so the string are getting bent plenty. It never goes out of tune hardly ever. The G string did tend to slip once in a while until I used some of that Nut Sauce stuff, now it never goes out of tune. In fact Ill throw it in its case and by the next show it comes out of the case in perfect tune.

Sound quality, with my tube amps those Soaps are AMAZING. The best p-90 type sound ive ever had. The action is sweet.

I dont think with a solid state amp those pickups would work all that well.

Some of the other SE models with humbuckers are very hot pickups and can be a little too hot for me, but if that is what you like then cool.

Best guitar ive ever owned. The entire guitar works together from wood to pickups to give it its sound.
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Excellent response metalj - thorough, helpful and informative. That's why I keep coming back to HR.com... :cool:
 
metalj said:
YES - they play nice, YES they sound great, Yes they stay tune.

At least mine does. I use the soapbar II SE model as my MAIN guitar. I've played about 4-6 shows a month with it for the last 3 years, 3- 1 hour sets, about 45 songs total each night, doing leads in at least 1/2 the songs, so the string are getting bent plenty. It never goes out of tune hardly ever. The G string did tend to slip once in a while until I used some of that Nut Sauce stuff, now it never goes out of tune. In fact Ill throw it in its case and by the next show it comes out of the case in perfect tune.

Sound quality, with my tube amps those Soaps are AMAZING. The best p-90 type sound ive ever had. The action is sweet.

I dont think with a solid state amp those pickups would work all that well.

Some of the other SE models with humbuckers are very hot pickups and can be a little too hot for me, but if that is what you like then cool.

Best guitar ive ever owned. The entire guitar works together from wood to pickups to give it its sound.
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Thanks for the detailed feedback.

I'm running into a Mesa Roadking, and would probably prefer the hot pickups. The one I have my eye on is the SE Single Cut.

In the meantime, I do have issues with the nut binding the string on my Les Paul. Do you have a link to that stuff you put on the nut. Given the name you used, I would rather not google it. I could only imagine the links that would popup from that search.
 
WhiteStrat said:
...they're as nice as PRSs...
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Some say nicer, but I have no personal experience.

Certainly a lot easier to get one in whatever color or wood or fingerboard material and radius and fretwires and pickups you might prefer.
 
I have owned a PRS Custom 22 since 1994. I don't currently have an SE in my collection, but I tried out an SE Soapbar a while back and a friend of mine has the SE model with the humbuckers. I loved the sound of the SE Soapbar and will likely own one sometime soon. Also have listened to and played my friends guitar. Both of them play every bit as well as my Custom 22 and the SE Humbucker sounds better to my ears than most other guitar in that price range. IMHO they are one of the best bang-for-the-buck guitars out there.

As far as "Nut Sauce" goes, it does work well. If you have easy access to a music store where you can buy some, get it, as it has a nice nozzle for dispensing it into the nut. But powdered graphite that you can get at any auto supply store or hardware store works every bit as well, albeit a liittle messier and teflon impregnated gun oils such as Rem-Oil and Break-Free work just as well also.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I have looked at the Carvins as well, and they look real nice.

I have only played one Carvin before. Back in the 80's a friend of mine had one. I remember it was amazing.

Myself, I have owned a Carvin MTS 3200 amp before, and it was real nice.

So I definately have faith in Carvin gear. But from a price standpoint, it would be twice as much as the PRS.

I am mainly just looking for a good, blue collar guitar that basically does the three things I outlined originally.
 
I have a PRS SE Custom in my stable. I am basically a Fender Strat /Tele guy but wanted something along the lines of a LP but never liked Gibson’s shorter scale length and the narrower string spacing plus the weight. When I was auditioning guitars I tried the Epi Les Paul knock offs but they all sounded dull and constipated sounding compared to the PRS SE models. All of PRS SE models that I tried were much more open sounding and with their longer scale length and wider string spacing were a breeze to play. I would highly recommend any of the PRS SE line. Also try a Reverend, I just bought a Club King and it is a amazing guitar, in fact the whole Reverend line is amazing.
 
Double said:
Also try a Reverend, I just bought a Club King and it is a amazing guitar, in fact the whole Reverend line is amazing.
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Where did you buy your Reverend, Double? I can't seem to find any retailers anywhere close.
 
I think the PRS SE line is very nice. I reviewed the singlecut in the April FrugalGuitarist. While some will agure there are lower priced alternative that are just as good, I feel they're worth the money, especially if you can find a good second hand deal. In my opinion, the neck is the main selling point on these guitars. I like a little chunkier neck and these are just right. Combined with the 25" scale, they are super comfortable. Workmanship is excellent across the board.
 
I was just looking at the SEs at my neighborhood guitar shop. I have a PRS Custom 24 10-top already. The SEs looked very nice and well built. My shop, which generally doesn't carry much in the way of non-US made guitars except for what they have to carry from Fender and now PRS because they are dealers, was reasonably impressed with the SE line. I'd note that PRS contracts with a single manufacturer in Korea to make these -- apparently so they can keep on top of quality control. I'm told this is different than some other brands which use a variety of manufacturers for their foreign constructed guitars.

I need to sort through some of these for my 13 year old daughter who is now taking guitar lessons along with her piano and sax lessons. I'm probably looking at choosing between a G&L ASAT, Japanese Fender tele RI of some sort, or an SE for her. May be the SE Custom Semi-Hollow Body Soap Bar PUP model. Seems a decent compromise given that she looked up at me the other day during her lesson and out of the blue said she wanted an "early 70s thinline telecaster, not a reissue model, Dad" :eek: Where she got that from I have no idea. I don't think she's ever even played a telecaster (she's learning now using one of my guitars - currently an 83 LP standard). Jeez kid, I'd like one too. You throw in the $4000 and we have a deal.:D
 
When it comes to guitars if YOU like it...it's good. If you buy a guitar and think "It's O.K... I can dump some $$$ and it'll be great..." wait,save and buy the right guitar.
I've done a bunch impulse purchases and a couple I liked...most I didn't.['58 Silvertone and my Sparrow Big Daddy I like the '61 Kay' not so much]
Find a guy at a small store that ain't gonna bullshit ya' to make a sale.
That's me. I had a LOT of happy customers that wanted junk and took my advice. You don't NEED a Taylor 614 to jam with yer buddies unless you need bragging points and debt.
Play EVERYTHING!!!
 
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