PRS SE: 20% off through Dec 31st

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Fairly middling options as a lefty. Don't really love the finish of any of them, although the Gold Burst on Peach looks the nicest:
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I've been thinking about a new mid-range guitar recently. I've looked at these PRS SE's, and I've also looked at Epiphone, and ESP LTD, and nothing is quite hitting the spot just now.

I've got an ESP LTD EC-1000ET that I bought back in 2018. I dig it, but I'm not entirely in love with the Evertune bridge. I had to import it from the USA too.

Fundamentally, I'm a Les Paul kinda guy.

For comparison, an Epiphone Les Paul Standard can be had for £460, in their vintage sunburst finish. A Les Paul Custom can be had for £799.
 

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Fairly middling options as a lefty. Don't really love the finish of any of them, although the Gold Burst on Peach looks the nicest:
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I've been thinking about a new mid-range guitar recently. I've looked at these PRS SE's, and I've also looked at Epiphone, and ESP LTD, and nothing is quite hitting the spot just now.

I've got an ESP LTD EC-1000ET that I bought back in 2018. I dig it, but I'm not entirely in love with the Evertune bridge. I had to import it from the USA too.

Fundamentally, I'm a Les Paul kinda guy.

For comparison, an Epiphone Les Paul Standard can be had for £460, in their vintage sunburst finish. A Les Paul Custom can be had for £799.

I’ve had an Epiphone I really liked, but tbh I’d choose an SE over an Epiphone any day. I’d consider a single cut se 594 if you’re an LP guy.

I didn’t love the se version I tried recently, but I’m a total snob at the ripe age of 31(personal problem) but I would still choose it over an Epiphone

The s2 594 I just got has been blowing my pants off every day
 
Wow. Congrats. Can you give us a rundown??
Sure.

The CE24 feels very familiar. I played an SE Custom 24 for years when I was younger, and the primary differences are the carved top, unfinished neck, and bolt-on construction, all of which I think are improvements (IMHO). The coil-splitting sounds nice, but the pickups look tacky to me. A covered pickup would look much more elegant, so I'll either add a cover (if that's even possible), change out the pickups, or go crazy and swap the chrome/nickel hardware for gold. This guitar would look incredible with gold hardware. I'm not much of a trem-abuser, so I'll block the trem and do something to dampen the trem springs. That's my only gripe with this guitar--the trem springs rattle quite a bit.

The McCarty is super cool. I was nervous about the finished neck since none of my guitars now have one, but it's very unobtrusive. I haven't played an LP in a decade or more, so I'm having fun with the ability to control each pickup (volume, tone, and split). That's a unique feature in my collection. The neck heel feels good. Now owning a tele, I understand the whole "tele on steroids" vibe. The McCarty definitely has that bite to it. I have it tuned to Drop C, but I don't know that the stock pickups work super well in that context. (I was trying to channel Leon.) I'll likely tune it back up to somewhere around standard and leave it as is. I like the pickups, it's just not a Drop C machine.

I love the 277. It feels so different from anything I own. The 27.7" scale with 22 frets is really stretching me (literally). However, I feel like my brain "thinks" in lower registers, so I find the 277 to be a more musically-inspiring instrument, if that makes sense. Obviously, the first thing I did was drop the low B to an A and chug, but there's something magical about the split neck pickup into an amp on the edge of breakup. Even my tired old licks sound great on a baritone. I think this one will get the most playtime of the three.
 
Sure.

The CE24 feels very familiar. I played an SE Custom 24 for years when I was younger, and the primary differences are the carved top, unfinished neck, and bolt-on construction, all of which I think are improvements (IMHO). The coil-splitting sounds nice, but the pickups look tacky to me. A covered pickup would look much more elegant, so I'll either add a cover (if that's even possible), change out the pickups, or go crazy and swap the chrome/nickel hardware for gold. This guitar would look incredible with gold hardware. I'm not much of a trem-abuser, so I'll block the trem and do something to dampen the trem springs. That's my only gripe with this guitar--the trem springs rattle quite a bit.

The McCarty is super cool. I was nervous about the finished neck since none of my guitars now have one, but it's very unobtrusive. I haven't played an LP in a decade or more, so I'm having fun with the ability to control each pickup (volume, tone, and split). That's a unique feature in my collection. The neck heel feels good. Now owning a tele, I understand the whole "tele on steroids" vibe. The McCarty definitely has that bite to it. I have it tuned to Drop C, but I don't know that the stock pickups work super well in that context. (I was trying to channel Leon.) I'll likely tune it back up to somewhere around standard and leave it as is. I like the pickups, it's just not a Drop C machine.

I love the 277. It feels so different from anything I own. The 27.7" scale with 22 frets is really stretching me (literally). However, I feel like my brain "thinks" in lower registers, so I find the 277 to be a more musically-inspiring instrument, if that makes sense. Obviously, the first thing I did was drop the low B to an A and chug, but there's something magical about the split neck pickup into an amp on the edge of breakup. Even my tired old licks sound great on a baritone. I think this one will get the most playtime of the three.

My S2 mccarty has the same pickups and I absolutely love them. I've heard people complain about the SE pickups before, but I think they sound amazing. I think they sound a lot better than any stock gibson pickups I've played :idk
 
Yeah, I will most likely be all over a SE SAS in vintage sunburst.

And maybe a SE CE in black Cherry.

And maybe a SE SS with a maple fretboard.

And maybe…oy…

Update:

Tried out a couple over the last week.

The SAS, while a good guitar, ended up not suiting what I was looking for, mostly due to the wonky pickup-switching options. Sure, I could probably mod those, but didn’t want to jump right in.

The CE, though…:oops::D…my local GC just got one of the vintage sunbursts in, and WOW, what an incredible guitar - even at the regular asking price. Although when split, the 85/15S pickups can get a bit “plinky”, I still like them overall. The wide-thin neck profile is a bit thinner than I generally like, but is not shredder-thin, and feels good enough that my hands don’t cramp over time.

It came home with me. Will add a pic when I damn well get around to it, so settle down ;)

I am seriously thinking of picking up an SE Hollowbody II - or maybe a SE McCarty SC, and divesting myself of at least two of my remaining Gibson LPs :oops:
 
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