PRS SE - Amazing Consistency & Playability

[la szum]

I'm definitely going to try a few other models to see if I like them better. Maybe a 24 or CE.

New ones are on sale at my local guitar store and I'm sure I'll find a deal on one I like.

I may get a charcoal one and put better PU's in. I said it before, but I'd love to find a Dave Navarro Sig in good condition, but all I've seen are either sky high or beat up.

Great idea! All of the SE lineup will have great fit and finish. You may have to swap
a set of PUs, but that's kind of what a lot end up doing on even the Made in the USA
Core PRS guitars.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Spent an evening with my bass players SE custom 24… nice guitar and all, but idk. The SEs just still aren’t making the he cut for me. Cores and even S2s just feel like they’re on another planet light years away imo…


I really wanted that SE silver sky to be a thing for me, and was hoping it would inspire me to get past my other previous dissatisfactions I’ve had with the SE line so I could keep scooping more of those up lol. It wasn’t a bad guitar by any means but only lasted 6 months

I think cortek Indonesia is manufacturing excellent instruments at excellent price points (with one exception, I’m looking at you strandberg lol) but still I feel like it’s more like a cortek guitar that looks like a PRS than anything else. YMMV of course!

 

[Byrdman]

Great idea! All of the SE lineup will have great fit and finish. You may have to swap
a set of PUs, but that's kind of what a lot end up doing on even the Made in the USA
Core PRS guitars.

I went and played this one today. This is the actual guitar, not just a stock photo-

Paul Reed Smith SE Custom 24-08 in Vintage Sunburst (CTIF088981)

Expanded Sonic Territory The Custom 24 is the quintessential PRS guitar: the iconic guitar that started it all back in 1985. The Custom 24-08 keeps all the foundational specs of the instrument, while taking the Custom platform to new sonic territories. Like the Core Series instrument, the SE...

carltonmusic.com

IMO, head and shoulders above the other SE ones for just a little more. All the PRS guitars are on sale at my local guitar store so I gave them a deposit to think about it until Friday.

 

[la szum]

Sweet! You should get all kinds of tonal possibilities with that setup.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I really dig the 24-08 layout… also a big fan of the wide thin neck shape…


Still trying to pinpoint if it’s any one thing about my CE24 that makes me love it so much…. Wide thin neck? The 24 frets? The fact it’s semihollow? The 85/15 pickups? The combination of all these things??

 

[Byrdman]

I really dig the 24-08 layout… also a big fan of the wide thin neck shape…


Still trying to pinpoint if it’s any one thing about my CE24 that makes me love it so much…. Wide thin neck? The 24 frets? The fact it’s semihollow? The 85/15 pickups? The combination of all these things??

Yeah, the neck is the what I like the most, thin and wide. The split coil options are nice to have too, but that neck...

 

[paisleywookiee]

I think cortek Indonesia is manufacturing excellent instruments at excellent price points (with one exception, I’m looking at you strandberg lol) but still I feel like it’s more like a cortek guitar that looks like a PRS than anything else. YMMV of course!

As much as I do like the guitars, I would agree with that. People that say the S2's are just American SE's are IMO kinda wrong. They're definitely a step above.

 

[Eagle]

As much as I do like the guitars, I would agree with that. People that say the S2's are just American SE's are IMO kinda wrong. They're definitely a step above.

S2s feel like core line not SEs.
Second hand S2s are incredibly good value.

 

[paisleywookiee]

S2s feel like core line not SEs.
Second hand S2s are incredibly good value.

This may be heresy, but I prefer S2's over Core, in terms of comfort, or the less exaggerated violin carve of the CE24. Core line is not at all comfortable for me, despite looking fantastic. My favorite is the Semi-Hollow Vela.

 

[Eagle]

This may be heresy, but I prefer S2's over Core, in terms of comfort, or the less exaggerated violin carve of the CE24. Core line is not at all comfortable for me, despite looking fantastic. My favorite is the Semi-Hollow Vela.

I like the carve but I hardly play my CU 22 . It’s just something to have Throbak 101s on.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I like them all but do find the S2 bevels less aesthetically pleasing. they are comfortable though

I could drink a glass of milk out of the carves on my core cu22

Those edges can start to dig into your arms a bit during longer gigs, but not enough for me to consider it a 'problem" personally

 

[paisleywookiee]

I like them all but do find the S2 bevels less aesthetically pleasing. they are comfortable though

I could drink a glass of milk out of the carves on my core cu22

Those edges can start to dig into your arms a bit during longer gigs, but not enough for me to consider it a 'problem" personally

IF I had the coin for a Private Stock (I don't. ) I'd get a Custom 22, white limba back, plain maple top with opaque "Black Top" top finish, a Hipshot hard tail, and an EBMM OG Petrucci-style arm carve

 

[Sleezy E]

IF I had the coin for a Private Stock (I don't. ) I'd get a Custom 22, white limba back, plain maple top with opaque "Black Top" top finish, a Hipshot hard tail, and an EBMM OG Petrucci-style arm carve

 

[Whizzinby]

I’m circling the drain on the SE 277.

 

[Byrdman]

I bought this SE Custom 24-08 yesterday and played it for about 2 hours this morning. The guitar is great, fit & finish is really unbelievable for a <$1000 guitar, plays well, fret ends are tight, love the thin-wide 24 fret neck, but unfortunately it's going back tomorrow

I have wide hands and my damn pinky finger keeps hitting the volume knob. It's new so it never moved, but once it gets broken in some it may and right now my end pinky knuckle is sore from playing it this morning. I tried adjusting my picking hand more forward, but then that created additional problems palm muting and going from PM to a full strum not being able to hit the E & B strings to ring out unless I really cocked my hand at an uncomfortable angle. Maybe I'm just not a PRS guy...

I tried to love you, but there is no way this is going to work for my playing style and or hand shape

 

[madmarcus1960]

I've found and bought 2 S2 Custom 22s, one solid, one semihollow, for under $800 at my GC in Portsmouth, NH. Changed PupS and they're top players in my herd.
I also own 4 SE of different varieties (including a DGT SE goldtop), all great playing guitars, also change PuPs in all of them. Not a fan of the G&B stuff.

 

[la szum]

Bummer. But hey, have to keep kissing Frogs, @Byrdman . Only way for one of them to turn into Prince!

Next!

 

[paisleywookiee]

I bought this SE Custom 24-08 yesterday and played it for about 2 hours this morning. The guitar is great, fit & finish is really unbelievable for a <$1000 guitar, plays well, fret ends are tight, love the thin-wide 24 fret neck, but unfortunately it's going back tomorrow

I have wide hands and my damn pinky finger keeps hitting the volume knob. It's new so it never moved, but once it gets broken in some it may and right now my end pinky knuckle is sore from playing it this morning. I tried adjusting my picking hand more forward, but then that created additional problems palm muting and going from PM to a full strum not being able to hit the E & B strings to ring out unless I really cocked my hand at an uncomfortable angle. Maybe I'm just not a PRS guy...

I tried to love you, but there is no way this is going to work for my playing style and or hand shape

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I don't have that issues with them, but I do with Strats and most Jacksons, so I can certainly relate. It's all about what you're comfy with. I have no idea how people play Strats without knocking the volume constantly.

 

[Byrdman]

Bummer. But hey, have to keep kissing Frogs, @Byrdman . Only way for one of them to turn into Prince!

Next!

Yeah, for sure!! I would have loved to love it. It is such a nice guitar, just not for my picking style and hands. Wide hands that don't clinch as easily as they use to made it feel awkward and slow. If it would have worked, it could have possibly replaced 2 others and freed up some money for something else, but unfortunately it's not in the cards this time.

 

[Frodebro]

Yeah, the neck is the what I like the most, thin and wide. The split coil options are nice to have too, but that neck...

I have a Core model 24-08 with the pattern thin neck, it was a special order that took a year to get because I ordered it right before everybody got locked down. Love that guitar. The headstock is my avatar…