NGD: PRS SE Custom 24

BMU

For some strange reason I now own a PRS. Weird. Only an SE mind you. The only excuse I have is "it were so purdy" and the price seemed good.

The low output pickups, tiny frets and missing B string aren't really my thing, but the guitar is beatifully made. Flawless as far as I can see. I love the grey/black maple top and the halfmoon fret markers, the maple binding and that bottom cutaway scoop. All that for R5k brand new? Seems good to me, although admittedly I don't really know what these usually go for!

The feel of the neck is fantastic; slim and comfortable. I'm impressed by that. It came with .009 gauge strings. After putting on 10s and adjusting the truss rod the action is super low. I mean it's almost touching the frets, yet with no fret buzz. Also impressive.

Close up:

Full frontal:

The new arrival next to two of his big brothers.

Wizard

Very nice looking indeed.
Remarkably similar in shape to my M200.
(although we won't guess too hard as to who copied who)
?

aubs1

Hey BMU, first off, congratulations............. IMHO, the PRS SE is not to be sneezed at, they are better than lots of other guitars of higher prices!

And for R5Gs, what a pleasure........

Welcome to the PRS stable........... :applause:

WantzChas

The SE range are phenomenal guitars at that prize range. I own the 25th anniversary SE Custom 24. It sounds and plays as good as it looks. The pickups are a lot more lively than they receive credit for.

inflames

Lovely guitar!

Congratulations!

aja

missing B string? what's that about?

[deleted]

The one a seven-string player habitually reaches for...

AlanRatcliffe

aja wrote missing B string? what's that about?

A seven String player feeling lost on only six strings. ?

Congrats BMU! Looks cool. The SE's aren't for everyone, but they offer good bang for buck value.

costafonix

Nice PRS BMU. The SE's are superb quality and their model range is also very broad.

Keira-WitherKay

yeah i agree with the positive comments re the SE .... awesome guitars and way better quality and tone than their price would indicate...........great buy

PeteM

Congrats - good looking guitar - let's hear what it sounds like.

BMU

Thanks all.

Alan Ratcliffe wrote Congrats BMU! Looks cool. The SE's aren't for everyone, but they offer good bang for buck value.

Just out of curiosity, who would you say they're NOT for. Probably me exactly lol.

PeteM wrote Congrats - good looking guitar - let's hear what it sounds like.

You know, I also always want to hear something when there's an NGD post, so here goes.

http://www.box.net/embed/ia5qqlp4ic2vjku.swf

That's me trying to play something a PRS might ordinarily be used for. I.e. not my usual metal stuff. So yes indeed, very much feeling lost with only 6 strings, low gain, them tiny frets and a very different style.

The clean guitar is neck pickup through Roland Jazz Chorus POD XT sim, lead guitar is bridge p/u through Soldano 100 sim.

For me, it requires considerable effort to coax notes out of this guitar. (I might switch the strings back to 9s.) Whereas with my UV the notes appear in thin air with hardly any finger intervention necessary - or so it feels! Then again I've been playing UVs for a LONG time so that's hardly an objective review. I'm sure Orianthi feels different. ?

AlanRatcliffe

BMU wrote Just out of curiosity, who would you say they're NOT for. Probably me exactly lol.

Well, they are a decent step up from other Asian guitars, something to bridge the gap between guitars like Cort and the upper-end stuff. For the most part much better finishes than most other Asian instruments. Simple, no-nonsense instruments which are well made from decent woods and look far more expensive than they are.

I've never bonded with one myself. I really tried hard to like the SE Soap Bar, but it's too close to a Gibsonish guitar.

DonovanB

What I've heard about the SE is that they are made in a factory picked out by PRS himself, and sent back to the USA to be setup by a person(s) dedicated to the range.

I haven't been able to verify it but it does explain why they are so very nice for supposedly budget instruments.

I contemplated getting one once but I would have had to change the pups, the one I played was a little lifeless for me. Great feel and finish though.

BMU

Yeah I'm toying with the idea of a pickup change. Any recommendations?

The Andy Timmons DiMarzio sounds interesting: "the DiMarzio AT-1 was originally designed for a 25" scale, mahogany-body guitar..."

In other words it was designed for a PRS..? Andy Timmons has great tone.

CDee

Very nice guitar BMU! Congratulations. :goodtimes:

PS. remember to update you sig... (7 string addict :-\ ) ?

BMU

CDee wrote PS. remember to update you sig... (7 string addict :-\ ) ?

Hehe. This changes nothing, nothing ya hear me? Still a 7-string addict. ?

BMU

Donovan Banks wrote What I've heard about the SE is that they are made in a factory picked out by PRS himself, and sent back to the USA to be setup by a person(s) dedicated to the range.

I haven't been able to verify it but it does explain why they are so very nice for supposedly budget instruments.

I can verify that now - did anyone see the 25th anniversary special on PRS in Guitarist magazine? It's a UK magazine, they write about two guys in the UK dedicated to setting up all PRSs coming in, from both the States and Korea. On the US ones there's hardly anything to do obviously, but on the Korean ones they file down any sharp frets, do a setup etc etc. Quite impressive.

ZarK

BMU wrote Yeah I'm toying with the idea of a pickup change. Any recommendations?

The Andy Timmons DiMarzio sounds interesting: "the DiMarzio AT-1 was originally designed for a 25" scale, mahogany-body guitar..."

In other words it was designed for a PRS..? Andy Timmons has great tone.

Congrats BMU!

PRS SE's are great guitars imo. If you've got a few Ibanez 7's, why not rather go the Seymore Duncan or original PRS pups route? Don't be tempted to turn your PRS into an Ibanez because you're used to it and love it. (As you rightfully should, of course!) You've got that covered, me thinks. Try get a different tone maybe? Just a suggestion... That's probably what I'd do. (This is coming from someone with Dimarzios in all his Ibanii...)

P.S. I picked up a new axe fitted with EMG's yesterday. What a fresh change from just playing one make of pup for such a long time...

Enjoy! She's a beaut!

BMU

@Zark - thanks.

I'm confused - I'm exactly NOT trying to turn the PRS into another high gain monster - hence mentioning the Andy Timmons pickup? (Else I'd have lobbed an X2N in there LOL!)

I've been playing the Prestige 7 constantly for a few weeks now, coming back to the PRS I find it ...well... unplayable, frankly. Those tiny frets. I'm glad I did the impulse buy on a R5k avatar of a real PRS, rather than a R45k *actual* PRS :-[

Sad fact is, the more I try to get away from that customer-unfriendly, profit-driven corporate monstrosity, the more I learn what I already knew: few things play like a high-end Ibanez.