The SE Standard Hollowbody has excellent jazz tone.
This might be one of the few exceptions that we could agree on imported quality being close to that of core. The SE HB & SE HBII series is in that ballpark.
For me the main difference, as when you play Core Series, you got that feeling of integrity, of having one whole thing resonating to your playing. Imported PRS are great guitars, but don't produce this feeling. Dunno how they achieve that by the Core Series, maybe is the match of wood between the neck and the body, maybe it's a kind of glue. Even unplugged the feeling is different. Tremolo-wise, none of them is perfect - yesterday I tried a DGT - and the G String went out of tune right after I pushed down the trem...
That may be true, but it's not alway easy to assess "the whole vs the sum of its parts" mindset. The individual parts sum makes up the whole, and perhaps the combination of all of the parts together is what makes a good guitar a keeper. I really don't think either the USA or imported PRS have a "lock" on what the future of PRS will be. The truth may simply be how well PRS protects its design and can make use of expiring copyrighted designs so that either core or imported PRS can continue to grow as an industry.
The growth of a business occurs kind of the same way we all plant seeds. You prepare the soil, dig a small hole, place the seedling in the hole. You water the seedlings, protecting them from too much heat, and warding off predators, bind them firmly to help them grow straight and strong, pull weeds, give them a little fertilizer, water some more. Soon, your seedlings will produce something that will feed your family.
I think Paul has likely held this mindset for his business since day one, and made good use of cultivating his business the same way a farmer cultivates a cash crop. Maybe I'm wrong, but the first step to farming/gardening is preparing the soil. The rest follows implicitly.
The other mindset is that of a fisherman who fishes off of a dock, who simply walks up to a body of water, puts some bait on his hook, and drops a line into the water, and then he waits. One is work, the latter is a so-called sport. When one can differentiate between those who fish, and those who cultivate, it becomes clear as to how one approaches the way we deal with people we meet, and become friends with.
As a side note, one of my former best friends (his career now over) used to test me prior to gigs and say, "Hey, Bob, is this a G-chord?" Very quickly I learned a good lesson. I'd say, in reply, "If you're teaching me, where do you normally put your fingers with a G-chord?" My buddy would laugh. I still think the guy was a good teacher and entertainer.
And after the gig, while we were putting away gear and preparing to make the drive home, we would share experiences of making sure we didn't neglect the guys in the audience who were there following their shifts "of serving and protecting."
To those folks, we held a special place for them, 1) because one of my brothers not only builds, but also protects, and 2) It was these folks who saw to it that we all made it home safely. They watched out for us, and for that reason, my time at our open mics was appreciated.
Didn't matter if we smelled like smoke, sweat, or men's cologne. Sure, the entire venue was "guilty" of smelling badly, but the band played well by comparison. We all did our part to be sure we protected the safety of those who attended.