Bernie vs. SE 245 - Major Distinctions?

I'm not sure if anyone is interested, but I measured the thickness of the body on my SE245. Can anyone do likewise for the Bernie?

By the way, the Bare Knuckle Mules sound like a great choice for replacement pickups.

9d9d9922a4a021552a2d9097a71eec68_zpswp8uxw5k.jpg
I just got my Bernie yesterday. It is great. Measured it at the top strap button and it is 2 1/8 inch to the top of the binding.
 
I just got my Bernie yesterday. It is great. Measured it at the top strap button and it is 2 1/8 inch to the top of the binding.
That's why I find forums like this fascinating. I'm not sure if it's healthy for me to wine so interested in whether a guitar is 2" or 2 1/8" but I find it fascinating.

Thanks for the input Trucker.
 
Well, I do have a drill press and a set of Forstner bits. Do you remember if the bit you used was a standard size, or something a little more out of the ordinary?

.50 (one half inch) size. The pigtails are sized at .514 so they are nice and snug. I put them in with a rubber mallet, using a plain old zinc gibson les paul stud I had in the parts bin to bang on.

To get the old ones out your local electronics store should have number 6 round circuit board stand-offs, the plain aluminum ones. I had those in a bin so that's what I used. Just drop one in, and screw in a stud; the bushing will eventually just rise out of the hold. You need two, as the screw will bottom out, and you then unscrew it and drop the other one in.

Good luck!
 
.50 (one half inch) size. The pigtails are sized at .514 so they are nice and snug. I put them in with a rubber mallet, using a plain old zinc gibson les paul stud I had in the parts bin to bang on.

To get the old ones out your local electronics store should have number 6 round circuit board stand-offs, the plain aluminum ones. I had those in a bin so that's what I used. Just drop one in, and screw in a stud; the bushing will eventually just rise out of the hold. You need two, as the screw will bottom out, and you then unscrew it and drop the other one in.

Good luck!

Excellent advice.

I suppose I need to order a new nut right now. I put a Tusq on my Santana, and that was very easy. Drastically reduced tremolo induced tuning instability. I also put the Grover Rotomatic tuners on it, and Planet Wave tulip buttons fit those perfectly.
 
Eventually, I would like to put some very PAF-like pickups in my Bernie. I've tried a number of different kinds in Les Pauls before, and never really found any I loved. My Epi LP currently has Stew Mac Parsons Streets, which I actually prefer in that guitar to Gibson USA '57 classics. I put Al-IV magnets in the Parsons Streets, versus the Al-IIs they came with. Ideally I'd like something that might sound good tapped as well. Fralin Unbuckers perhaps.

After three or four iterations, I've ended up with a set of Tonerider Alnico IV Classics in my Bernie, and I've been very happy with them. Pretty affordable, too.
 
Got my Bernie today. Very nice.

After it warmed up a little (sat in an unheated warehouse all night), it played just fine. Later on, I lowered the action a little bit on the bass side, and also moved the bridge out a little with the intonation screw on that side. Intonation checks out now across the board, so I see no need to go an adjustable replacement. Wouldn't mind the PRS USA solid stoptail though.

The closest thing I have on hand right now to a vintage style Les Paul is an Epiphone. I find the bigger neck on the Bernie to be much more comfortable. The Bernie has a little more sustain as-is, and that could probably even be improved with deeper studs and better bushings. The stock studs look a little more flimsy than I'd like, but they're probably structurally ok.

The stock nut is not great. It's pinching too tightly on the G and the A strings. Can anyone confirm that the USA wide fat is a drop-in replacement? I actually kind of like the strings it came with. Pretty sure they're 10-46, and very smooth feeling.

I'm not completely in love with the V-V-T control arrangement. I'll probably turn that into a V-T-T, but I'll wait and see if it wins me over.

Tone is very interesting. Just like better Les Pauls (and unlike my Epi), it has a thick bottom end, with a crunchy top. It's maybe a little darker than I hoped, which I have a suspicion is due to Al-II pickup magnets. Easy thing to play with.

It weighs 8.2 pounds. Not at all bad for such a thick chunky piece of wood.

Overall I'm quite happy with it. I don't know why the stopped making them, but it can't be because they're bad guitars.
 
(I think there was rumour of a core model Bernie having a production run in the near future)


The USA wide fat nut is almost a drop in replacement. The height is ok, doesn't need filing down, the width at nut is maybe 1mm or so wider on the guitar
The string separation is better with the USA widefat

I took some photos of the stock creame coloured, versus black USA wide fat, versus a white TUSQ net in this thread - the TUSQ is taller, so would need to be sanded down

http://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/nut-problem-on-bernie-marsden-se.15630/#post-230644

(post 10 on there has the pictures)

Some of the stock nuts aren't cut correctly, mine was binding on the high E only
 
see post 11 on this thread for pictures

http://i60.tinypic.com/33fdy5u.jpg

http://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/nut-problem-on-bernie-marsden-se.15630/#post-230644

(I lost a reply I just wrote out, so apologies if double post)

Original nut is the cream one, black USA widefat, white Tusq

Tusq would require base sanded to get the correct height

USA is drop in for height, it sits maybe 1mm narrower in the nut slot ie the width of the neck at slot on bernie is 1mm wider, but not noticable to me anyway

Better string seperation with USA nut

At least some of the SE nuts aren't cut correctly, mine was binding on high E
 
Sorry to come back to an old point, but I measured my SE245 Standard at the top strap button, where the other poster did, and the 245 is the same body thickness as the Bernie. It's not a big point, and I'm not looking for any aggravation with anyone - I just wanted to be factually correct.

If the bottom end of the ruler seems too low - it's just that I'm trying to take the curved edge of the body into account, so I've tried my best to measure from the flat back surface of the guitar to the top of the binding.

image_zps2pxdvoj9.jpeg

image_zpstwvnvcmu.jpeg
 
Can you get U.S. nuts in cream? I dont think you can,can you?

I donno about colours, but for swaping them out, like most things its easy enough once you've done it once, I was able to practice on a beater guitar, which was good as it was daunting. Youtube came to the rescue for a guide.
 
Can you get U.S. nuts in cream? I dont think you can,can you?
No, the US nut is black only. The reason the Bernie has a cream nut is because I'm pretty sure it's actually a bone nut. I would look to graphtech if you wanted to find a replacement nut and wanted to stick with the cream look.
 
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see post 11 on this thread for pictures

http://i60.tinypic.com/33fdy5u.jpg

http://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/nut-problem-on-bernie-marsden-se.15630/#post-230644

(I lost a reply I just wrote out, so apologies if double post)

Original nut is the cream one, black USA widefat, white Tusq

Tusq would require base sanded to get the correct height

USA is drop in for height, it sits maybe 1mm narrower in the nut slot ie the width of the neck at slot on bernie is 1mm wider, but not noticable to me anyway

Better string seperation with USA nut

At least some of the SE nuts aren't cut correctly, mine was binding on high E
Interestingly, the nut on my Bernie seems just a little too narrow for the neck. I'll take a look when I get home, but It seemed a lot like one of their standard plastic nuts. Very sharp edges to it (don't know why PRS does that), with very deep slots.

I could try to widen the slots with my nut files I guess. It wasn't very difficult to sand down the Tusq nut that I put on my Santana. I hear nothing but good about the PRS USA nuts, so I suppose I'll just have to decide whether or not I mind a black nut on such a traditional looking guitar.

It kind of bugs me a little that there isn't a cream colored plastic disc around the pickup selector base. So I might put one of those on it.
 
Bare Knuckle Mules are a good choice for the Marsden if you want Classic PAF-ish tones. A4 mags.

This is my Bernie when I had the Mules in both neck and bridge positions:


If you're thinking of splitting the coils with a push/pull the you want 4 Conducter and short leg pups (Although long leg may also fit)

You may get better split / tapped sounds with higher output pups so it's worth speaking to Tim at BK.

The Mann 2300 stoptail is a perfect mod for the Bernie. Looks good, works perfectly, improves tone, etc...

As Bodia said, the stud wells are a perfect fit and are as quick to swap as a set of new strings.
Very impressive how did you aquire Bernie's fingers!!.
 
I`ve used both the Tusq and the USA wide fat. Both are an upgrade. I don`t really have a preference on a non-trem guitar.
 
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