Bird Inlays Not Flush on HBII SE

[lazerdriver]

I purchased a new PRS Hollowbody II SE Piezo this week on Reverb. When it arrived I inspected it and it is flawless, except for the bird inlays. Some of the inlays are not flush with the fingerboard. The ones at the 3rd and 5th fret are the worst, and are set below the fretboard by almost 1/32 inch. The one at the 7th fret is not quite as bad as the 3rd and 5th, and all the others are pretty good.

While I have the option to return this, I am a little hesititant to do so. The quality of the figuring of the tops of these guitar varies greatly, and this one has a really nicely figured top. I know to expect a great figured top on an SE is a stretch, but some of them are really nice, though few and far between. From what I saw on Reverb, both recently and in the past, about 1 out of 10 has a really nice top. I saw one locally at a GC and I wouldn't even call it figured at all.

I have 5 other guitars with fretboard inlays and none are as bad as this, in fact most of them are completely flush with the fretboard. So my question is: Could the inlays be replaced / repaired under warranty? And is this as a good as it gets with PRS China made instruments?

I plan to open a case with PRS support to get their take, but would like to know what experiences people here have had with this.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I’m interested to know if the guitar plays well enough and has a good enough tone, that you could live with the fault.

If yes, you could always see if the dealer will consider a partial refund.

An option to consider.

 

[lazerdriver]

It does play well and is really nice otherwise. I will probably contact them and see what they say.

Here is a photo of the inlay at the 3rd fret:

 

[GADonis]

I have a similar issue with my SE HB. I didn't really notice it until after having it for a while. Not sure what to do about it.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

It’s like the rout was too deep for the inlay. Shame.

A drop fill with clear epoxy might fix this.

 

[Rider1260]

Hmm looks like a router might be set too deep or a run of inlays is too thin , couple of ways to fix this

1) remove and replace ( or float ) inlays ( steam out inlays make a new bed with rosewood sawdust )

2) scrape fretboard till flush with inlay ( this is easiest to do )

3) I have seen someone fill the inlay with clear epoxy and or poly finish ( with mixed results )

PRS would like just want to replace the guitar on an SE I am guessing

 

[lazerdriver]

Hmm looks like a router might be set too deep or a run of inlays is too thin , couple of ways to fix this

1) remove and replace ( or float ) inlays ( steam out inlays make a new bed with rosewood sawdust )

2) scrape fretboard till flush with inlay ( this is easiest to do )

3) I have seen someone fill the inlay with clear epoxy and or poly finish ( with mixed results )

PRS would like just want to replace the guitar on an SE I am guessing

For #3 when you say "mixed results", do you mean it ends up not looking good or the epoxy doesn't adhere well and starts to come loose eventually, or something else?

I would call this a B-stock guitar. I don't know if PRS officially sells B-stock, but I think a defect like this would qualify as such. And from one of the previous replies, seems like others have seen this problem too. Do SE's have lower quality standards in general?

I have a Korean-made Gretsch and the inlays are so flush that you can't even feel the difference between the edge of the inlay and the fretboard. Although the Bigsby was mounted about a 1/4 inch off center so the strings between the bridge and Bigsby were at an angle (had it remounted to fix it), but otherwise the build quality was spot on.

 

[lazerdriver]

I have a similar issue with my SE HB. I didn't really notice it until after having it for a while. Not sure what to do about it.

Do you know what year yours was made? I haven't been able to decipher my year from the serial number, it doesn't quite match up to what they have for serial numbers on PRS website. The toe tag says it was inspected in May 2021, so I assume it is a 2021.

 

[GADonis]

Do you know what year yours was made? I haven't been able to decipher my year from the serial number, it doesn't quite match up to what they have for serial numbers on PRS website. The toe tag says it was inspected in May 2021, so I assume it is a 2021.

Due to crap memory and it being " a couple of guitars ago" I'm not 100% sure when I bought it. I think its been about two years ago? Its not a HBII.

 

[Svenseel]

Has anyone tried any of the proposed potential solutions ? I picked up an SE Hollow II and it has the same issue. It will drive me nuts. Would like to correct if possible.

Thanks.