hi
first thank you so much for the answer
by the way the prs made in usa are so shining ,i guess because the use lacquer ,they are lacquered
while the SE are opaque
i have read about the frets , the usa use great frets and they last a lot , while the prs made in Korea or Indonesia use frets of poor (mix of or blend of ) materials and they worn very quicly
is it true?
thanks again
PRS US are changing their finish to a Nitro over a 'hard' Nitro/Plexiglass base coat but before that, they had a Hard coating. The vast majority of their guitars are stained with a clear coat on top - very few use an opaque finish - although the Silver Sky is one such model.
The vast majority of SE's are 'stained' with a hard clear coating on top - especially the Customs - hence you can SEE the Grain pattern of the veneer. The SE's may have an opaque finish on the back because the body is made of multiple pieces of Mahogany so the Grain and Stains would not necessarily match - different pieces of wood take stain differently. They are also finished with a 'clear' coating
Whether the formula is 'exactly' the same, with the same 'thickness', I don't know but so many companies have their OWN formula for finishing a guitar and whilst some could be very similar, some can also be very different. Not ALL Nitro is the same, not all Poly finishes are the same.
PRS US use the 'hardest' Nickel Alloy they can get. Like there are many different formulas for finish, there are a LOT of different Alloys for Nickel (and Steel too btw). I don't think the SE's use the same alloy for their fret wire (I could be wrong) they are not 'poor' and don't wear very quickly. Fret wear has a lot to do with the way a player plays and the strings they use too. The reason they wear is because the strings are much harder than the frets and if you push a 'hard' material against a soft material, the softer one will wear - so it depends on how hard the player is pushing strings into frets and whether or not they are using the hardest steel strings. Also depends on whether the player actually bothers to polish their frets as that reduces friction and wear too.
At the end of the day, an SE is cheaper for a reason - not just 'labour' costs of building them. Part of the cost is also paying PRS staff to check them first and make sure everything is within their tolerances. They are certainly no worse than any other guitar you can buy at that price and are regarded as one of the 'best' guitars you can buy at that price range. If you want 'better', you have to pay more. I know a lot will say an SE is not a 'quarter' of the guitar a Core is, despite being a quarter of the price but if you want the best, you have to pay for it. The SE's, like all guitars in the same price range, are made to sell at that price. If they spend more on materials, parts etc, the price goes up and up and puts them in a different price bracket and that then defeats the purpose of making an affordable guitar. I think you will be hard pressed to find a guitar at the same price points that is overall 'better' or as consistent.
If you can't afford or not willing to pay more for a guitar, then you have to accept that some compromises are made to keep an instruments cost down. Part of that may well be using 'cheaper' labour costs in factories with lower overhead costs but some of that is also down to using 'cheaper' parts, materials etc too so they can actually bring a guitar to market at a certain price point. They aren't going to be putting $300 Pickups in a $500 guitar made in Indonesia, shipped to the US, checked and set up by PRS and then shipped to stores. That being said, it also has PRS on the headstock so they have to be the 'best' guitars you can buy for $500 because PRS wouldn't put their name on it otherwise....
