Considering SE Custom 24

[jpas1954]

Greetings. New member here. I play rock and blues in a band in the Greater Boston area. It is a side thing; we have not played a full gig, other than a few open mics. Our repertoire is largely classic rock. Currently I own two guitars, an Ibanez Artist model and a 70s vintage Gibson ES-335. I want to have two guitars whenever I play out and for a variety of reasons I prefer one of them not be the Gibson. i'm not at all unhappy with the Ibanez but every time I'm in the local guitar store I can't keep my hands off the PRS. The Ibanez was only $750 a half-dozen years or so ago. I'm reluctant to spend a ton on a guitar so the Custom - which I believe is low-end - seems ideal.

In talking to the guitar tech at the store, he said it was a good guitar but if I played the higher end I'd "know the difference." Probably so and could be a sales pitch as much as anything else. But what am I sacrificing at the lower end? I will likely go play a variety of these but I thought I'd join and ask the experts. If I can keep it no more than, say, $1500 I'm a happy camper.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Welcome.

Happy hunting for your first PRS.

 

[Jimmy]

I went from an SE Custom 24 to an S2 version. There is nothing wrong with the SE if it felt and sounded good to you. The main reason I upgraded was because I liked the bevel carve on my forearm. Shouldn’t be an issue for you with your existing guitars. The S2 neck felt better, more substantial for some reason, and the rolled edges were more comfortable. I personally liked the 85/15 pickups more than the TCI pickups.

With all of that said, SEs are great. If you liked it, you should be able to buy with no regrets.

 

[jpas1954]

I went from an SE Custom 24 to an S2 version. There is nothing wrong with the SE if it felt and sounded good to you. The main reason I upgraded was because I liked the bevel carve on my forearm. Shouldn’t be an issue for you with your existing guitars. The S2 neck felt better, more substantial for some reason, and the rolled edges were more comfortable. I personally liked the 85/15 pickups more than the TCI pickups.

With all of that said, SEs are great. If you liked it, you should be able to buy with no regrets.

Kinda what I thought. Thanks. I'l check it out more thoroughly.

 

[Black Dog]

I purchased a DGT SE (David Grissom Tremolo) model in February. It's a great playing and sounding guitar. The neck is a little chunky and the frets are taller. It has two David Grissom humbucker pickups with a coil split to give you a Strat sound.

 

[jpas1954]

I purchased a DGT SE (David Grissom Tremolo) model in February. It's a great playing and sounding guitar. The neck is a little chunky and the frets are taller. It has two David Grissom humbucker pickups with a coil split to give you a Strat sound.

That's an option. I'm not a big whammy bar guy, though.

 

[Black Dog]

That's an option. I'm not a big whammy bar guy, though.

I'm into hard rock and blues. I rarely use the whammy bar. The wiring harness has treble bleeds so you can roll the volume. It also has resisters so when you go into coil tap you don't loose much volume compared to humbucker mode. This is David Grissom's design.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

You could consider a Paul’s SE, no trem, coil splits/taps, can get you a variety of tones.

Plenty of reviews online (YouTube).