Convince me to buy a Prs SE

Annaxes

Subterranean Homesick Alien
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
Messages
32
Super interested in getting a a custom 24 and something with p90s. There are no stores around me to go try one but i like thinner necks like a strat. i play a ton of phish, radiohead, smashing pumpkins, mostly alternative. How is the quality? And should i wait for newer models to come out?
 
I have 3 P-90 SE singlecuts of varying neck thickness. Keep in mind that they do vary. Find a guitar that you like, and don`t worry about newer, better. Just get something you can bond with. THe SE24 and the Tremonti custom have the thinnest necks.
 
I own a Tremonti Custom SE. Best neck I've ever tried! Fast as an Ibanez wizard, comfortable and bending-friendly like a Gibson 60. Love the PRS vibrato bridge, too. Stable, very comfortable for palm-muting, good excursion.
 
I just bought one and I love it. Quality is immense, would be surprised at the price if I didn't know it.

I specifically bought an older one because I don't like the colours of the new series.
 
My #1 is a Tremonti SE custom with 2007 Mira pickups. I gig with it more than my uSA PRS. When it got scratched, I didn`t go crazy. It ain`t 3 or 4 grand.
 
Super interested in getting a a custom 24 and something with p90s. There are no stores around me to go try one but i like thinner necks like a strat. i play a ton of phish, radiohead, smashing pumpkins, mostly alternative. How is the quality? And should i wait for newer models to come out?

I can't attest for Phish or Radiohead, but as for Smashing Pumpkins, I know a great deal of their catalog and it sounds killer on a CU24. The HFS/VB combination of pickups, whether playing bridge, or the middle position with the tone rolled back a bit gets a pretty killer sound.
 
Super interested in getting a a custom 24 and something with p90s. There are no stores around me to go try one but i like thinner necks like a strat. i play a ton of phish, radiohead, smashing pumpkins, mostly alternative. How is the quality? And should i wait for newer models to come out?

The Phish part of your list is enigmatic. A Custom 24 would be ok for getting Radiohead and Pumpkins tones, but you'll get frustrated trying to sound like Trey with it. Trey Anastasio plays a fully hollow koa archtop guitar with a floating tailpiece, and a lot of his thick, endless sustain type tones are achieved by musically utilizing feedback (like the long note in You Enjoy Myself and The Divided Sky.)

That said, go for the playability of the instrument and the liveliness of the wood when played without an amp. You can always approximate a Phishy tone with a couple of Tubescreamers and a Ross Compressor.... it just won't have that thick, woody, distinctive Languedoc tone.
 
Super interested in getting a a custom 24 and something with p90s. There are no stores around me to go try one but i like thinner necks like a strat. i play a ton of phish, radiohead, smashing pumpkins, mostly alternative. How is the quality? And should i wait for newer models to come out?

Do an A/B test between the SE and whatever you usually play.
Play one, then the other and keep alternating.
I bet the PRS SE wins.
 
Do an A/B test between the SE and whatever you usually play.
Play one, then the other and keep alternating.
I bet the PRS SE wins.

He isn't able to try one.

I would just say that if you're going to buy a guitar without playing it in that price range, I can't think of any other I'd be more surprised at you being disappointed with.
 
Super interested in getting a a custom 24 and something with p90s. There are no stores around me to go try one but i like thinner necks like a strat. i play a ton of phish, radiohead, smashing pumpkins, mostly alternative. How is the quality? And should i wait for newer models to come out?

I'd never try to convince anyone to buy something I like - choosing an instrument is, and should be, a personal choice made after playing a bunch. So what I'd recommend is dealing with a shop where you can return the guitar within 24 hours if it's not for you.

Most players who try a PRS wind up being at the very least impressed with them, even if the tone isn't their thing. So it's hard to screw this up.

As to guitars and musical styles, truth is most guitars are well suited to any style, the problem is usually the player, not the choice of axe!

However, the CU24 is a very versatile guitar, there's nothing it can't do well in the hands of a good player.
 
just go for it! for years i was an ESP fanboy. but with their recent changes i've kinda lost interest in the whole company.

now i own 4 prs SE models which i really dig. perhaps in the future i'll go for a core PRS but who knows. for now i'm really really really happy with my SE guitars. they sound awesome and look great.
 
PRS SE guitars are great bang for the buck! I have a friend who's a made-in-Maryland snob, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I think their -- SE's -- only weakness is the pickups, and even then, only sometimes. I have...quite a few.
 
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Being a Phish phan myself, I opted for the Zach Myers SE. Surprised what that hollow portion of the body does for feedback sustain (I play a Mesa Express and Visual Sound VS-XO for overdrives). The semi hollow nature of the guitar gives it some airy qualities, definitely not Languedoc by any means, but it gets "me" feeling closer than a solid body 'bucker guitar or my Fenders.
 
OK

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