Hey guys, got my first PRS, and I love it (PRS SE Zach Myers)

[Rcj520]

Hey guys, I'm very excited about joining this forum. I just got my first PRS yesterday. It is a SE Zach Myers. I've loved PRS for years, and everything it stands for. I think Paul is a guy that really openly translates his passion for instrument building. I've watched tons of his videos on the attention to details in a PRS which I feel is what separates the brand from everyone else.

Zach Myers is also my favorite guitarist so when this sig model came out I had to have it. It's everything I hoped it would be. Plays like a dream. I'll probably do pictures and a full review later, but all I can say is the quality of instrument I got for the price has floored me. I am officially a die hard PRS guitarist.

Now some questions on my guitar, I already love it, so I wouldn't change much, but where can you typically make improvements on an SE. Like what would take it from a great guitar to an amazing guitar. I know company's tend to go cheaper on things like pickups, electronics and hardware. Like in my Ltd I automatically removed the esp designed pickups for some Seymour's. Are there a few things like that that are easy, significant upgrades on an SE, or is there not much room for improvement by putting some USA made PRS parts on it?

 

[RowanSE]

Good purchase man. Get some pics up lets see!

 

[dogrocketp]

I put hipshot locking ltuners on all my SE`s, and also a PRS USA nut. The only other thing I think is necessary is Schroeder locking studs. Anything else is personal preference.

 

[drdoom8793]

Hey guys, I'm very excited about joining this forum. I just got my first PRS yesterday. It is a SE Zach Myers. I've loved PRS for years, and everything it stands for. I think Paul is a guy that really openly translates his passion for instrument building. I've watched tons of his videos on the attention to details in a PRS which I feel is what separates the brand from everyone else.

Zach Myers is also my favorite guitarist so when this sig model came out I had to have it. It's everything I hoped it would be. Plays like a dream. I'll probably do pictures and a full review later, but all I can say is the quality of instrument I got for the price has floored me. I am officially a die hard PRS guitarist.

Now some questions on my guitar, I already love it, so I wouldn't change much, but where can you typically make improvements on an SE. Like what would take it from a great guitar to an amazing guitar. I know company's tend to go cheaper on things like pickups, electronics and hardware. Like in my Ltd I automatically removed the esp designed pickups for some Seymour's. Are there a few things like that that are easy, significant upgrades on an SE, or is there not much room for improvement by putting some USA made PRS parts on it?

I would recommend living with it for a bit before you start switching out too much but I'd say the most common things are pups and electronics. You see people adding stuff like locking tuners and different bridge pieces, but I find the SE tuners great for stoptails and the ZM already has the adjustable stoptail. Just my two cents.

 

[shinksma]

Functionally my ZM required no changes/upgrades - it is a great guitar. I did some cosmetic changes just to get a certain look, but I didn't need to.

Some folks upgrade tuners to locking tuners (more useful on a guitar with a trem bridge - the ZM seems to be pretty rock-solid tuning-wise). And many people swap pickups because that's just what they like to do - for some folks swapping pups is as easy as a string change, and they have a sound they prefer from a particular pickup, and I can't knock that. But the stock pups are fine, IMHO. If you want something different, go for it, but don't feel like you need to upgrade.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Congrats! Pics are welcomed!

 

[Rcj520]

Thanks for all the constructive response already! And yes I plan on keeping it the way it is, beside maybe a PRS USA nut for a while. I'm an electronics guy so swapping out pickups and stuff is quite easy so I usually do that. I'm not interested in putting anything non PRS on this guitar. I was looking at a vintage treble and hfs combo. Would that be a significant improvement over the SE pickups? Because this guitar already sounds pretty awesome.

And so far tuning reliability seems great and I love the look of these tuners so I probably won't mess with that. I did notice though that I got a plain black truss rod cover though but online it has the zm logo? I'd much rather get an actual PRS truss rod cover with maybe the PRS logo or another bird logo like the neck. The plain black is a bit of an eyesore on such a beautiful guitar.

 

[Rcj520]

Also I'll try and get a few pics up when I get home today. I'm not sure how to do it on mobile

 

[Rcj520]

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Heres the guitar, ill add a few more photos when i do a review post on the guitar in a few days. I personally feel like a got a really nice one. Ive seen a few with some crazy wood patterns that almost look private stock, but im really happy with how deep of a flame pattern this one has. Also the finish was flawless. Great job on this one PRS.

 

[rocguitar]

Nice guitar!

Welcome to the Club! :shakehands:

 

[toothace]

Congrats! Welcome aboard!

 

[Hollis Prince]

It's amazing how nice some of these SE's look. That's a stunning top! The ZM is by far my favorite SE.

 

[Raven17]

For mt two Tremonti SE's and my ZM, I changed to locking auto trimming tuners, Pups. And nut.

Great Choice btw on the ZM.

 

[shinksma]

I was looking at a vintage treble and hfs combo. Would that be a significant improvement over the SE pickups? Because this guitar already sounds pretty awesome.

You mean Vintage bass or Vintage treble? I'm only aware of VB+HFS combo, like I have in my Core CU24... But as always, if you like the sound of the pickups as-is, I would leave it until you find something they can't do that is important - more gain, or mellower, or whatever.

I did notice though that I got a plain black truss rod cover though but online it has the zm logo? I'd much rather get an actual PRS truss rod cover with maybe the PRS logo or another bird logo like the neck. The plain black is a bit of an eyesore on such a beautiful guitar.

The ZM has had three different truss rod covers from the factory: at first, "ZM". Then the regular PRS for a short while. And now just blank. I personally suspect they made x number of ZM TRCs, and when they ran out switched over to the PRS ones, and now PRS is using blank ones for many of their SE models, so that's what gets installed.

I don't mind the plain black, goes well with the other cosmetic mods I made:

 

[Rcj520]

You mean Vintage bass or Vintage treble? I'm only aware of VB+HFS combo, like I have in my Core CU24... But as always, if you like the sound of the pickups as-is, I would leave it until you find something they can't do that is important - more gain, or mellower, or whatever.


The ZM has had three different truss rod covers from the factory: at first, "ZM". Then the regular PRS for a short while. And now just blank. I personally suspect they made x number of ZM TRCs, and when they ran out switched over to the PRS ones, and now PRS is using blank ones for many of their SE models, so that's what gets installed.

Yea I meant the vb/hfs combo. And the pickups sound great, but coming from a jb in my other guitars bridge, this ones not as articulate with the high gain so I was hoping the hfs would have some better definition at very high gain.

And I didn't like the spalted maple in pictures, but that look amazing. Good job on the subtle changes.

 

[beas]

Love the ZM! I changed the strings to 10's. Never filed the nut. I may have turned the truss rod 1/4 turn. And, this thing stays in tune as well as some of my guitars with locking tuners. The switch fro 9's to 10's somehow helped with my tuning stability, particularly on the low E string.

 

[shinksma]

Yea I meant the vb/hfs combo. And the pickups sound great, but coming from a jb in my other guitars bridge, this ones not as articulate with the high gain so I was hoping the hfs would have some better definition at very high gain.

And I didn't like the spalted maple in pictures, but that look amazing. Good job on the subtle changes.

I should compare the ZM with my CU24 (with VB/HFS) on my Archon - it is relatively high gain. Not tonight, but maybe by the weekend...?

I must admit I was apprehensive about the Spalted Maple, because sometimes it can look not so good, but the run that Brian's got was pretty nice looking overall, and I quite like the look of mine. And yeah, switching out the pup rings and switch tip to black really helped, and I like to think the pup covers also were a useful change.

 

[Rcj520]

Sounds great! I'd love to read your review on it. Also an archon is my dream amp, one day I'll buy one.

I've got a local custom guitar shop that I've heard great things about, and I want to check them out. Never hurts to have a trusted guitar tech, so I figured I'd have them do a complete set up when I need my next string change. They will replace the nut for 15 bucks extra so I'll just go ahead and put on a PRS USA nut just for the hell of it

 

[vchizzle]

I'd go PRS USA nut, Gotoh SD 90 locking tuners(same look you have now) and whatever pickups suit your style. I've had the HFS in a McCarty and SC standard, I think it would work well in this guitar. I'm sure the VB would be good as well but I have no experience with it in a 22 fret guitar.