GratefulDean
New Member
Que Wall of Text:
I took delivery of my first PRS this last Saturday. Nice guitar, uneven burst, but the neck is fantastic! Before I go any further let me give you some background. You can skip this and go to my thoughts below.
BACKGROUND:
I have been a Strat guy most my life, getting a Squire in middle school and a SuperStrat in high school. I stopped playing for 20+ years then decided to hit it again when my daughter was born grabbing a low cost acoustic.
Then I decided I wanted an electric but felt that since I would only need one guitar (LOL) I wanted one that could get me the most tones. So I picked up an Epiphone ES335 Pro in Cherry with split coils about 4 years ago. It is a sweet guitar, well built, paint is tight on it and I could play everything from jazz to rock to rockabilly. But, what I have learned since then is that there is really no such thing as "one guitar".
So, a couple years ago I picked up a Player Strat with an Ebony fret board off Amazon from Chicago Music Exchange. I frankly was a little unsure about getting a guitar, site unseen, from Amazon but had a bunch of gift cards that I could put toward it. When it came in I was pleasantly surprised. It was nearly perfect out of the box. I only had to do minor intonation work and dress the frets. After my experience with both the Epiphone and Player Strat being such quality guitars I felt it safe to continue with my high-low cost guitar purchase. The quality of that Strat made me comfortable buying guitars on line. (Seriously, I've played American Strats and can't tell the difference.)
Then about a year or so later I grabbed a Player Tele with a maple fretboard, also off Amazon, from Amazon. The first one came in with a paint chip which I sent back but the second one was, again, in nearly perfect shape. I did have to enlist my local luthier (Colfax Guitar Shop) to help me with the intonation but now that has become my favorite guitar.
I really have liked all three of my "player" level guitars and will continue this pursuit until I feel my playing has gotten good enough to deserve a McCarty 594, or or Custom Shop Tele/Strat.
END BACKGROUND
After waiting over a month for the guitar to arrive at Sweetwater, and then get shipped to me, I have a brand new SE245! I'm very excited but would like to get some folks opinions on the finish.
Firstly, the guitar is really well built, the neck is fantastic and the frets are perfect. Both my Fender Player guitars and Epiphone needed the fret ends dressed after I bought them. The pickups are great as well. I’m very happy with it save for the burst finish.
I waited a little over a month for the guitar and got a call from Sweetwater that only two came in and the first was already allocated to someone who was before me. They were unsure when the guitar I ordered would come in the first place and didn’t expect any more until next May.
When the sales guy sent me the photos, I was honestly a little disappointed. The finish along the edges is really uneven. All the examples of the Antique Burst on the the SE 245 I had seen on the interwebs had beautiful burst finishes. I think some of the unevenness on the guitar is due to the top being that of a lower end PRS and the grain accepting the paint differently which is OK. But some of it really looks as though whoever did it went a little heavy on the sides in a few places.
Regardless, I was OK with buying it as my primary concern was tone and playability and I still like the Antique Burst over the darker one.
Now that I have it in hand, I really do love it. They did end up getting 4 more in about a week later all with the uneven finish but much nicer tops, but mine had already shipped. I decided to wait until mine came in and see how it plays. The verdict: mine plays and sounds wonderful and looks pretty good. I don’t want to send it back and get a moderately better looking guitar but it not playing as nice as this one. Besides the uneven finish gives it some character.
So what do you all think? Is this a common issue with the lower end PRS burst guitars having this problem? Or am I out of line? Is it just the grain on the edges causing the darker paint?
Anyway, I am looking forward to many years with this guitar and am excited to no longer being a thirsty lurker on this forum.
Thanks all,
Dean
PS. I am trying to embed the photo but nothing seems to be working. There is a link above as well as here
I took delivery of my first PRS this last Saturday. Nice guitar, uneven burst, but the neck is fantastic! Before I go any further let me give you some background. You can skip this and go to my thoughts below.
BACKGROUND:
I have been a Strat guy most my life, getting a Squire in middle school and a SuperStrat in high school. I stopped playing for 20+ years then decided to hit it again when my daughter was born grabbing a low cost acoustic.
Then I decided I wanted an electric but felt that since I would only need one guitar (LOL) I wanted one that could get me the most tones. So I picked up an Epiphone ES335 Pro in Cherry with split coils about 4 years ago. It is a sweet guitar, well built, paint is tight on it and I could play everything from jazz to rock to rockabilly. But, what I have learned since then is that there is really no such thing as "one guitar".
So, a couple years ago I picked up a Player Strat with an Ebony fret board off Amazon from Chicago Music Exchange. I frankly was a little unsure about getting a guitar, site unseen, from Amazon but had a bunch of gift cards that I could put toward it. When it came in I was pleasantly surprised. It was nearly perfect out of the box. I only had to do minor intonation work and dress the frets. After my experience with both the Epiphone and Player Strat being such quality guitars I felt it safe to continue with my high-low cost guitar purchase. The quality of that Strat made me comfortable buying guitars on line. (Seriously, I've played American Strats and can't tell the difference.)
Then about a year or so later I grabbed a Player Tele with a maple fretboard, also off Amazon, from Amazon. The first one came in with a paint chip which I sent back but the second one was, again, in nearly perfect shape. I did have to enlist my local luthier (Colfax Guitar Shop) to help me with the intonation but now that has become my favorite guitar.
I really have liked all three of my "player" level guitars and will continue this pursuit until I feel my playing has gotten good enough to deserve a McCarty 594, or or Custom Shop Tele/Strat.
END BACKGROUND
After waiting over a month for the guitar to arrive at Sweetwater, and then get shipped to me, I have a brand new SE245! I'm very excited but would like to get some folks opinions on the finish.
Firstly, the guitar is really well built, the neck is fantastic and the frets are perfect. Both my Fender Player guitars and Epiphone needed the fret ends dressed after I bought them. The pickups are great as well. I’m very happy with it save for the burst finish.
I waited a little over a month for the guitar and got a call from Sweetwater that only two came in and the first was already allocated to someone who was before me. They were unsure when the guitar I ordered would come in the first place and didn’t expect any more until next May.
When the sales guy sent me the photos, I was honestly a little disappointed. The finish along the edges is really uneven. All the examples of the Antique Burst on the the SE 245 I had seen on the interwebs had beautiful burst finishes. I think some of the unevenness on the guitar is due to the top being that of a lower end PRS and the grain accepting the paint differently which is OK. But some of it really looks as though whoever did it went a little heavy on the sides in a few places.
Regardless, I was OK with buying it as my primary concern was tone and playability and I still like the Antique Burst over the darker one.
Now that I have it in hand, I really do love it. They did end up getting 4 more in about a week later all with the uneven finish but much nicer tops, but mine had already shipped. I decided to wait until mine came in and see how it plays. The verdict: mine plays and sounds wonderful and looks pretty good. I don’t want to send it back and get a moderately better looking guitar but it not playing as nice as this one. Besides the uneven finish gives it some character.
So what do you all think? Is this a common issue with the lower end PRS burst guitars having this problem? Or am I out of line? Is it just the grain on the edges causing the darker paint?
Anyway, I am looking forward to many years with this guitar and am excited to no longer being a thirsty lurker on this forum.
Thanks all,
Dean
PS. I am trying to embed the photo but nothing seems to be working. There is a link above as well as here
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