I Love My SE Swamp Ash Special, But..........

[Butch_Snyder]

I really do not like the neck. I can handle the flatter radius, but I really am having a difficult time with the Wide Thin neck profile. I'm a Fender guy who's used to Telecasters with D or U-shaped necks. So, you get my issue here. I replaced the pickups and rewired it differently than stock and I'm really happy with it. It's just the neck profile. Other than that, no complaints.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

A W/T neck can make any day worse.

 

[BrianC]

I have one WT it is OK but my least favorite. If I play it first it makes it easier.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I have one WT it is OK but my least favorite. If I play it first it makes it easier.

Only one?

That surprises me with you being a CU24 guy.

 

[Butch_Snyder]

Looks like the US-made model, which is not part of the Core line (maybe because it's bolt-on) is a "Pattern Regular" design. I don't know what that means, but I guess it's different than the W/T.

 

[Cyberi4n]

Necks is as necks is

A horrible neck can ruin a great guitar. But a great neck does not make a great guitar….

 

[Butch_Snyder]

Necks is as necks is

A horrible neck can ruin a great guitar. But a great neck does not make a great guitar….

Very true. The neck isn't bad. It's just not a profile that I gravitate toward.

 

[Cyberi4n]

I get that. I love a thin neck as I have ridiculously short fingers. That said, after initially hating the neck on my SE SS I’ve grown to really love it. Makes perfect sense to me now, and it’s easy to play too!

 

[vchizzle]

Looks like the US-made model, which is not part of the Core line (maybe because it's bolt-on) is a "Pattern Regular" design. I don't know what that means, but I guess it's different than the W/T.

My guess is the pattern regular neck from prs would feel most normal and best to you. Unless you’re used to 50’s big necks from fender. Then maybe pattern vintage.

 

[Shreddy]

Playing on and off for 40 years recently back into electrics and I have a large variety of electrics with necks of all shapes and sizes...
& I keep trying to, but I still just never sweat the neck.

I see and hear SOO much talk about this neck profile and that neck profile, gibson vs fender vs Ibanez vs PRS's variety..and how it is so critical to some players to the point where the "wrong" profile becomes a huge negative, I just never feel it.

I guess I'm just happy to have a guitar in my hands again, making noises some I really like ;-)
I can only assume at some point i'll develop a real preference, 'til then, I'll appreciate being blissfully unaffected by such concerns.....

Rock On Good People!
;-)

 

[Glide-bpm]

Playing on and off for 40 years recently back into electrics and I have a large variety of electrics with necks of all shapes and sizes...
& I keep trying to, but I still just never sweat the neck.

I see and hear SOO much talk about this neck profile and that neck profile, gibson vs fender vs Ibanez vs PRS's variety..and how it is so critical to some players to the point where the "wrong" profile becomes a huge negative, I just never feel it.

I guess I'm just happy to have a guitar in my hands again, making noises some I really like ;-)
I can only assume at some point i'll develop a real preference, 'til then, I'll appreciate being blissfully unaffected by such concerns.....

Rock On Good People!
;-)

I'm the same way... I can play about any neck comfortably.
I don't even look to see what kind of neck carve other than for informational purposes!

 

[bodia]

I'm the same way... I can play about any neck comfortably.
I don't even look to see what kind of neck carve other than for informational purposes!

Likewise

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

Looks like the US-made model, which is not part of the Core line (maybe because it's bolt-on) is a "Pattern Regular" design. I don't know what that means, but I guess it's different than the W/T.

Pattern Regular is short for “best neck ever!” I have a maple board P/R on the NF3. It’s PERFECT!

 

[Veetwin]

I really do not like the neck. I can handle the flatter radius, but I really am having a difficult time with the Wide Thin neck profile. I'm a Fender guy who's used to Telecasters with D or U-shaped necks. So, you get my issue here. I replaced the pickups and rewired it differently than stock and I'm really happy with it. It's just the neck profile. Other than that, no complaints.

Could I please ask how you rewired it? With the new 2025 SE SAS coming out I am interested to get the single middle pickup on its own

 

[Going Modal]

A W/T neck can make any day worse.

"W/T" =

Weird/Tacky
Wobbly/Tainted
Wet/Throbbing
..?

 

[leftyblues]

"W/T" =

Weird/Tacky
Wobbly/Tainted
Wet/Throbbing
..?

Wide / thin, I had to reread to figure that out. Wet / throbbing lol!

 

[dogrocketp]

All good for me, as long as they have that name on the headstock. Of course I do live 90 miles from the factory and know some of the people.

 

[Butch_Snyder]

Could I please ask how you rewired it? With the new 2025 SE SAS coming out I am interested to get the single middle pickup on its own

I completely changed the pickups and replaced the stock PRS pickups with Seymour Duncan. I wired the two humbuckers to the three-way toggle switch like normal. I wired the middle single coil to the legs of the push-pull tone pot. So the switching works like this:

1. Push-pull pot down, single coil pickup is off and only the three-way toggle works. So, like a McCarty.
2. Push-pull pot up, single coil pickup is on and combined with whatever position the three-way toggle is.

There is no coil-splitting or tapping.

 

[Butch_Snyder]

Playing on and off for 40 years recently back into electrics and I have a large variety of electrics with necks of all shapes and sizes...
& I keep trying to, but I still just never sweat the neck.

I see and hear SOO much talk about this neck profile and that neck profile, gibson vs fender vs Ibanez vs PRS's variety..and how it is so critical to some players to the point where the "wrong" profile becomes a huge negative, I just never feel it.

I guess I'm just happy to have a guitar in my hands again, making noises some I really like ;-)
I can only assume at some point i'll develop a real preference, 'til then, I'll appreciate being blissfully unaffected by such concerns.....

Rock On Good People!
;-)

I hear and understand that; however, I play very often and I often do demo and session work for folks, so the right neck profile is very importany to me. When I play live and I go from a fat Telecaster neck profile, then to the wide-thin profile of my SAS SE, it takes a minute for my hands, fingers, and mind to adjust.

 

[Steve's addiction]

I play with a light touch so for me neck profile on my PRS's aren't as important as the action. I love a super low almost buzzing action. I love the w/t neck on my 89 ce and the action is borderline buzzing. I wish all my other PRS's had the same action.