Wakester
Re Member
So as most of you know, I was allowed to buy a CE24 SE for my birthday earlier this month. It is really a nice guitar and worthy of a review by someone, so I will give my 2 cents worth. I am really surprised that I do not see any others on here. Keep in mind these are purely my observations and opinions, I am not paid by anyone to make these comments.
FIT AND FINISH
- The guitar came out of the box in fine condition, with no major flaws or defects being noticed initially. Frets feel smooth and level and free of sharp ends. Just a thought though, it would be really nice if PRS finished their frets with Ball Ends. Not complaining, just something I have on a lesser guitar that makes it very enjoyable.
- There was just a tiny bit of glue residue on one of the lower frets, nothing serious and it easily came off with a flick of a hobby knife.
- The neck joint seemed a little jagged or frayed on the body side, and there appears to be a bit of a gap between the body and neck in places. Not having had a Bolt on PRSi, I am not sure if this is normal or not. It's certainly not something I am going to send it back over though.
- The maple neck feels almost unfinished, but very smooth. and playable up and down the length
- The Maple veneer cap is up close a very nice example of flamed maple with both vertical and horizontal grain patterns. My only complaint is that in certain lighting, the cap looks like it was colored with crayon and magic marker. and yet in other lights it is really quite spectacular
- The back is really spectacular and has a sharp grain pattern and nice gloss finish.
The only thing I really do not like is the Birds on the Board. They seem plain and plastic. But, I am spoiled, all my other birds are MOP or Abalone like material that have a good bit of color variation. Again not worth sending it back, but worth noting.
FUNCTION AND PLAYABILITY
Right out of the box the guitar was almost in tune, and the action was at spec. No issue with high or unlevel frets. Pickups were at a good level and sound crisp and clear. I chose to lower the action considerably, and probably could go down even more if I wanted to deck the trem. I did tweak the screw slugs in the pickups to match the neck radius, and everything still sounds good and has equal volume on all 6 strings.
Pots and switches all feel smooth and operate quietly as expected. I did swap out the black speed knobs for Gold and Turquoise inlayed knobs, just to make it my own.
Pickups are crisp clean and well voiced for this guitar. I like that I can go to distortion and not get muddy. Volume and Tone controls are much better than what I have received in previous guitars, so I will not be changing these out anytime soon. The guitar sounds like what I want a guitar to sound like.
Stock Tuners seem a little loose, to turn, and I did not feel the same amount of friction on all six. So I changed those out for PRS SE Locking Tuners. The new tuners operate smoother and with equal turn friction on all six.
I'm not a fan of stock strings so those came off and were replaced with Ernie Ball Paradigm Super Slinky's (9 - 42's). Just me, its what I have used for years and what I like.
Playability before and after mods was excellent and as expected for a PRSi. My tweaks only made an Excellent Guitar just a little better. All in all the CE24 SE is a really really nice guitar. I do not regret buying this guitar, and would be happy to purchase another or the SE SAS. PRS SE division has really stepped up the game this time. These guitars are going to be hard to beat by the competition.
FIT AND FINISH
- The guitar came out of the box in fine condition, with no major flaws or defects being noticed initially. Frets feel smooth and level and free of sharp ends. Just a thought though, it would be really nice if PRS finished their frets with Ball Ends. Not complaining, just something I have on a lesser guitar that makes it very enjoyable.
- There was just a tiny bit of glue residue on one of the lower frets, nothing serious and it easily came off with a flick of a hobby knife.
- The neck joint seemed a little jagged or frayed on the body side, and there appears to be a bit of a gap between the body and neck in places. Not having had a Bolt on PRSi, I am not sure if this is normal or not. It's certainly not something I am going to send it back over though.
- The maple neck feels almost unfinished, but very smooth. and playable up and down the length
- The Maple veneer cap is up close a very nice example of flamed maple with both vertical and horizontal grain patterns. My only complaint is that in certain lighting, the cap looks like it was colored with crayon and magic marker. and yet in other lights it is really quite spectacular
- The back is really spectacular and has a sharp grain pattern and nice gloss finish.
The only thing I really do not like is the Birds on the Board. They seem plain and plastic. But, I am spoiled, all my other birds are MOP or Abalone like material that have a good bit of color variation. Again not worth sending it back, but worth noting.
FUNCTION AND PLAYABILITY
Right out of the box the guitar was almost in tune, and the action was at spec. No issue with high or unlevel frets. Pickups were at a good level and sound crisp and clear. I chose to lower the action considerably, and probably could go down even more if I wanted to deck the trem. I did tweak the screw slugs in the pickups to match the neck radius, and everything still sounds good and has equal volume on all 6 strings.
Pots and switches all feel smooth and operate quietly as expected. I did swap out the black speed knobs for Gold and Turquoise inlayed knobs, just to make it my own.
Pickups are crisp clean and well voiced for this guitar. I like that I can go to distortion and not get muddy. Volume and Tone controls are much better than what I have received in previous guitars, so I will not be changing these out anytime soon. The guitar sounds like what I want a guitar to sound like.
Stock Tuners seem a little loose, to turn, and I did not feel the same amount of friction on all six. So I changed those out for PRS SE Locking Tuners. The new tuners operate smoother and with equal turn friction on all six.
I'm not a fan of stock strings so those came off and were replaced with Ernie Ball Paradigm Super Slinky's (9 - 42's). Just me, its what I have used for years and what I like.
Playability before and after mods was excellent and as expected for a PRSi. My tweaks only made an Excellent Guitar just a little better. All in all the CE24 SE is a really really nice guitar. I do not regret buying this guitar, and would be happy to purchase another or the SE SAS. PRS SE division has really stepped up the game this time. These guitars are going to be hard to beat by the competition.
