Mystery PRS Amp

dogrocketp

dogrocketp

I drank the PRS kool aid, and it was tasty!
Joined
Apr 28, 2013
Messages
5,733
Location
Springfield, Va.
Someone near me has a combo amp that is being advertised as an SE 30 watt, for a very good price. 2 interesting things about it. First it`s signed by Paul himself. The mystifying part is that the front is all black with the script PRS logo on the front. It also says 2 channel 30 with no SE indication. Is this an anomaly? I thought that all the SE`s had SE clearly written on the front, and had the block logo. The front is also enclosed.....no metal grill. Any thoughts? I don`t want to ask the seller too many questions. If it`s American, I`ll buy it in a New York minute.
 
Are there pictures of the back? If it has knobs for the effects loop send and return levels, it's probably Maryland made. If it has an instrument/line level switch instead, it's an SE.
 
Thanks, Andy. It has the effects loop send and return. As it turns out, this is the second owner. The original owner bought it at a special seminar that Paul conducted. The front plate may have been changed prior to the seminar. The back picture is so bad that I can`t really see, so I bet it`s Chinese.. It`s so cheap I may have to buy it anyway.
 
Hmm, perhaps an early prototype when they were working things out with the overseas factory? Sounds cool...
 
I bought the amp. I took an SE 30th Anni 24 to try it out. It took me about 45 seconds of playing to decide. It seems that PRS wasn`t happy with the sales of the SE amps, so they decided to redo the cabinets to make them look more like the 2 channel Core amps. After the first batch of prototypes, the line was shelved. That`s the cosmetic issues. My picky bass player buddy, Cookie, says the clean channel sound is excellent. More gig hours will solve the gain channel settings. I wish it didn`t weigh as much, but the sound is worth it, so I bought a collapsible hand truck. By the way.....for anyone who owns any SE combo. The core amp cover is a perfect fit. The best part is that one side of the cover has padding to protect the front of the speaker enclosure. It's the best cover I've ever seen.
 
dogrocketp said:
I bought the amp. I took an SE 30th Anni 24 to try it out. It took me about 45 seconds of playing to decide. It seems that PRS wasn`t happy with the sales of the SE amps, so they decided to redo the cabinets to make them look more like the 2 channel Core amps. After the first batch of prototypes, the line was shelved. That`s the cosmetic issues. My picky bass player buddy, Cookie, says the clean channel sound is excellent. More gig hours will solve the gain channel settings. I wish it didn`t weigh as much, but the sound is worth it, so I bought a collapsible hand truck. By the way.....for anyone who owns any SE combo. The core amp cover is a perfect fit. The best part is that one side of the cover has padding to protect the front of the speaker enclosure. It's the best cover I've ever seen.
Click to expand...

So, the redesign was shortly before the SE amp line was discontinued altogether? Very cool that you got a prototype. I wonder if they made tonal changes to them as well? I'd love to see some pics, just for kicks.
 
Don`t have the wherewithal to post on the forum,but I can send them to you to post. Doug Sewell told me they "rebiased" them and did minor tweaks. I haven`t pulled the back to see if the power tubes or anything obvious was changed.
 
I wonder what those tweaks were, I heard the SE amps were getting some updates, then they just kind of disappeared. They were a bit bass heavy and had (IMO) too much gain. But the build was second to none and they had great features, with a little tweaking they make a good amp.
 
I haven't played one, but my buddy who is a PRS and Mesa dealer had an SE50 in his store that was used, and he said he was going to buy it because he really liked it. Asked me to bring my Custom 50 next time I head his way so we could compare them. He said it sounded really nice.
 
I just scored an SE20 head like your combo on Reverb. It's called a 2 Channel 20. There is another one available now. This is the first "black panel" model I have seen. I thought the seller made an error. Didn't realize it was the last batch of SE's.
 
Congratulations! I was told some tweaks had been performed, but I don`t have the time or inclination to pull the combo apart. All I know is that mine kills. I hope yours does as well. As Andy474x has said in the past.......da louda da betta with these. They don`t seem to come into ther own unless you get some volume under them.
 
I see they still have a 20 and a 30 at Dave's, I wonder how they sound compared to the first gen SE amps. Would love to sit down with one.
 
Don`t you need an emergency backup 30, Andy? IF you watch Paul on his SE Amp video, he says the 30 is the sleeper of the amp line.
 
andy474x said:
It is. Might need a backup wife if the current one sees it, though!
Click to expand...

A discerning gentleman must always have another wife in reserve, mustn't he?

"Goodbye, dear! Enjoy your new life! May I give you a parting gift, say, a house and a large check? Yes? Good! Here you are!"

"Wait...who's that with you?"

"Oh, I should have introduced you. This is my backup wife, Mary. I had her in reserve until she was needed."

"She's...so pretty and young!"

"Oh yes, my dear, she is! Isn't that wonderful? Well, ta-ta, see you later, auld lang syne and all that, buh-bye..."
 
Last edited:
LSchefman said:
A discerning gentleman must always have another wife in reserve, mustn't he?

"Goodbye, dear! Enjoy your new life! May I give you a parting gift, say, a house and a large check? Yes? Good! Here you are!"

"Wait...who's that with you?"

"Oh, I should have introduced you. This is my backup wife, Mary. I had her in reserve until she was needed."

"She's...so pretty and young!"

"Oh yes, my dear, she is! Isn't that wonderful? Well, ta-ta, see you later, auld lang syne and all that, buh-bye..."
Click to expand...

HA HA HA!!:p:p:p If only it was that simple...
 
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