I'll add some Stripped '58 esoterica. It debuted at the 2011 PRS Experience and had a good enough reception that afterwards they had about a month long ordering period and all of the 2011s were produced in the last months of that year. The response to that was good enough that it became a full production model in 2012 but then was changed back to the SC245 in 2013. When the options of the 'dirty birds' and better figured maple were added, the price approached the SC58.
The only difference between the 2011s and the 2012s is the stop tailpiece. The 2011 had six slots, the 2012 five slots. Personally I like the appearance of the six slot tailpiece but it doesn't hold the strings as well during string changes.
Glad you also had a good experience with GC. Same here. There are some great people there. I'd purchased four SE245, three online, and the local manager sent one of them to my brother in another state for free. The critics have valid points that often the guitars aren't given much TLC or worse. One of the SE245s had a
bad fretboard and was returned, all of them needed string changes and setups. However, with the 45 day return window, the downside is minimal. The
SE245 Soapbar is a spectacular guitar with an upgraded stacked Duncan P90 and a gorgeous sanded neck which sold for the price of a vanilla SE245.
