NGD: PRS SE Custom 24 Zebrawood - Not Very Happy :(

[sergiodeblanc]

I can think of a few different ways that the bridge could be knocked out of whack like that after it left Sweetwater.

And all of them involve a Philips head screwdriver.

 

[tonytester]

Hello all... so my PRS SE CU 24 Zebrawood arrived, and unfortunately I have to report that the "3rd time was not a charm". Below you'll find some pictures.

If you wanna know the whole story you can check my posts on this THREAD, but long story short this is the 3rd unit that I've received from Sweetwater, as the first two had different issues: Failing pickup switcher, bent pots, truss rod issues and microphonics pickups.

For this unit I decided to pay Sweetwater for a full "Pro Setup". My intent was to have their guitar tech do more than the regular "55 point review" of the unit before shipping it to me. My guidelines for them for the setup was to have it as close a possible to factory specs with no fret-buzz, and I also asked them to replace the stock strings with a fresh set of Ernie Ball '9s (Super Slinky).

Those factory recommended specs I gave them supposedly are: 0.010 in (0.254 mm) neck relief, 1/16 in (1.6 mm) Action and 1/16 in (1.6 mm) Bridge to body distance.

What I've received was not even close to factory specs:

- 0.013 in (0.330 mm) neck relief
- 5/64 in (2 mm) action on 12th fret
- And a whooping 0.1 in (2.5 mm) of bridge to body distance. This thing is floating like a Floyd
- Also the tone knob is bent (similar to the first unit that I got)

My main concern is that even with this very high action and extremely elevated bridge there's still fret buzz on the lower frets on the 1st to 6th frets on the low E and A strings (audible on the amp). My other concern is that as you'll see on the picture of the saddles, they not only raised a lot the bridge to 0.1 in (2.5 mm), but they also had to raise a lot the middle saddles.... so I can't imagine how much fret-buzz this unit would have if I even try to get it back to factory specs.

At this point I'm very close to talk to my Sales Engineer and just request a return, but this time I will not ask them to send another one, I'll just simply request a refund and I'll have to bite the bullet and buy on a local GC... at least this way I'll have the opportunity to check and play the unit in person before buying it.

Your thoughts and advice are very welcome!!!

WOW great camera REALLY BAD set up. I'd give up.

 

[Victek]

FYI... I contacted my Sales Engineer at Sweetwater yesterday

Looking forward to hearing what the Sweetwater Sales Engineer has to say.

 

[László]

Sweetwater is fine with mics and recording hardware, but I honestly feel they don’t do a great job with guitars.

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

... but I honestly feel they don’t do a great job with guitars.

I do... My McCarty arrived perfectly from them, and other than string changes (yes Les, some of us change our strings periodically!) I haven't touched the setup in the 18 months since I received it.

The setup on the OP's guitar is horrible! You could crawl under those strings. Too bad, as it's a sweet looking guitar. If it were mine I'd just be tempted to do the setup myself, but if it were a bad build from the factory (e.g., poor neck angle) then you might spend ages mucking with the thing, only to find it was unfixable.

 

[TheAtomicDJ]

...If it were mine I'd just be tempted to do the setup myself, but if it were a bad build from the factory (e.g., poor neck angle) then you might spend ages mucking with the thing, only to find it was unfixable.

I would be tempted as well... but my reasoning not to start tweaking it is that if with such a high action there’s a lot of fret buzz in the first few frets, I believe that if I try to lower the bridge to the right position, plus set the right neck relief and action, that fret buzz will most likely be magnified as the strings will be much closer to the fretboard. I do believe as you said that this may be a bad build from the factory, and there won’t be much luck trying to fix it myself.

Don’t get me wrong... I’ve had good experiences with Sweetwater, both with how responsive and friendly my sales engineer always is, and the nice discounts that they’ve always given me on the products I’ve bought.

But in this case we have to face the facts that the first PRS Zebrawood that they sent me had a faulty pickup switcher, that should’ve been detected on their inspection before shipping it (unless it broke during its transit through FedEx), and with this last Zebrawood I thought that if I’d pay them to perform the full setup, then they would detect any factory issue on the guitar, and they would communicate with me and say “hey dude, you’ll need to choose another unit because the one that you had originally chosen has a bad neck angle from the factory that would not allow a good setup.”

Instead it seems that their tech might’ve chosen to force the setup, and pass it along to their shipping department, and here we are. This again it’s just an assumption, as it’s fairly possible that the problems were caused by Fedex slamming the box (although there’s no physical damage to the box anywhere) or the super hot and humid Florida weather, or something like that.

 

[merciful-evans]

regardless of the bridge issues, clearly the frets are not level. Until they are, the set up will never be optimal. If the 13th fret is the only culprit, it would be worth checking whether it has lifted. If so, it might be possible to tap it down & reseat it.

It seems you have been very unlucky. It is extremely frustrating I know (from experience). The last guitar I bought (this year/ non-PRS/ used/ private) needed full fret leveling, crown & polishing. It was worth it, but no way would I be doing this on a new guitar from a respected retailer!

I am less convinced that changing model will be your best course of action.

In your shoes I would
1/ confront Sweetwater with the evidence you have shown us and ask them what they have to say about it.
2/ (depending on the response) ask for a refund and resume your quest the old fashioned way; ie: go out and play a bunch of guitars.

 

[Mark Bois]

I've read far too many issues with Sweetwater guitars and their "55 point inspection"...as in, it's a scam, they don't do anything.
After two bad examples, I'd have given up on the store and model. Go for the used S2 as someone noted above...those are superior guitars

Agreed I bought a Yamaha Revstar from them the high E was dead from the 12th fret up. There's no way anyone did an inspection on that guitar. Good thing I know a little about guitars I fixed it myself, but if I was a beginner or didn't know how to fix it I would have had to send it back not what you want to do with a new instrument.

 

[László]

QUOTE="Dirty_Boogie, post: 490703, member: 19996"]yes Les, some of us change our strings periodically!
[/QUOTE]

You don’t just trade them in when they need a string change??

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

QUOTE="Dirty_Boogie, post: 490703, member: 19996"]yes Les, some of us change our strings periodically!

You don’t just trade them in when they need a string change??

[/QUOTE]
You can trade in used strings...? I never thought about that!

 

[CyFan4036]

This really sucks that you’re having such a hard time getting a proper SE. I’d contact PRS directly and explain the situation and see if they will help. Given that the SE line is essentially their gateway to folks wanting a Core, I’m sure this isn’t ideal for them. There’s no excuse for what you’re going through. I ordered my SE from ZZounds and had zero problems.

 

[TheAtomicDJ]

Well... I just spoke with my Sales Engineer at Sweetwater and he truly apologized for the bad setup. He said that they are going to look up with their tech team why that guitar was shipped like that.

Besides apologizing he offered to have their team fix all the issues at no cost including fret leveling and dressing, or a full refund. I opted for the refund because I believe the bad setup is not the only problem, as I think there might be deeper manufacturing issues on that unit, and a brand new guitar should not require that much work in the first place.

Once I get my money back I'll go the local GCs and try to play a few (not from display). I think that I should be able to find a good one easily.

 

[dogrocketp]

If you have the option, don’t go to GC. My younger son was in management there, and they discourage their guitar techs from doing any new setup. It used to piss my son off, especially with some of the horrific new USA guitars they were trying to sell. Of course, he bought a PRS for himself, even though he’s a keyboard player.

 

[Victek]

If you have the option, don’t go to GC. My younger son was in management there, and they discourage their guitar techs from doing any new setup.

I'm not sure what you're saying about GC. I've bought a few new guitars there and they were setup fine. They may have just come that way from the factory though and not setup by someone in the store, but why would that matter?

 

[Big Mike]

Send it back.
Call Jack Gretz and see if he can get you one.
It'll be set up magnificently.

 

[GADonis]

I'm not sure what you're saying about GC. I've bought a few new guitars there and they were setup fine. They may have just come that way from the factory though and not setup by someone in the store, but why would that matter?

Like any other store, the quality varies from location to location. When I lived in Houston, the GC near me was not very good. As an example, one of the guys working in the guitar department didn't have the slightest clue as to what a P-90 pickup was. Their "product specialist" for a certain piece of gear did not know how to properly hook it up.

However, when I was in New Orleans, the GC there was great. The guys working in the guitar department knew their stuff both from a basic standpoint and the products they sold. It was on the recommendation of one of these guys that I found the Rockett Blue Note which is a great pedal. And now I have several Rockett pedals because their stuff is great. And I never would have found them had it not been for the guy in the New Orleans GC.

 

[Big Mike]

The GC near me is managed by a lady that took lessons in my old MI store back in the 90's.
She gets it.

Way cool.

 

[dogrocketp]

I'm not sure what you're saying about GC. I've bought a few new guitars there and they were setup fine. They may have just come that way from the factory though and not setup by someone in the store, but why would that matter?

When the guitar (new or used) comes in the store. They are not supposed to adjust it, or even change the strings. Company policy. My son left GC this year. Of course, you can return almost anything for a refund. If there's no climate change during shipping or other issues, the guitar may be fine. The idea is to get the OP a decent instrument with no problems. Jack Gretz is a great idea, as are several others. The advantage that Jack has is that he's also a luthier, so it gets dealt with on the spot, and he'll never sell crap. John Mann is another good idea. The baseline is that the sale is more important to a smaller dealer, and in the end, business is about relationships.

 

[Antmax]

I'd return it and get a used one from Dave's Guitar shop. I've bought a couple from him in as many years. Prices close to Craigslist for SE's. Free shipping no Tax and plenty of photos.
They sometimes have used S2's for about the price of a new SE CU24.

 

[TheAtomicDJ]

Thanks for the advice regarding Jack's and Dave's shops. I've visited their websites and I think that both are good options, especially since they are small local stores that I'm sure will take much more care in shipping a well inspected and setup guitar, than a big company like Sweewater or GC would do.

Still... I'm going to give it a shot first to the two local GC stores that I have in my area, as supposedly both have PRS SE Zebrawood in stock. If I can find a "boxed" one that they haven't put on display, which is correctly set to factory specs, and that I can test and don't find any apparent issues with, then that might be the best choice and I'll take it home and setup myself. If I can't find one then most likely I'll order one from Jack Gretz and hope for the best.

Only reason I don't jump immediately and order from one of them is because after 3 bad units from Sweetwater you can understand that I'm now hesitant to order a guitar online, as we never know if the culprit on these bad guitars I've received could be how badly FedEx/UPS handle those packages, or the extreme warm/humid conditions that these guitars have to go through while being transported to crazy-weather Florida (usually by ground).