NGD SE Mark Holcomb!

MichaelC24

Sucker for Squabbins
Joined
Apr 28, 2015
Messages
204
Location
Boston, MA
So let me start off by saying this is a guitar I've been waiting for since they announced the core model...I'm all over the place with my musical taste/endeavors and metal is one particular area I've been focusing on lately (check out my band @ https://departermetal.bandcamp.com . I wanted a Prs that could handle that style of music effectively. I play in drop c, and the specs really intrigued me. I decided to work my ass off with as much overtime I could get, to grab one of these and here's my (honest) first impressions...
Visually, The guitar is stunning! Better than the stock photos, and in person the burst looks really well done. The satin neck is super smooth/fast and the ebony board looks and feels great. The frets are definitely bigger than the standard SE frets, and the setup is near perfect. The black chrome hardware also looks better in person, but I already switched out the knobs for the USA lampshade. The pickups....what can I say that hasn't already been said. What surprised me the most was the clarity on a high gain setting. Every note has its place, and these pickups clean up remarkably well.
The ONLY negatives I can say about this guitar is the nut is pretty gnarly...but I planned on changing it out anyways, and there are some nicks and small dings on the binding near the upper frets but for $900, this is by far the best guitar in that price range I've ever played. I have a few USA PRSi , but this one will have a very special spot in my line-up....
Now to the pics, I'll try to post some better ones later, as well as a demo very soon.
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It's not just you -- everything about that guitar seems to be meant to absolutely minimize the difference with the core version. Huzzah to both Holcomb and PRS for doing so.
 
Is it just me, or does that quilt look like it belongs on a core guitar? VERY NICE TOP, DUDE.

That's the one thing that irks me about the SE line, the laminate top can get often look better than a core line non 10 top! Good kill sir!
 
Man that's a good-looking guitar. I might pick one of those up used in a year or two...no new budget right now.

The saddles on the plate-style bridge look like shinier "core" saddles, and not the duller "SE" saddles. Interesting...
 
That's the one thing that irks me about the SE line, the laminate top can get often look better than a core line non 10 top! Good kill sir!

I don't think they're laminate, but I do think they're thinner than Core tops. Anyone know for sure?

Whatever that is, it's a nice looking top! :)
 
All SE's have a laminated veneer on a maple cap.

Not quite all since some are solid mahogany/painted solid colors/etc. but okay, when he said "laminate" I was thinking "laminated synthetic materials with printed patterns" like laminate flooring, not a thin layer of wood like I believe the SEs use.

The veneer is actually wood, right? It's pretty convincing and surprisingly varied if it's not.

...but yeah, thin veneer on top of a maple cap as opposed to a solid maple top, I was just unsure about the laminate term there.
 
Not quite all since some are solid mahogany/painted solid colors/etc. but okay, when he said "laminate" I was thinking "laminated synthetic materials with printed patterns" like laminate flooring, not a thin layer of wood like I believe the SEs use.

The veneer is actually wood, right? It's pretty convincing and surprisingly varied if it's not.

...but yeah, thin veneer on top of a maple cap as opposed to a solid maple top, I was just unsure about the laminate term there.

I thought about changing it, but some serious stuff happened and it sipped my mind. you're right though, there are some models that that don't, but any SE's with figuring are a veneer on a maple cap. Yes, veneers are very thin slices of real wood, they sand and take stain as any other chunk of maple would :cool:
 
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