NGD SE Mark Tremonti Custom SnBrst

[shimmilou]

My second PRS, and I am again impressed with the PRS quality, fit, feel, finish and sound, even on an SE. This is a great guitar!

First some pics, then I'll review later.

 

[toothace]

That's a killer SE!! Congrats!

 

[bodia]

Nice!

 

[László]

Killer! Beautiful color, too.

 

[veinbuster]

Very nice.
Enjoy.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Great looking guitar, enjoy!

 

[shimmilou]

Thanks all.

I have been playing this one more than the others lately, it is really a fantastic guitar. The frets are finished wonderfully, the fit, finish, feel and sound is great, very easy playing, inspiring, and a real joy to play. The quality is very comparable to my Custom 22, albeit the SE Tremonti is much heavier with a considerably thicker body, without being uncomfortably heavy. The set up out of the box was very good, a slight turn of the truss rod, and height adjustment of pickups was all that was needed.

The clean sounds are awesome on each amp I've tried, including a '68 Bassman, '65 DRRI (dreamy clean sound), and mostly a Bugera 1990. It has a very musical, full sound with great harmonic overtones in all switch positions. I really like the 2 volume setup, because the ability to change the blend of the pickups when using the middle switch position, is very nice.

I like the sweet, chirpy, articulate sounds in the middle switch position, which is what I mainly use. The neck pup gives some nice, smooth, beefy tones, that are rich and still very articulate, not muddy. The bridge pup is bright and crisp without being harsh at all, and has some great twangy quacky sounds. I can push the amp's clean channel into light, bluesy overdrive, in all switch positions, even up to classic rock type drive. Overall, as stated, the plethora of clean sounds are all awesome!

IMO, the distortion sounds are where this guitar really shines, just fabulous! Using a Bugera 1990 through a 4x12, this guitar rips! It has a wonderful touch sensitivity, and can get everything from very smooth bluesy break up, to crispy, crunchy, classic rock sounds, all the way up to heavy metal sounds, and everything in between, while retaining great note definition and articulation. I especially like to use the middle switch position, full bridge volume, with the neck volume at about 7. This gives a marvelous, sustaining, soaring sound that is smooth and full, beautifully musical, and absolutely delightfully driven. It seems that I can get a nearly endless variety of sounds by using the switch, and varying the pick attack and volume controls, although I invariably end up on the middle switch position which I like best.

The SE Mark Tremonti definitely compares in quality to my Custom 22. The fret finish on the SE is very smooth, the ends are nicely rounded, no interference at all. I can deal with the veneer, the multi piece body and neck on the SE, as it appears to have been done right, nicely matched pieces, with very little (if any) affect on tone. Tuning stability is good with light vibrato, but is an issue with heavier trem use. I plan on checking the nut slots, and filing if necessary, and installing locking tuners, but for now I just leave the bar out and use the heel of my hand for light vibrato and it stays in tune perfectly.

Don't get me wrong, the Custom 22 is definitely the next level (you could even say other-worldly), but the SE Tremonti is a fantastic guitar in all aspects; fit, finish, feel and sound are all awesome. Although I'm no where near a working musician, I have no doubt that the SE Tremonti would serve well as anyone's number one guitar for just about any style of music.

 

[bodia]

Thanks all.

I have been playing this one more than the others lately, it is really a fantastic guitar. The frets are finished wonderfully, the fit, finish, feel and sound is great, very easy playing, inspiring, and a real joy to play. The quality is very comparable to my Custom 22, albeit the SE Tremonti is much heavier with a considerably thicker body, without being uncomfortably heavy. The set up out of the box was very good, a slight turn of the truss rod, and height adjustment of pickups was all that was needed.

The clean sounds are awesome on each amp I've tried, including a '68 Bassman, '65 DRRI (dreamy clean sound), and mostly a Bugera 1990. It has a very musical, full sound with great harmonic overtones in all switch positions. I really like the 2 volume setup, because the ability to change the blend of the pickups when using the middle switch position, is very nice.

I like the sweet, chirpy, articulate sounds in the middle switch position, which is what I mainly use. The neck pup gives some nice, smooth, beefy tones, that are rich and still very articulate, not muddy. The bridge pup is bright and crisp without being harsh at all, and has some great twangy quacky sounds. I can push the amp's clean channel into light, bluesy overdrive, in all switch positions, even up to classic rock type drive. Overall, as stated, the plethora of clean sounds are all awesome!

IMO, the distortion sounds are where this guitar really shines, just fabulous! Using a Bugera 1990 through a 4x12, this guitar rips! It has a wonderful touch sensitivity, and can get everything from very smooth bluesy break up, to crispy, crunchy, classic rock sounds, all the way up to heavy metal sounds, and everything in between, while retaining great note definition and articulation. I especially like to use the middle switch position, full bridge volume, with the neck volume at about 7. This gives a marvelous, sustaining, soaring sound that is smooth and full, beautifully musical, and absolutely delightfully driven. It seems that I can get a nearly endless variety of sounds by using the switch, and varying the pick attack and volume controls, although I invariably end up on the middle switch position which I like best.

The SE Mark Tremonti definitely compares in quality to my Custom 22. The fret finish on the SE is very smooth, the ends are nicely rounded, no interference at all. I can deal with the veneer, the multi piece body and neck on the SE, as it appears to have been done right, nicely matched pieces, with very little (if any) affect on tone. Tuning stability is good with light vibrato, but is an issue with heavier trem use. I plan on checking the nut slots, and filing if necessary, and installing locking tuners, but for now I just leave the bar out and use the heel of my hand for light vibrato and it stays in tune perfectly.

Don't get me wrong, the Custom 22 is definitely the next level (you could even say other-worldly), but the SE Tremonti is a fantastic guitar in all aspects; fit, finish, feel and sound are all awesome. Although I'm no where near a working musician, I have no doubt that the SE Tremonti would serve well as anyone's number one guitar for just about any style of music.

Great write up!

 

[shimmilou]

I just wanted to update about the tuning stability. I installed locking tuners (Grover), adjusted a couple of the bridge mounting screws (a couple were too high), put some nut sauce on the nut and bridge pivot points, and now i can get really wild with the whammy bar and it stays in tune beautifully. I used a very small allen wrench to set the gap between the screw heads and bridge plate to make them all even, similar to the procedure in the Mann video, but i didnt have to remove the strings and springs, as it was just small adjustments of the screws.

The nut was fine, no work needed there. I am very impressed with how well it stays in tune now, even with extreme dives and pull ups. The tuning stability is actually on par with my Custom 22 and S2 Studio, very pleased.

I am going to have the stock tuners upgraded by Mann to the locking type and change out the Grovers (gotta have “PRS” on the tuners), but until then, this guitar is wonderful with whammy use.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

That's a killer SE!! Congrats!

Indeed it is!

 

[pauloqs]

I just wanted to update about the tuning stability. I installed locking tuners (Grover), adjusted a couple of the bridge mounting screws (a couple were too high), put some nut sauce on the nut and bridge pivot points, and now i can get really wild with the whammy bar and it stays in tune beautifully. I used a very small allen wrench to set the gap between the screw heads and bridge plate to make them all even, similar to the procedure in the Mann video, but i didnt have to remove the strings and springs, as it was just small adjustments of the screws.

The nut was fine, no work needed there. I am very impressed with how well it stays in tune now, even with extreme dives and pull ups. The tuning stability is actually on par with my Custom 22 and S2 Studio, very pleased.

I am going to have the stock tuners upgraded by Mann to the locking type and change out the Grovers (gotta have “PRS” on the tuners), but until then, this guitar is wonderful with whammy use.

I’m willing to bet that if you swapped back to the original tuners, the tuning instability would not return. I believe what you did to the bridge did the trick to obtaining good tuning stability. With that said, I can’t blame you for wishing to get the core tuners. Also, learn from my mistake by being patient with your guitar. The bridge on these take some time to break in and once they do they become more stable. I returned a CE24 because I could not get it to stabilize, which I ended up regretting especially after I heard about the break in period on those bridges. Also great idea on how you adjusted the pivot screws and adding nut sauce on them. I added machinist oil on mine, which would do the trick for about a week. I think the nut sauce will yield better results.

 

[shimmilou]

You're probably right. I also like the locking tuners for easier string changes, and I think that the Mann converted ones would look cooler than the Grover. Plus, I prefer the larger buttons on the PRS tuners compared to the smaller Grover kidney-shaped buttons.