NGD Zach Myers SE not too happy so I’m sending it back for another. Would love some opinions!

Apparently, I don't know Jack... :D

Ha! ;)

I’m sure there are other great dealers, but since I deal with Jack, he’s my frame of reference as to what a great shop, where you deal with a knowledgeable owner, can be. And of course, the shop owners have a lot of clout with PRS.

Of course, a big box place like SW has lots of pictures to eyeball. If that’s the most important thing, I say great! Won’t kill you to shop there!

But I do appreciate a better level of personal service when it comes to individual guitars, as opposed to hardware that all sounds exactly alike; as we know, every guitar has its own unique vibe, even though PRS guitars are consistently good, some are magic. So if someone can pick one for you that “has it,” well...simple choice for me.

It’s like a boutique versus a department store. Whatever floats your boat.
 
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So I posted this on Reddit and tons of people suggested sending it back and it shouldn’t have left PRS QC etc... I’d love to hear what PRS owners think. I love the finishes on PRS guitars I see online but, I don’t have a dealer local. I typically purchase everything online and this is the first time one upset me. The sales engineer said he’ll personally screen the next one in different light then there professional photo booth. The pictures in the Imgur album start with the S.W. photos they provide me prior to shipping and then photos I took when it arrived today.

https://imgur.com/a/nRl8X
Whoa! That is hilarious - I agree, that is a b-stock that should have sold as a b-stock. I have an SE single cut cherryburst that is a b-stock, with a similar top mis-match, but nowahere near as mis-matched as that guitar. I think somebody at PRS SE QC just said, hmmmm, and crossed their fingers.
 
Whoa! That is hilarious - I agree, that is a b-stock that should have sold as a b-stock. I have an SE single cut cherryburst that is a b-stock, with a similar top mis-match, but nowahere near as mis-matched as that guitar. I think somebody at PRS SE QC just said, hmmmm, and crossed their fingers.
PRS doesn't do "B-stock".

It is quite possible when the guitar was being QCed that it looked a bit uneven, but that has never been a claim for the SE line - there are no "10 tops", there is no promise of even bookmatching in "normal" lighting conditions. There are a ton of SE guitars that do have fantastic symmetry - I have a few. But I've seen my share of those that don't. If it had been photographed by SW in a manner that made it appear closer to the reality of the OP's photos, it still would have sold, to someone who didn't mind the asymmetry.

So a bit of a bummer, but a solvable problem - SW will swap it out for one that looks better to the OP.

EDIT: if you look at the OP's photos, the ones taken with flash that are more straight on seem to more closely match the SW shots - still a bit uneven, but you can see the flame is relatively symmetrical. But as other have posted, if you look from above or below, it will tend to favor left vs right - that is just the nature of how "curly maple" reacts to lighting and point-of-view.
 
I have a new theory: it’s like the two sides aged at different rates. The Sweetwater pics were taken a long time ago, and that’s what it actually looked like when they took pictures of it. But the veneer didn’t take as well on one side as it did on the other.

I still think it’s two different guitars—the left side and the right side.
 
To me, it's like walking into your garage and looking at your new car, but decided that you just cannot live with looking at the wrong color you chose, day in and day out...It's going to irritate you every time you look at it and drive you slowly insane. But unlike a financed car, you can send it back and bring stress relief.
 
This “Barber pole effect” is common in bookmatched pieces of veneer. The blade creates a “loose” side where the pores are opened and “tight” side wher the pores are compressed. Depending on the type of wood and the stain used it will be more or less obvious. It looks the most obvious on tightly flamed veneers and lighter stain colors...but it is always there to some degree. (I can see this effect on every flamed top SE I’ve ever owned or held in person, it’s much more subtle to absent on quilted or spalted maple veneers) Different lighting and angles will accentuate or lessen the contrast between the two sides in a photograph. Understanding this, and having much experience with SW and PRS, I would not consider it a lapse in quality control or deliberate attempt by either company to misrepresent their product. Products made of wood are going to be subject to the laws of natural variation and unpredictability. That being said...I believe both companies will always “make it right” if a customer is unhappy for whatever reason.
 
PRS doesn't do "B-stock".

It is quite possible when the guitar was being QCed that it looked a bit uneven, but that has never been a claim for the SE line - there are no "10 tops", there is no promise of even bookmatching in "normal" lighting conditions. There are a ton of SE guitars that do have fantastic symmetry - I have a few. But I've seen my share of those that don't. If it had been photographed by SW in a manner that made it appear closer to the reality of the OP's photos, it still would have sold, to someone who didn't mind the asymmetry.

So a bit of a bummer, but a solvable problem - SW will swap it out for one that looks better to the OP.

EDIT: if you look at the OP's photos, the ones taken with flash that are more straight on seem to more closely match the SW shots - still a bit uneven, but you can see the flame is relatively symmetrical. But as other have posted, if you look from above or below, it will tend to favor left vs right - that is just the nature of how "curly maple" reacts to lighting and point-of-view.
My apologies. I meant returned to the dealer, and sold as open box.
 
I have a ZM and love it. Their bookmatching isn't always perfect but it is a budget semi hollow guitar and in my case the dealer didn't try to improve the finish with over saturated lighting that helps balance out the flaming.

Here's the sellers pic:

PRS_B(1).jpg


And here's my own pic

PRSEZM.jpg


As you can see, the flaming looks muted face on though at certain sharper angles it pops just like the strong side in the pic. Oddly when viewed at a playing angle it's pretty symetrical lol. I don't think they have any real control of this. The flaming is a paper thin veneer and flipped. Sometimes thats just the way the wood goes. At least they didn't use a photoflame which is basically a printed sticker.

I guess it depends what you want the guitar for. I wanted a light one and these guitars weigh anything from 6.5 to about 7.8 lbs I wanted an affordable semihollow that was light enough for my bad back. I wasn't disappointed since this one came in at 6.7lbs and is noticeably lighter than my other 4 guitars by over 1.5lbs. It plays fantastic and other than the book matching, nut set for 9's and arguably ugly transparent knobs it was perfect. I don't see these affordable guitars as an investment and just want a good player in decent condition.

Having said all that, it's down to you, if a guitar makes you unhappy, your probably always going to have some misgivings and probably won't enjoy it as much as you should. I bought mine listed ad used from Dave's guitar shop. He has a bunch of bought out stock at very good prices compared to retail. I'd probably have been more fussy if I had paid almost $300 more though.

I don't even notice anymore, it's a fantastic guitar which I play 80% of the time.
 
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I don't think that's really done either for PRS. I only see them marked as 'used' or 'demo'.
I think that is what I just said. Any guitar returned to any dealer is for them to sell any way they want. Some have open box, some have scratch and dent, etc. I tried to apologize for using incorrect nomenclature, so whatever.

OP, I don't care how mine looks either, because it plays great, to the point where I spent some $$ replacing the electronics with a hand wired harness, and gibson burstbuckers.
 
. I’ve never had a dual volume knob guitar and I can see that getting annoying. Switch placement and scale length are different for me and will take some getting used to.

I had a hard time getting used to this sort of circuit. I also once messed up during a solo as I was trying to raise volume on the wrong pickup. So if you play out you need to get this sorted first!

With one guitar with this layout, I had it rewired to one master vol and tone. The other two were wired to bring coil taps in & out.
 
This “Barber pole effect” is common in bookmatched pieces of veneer. The blade creates a “loose” side where the pores are opened and “tight” side wher the pores are compressed. Depending on the type of wood and the stain used it will be more or less obvious. It looks the most obvious on tightly flamed veneers and lighter stain colors...but it is always there to some degree. (I can see this effect on every flamed top SE I’ve ever owned or held in person, it’s much more subtle to absent on quilted or spalted maple veneers) Different lighting and angles will accentuate or lessen the contrast between the two sides in a photograph. Understanding this, and having much experience with SW and PRS, I would not consider it a lapse in quality control or deliberate attempt by either company to misrepresent their product. Products made of wood are going to be subject to the laws of natural variation and unpredictability. That being said...I believe both companies will always “make it right” if a customer is unhappy for whatever reason.

I wasn't aware of the technical term for this, thanks for putting a name to it!

I had seen this thread the other day and been thinking the same thing, it seems to be most prominent with flame tops, vs quilt and others. Looking at the OP's photos, they all seem to be taken at a downward angle, which is always going to give that effect, I wonder what it looks like straight on and even at an upward angle.

Every flame top PRS I've owned (SE's and S2) has this effect - personally, I don't let it bother me, it's just the way the wood is. There will always be angles where one half doesn't look like the other. My advice to the OP is, if your guitar looks like your photos from all angles, then yeah, if it bothers you, send it back... but if there are other perspectives where it looks like the SW photos, that's normal. Try not to get expectations of having perfect match everywhere on the next guitar. Personally, given how bitchin that top is, if it matches from some perspectives, I would hold on to it. Especially if the feel and tone speak to you. But, at the end of the day, you're the one that has to love it.

This is my ZM, a slightly abnormal but nicely matched top, as you can see there are angles where it looks washed out on one side or the other, and angles where it looks killer. I embrace the wood.

25323888277_2e8c397022_z.jpg


40195483221_2c1e52c890_z.jpg
 
Exactly! It’s the joy of an organic material.

PRSh has been quoted as saying something similar to:

If it’s a perfect match, then it’s probably a photograph, laid under the lacquer.
 
It's not a QC issue or 'second' or anything like that. It's a thing about bookmatched woods and grain. The wood blank is split and the halves are opened like a book (hence the name). In doing so, the orientation of the grain gets reversed. For example. what goes up and left on the right side will go down and right on the left. Different densities of grain reflect or absorb both stain and light unevenly. The two sides will different looks unless the grain is dead straight perpendicular to the surface - and that just isn't likely at all. Move the light source and the grain appears to move too.

But the bottom line is, it's a visual thing and therefore subject to personal preferences. Everyone has their own idea of an ideal look. If you don't like the look, return it for a different one.
 
It's not anywhere near a bookmatch, there's noticeable gap and 2 different looking colours. I'd be unhappy with that too, it's not a €10 t shirt from H&M, wouldn't feel bad not to accept it.
 
+1 for Jack Gretz. Jacks the man!
Note that in my post I did say it’s “GC with better service and selection.” In fact, go into a GC, and of course you see and play the guitar in person, something you can’t do with mail-order, but I digress.

I’ve bought from Sweetwater since the 80s. I still buy studio gear from them, most recently a month ago. I’ve bought a ton there, and still will when they have hardware I need.

SW has a good return policy, to be sure. But they can’t come within a mile of someone like Jack Gretz, or some of the other dealers if your guitar has a problem that needs fixing. Not even close!

I’ve had a lot of PRSes. Sometimes a pot, or switch, or some darn thing goes bad. With Jack, I talk to the owner; a call tag is emailed to me same day, and the guitar gets picked up, no waiting, no issues. Smooth.

If Jack can fix it, it’s done the day he gets it, and it’s shipped back to me that day. And the repair is immaculate. If it needs to go to PRS, it gets sent there instead of his shop. Note that Jack is a luthier who’s built hundreds of guitars, not some dude working anonymously in a big service department.

Try that with Sweetwater; it doesn’t happen. As I said,I know because I’m their customer for lots of studio gear, and have been since the 80s!

If i’m Interested in a guitar, I get a video clip from Jack of the exact guitar being played through a PRS amp like one I have, to get an idea of how it sounds. Jack’s return policy is same as SW. The pics on Jack’s site - as with other top dealers all over the country - are of the exact guitar you’re looking at.

But the level of PRS knowledge, dealing with the owner, speed of service, etc.? Jack knows my taste. More than once I’ve been interested in a guitar, and he’s said, “That one’s not for you, Schef. You won’t like it.” No one from SW will tell you that.

Jack’s not the only one. I believe there are a few dealers out there that are better. If you disagree, great, no skin off my nose. Just trying to share some advice based on long experience with SW. The OP asked for opinions, that one’s mine.
 
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