PRS CE 24 / Availability of certain SE models

parallyze

parallyze

"What became of subtlety?"
Joined
Jul 24, 2018
Messages
117
Location
Germany
Hi all,

finally I took the time to sign up to this forum. I bought my first PRS SE back in 2012. I already had some guitars back then but the most expensive ones (LP Studio, Strat "Blackie") where my biggest disappointments. I noticed playing less and less because of that. Especially because of the sticky neck snydrome on my LP. :D

I had some cheaper guitars which were nice - but still was on the hunt for "that guitar that just plays and feels nice and you don't get angry about the same thing every time you play it".

It came delivered with a very minor ditch at the headstock. Couldn't care less after playing it and for sure I kept it. After that I started playing a lot more than before... so clearly I would have a closer look at other PRS models.

Last year I decided to give a US made PRS a go. But because I wanted something different from what I already had it became a PRS CE 24, one of 2017s limited Nitro run. I really like the CE. It plays nice, the neck feels great. But... there are some minor flaws:

#1 Locking tuner for the b string wasn't tight, could turn the nut by hand
#2 Volume pot has play within itself. The axis makes a slight "click" noise whenever you touch the volume pot slightly. It's not a loose nut or knob.
#3 Nut slot for g string was cut to deep. This made the string buzz between nut and tuner.

Problem #1 was basically non-existant. Tightened the nut on the first string change. The guitar felt very nice to play so I decided not to return it because of that volume pot/nut problems. Instead other things came up, I forgot a while about it and finally managed to send it to my dealer for warranty last week.

Today I got a mail from my dealer:
The problem with the nut "has been fixed" and they would offer me to do a quote on replacing the volume pot. Because that ilttle bit of play is due to normal "wear and tear".

Apart from the problem being on the brand new instrument: Wear and tear? After 8 months in a living room?

The PRS labeled pots are very pricey... so I wonder: Can this happen with brand new pots also? My PRS SE from 2012 doesn't show any wear and tear like that...

Another story regarding the PRS SE special runs:
Last year there was a ltd maple headstock run. I saw the sapphire one on the pictures and immediately went online to buy one. But one of the customer reviews stated "it was way more green" than could be seen on the pictures. So I asked the dealer for details and was told it was more "torquiose than blue". They even updated the pictures later. So kept my money and was wondering which color they were talking about - the ltd maple run wasn't available in that many colors. And all the reviews (Andertons, Rob playing the sapphire one) weren't online yet.

Two weeks ago I saw a PRS SE Custom 22 in Whale Blue (Thomann edition with Ebony fretboard). After confirming the color I ordered it and am pretty happy with it. Put on some locking tuners, like the Wide thin neck profile so far.

Two days after it got delivered I saw a PRS SE Custom 24 in Sapphire on somebodys wall and it immediately caught my attention. This may sound stupid to some but I really want some nice blue colors on some guitars... and Sapphire is a great color. Except it's not available any longer on SE models.

While looking for sapphire models I came across something else: The PRS SE Matteo Blue runs... I saw them recently on some sites, sold in Japan. According to the serial number they were made in 2018, have a natural back and a nice blue top. Different models can be had in this color, I've seen at least:
Custom22/24, Semi-Hollow(ZM maybe?), 7 String.
So far only two dealers replied to my inquiry - one saying: "won't get that". And the other one seems to be told by PRS Europe it's not a model for the european market. So why is there a CE logo on the headstock, what holds PRS back from bringing these limited models to europe?
Importing from Japan is not really an option.

Sorry for this wall of text. But I just got that mail about my CE repair and had to write down somewhat... how's you're experience with prs volume pots? ;-D
 
The only PRS guitars I own are SEs, and none of the pots have any sort of play in them at all. It's unfortunate that the dealer won't just fix it for you.

I also want a sapphire SE. I have a similarly-colored Partscaster. A Deluxe Player's body in "Sapphire Trans Ash" with a maple neck/fretboard and a Callaham brirdge that narrows the spacing back down to the standard 2 1/6". It's beautiful but I don't play it much because the glossy finish feels "sticky" if my hands get warm. My Zack Myers has a satin neck and it feels great. That's a whole other topic, though. A semi-hollow Matteo Blue would be nice, too.
 
Any and all volume pots can and will die, it's just a fact of life unfortunately.

While importing a guitar may not be an option for you.... it's really the best one if you're absolutely in love with the color. Your other choices are to open a guitar store and become a dealer that sells enough guitars to order a special run of SE's in that color, or to change the aesthetic preferences of an entire culture.

I've spent countless nights with eye strain and my proverbial pants around my ankles looking at PRS guitars made for the Japanese market... the people, shops, and culture over there are just more into unique and flashy finishes. Americans, British colonial countries, and white people in general are into more subdued colors, bursts, and earth tones, I surmise. I mean, I ask myself all the time why we don't get the bitchin' colors, and the only conclusion I can come to is that we just don't buy 'em.
 
sergiodeblanc said:
I've spent countless nights with eye strain and my proverbial pants around my ankles looking at PRS guitars made for the Japanese market... the people, shops, and culture over there are just more into unique and flashy finishes. Americans, British colonial countries, and white people in general are into more subdued colors, bursts, and earth tones, I surmise. I mean, I ask myself all the time why we don't get the bitchin' colors, and the only conclusion I can come to is that we just don't buy 'em.
Click to expand...
That's gotta be it. The thing we have to remember is that it's a business, and if there's money in doing something in a market, the company would do that. So you have to have just hit that nail right on the head.
 
sergiodeblanc said:
Any and all volume pots can and will die, it's just a fact of life unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Of course they die. Even replaced some when they became too scratchy or I didn't like the feel/resistance. But rattling on a brand new one? Maybe it is common. I just haven't come across a rattling volume pot over the last 25 years on any of my guitars.
Americans, British colonial countries, and white people in general are into more subdued colors, bursts, and earth tones, I surmise. I mean, I ask myself all the time why we don't get the bitchin' colors, and the only conclusion I can come to is that we just don't buy 'em.
Click to expand...
Sadly it's the same in germany. New colors are only accepted if they are a variaton of gray, white or black. Or any color someCompany adds to their myPhone lineup. -.-
 
derFunk said:
It's beautiful but I don't play it much because the glossy finish feels "sticky" if my hands get warm.
Click to expand...
I do have the exact same problem with my Gibson LP Studio. If you look out for "Sticky neck snydrome" you'll find out this happens to quite a lot of people, sadly.
 
parallyze said:
Of course they die. Even replaced some when they became too scratchy or I didn't like the feel/resistance. But rattling on a brand new one? Maybe it is common. I just haven't come across a rattling volume pot over the last 25 years on any of my guitars.

Sadly it's the same in germany. New colors are only accepted if they are a variaton of gray, white or black. Or any color someCompany adds to their myPhone lineup. -.-
Click to expand...

The manufacturing tolerance’s for the volume pots PRS uses are generally pretty tight, I haven’t come across one that has rattled either but, every once in awhile they slip through...

I wish the general public in America followed the myphone color trend, I would love to see a glut of rose gold guitars.
 
The lroblem with the volume pot... you mean the pot shaft moves very slightly making a clicking noise side to side? My old CE is the same, and i have had that happen on pots of various kinds not just PRS. Pots are a wear and tear item so I wouldn't stress
 
sergiodeblanc said:
I wish the general public in America followed the myphone color trend, I would love to see a glut of rose gold guitars.
Click to expand...
Not even Apple makes those anymore. The 8 and the X both only come in black, silver, plain old gold, and red. I think you can still get the cheapest 4" model in rose gold but only because that model is like 2 years old at this point.

But I really wish wild colors were more popular. :(
 
Wasn't allowed posting this with my first post. I know this is a "hate it or love it" color. But I'd have bought one of these instantly - additionally to having bought a PRS SE 3 days before seeing this... :D

prs_se_blue-matteo_01.jpg


Could live without the binding, though. But my CE24 has got a natural back, this one would have been a great addition xD
 
parallyze said:
Wasn't allowed posting this with my first post. I know this is a "hate it or love it" color. But I'd have bought one of these instantly - additionally to having bought a PRS SE 3 days before seeing this... :D

prs_se_blue-matteo_01.jpg


Could live without the binding, though. But my CE24 has got a natural back, this one would have been a great addition xD
Click to expand...

Would!
 
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