singularity6
New Member
I preordered the PRS SE Custom 24 35th Anniversary Edition guitar on April 22, and it took over a month to come in. The anxious wait was quite worth it! I’m beyond impressed with how the instrument sounds and plays, and it looks great, too!
Playability and Feel:
The 25” scale wide-thin neck plays quite well. It’s a little snappier than a Les Paul or SG, and the strings are just slightly bendier than you’d expect from an Ibanez or Fender. It fits really well in my average-sized hands. The frets are impeccable, and the abalone inlays really stand out. I really like the feel of the 10” radius. Chords and single note runs are executed with equal ease. As expected, it weighs about the same as an SG or a strat, but it’s infinitely more balanced than an SG. I also really enjoy the overall feel of the carve. It fits against my body very well, and the lower horn is scooped out in a way that allows you to reach the highest notes with no issues at all. Out of the box, I had to tune it up multiple times as the strings needed to settle in. The strings were binding at the nut, but a quick file job took care of that. I also had to adjust the bridge saddle of the third string, as the intonation was off. I’m still trying to get it to where I can use the trem and not worry about the tuning going out of whack (I’d rather take my time with this… it’s easier to file the nut a little at a time!)
Sound:
This guitar really resonates! I did not expect it, to be honest. I’ve played a few SE’s, S2’s and even a custom shop PRS in stores, so I thought I knew what I could expect. Well, this guy really surprised me! This is my best sounding guitar when played unplugged. I got some nice jazzy cleans and some pretty convincing metal tones out of this guitar with no effort what-so-ever. The humbuckers are full sounding and quite articulate. Normally, I don’t like the way humbuckers split, but these sounded pretty solid. When doing my research, I was wondering how I’d feel about the 85/15 S pickups. The biggest complaint about SE guitars that I hear would be with the pickups being “harsh,” “icepicky,” or “sterile.” I can’t say that I dislike these. In fact, I would go so far as to think that I might like them! The bridge pickup is a bit on the bright side… but that’s what the treble knob on my amp is for! (There’s also a knob on the guitar, as well as on any of my drive/distortion pedals…) Expecting to swap instruments and not adjusting amp settings has always seemed to be a bit much for me. Yep! It’s a keeper!
Features and Construction:
I settled on this guitar because of the features. I liked all the switching options for the pickups, and the abalone inlays were a nice touch. Also, the Black-Gold finish wasn’t available to other SE’s. The finish really is beautiful, and the inlays really pop. Unfortunately, the half of the bookmatched flame fades out significantly when looking at it from certain angles, which is a real bummer. Swapping out the speed knobs for the PRS lampshade knobs finishes it off nicely. I also had Sweetwater swap out the tuners for the PRS SE Locking Tuners. I’m sure the other tuners were fine, but having locking tuners with the trem system made good sense (PRS should make this a standard feature, at least on their SE Customs) for tuning stability and for easier string changes.
Overall:
Just wow… This is totally worth the asking price! I can’t imagine anyone not being happy with this instrument. It plays great, looks great and sounds great!
Playability and Feel:
The 25” scale wide-thin neck plays quite well. It’s a little snappier than a Les Paul or SG, and the strings are just slightly bendier than you’d expect from an Ibanez or Fender. It fits really well in my average-sized hands. The frets are impeccable, and the abalone inlays really stand out. I really like the feel of the 10” radius. Chords and single note runs are executed with equal ease. As expected, it weighs about the same as an SG or a strat, but it’s infinitely more balanced than an SG. I also really enjoy the overall feel of the carve. It fits against my body very well, and the lower horn is scooped out in a way that allows you to reach the highest notes with no issues at all. Out of the box, I had to tune it up multiple times as the strings needed to settle in. The strings were binding at the nut, but a quick file job took care of that. I also had to adjust the bridge saddle of the third string, as the intonation was off. I’m still trying to get it to where I can use the trem and not worry about the tuning going out of whack (I’d rather take my time with this… it’s easier to file the nut a little at a time!)
Sound:
This guitar really resonates! I did not expect it, to be honest. I’ve played a few SE’s, S2’s and even a custom shop PRS in stores, so I thought I knew what I could expect. Well, this guy really surprised me! This is my best sounding guitar when played unplugged. I got some nice jazzy cleans and some pretty convincing metal tones out of this guitar with no effort what-so-ever. The humbuckers are full sounding and quite articulate. Normally, I don’t like the way humbuckers split, but these sounded pretty solid. When doing my research, I was wondering how I’d feel about the 85/15 S pickups. The biggest complaint about SE guitars that I hear would be with the pickups being “harsh,” “icepicky,” or “sterile.” I can’t say that I dislike these. In fact, I would go so far as to think that I might like them! The bridge pickup is a bit on the bright side… but that’s what the treble knob on my amp is for! (There’s also a knob on the guitar, as well as on any of my drive/distortion pedals…) Expecting to swap instruments and not adjusting amp settings has always seemed to be a bit much for me. Yep! It’s a keeper!
Features and Construction:
I settled on this guitar because of the features. I liked all the switching options for the pickups, and the abalone inlays were a nice touch. Also, the Black-Gold finish wasn’t available to other SE’s. The finish really is beautiful, and the inlays really pop. Unfortunately, the half of the bookmatched flame fades out significantly when looking at it from certain angles, which is a real bummer. Swapping out the speed knobs for the PRS lampshade knobs finishes it off nicely. I also had Sweetwater swap out the tuners for the PRS SE Locking Tuners. I’m sure the other tuners were fine, but having locking tuners with the trem system made good sense (PRS should make this a standard feature, at least on their SE Customs) for tuning stability and for easier string changes.
Overall:
Just wow… This is totally worth the asking price! I can’t imagine anyone not being happy with this instrument. It plays great, looks great and sounds great!
