PRS SE Models - Do They Have the Same “Essence” As Core Models?

I swear, I will not contribute to this thread any more after this:
Manufacturing and licensing are so intertwined anymore it's hard to say just what is original or really made where.
I'm a motorcycle nut, former dealer, rider and racer as well. I've owned and ridden almost every known (to the m/c community) brand there is in the last 53 years. In the last few years Harley Davidson (likely the single most iconic m/c make ever) has taken to having bikes built in India and elsewhere across the pond. This is to compete on a global scale that was necessary to expand their domestic and global customer base. Does that mean they are not HD motorcycles? I think not. But even their "home" plant in Milwaukie uses a very high percentage of components from all over the world, including Japan and China. Sure, they have their own foundries and onshore suppliers, but in order to compete in the marketplace, they need to outsource parts and components, just like every other manufacturer these days. Does that make them lesser bikes? Again I say not. Made in USA doesn't mean everything in every product or plant that makes them. But do you know what does? The brand itself. As do the people that purchase them. Paul endorses the SE line and is very adamant about it. It's his name, his company, and we are all his customers. Again, that's good enough for me.
Just FYI, do you know what the VIN sticker on my Honda Goldwing says? "Made In USA" specifically Marysville, Ohio. Not "Made In Japan". Gee, I guess I don't ride a "real" Honda...:D
 
now shut up and play the damn guitar.

I swear, I will not contribute to this thread any more after this:
Manufacturing and licensing are so intertwined anymore it's hard to say just what is original or really made where.
I'm a motorcycle nut, former dealer, rider and racer as well. I've owned and ridden almost every known (to the m/c community) brand there is in the last 53 years. In the last few years Harley Davidson (likely the single most iconic m/c make ever) has taken to having bikes built in India and elsewhere across the pond. This is to compete on a global scale that was necessary to expand their domestic and global customer base. Does that mean they are not HD motorcycles? I think not. But even their "home" plant in Milwaukie uses a very high percentage of components from all over the world, including Japan and China. Sure, they have their own foundries and onshore suppliers, but in order to compete in the marketplace, they need to outsource parts and components, just like every other manufacturer these days. Does that make them lesser bikes? Again I say not. Made in USA doesn't mean everything in every product or plant that makes them. But do you know what does? The brand itself. As do the people that purchase them. Paul endorses the SE line and is very adamant about it. It's his name, his company, and we are all his customers. Again, that's good enough for me.
Just FYI, do you know what the VIN sticker on my Honda Goldwing says? "Made In USA" specifically Marysville, Ohio. Not "Made In Japan". Gee, I guess I don't ride a "real" Honda...:D

^^^AGREE!^^^

Great example with the Goldwing. I rode a Honda VTX1800C for 14 years. To my understanding, every part on that bike was made in the Marysville plant, EXCEPT for the engine, which was built in Japan. In fact it was stated on the VTX Forum that it's US percentage of parts was higher than a Harley-Davidson. I understand that this is today's business model for LOTS of things. And I accept it, because I sure can't change it myself. We're a global society in a global market, and I don't see things ever going back.
 
I don't see the reason for confusion here. Everyone knows that they are being made overseas. The PRS SE label is the same as Squier and Epiphone.

Fender -> Squier (China, Indonesia and Korea)
Gibson -> Epiphone (China only)
PRS -> PRS SE (Indonesia, Korea for solid-body and semi-hollows, and China for the acoustics and HBs)
 
I don't see the reason for confusion here. Everyone knows that they are being made overseas. The PRS SE label is the same as Squier and Epiphone.

Fender -> Squier (China, Indonesia and Korea)
Gibson -> Epiphone (China only)
PRS -> PRS SE (Indonesia, Korea for solid-body and semi-hollows, and China for the acoustics and HBs)
I have a USA built Squire. (Serious)

PRS straps aren't made in USA? I've been shystered! (Kidding!)

Like, go play your guitar, and save for what you want, or don't.

As Bill Murray said in Meatballs, "It just doesn't matter!".

I'm sure my comments aren't helping. I think everyone is right in their opinion for themselves. To argue, and get hurt feelings is much too meta.

Enjoy Tuesday!
 
I just wish to point out that Argo paradox and the PRS SE paradox are quite simple when seen in the context of what we might call the "human body paradox," i.e the simple fact that, with a very few exceptions, -- like, say, the cilia in one's inner ear and certain small segments of the brain, -- all the parts of the human body, or more precisely, all the cells of the human body die and are replaced about every seven? years or so. That means that by my age, 68, I should be building yet another set of cells to replace those of the last cycle, which replaced those of the previous one, back and back to the original ones I started with as a newborn. After 10 such replacements it is something of a wonder that accumulation of small corruptions in the DNA code transmitted have not caused me more physical damage than they actually have. In any case, to return to the question here, if I ask myself whether I am the same person now as I was at birth, or at least at some young age, it is hard to answer with either a definitive yes or a no. Certainly socially and legally I am considered to be the self-same man, even the very conferring of a name on me stresses such an "identity," but such a view leaves out both the many turnovers of my physical protoplasm mass just mentioned, as well as the many other variations brought about by experience, the accumulation of additional information, and transformations of beliefs, attitudes and opinion. My name and my [actually very limited] memories of earlier events forever call me back to the unitary hypothesis, but just how exactly who I am now relates back to all of those earlier experiences, just what "thread" strings them all together to form a whole is very hard to say.
So, you are a copy! :eek:
 
I love SE's as mod-bods. I also own 2 S2 Custom 22's, one solid, the other a hollow body.

My SE's collection is as follows:
Mid Gen Santana
Singlecut Soapbar
Singlecut HB
Zach Meyers
Custom 22 hollow body
245

All were purchase used at a great price. All have electronics (pots, Pickups) and tuner(Hipshot lockers) upgrades. Mostly Fralin, Lollar, or BKP pickups.

LKlt2j6.jpg

eCGmbP4.jpg
what pu's and pots did you go with on the zach meyers?
 
I own a Mccarty SE I like it well, If they didn't have an SE series I wouldn't own a PRS, so thank you Paul for making one I could afford, regardless where They're made,
I totally agree. I never thought I could afford a PRS until my friend and mentor told me about the SE line. That is likely what kept me playing to the degree that I do now. And made a serious attack on my bank account (5 PRS guitars in 4 years will do that to you). And my wife thinks I've gone totally senile or reverted to my teens.
But she should know better than that. Been married to her for almost 44 years and at 67 I still race motorcycles...there's nothing wrong with me at all. In the head...🤣
 
The title of the thread is whether the SEs have the Core essence, not whether they're PRS'.

For me the easier-to-understand question is whether the guitars sound the same and feel the same. The answer is no, they feel and sound a bit different.

'Different' doesn't mean one's better and the other is worthless. That's a matter of preference.

My preference is the Core and PS models. That's a personal choice. It's not a prescription for anyone else. Everyone has the right to make up their own mind about all this stuff.

I've finally stopped caring what other people think or do as long as they leave me alone. 😂
 
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