PRS SE Standard or SE Custom? Which is more value for money?

SE Standard or SE Custom?


  • Total voters
    22
You really can't go wrong either way. As mentioned, the primary differences are maple cap, appearance, and country of manufacture. I had an SE Standard that I traded for an SE Custom. Really the only reason was the appearance (and the desire to blow a couple hundred $). Otherwise, the guitars are incredibly similar.
 
I love the SE Standards. They look, play, and sound great. I will also admit that I am not a fan of how a lot of the maple veneers look on the SE Custom. I'd very willingly save a couple hundred bucks and go with a smooth sounding all mahogany guitar. While I don't "upgrade" my guitars, starting at the SE Standard and then changing everything except the wood still comes in cheaper than doing that with the SE Custom (if you buy new).

I was skeptical about country of origin the first time I saw an SE Standard. I picked it up and played it anyway. I was BLOWN AWAY at the quality vs. cost. It's a no-brainer to me....
 
I've got the SE Standard 24 and I think it's the best buy out there. Sounds good, and plays good, and has a usable tremolo that stays in tune without the hassle of a Floyd Rose. Just recently took mine for a setup and after having it worked on it's just about perfect. I paid $400 for it while it was on sale at GC, put a set of Schaller locking tuners that I had been using on another guitar, and spent $65 on the setup. Really very little money spent for such a high quality guitar.

I would like to get another PRS eventually, and if I had the extra money would consider a custom. Or maybe I'll just sell my body to science to generate the revenue, although in my case that would be closer to science fiction...
 
If I’m not mistaken, Rob Chapman uses the Indonesian (WMIC) factory for his production guitars.

He’s uploaded a video of a visit he made there. You will see the high standard of workmanship that goes into each instrument and the great level of consistency achieved on the same model of guitar.

This is why I believe he primarily chose this company, because of the consistent results that they achieved for PRS and their Far East range.

The video makes for interesting viewing and dispells any myths that troll about the interweb!
The trouble is, any 14 year old can write a damaging review and because it’s online, some choose to take it as gospel.

As all the guys are saying. Have a play and find the PRS that’s right for you.

Have fun.
 
because i read people's commentary that mentioned how indonesians have worse quality control at their factory

hey all.. new hear.. just got done with some upgrade ordering ... i just got as a gift, an incredibly awesome feel/play indo made amethyst custom 24 se ... new from gtr ctr... not sure if its a 2017 0r 2018 yr. but out of all the guitars i have, and i have a quite a few and had been dying to get a prs, outside of my 70s customized ovation deacon, this guitar has them all beat. and after i finish the performance enhancements; i'm sure she'll be a even more of a beast. maybe i got lucky, if any issue i have, its the trem spring cover sits on top of the back instead of being nicely routed in..btw, is that the way it is on other prs's? i've test drove many of them at some good gtr stores here and never noticed that until i turned this one over. Anyway, hope to hear back from you all.. ive been playing hard and every style for a good 40 years... i'm not new at this...lol it takes a good deal to wow me in a guitar. i know the 6k and above insane priced ones are ...whatever... but i am truly happy with mine. will post pics when i am allowed to... hope to learn alot from you all... hope i can help too.. peace! jcm
 
Hi John, welcome to the forum.

To upload pics, find a 3rd party hosting site Imgur/Google etc. and use the share/BB code to put the images in the body of your text.

Looking forward to your NGD:D
 
hey all.. new hear.. just got done with some upgrade ordering ... i just got as a gift, an incredibly awesome feel/play indo made amethyst custom 24 se ... new from gtr ctr... not sure if its a 2017 0r 2018 yr. but out of all the guitars i have, and i have a quite a few and had been dying to get a prs, outside of my 70s customized ovation deacon, this guitar has them all beat. and after i finish the performance enhancements; i'm sure she'll be a even more of a beast. maybe i got lucky, if any issue i have, its the trem spring cover sits on top of the back instead of being nicely routed in..btw, is that the way it is on other prs's? i've test drove many of them at some good gtr stores here and never noticed that until i turned this one over. Anyway, hope to hear back from you all.. ive been playing hard and every style for a good 40 years... i'm not new at this...lol it takes a good deal to wow me in a guitar. i know the 6k and above insane priced ones are ...whatever... but i am truly happy with mine. will post pics when i am allowed to... hope to learn alot from you all... hope i can help too.. peace! jcm

If it's a custom 24 made in Indonesia it would be a 2018. Welcome to the forum.
 
I bevel the edge of the tremolo covers on my SE's, that way it doesn't catch on my belt. I'm an old archtop guy who plays up high. Rock that baby.
 
The biggest leap is going from SE to S2 and the American stuff.

Otherwise, from what I have seen and played, the standards are very good, really good for the money. Not too different from the Korean SEs, although the regular SEs are being made in indonesia too now...

The bound necks do feel slightly different, and I think they use a fatter fretwire.

The only sticking point is the nuts are a bit dodgy and could do with some touching up with the slots. And the wraparound bridges all lean a little and benefit from locking studs.
 
The main difference between the standard and custom SE's seem to be the Maple cap/veneer and the finishes - the Customs seem to have Maple necks too. They do seem to have similar hardware - although I see the Custom 24 have PRS SE 85/15's where as the Standard has SE HFS Treble and SE Vintage Bass. I haven't checked every one to see if these are 'uniform' across all Standards and Customs but from the few I have checked, this seems to be where the differences are. I don't know if the pick-ups are radically different - maybe voiced brighter to work better with an all Mahogany construction with the Standards and the 85/15's are better with Maple cap and neck.

It seems that if you want a guitar that looks more like the US built models with many of the same colour finishes and flame maple visuals, then you buy the Custom, if its more about budget, the the Standard is the way to go. Playability and hardware seem similar enough and tone is 'subjective' anyway so you may prefer the pick-up's and construction of one over the other but both seem to have the same tuners, same trem, same necks etc so should feel and play very similarly.

Best bet would be try them out yourself and see if you think the Custom is worth spending the extra on for you. Everyone is 'different' and some will say that spending the extra to get a 10-top (around the price of an SE Custom) is worth it to them because it looks so good and others will be happy with the 'Core' because it still plays/sounds the same and still looks great anyway. Point is, only you can answer whether its better to save some money and buy a Standard or push your budget out to get the Custom. One thing most people agree on though is that at the price point - whether that's a Standard or Custom price point, the PRS SE's are very difficult t beat.
 
thanks for the welcome! need to get back to studio stuff... when i'm allowed, i will post pics and links, if so allowed , to my duos music site. cant wait
to get this se setup..yes, i know, so many say 'do it yourself..learn something, its a great experience..'etc. i agree; i may choose so down the road as well
as have a more suitable area to do such work. my studio is half the garage at 11' x 12' minus 4 inches on both sides for sound deadened walls lol. not much
room within to do such luthier stuff and not the right climate in remainder of garage space..blablabla. best reason.. i have too much music work and hubby work
to do... i'll have to pay for now...lol will post pics as she gets transformed... and a few of my other guitars.. unless its only prs here. have a great day all.. need to get
to 'work'!
 
Near as I can tell, with the 2018 lineup anyway, the biggest differences between the Korean Customs and the Indonesian Standards is the body veneer and the cap tonewood (mahogany on the Standard, maple on the Custom). I played a handful of Standard 24s before I bought a Custom 22 Semi-Hollow, and to me they both feel great. They seemed to have the same hardware, pickups, neck profile, yadda yadda, and all of that seems to be confirmed by the spec pages on the PRS site. I'd have been super happy with the Standard 24 but that used but great-condition Custom on the wall was just calling me.

The main difference between the standard and custom SE's seem to be the Maple cap/veneer and the finishes - the Customs seem to have Maple necks too. They do seem to have similar hardware - although I see the Custom 24 have PRS SE 85/15's where as the Standard has SE HFS Treble and SE Vintage Bass. I haven't checked every one to see if these are 'uniform' across all Standards and Customs but from the few I have checked, this seems to be where the differences are. I don't know if the pick-ups are radically different - maybe voiced brighter to work better with an all Mahogany construction with the Standards and the 85/15's are better with Maple cap and neck.
The 2018 Standards have the 85/15S now, too. At least, that's what the PRS site says. http://www.prsguitars.com/index.php/electrics/se/se_standard_24_2018
 
if any issue i have, its the trem spring cover sits on top of the back instead of being nicely routed in..btw, is that the way it is on other prs's?
This is one thing I don't get about the SE line - why go to the trouble of routing the control cavity to counter-sink the controls cover, but not the trem cavity cover?? Yes, it will add a $1 in machining time, but since it's in the jig already, just program the CNC to do the extra route.
 
This is one thing I don't get about the SE line - why go to the trouble of routing the control cavity to counter-sink the controls cover, but not the trem cavity cover?? Yes, it will add a $1 in machining time, but since it's in the jig already, just program the CNC to do the extra route.
The only thing i can think of is that a lot of people remove the covers. They're also on and off often when setting up the trem... but you generally don't remove the control cover unless you need to.

Plus it's not just the extra routing, it would require extra hand work/finishing. Maybe they really are built right to a cut off point and little changes like that make enough of a labour difference that they omit...?
 
Also if there are any slight differences in tolerance, the “over the top” cover, makes up for that. Where as a fitted one would create all sorts of QC problems.
 
Also if there are any slight differences in tolerance, the “over the top” cover, makes up for that. Where as a fitted one would create all sorts of QC problems.
I'd say the the odd-shaped control cavity cover should pose more potential fitting problems than a (near) rectangle of a trem cover.
 
The majority of posts in this thread applaud the Indonesian-made SEs, and that's why PRS has stuck with them. I think it's interesting though that the acoustic line (T40E, for example) is not made in Indonesia, but China. It's still Cor-Tek, but a different factory in a different continent. Again, the quality is high (in my experience at least): apart from my T40E, I have a beautiful Ibby AM-53 made in the same factory.

What I would like to know is, whose decision was it to build the PRS acoustics in the China factory? Did PRS suggest it, or was the choice made by Cor-Tek?
 
Back
Top