Nathan Shane
New Member
Greetings all PRS’ers,
I don’t know if it’s luck of the draw or what…but I ordered a SE Swamp Ash (Iris Blue) Tuesday of last week from zZounds and actually received the guitar this past Saturday. I decided I’m keeping this specific guitar because I don’t want to get into a cycle of sending/receiving the guitar in hopes of getting one with a wood grain pattern I like as well as a consistent stain color across the entire face of the guitar. I know this is all nit-picking but in an ideal guitar world, you can’t always get “exactly” what you want. LOL!!!
Now, let’s get to the actual topic of my posting…and that has to do with Quality Control issues with my Swamper. There were only 3 total and nothing I can’t fix myself.
1) The 1/4” Jack Nut was NOT tightened down. It was screwed on just enough to keep it from falling off during shipping and handling. However, the nut fell off after plugging the guitar cord in and out the very first time.
2) As has been previously pointed out in a Dylan Talks Tone video of the new SE’s, the fret ends are sanded smooth up until about the 12th fret. From the 12th fret upwards to the 22nd fret, there is far less attention given to the fret ends. Some are sharp enough to catch the threads of a polishing cloth, others feel just kinda rough, and some seem sharp enough to cut skin. My thoughts (merely an educated guess) is that perhaps the fret ends are finished beforehand and before attaching the neck to the guitar. Or, perhaps the fret ends are filed after the guitar neck has been assembled to the body. Thereby, filling becomes more risky to do above the 12th fret, since your much closer to the body.
3) This is the final issue…and the most important. See the attached photos. The bridge’s 6 pivot screws are not even aligned properly. I mean, this issue is so obvious, how could it possibly get past the PRS Quality Control. Now here’s the odd part of this issue, the guitar has definitely been setup, the bridge is floating and the guitar remains in tune when using the tremolo arm. Hmmm…??? Go figure, I’ve never seen that before, anyone else seen something similar? It almost makes me want to leave the 6 pivot screws alone since the guitar does function as expected. But what about down the road, the wear pattern on the screws would eventually become more of an issue.
I don’t know if it’s luck of the draw or what…but I ordered a SE Swamp Ash (Iris Blue) Tuesday of last week from zZounds and actually received the guitar this past Saturday. I decided I’m keeping this specific guitar because I don’t want to get into a cycle of sending/receiving the guitar in hopes of getting one with a wood grain pattern I like as well as a consistent stain color across the entire face of the guitar. I know this is all nit-picking but in an ideal guitar world, you can’t always get “exactly” what you want. LOL!!!
Now, let’s get to the actual topic of my posting…and that has to do with Quality Control issues with my Swamper. There were only 3 total and nothing I can’t fix myself.
1) The 1/4” Jack Nut was NOT tightened down. It was screwed on just enough to keep it from falling off during shipping and handling. However, the nut fell off after plugging the guitar cord in and out the very first time.
2) As has been previously pointed out in a Dylan Talks Tone video of the new SE’s, the fret ends are sanded smooth up until about the 12th fret. From the 12th fret upwards to the 22nd fret, there is far less attention given to the fret ends. Some are sharp enough to catch the threads of a polishing cloth, others feel just kinda rough, and some seem sharp enough to cut skin. My thoughts (merely an educated guess) is that perhaps the fret ends are finished beforehand and before attaching the neck to the guitar. Or, perhaps the fret ends are filed after the guitar neck has been assembled to the body. Thereby, filling becomes more risky to do above the 12th fret, since your much closer to the body.
3) This is the final issue…and the most important. See the attached photos. The bridge’s 6 pivot screws are not even aligned properly. I mean, this issue is so obvious, how could it possibly get past the PRS Quality Control. Now here’s the odd part of this issue, the guitar has definitely been setup, the bridge is floating and the guitar remains in tune when using the tremolo arm. Hmmm…??? Go figure, I’ve never seen that before, anyone else seen something similar? It almost makes me want to leave the 6 pivot screws alone since the guitar does function as expected. But what about down the road, the wear pattern on the screws would eventually become more of an issue.
