PRS SE Swamp Ash Special!

[MarshallMike]

I ordered an Se SAS in Charcoal from my local GC. I had it shipped so I didn't have to drive the hour away. It arrived yesterday.
First thing I noticed was....wow, this is heavy!!!!!! I mean, this has to be even heavier than my non-weight relieved LP.
I got out the scale, call Guinness, this has got to be a record, ......9lbs 9 ounces!!! Definitely heavier than my LP.
The 3-piece body looked nice and the grain matched well.
I put my hand on the neck and shock #2! Wide/Thin........uhm no! more like Wide/ Regular with wide shoulders.
And then, wtf is with the fretboard edges? A completely NON-rolled edge so sharp if maple wood could cut it would slice you.
Fret ends were ok.
So, lets plug her in.......wtf! The nut on the input jack is loose as a goose....ok tighten that up...now play it.
Out of the box completely out of tune ....a few minutes later got it tuned and stable, I hope.
The action is low. Some guys might like that, but I prefer a bit higher. No buzzing which is good.
The closest I have to compare with this would be my PRS S2 Standard 24 with the same pups.
I immediately can tell this has a more snappy tone to it than the S2.
I do some riffage and some lead licks....wait is the sustain that bad? I grab a note on the G string and count as it rings out before my Gate comes on in the Fractal AF3. About 5 seconds? try it a few more times...about 5 seconds.
So, curiously I grab the S2 standard and do the same sustain test.......about 9 seconds before the gate closes.
I have owned about 6 SE models before in the past and this one suffers that same string chirp behind the nut thing as the rest except for the one SE Custom w/floyd that did not. All of the US models (S2s) I have previously owned and my current S2 Standard 24, S2 McCarty 594 SC and DC don't do that. Must be the nut material?
Hmm?
Yes, this is going back!

 

[ChickenRob]

I agree the lack of rolled edges are the biggest disappointment. The rest of your complaints aren’t problems on my SAS.

 

[Sybo]

I ordered an Se SAS in Charcoal from my local GC. I had it shipped so I didn't have to drive the hour away. It arrived yesterday.
First thing I noticed was....wow, this is heavy!!!!!! I mean, this has to be even heavier than my non-weight relieved LP.
I got out the scale, call Guinness, this has got to be a record, ......9lbs 9 ounces!!! Definitely heavier than my LP.
The 3-piece body looked nice and the grain matched well.
I put my hand on the neck and shock #2! Wide/Thin........uhm no! more like Wide/ Regular with wide shoulders.
And then, wtf is with the fretboard edges? A completely NON-rolled edge so sharp if maple wood could cut it would slice you.
Fret ends were ok.
So, lets plug her in.......wtf! The nut on the input jack is loose as a goose....ok tighten that up...now play it.
Out of the box completely out of tune ....a few minutes later got it tuned and stable, I hope.
The action is low. Some guys might like that, but I prefer a bit higher. No buzzing which is good.
The closest I have to compare with this would be my PRS S2 Standard 24 with the same pups.
I immediately can tell this has a more snappy tone to it than the S2.
I do some riffage and some lead licks....wait is the sustain that bad? I grab a note on the G string and count as it rings out before my Gate comes on in the Fractal AF3. About 5 seconds? try it a few more times...about 5 seconds.
So, curiously I grab the S2 standard and do the same sustain test.......about 9 seconds before the gate closes.
I have owned about 6 SE models before in the past and this one suffers that same string chirp behind the nut thing as the rest except for the one SE Custom w/floyd that did not. All of the US models (S2s) I have previously owned and my current S2 Standard 24, S2 McCarty 594 SC and DC don't do that. Must be the nut material?
Hmm?
Yes, this is going back!

Perhaps if you lubed your nut, tuned up and down a couple of times, and then give it a shot. It’s worked so many times for me without any problem.

 

[Lewguitar]

I agree the lack of rolled edges are the biggest disappointment. The rest of your complaints aren’t problems on my SAS.

Once you decide for certain the guitar is a keeper, you can always roll the edges of the fingerboard yourself.

I'd lightly sand the fingerboard edges with some very fine finishing sandpaper if I felt the edges were too square and sharp. 320? 400? Very fine finishing grade sandpaper.

That way you're not likely to remove too much wood. That would be a mistake so don't overdo it.

Usually when I'm doing work like that I'll stop before the edges are as round as I think they should be.

 

[ChickenRob]

Yup. That was my plan, and why I wasn’t complaining earlier in the thread about my initial impressions.

 

[Torvald]

I'm surprised at all the comments regarding non rolled edges because mine are rolled. Very nice soft transition from the edge to the fretboard. And we knew that the weights were all over the place right? At least I did because my local dealer listed 5 of them on Reverb and included the weights. A nice Iri Blue one was 9.6 lbs. I wanted to feel the neck before I bought. My sunburst is 7.7 lbs.

 

[SinSir]

If a 2 piece body has a glue joint in the neck pocket, Eric Johnson feels the guitar has less chance of being magical.

If it's a 3 piece the glue joint probably won't be in the neck pocket.

Guitarists feel a lot of things.. and we love to share our opinions. I slightly prefer glue in neck joints over bolt on, but never should have sold my EJ strat for the most problematic Les Paul I've ever owned. That dang wood was never happy it was turned into a guitar..


My issue with the 3 piece seSAS is they haven't done the best job matching. Yes, aesthetics matter to me, but doesn't outweigh feel. My core is 2 piece, couldn't comment on the neck pocket, never had the neck off, but it's amazing.

 

[SinSir]

Here's a pic of fret edges

 

[dogrocketp]

I did a set on my buddy, Rick’s SE and the fretboard and non-rolled edges didn’t bother me at all. The neck carve felt great.

 

[aknow11]

I've had a blue SAS for about a week, feels as heavy as the '97 I had with the beautifully figured maple neck.. This one sounds much better, great sounds from the HB's, very impressed as PRS pu/p's have come a long way in 30+ years. Mine won't stay in tune, altho I'm a bender. So I'll have a set up done soon. I cannot believe how many interesting tones, and amazing feedback tones I can get on this SAS. Great job PRS!!!!!

 

[Torvald]

Just watched yet another Youtuber review the new SAS. He had a clever switching mod idea, which was to put another push/pull in place of the volume pot and have it dedicated to adding the middle single coil. The tone pot would remain just to split the buckers, but both of them. So you could have the standard B, B&N, N, full or split and then add the middle single to any of those six selections for a total of 12 difference combinations. Clever idea. Only thing is it might just be too much! Plenty of great sounds as is.

 

[SinSir]

Just watched yet another Youtuber review the new SAS. He had a clever switching mod idea, which was to put another push/pull in place of the volume pot and have it dedicated to adding the middle single coil. The tone pot would remain just to split the buckers, but both of them. So you could have the standard B, B&N, N, full or split and then add the middle single to any of those six selections for a total of 12 difference combinations. Clever idea. Only thing is it might just be too much! Plenty of great sounds as is.

I personally don't like a p/p on the volume knob. I much prefer the taper of core volume pots and use the knob constantly.

 

[Lewguitar]

I personally don't like a p/p on the volume knob. I much prefer the taper of core volume pots and use the knob constantly.

I wouldn't want a switch on the volume knob. Not when I have tone controls I can use P/P pots on.

 

[Torvald]

I personally don't like a p/p on the volume knob. I much prefer the taper of core volume pots and use the

I personally don't like a p/p on the volume knob. I much prefer the taper of core volume pots and use the knob constantly.

Good point.

 

[JasonE]

57/08's are excellent. Sound great in my McCarty with the resistors. The neck pickup in my new SAS SE has the same 110k resistor when split but sounds a bit weak in comparison. Sounds good in full humbucker mode. I'm considering disabling the split. I like the full bridge pickup combined with the single much better than the split neck with the same, so maybe I'd like the full neck and single better, than what I hear now. Easily reversible mod.

If it has the resistors for each pickup, another thing you can try is increasing the value of the resistor on the neck pickup to keep more of it in play when you tap it.

 

[5Springer]

I'm digging my new SAS, took a minute to find a decent one but it's a really nice guitar. I'll most likely modify the electronics to get the center pickup out of the mix when in single coil mode.

https://imgur.com/bXjSyUN

 

[Torvald]

It'll be interesting to see what mods folks'll be doing with the new SAS. I've put covers on the pickups just because I had them left over from another project and I like how they look with the sunburst finish and cream colored rings. Other than that I'm not sure. Maybe a different type of treble bleed? Sounds pretty darn good as is though.

 

[Russ73]

It'll be interesting to see what mods folks'll be doing with the new SAS. I've put covers on the pickups just because I had them left over from another project and I like how they look with the sunburst finish and cream colored rings. Other than that I'm not sure. Maybe a different type of treble bleed? Sounds pretty darn good as is though.

I agree it sounds decent as is...the pup configurations work for my style as well...the only thing I was thinking was locking tuners but I def don't wanna add any more weight....not sure if that will?? Diggin mine for what it is and really enjoying the feel of a bolt on!

 

[Birdsofprey]

I agree it sounds decent as is...the pup configurations work for my style as well...the only thing I was thinking was locking tuners but I def don't wanna add any more weight....not sure if that will?? Diggin mine for what it is and really enjoying the feel of a bolt on!

If you add PRS SE locking tuners just change the chrome/metal buttons out for faux Ebony or Pearl, their plastic look good and lighter than the metal chrome ones. Did this on my SE HB Standard looks great and no weight issue.

 

[Torvald]

I'm digging my new SAS, took a minute to find a decent one but it's a really nice guitar. I'll most likely modify the electronics to get the center pickup out of the mix when in single coil mode.

https://imgur.com/bXjSyUN

Great looking grain on that one! How's the weight? They seem to be all over the place?