PRS SE Swamp Ash Special!

[ChickenRob]

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.

Just ordered tuners. Where do I find the buttons?

 

[Jazzgear]

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!

yeah mines got yours beat for the Guinness record at 11.02 lbs. that is a boat anchor, and despite the great price and great looks, it is definitely going back — before I break my back.

 

[5Springer]

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

Thanks.. it's a little chunky @ 8lbs 7oz but strangely doesn't seem that heavy, I have a 96 strat plus that weighs the exact same thing and it feels like a load of bricks.. lol, It's funny how 40 years ago we were looking for the heavy ones and now it's the lighter the better for me.

Charles

 

[Torvald]

yeah mines got yours beat for the Guinness record at 11.02 lbs. that is a boat anchor, and despite the great price and great looks, it is definitely going back — before I break my back.

That is crazy heavy! What with the weights varying so much I would imagine that the heavy ones will be hard to sell, especially so if they are being returned for that reason. Some people like heavy guitars, though.

 

[Torvald]

Did my first mod on the SAS. Took a pair of alligator clip leads from the volume pot to a treble bleed I already happened to have made up just to see what the difference would be. With the volume rolled back there was a significant difference. Not only were the highs retained but the volume drop between full humbucker and split coils in the neck position was much less. Almost thought I had inadvertently turned the volume up when clipping the leads onto the treble bleed. A definite improvement in my opinion. Soldered it in. Pretty much a typical Fralin/Duncan parallel cap and resistor..001uf and 125k ohm resistor. Didn't even remove the tiny 180pf cap as it's value is so small relative to the. 001uf(1000pf) cap. Easy and cheap experiment to do. Definitely sounds more like my strat in the neck/middle position than before.

 

[JackB1]

Anyone know why PRS recommends 9's on these as opposed to 10's on most other SE's?

 

[Broseph]

Make it easier for “student edition” guitars.

 

[bodia]

Anyone know why PRS recommends 9's on these as opposed to 10's on most other SE's?

9s used to come on all SE guitars, while all of the Core models (with the exception of the DGT) come with 10s.

 

[MarshallMike]

Well, if somebody is looking for a 9 lbs 9 oz SE SAS in Charcoal you can find it at GC in Dayton, OH.
Returned it at the store today.
They didn't have any other ones in stock, so while I was there, I finally got to try out the SE McCartys and an SE Silver Sky in person.
The SE SS didn't sound bad but the action was extremely high!
The two SC and DC SE McCartys they had........well, the internet reviewers that claim that these are soo close to the S2 models are lying!!!
They both felt like toys compared to the S2 models I own.
It was an odd feeling leaving a guitar store with more cash in my pocket

 

[ChickenRob]

I put 8s on my guitars. Good enough for Jimmy Page and Billy Gibbons, good enough for me.

I also think they sound better.

 

[Broseph]

9s used to come on all SE guitars, while all of the Core models (with the exception of the DGT) come with 10s.

I always thought they put 9’s to make it “easier” to play a student edition guitar.

 

[bodia]

I always thought they put 9’s to make it “easier” to play a student edition guitar.

Could very well be

 

[FragileThunder]

*taps fingers slowly on desk, feigning patience*

Still waiting to pick mine up. The locking tuners my dealer thought he had in stock were actually not, so waiting on them to arrive so they can be installed and yes...have it set up with 10s Still marveling at the weight discrepancies and quite happy mine clocks in at 7.1#

 

[Torvald]

*taps fingers slowly on desk, feigning patience*

Still waiting to pick mine up. The locking tuners my dealer thought he had in stock were actually not, so waiting on them to arrive so they can be installed and yes...have it set up with 10s Still marveling at the weight discrepancies and quite happy mine clocks in at 7.1#

Can't believe you found one that light! That's going to be sweet!

 

[ChickenRob]

I’ll admit I’m jealous.

 

[JackB1]

How do 9's play on these SAS? Is it super slinky?

 

[Torvald]

How do 9's play on these SAS? Is it super slinky?

I think they're great. Just a bit slinkier than 9's on a strat.

 

[aknow11]

Just picked up my new SAS from luthier after set up. Him: "I didn't like PRS until I set up yours, That's a great guitar. I could never get past the birds and the bling, but that guitar sounds like a $3500 instrument. Great choice!"

I never noticed those things about the PRSi I've had. I rather liked the abalone moons on my '94 CE-24.......

 

[Carlost]

Interesting ideas. I was thinking of disabling the coil split in the neck position so I'd have the full neck and single with the push/pull in the up position, but haven't done it yet.

Still no wiring mods other than Torvald's added treble-bleed circuit? I'm now thinking "McCarty + Brent Mason" wiring: Tone down = stock 3-way switching of the 2 humbuckers. Tone up = same 3-way switching (bridge/both/neck), but with both pups split to their neck-facing coil.

Plus a separate volume control (or push-pull) to blend in the middle pup. To solo that pup, I'd roll off the master volume for the 2 humbuckers. I just worry that the independent volume controls would cause severe treble loss when either is rolled off. (As people report when they rewire a Les Paul's 2 volume pots independently.)

Alternative would be "McCarty + Early Paul": Have the tone push-pull split the humbuckers, but replace the 3-way switch with a 5-way rotary switch, like early PRSi. Could add a volume push-pull to retain the neck + bridge combination. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Jimi D]

Still no wiring mods other than Torvald's added treble-bleed circuit? I'm now thinking "McCarty + Brent Mason" wiring: Tone down = stock 3-way switching of the 2 humbuckers. Tone up = same 3-way switching (bridge/both/neck), but with both pups split to their neck-facing coil.

Plus a separate volume control (or push-pull) to blend in the middle pup. To solo that pup, I'd roll off the master volume for the 2 humbuckers. I just worry that the independent volume controls would cause severe treble loss when either is rolled off. (As people report when they rewire a Les Paul's 2 volume pots independently.)

Alternative would be "McCarty + Early Paul": Have the tone push-pull split the humbuckers, but replace the 3-way switch with a 5-way rotary switch, like early PRSi. Could add a volume push-pull to retain the neck + bridge combination. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Playing mine, I'm thinking of going the 3 x mini-toggle route... a couple of 2-way mini-toggles between the volume and tone controls to split the humbuckers, and a 3-way mini-toggle between the tone and pickup selector switch for middle pickup on/off/only... sure, it means drilling and adding controls, but it's not like this is some vintage collectable, and it's unlikely to decrease the potential resale value as long as it's done well... still playing with the idea in my head though...