SE Bernie Marsden

GS1 said:
Hi All,

New guy here, and fairly new player. I recently purchased a Bernie Marsden, and love it! (I got a smokin' deal at GC, but would have been happy to pay full price!) I actually returned a Les Paul Studio Deluxe 2, which was beautiful, but I didn't feel it was worth the money as I just couldn't get the action where it needed to be for me. I had a highly recommended tech set it up for me, and he agreed that it just wasn't going to happen. I tried about six other LP's, and only two of them felt right to me, and they were twice as much, and five times as much. Very disappointing as I have lusted after one for years.

Then a guy at a shop recommended PRS, and said that the quality was absolutely top notch, and pretty much said that Gibson was hit or miss anymore. I did a little research, and watched a lot of videos (Mike Garvey-Awesome stuff on you tube! I can only hope to be half that good some day!), and decided that the Marsden was for me. Anyway, I will try not to ask too many dumb questions, and maybe contribute something worthwhile occasionally!
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Welcome and congrats on the new axe! The Marsden has been a big hit around here, in fact all of the incarnations of the SE singlecuts are just plain awesome. You made a good choice passing on Gibson, I've felt the same way about them for quite a while now. They just don't perform the way a guitar should, the way the SE's do.

Ask all the dumb questions you want, I do it all the time!!!
 
I recently replaced the SE 245 pickups with Bare Knuckle Mules ! Wow ! This guitar is so good that I'm going to sell my SE 245 . I find the neck fits my hand a little better than the SE 245 Wide fat neck !It now has tone for days !
 
GS1 said:
Hi All,

New guy here, and fairly new player. I recently purchased a Bernie Marsden, and love it! (I got a smokin' deal at GC, but would have been happy to pay full price!) I actually returned a Les Paul Studio Deluxe 2, which was beautiful, but I didn't feel it was worth the money as I just couldn't get the action where it needed to be for me. I had a highly recommended tech set it up for me, and he agreed that it just wasn't going to happen. I tried about six other LP's, and only two of them felt right to me, and they were twice as much, and five times as much. Very disappointing as I have lusted after one for years.

Then a guy at a shop recommended PRS, and said that the quality was absolutely top notch, and pretty much said that Gibson was hit or miss anymore. I did a little research, and watched a lot of videos (Mike Garvey-Awesome stuff on you tube! I can only hope to be half that good some day!), and decided that the Marsden was for me. Anyway, I will try not to ask too many dumb questions, and maybe contribute something worthwhile occasionally!
Click to expand...

Congrats on the Bernie... get some pictures up! :) I haven't played in a few months - apart from the odd noodle here and there - to say I'm rusty is an understatement. I'll get back to it someday. The cool thing is that the Bernie still feels great despite that. My Strat (which I love) feels like a Beeitch!

Danerada said:
Welcome! And the Bernie SE is a top notch freaking guitar. I had one and sold it and I completely and totally regret it.
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You sold it?!?!
 
Greetings all, my first post here. Love the look of the BM and have the opportunity to buy a mint one for £350. I wondered if anyone has had any problems with intonation on theirs? I've never owned an electric with a non-adjustable bridge and have read of a few possible issues with these. Thanks for any comments and opinions.
 
I use11's on mine no intonation problems the guitar stays in perfect tune wonderful guitar.
 
Harmonious said:
Greetings all, my first post here. Love the look of the BM and have the opportunity to buy a mint one for £350. I wondered if anyone has had any problems with intonation on theirs? I've never owned an electric with a non-adjustable bridge and have read of a few possible issues with these. Thanks for any comments and opinions.
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The stoptail piece IS adjustable, just not individually like a TOM. There are hex screws at either end of the tailpiece which make the adjustment. I have one of these on my SE Singlecut and was surprised how well it works. My SC intonates fine. Don't worry, just buy the Bernie, sounds like a great price.
 
Intonation

Harmonious said:
Greetings all, my first post here. Love the look of the BM and have the opportunity to buy a mint one for £350. I wondered if anyone has had any problems with intonation on theirs? I've never owned an electric with a non-adjustable bridge and have read of a few possible issues with these. Thanks for any comments and opinions.
Click to expand...


Yes, I have problems but mainly because my guitar is kept in my 3rd floor built out attic space and the temp and humidity changes are bizzare.... even with my heater or aircon on

I tune my guitar each time I play it

I love the thing though... the sustain is so incredible and since starting again only 13 months ago I am getting so much better and I think part of that is because my Bernie Marsden SE is so fookin perfect
 
Harmonious said:
Greetings all, my first post here. Love the look of the BM and have the opportunity to buy a mint one for £350. I wondered if anyone has had any problems with intonation on theirs? I've never owned an electric with a non-adjustable bridge and have read of a few possible issues with these. Thanks for any comments and opinions.
Click to expand...

Did you get it?

Love to see some pics when you do. You won't have any issues with 9's or 10's with that bridge.

Edit... or 11's! ;)
 
dogsbrekky said:
BTW................................ selling a Bernie Marsden SE is like selling a 1970s Rolls Royce... YOU JUST DO NOT DO IT EVER
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Indeed... I have sold guitars in the past, even one's I really liked but the Bernie (And my Strat) are keepers even if I wind up buying more expensive ones I play. They simply aren't 'ok' guitars. The Bernie doesn't feel like a 'stepping stone' to the next thing. it's a great guitar in it's own right and feels and sounds great. I just can't imagine not enjoying playing it for many years to come.

Now off too touch some wood that I don't desperately need the cash!
 
Mikegarveyblues said:
Did you get it?

Love to see some pics when you do. You won't have any issues with 9's or 10's with that bridge.

Edit... or 11's! ;)
Click to expand...

Hi everybody...yes, picked it up yesterday. Very happy to be a new PRS owner :proud: Will post some pics soon. I'm thinking of putting some nickel covers on the pups. Can someone tell me if this is an easy mod for a totally inexperienced "luthier"? Despite playing for 30 years, my experience with guitar mods and maintenance amounts to changing strings!
 
Recent SE Bernie Marsden owner here checking in. Best PRS SE guitar I've owned, after going through a few Santana SEs and Tremonti SEs over the last few years. This Marsden is a keeper for sure. Only issue I had, as many people have stated, was the nut. However my local tech recommended to adjust/shave the slots first before replacing it, and he was right. Plays even better now.

Bought it off a local GC on Clearance for $379. Brand new. Sue me :wink:
 
Harmonious said:
Hi everybody...yes, picked it up yesterday. Very happy to be a new PRS owner :proud: Will post some pics soon. I'm thinking of putting some nickel covers on the pups. Can someone tell me if this is an easy mod for a totally inexperienced "luthier"? Despite playing for 30 years, my experience with guitar mods and maintenance amounts to changing strings!
Click to expand...

I was going to do that with the original pups but decided I wanted a different voice for the bridge pup at least. If I ever get another one (And what's wrong with a pair of Bernie's?) then I'll keep the original 245 pups and throw some nickel covers on. I don't think it's too hard as there's plenty vids on the subject on Y'tube and i'm sure there's some folks here that have done it. It isn't a case of just putting them on top though as you'll discover. You'll need a 50mm cover for the neck and a 52mm cover for the bridge. The 52mm can be hard to source but I think Gibson do them for some reason. Hopefully, someone can confirm that and some of the other finer details. Totally do-able though.

bricel24 said:
Recent SE Bernie Marsden owner here checking in. Best PRS SE guitar I've owned, after going through a few Santana SEs and Tremonti SEs over the last few years. This Marsden is a keeper for sure. Only issue I had, as many people have stated, was the nut. However my local tech recommended to adjust/shave the slots first before replacing it, and he was right. Plays even better now.

Bought it off a local GC on Clearance for $379. Brand new. Sue me :wink:
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Congrats and welcome to the Bernie Club!

Some of you are getting absolute steals!
 
bricel24 said:
Recent SE Bernie Marsden owner here checking in. Best PRS SE guitar I've owned, after going through a few Santana SEs and Tremonti SEs over the last few years. This Marsden is a keeper for sure. Only issue I had, as many people have stated, was the nut. However my local tech recommended to adjust/shave the slots first before replacing it, and he was right. Plays even better now.

Bought it off a local GC on Clearance for $379. Brand new. Sue me :wink:
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Man, you beat me by $20! I wonder why GC is blowing them out so cheap? Any rumors of an updated model coming?
 
Mikegarveyblues said:
Did you get it?

Love to see some pics when you do. You won't have any issues with 9's or 10's with that bridge.

Edit... or 11's! ;)
Click to expand...

Here it is. I was trying to capture the flame of the top which looks really quilted, but unfortunately the photos don't do it justice. Very sweet guitar though. I paid £340 in the end, with the original SE gig bag, so I think I got a good deal.





 
GS1 said:
Man, you beat me by $20! I wonder why GC is blowing them out so cheap? Any rumors of an updated model coming?
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Actually, the tag on it was $399, but the guy quoted me $379 over the phone when I called after I saw it earlier in the day so he honored that when I came back in to pay for it. :)

I don't think there will be an updated BM model, aside from the Limited Edition that came out after the regular SE BM. Guitar Center is just really good in pushing old stock by dropping prices like crazy, and suckers like me fall for 'em almost every time -- like a PRS SE20 combo I had them set aside for me last week that was on blowout as well for $349 :wave:
 
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