SE Custom 24 good for rock and blues?

[Duffy]

How do you guys like the SE Custom 24 for playing rock and blues, clean to high gain, thru a good tube amp? Is it good for smooth mellow sounds, plus clear, clean sounds as well?

I have been thinking of getting one and I have recently bought a SE Tremonti Custom black/grey flame that is a very nice guitar in its stock form.

Will I see a sonic, tonal difference between the two?

As a stay at home player mostly, I like to play at relative low to moderately loud volumes - mainly without effects, plugged straight into the amp of my choice (tube Marshall, Fender, Peavey, etc.).

For those that own the SE Custom 24's; what do you dig about them?

Feedback appreciated.

 

[andy474x]

I would say the custom is a bit brighter than your tremonti, due to the maple neck and thinner body, and the pickups are different. The bridge HFS pickup is hotter than the bridge 245 in your tremonti, while the neck pickups are probably more comparable in output. I do find the VB neck pickup in the custom to have less midrange, which gives it a very "flutey" tone, if that makes any sense. Personally, I highly prefer the 245 neck pickup in humbucker mode, but the split coil tone on the VB is superb.

For what you're describing, the custom would be a great choice, especially due to the ability to coil split. But if you like a really thick, meaty tone, I would look for a hefty SE 245, Bernie, or Akesson (the heavy ones seem to sound fatter IMO).

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

No reason you can't play rock and blues on the 24. As Andy says, the coil split gives some great tones. I'd probably edge towards a Bernie though. The SE245 pups sound great clean and crunchy and the Bernie can do those fat sounds you expect from a single cut. The Bernie just screams blues too! I put a BK Mule in the neck and a Suhr Doug Aldrich in the bridge. Can get great, classic blues sound and crystal clear cleans. The 4 conducted nature of my new pups also means I can set it up for coil split down the line. Try them both if you can.

 

[Deleted member 2284]

Wait... What? The SE custom 24 has a maple neck???

Wouldn't that kind of make it a more affordable version of the CE?

 

[andy474x]

Wait... What? The SE custom 24 has a maple neck???

Wouldn't that kind of make it a more affordable version of the CE?

Kind of?

 

[Duffy]

Wait... What? The SE custom 24 has a maple neck???

Wouldn't that kind of make it a more affordable version of the CE?

The SE Custom 24 has a maple set neck, just like my new SE Tremonti Custom. I dig the wide/thin necks. That is a major reason I'm considering the SE Custom 24.

I have a relatively new SE Santana and an SE Singlecut Tremolo guitar - both have nice mahogany necks and they sound quite different from each other. The Singlecut sound a lot like my SE Tremonti Custom, even though the Singlecut is a few years old and has the mahogany neck. I guess you never know what any individual guitar is going to sound like until you play it.

I appreciate all the info on the SE Custom 24 that you all have provided so far. I am taking a strong lean toward getting one of them. I've considered an S2, but I think there is still a lot that the SE line has to offer, despite the fact that I like the idea of an American made affordable PRS.

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

Ahh.. You're a fan of wide thins. The Bernie would have been a bad choice in that case as it's a chunky variation on the wide fat. The 24 is cool. I sold mine because I couldn't gel with the neck but if they ever did one with wide fat then I'd be in.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Wait... What? The SE custom 24 has a maple neck???

Wouldn't that kind of make it a more affordable version of the CE?

Unfortunately in my opinion, no. The SECU24 is missing the "zing" and "attack" of the CE, it's a much smoother sounding instrument, or at least the one I have is. The closest I've found of any SE's that approach the liveliness of a CE is the Orianthi.

 

[Duffy]

Unfortunately in my opinion, no. The SECU24 is missing the "zing" and "attack" of the CE, it's a much smoother sounding instrument, or at least the one I have is. The closest I've found of any SE's that approach the liveliness of a CE is the Orianthi.

My new SE Tremonti Custom black/grey flame seems to me to have a lot of zing and attack, compared to my relatively new Santana SE in Santana yellow flame. I believe they have the same pickups but they have different characters.

A nice real smooth sounding guitar is something that I can appreciate as long as it is clear and articulate. I dig a mellow sounding guitar and then at other times I want an "ice pick" sound, as in from my strat with Texas Specials and the tone controls wide open. What did they call the great Albert Collins - "The Iceman". A great "Master of the Telecaster". Supposedly he greatly favored the bridge Seymour Duncan Jerry Donohue Alnico II Pro pickup on that iconic telecaster with the neck humbucker.

My SE Santana has more of a mellow edge to it than my Tremonti Custom. I think I could get into an SE Custom 24 and its different pickups.

 

[markintime]

Mine is the Gray/Black and a 2013 model. I didn't actually realize it had a maple neck. But what from I've read, that might account for a brighter, clean tone. I do know that going to single coil on the bridge pup, it seems to have plenty of zing. And taking a cue from Clapton, I get a very pleasing woman sound with the tone at 0 or 1, either single or humbucking. Depends on if you like a soprano voice or contralto, . I play mine through the Peavey 112 ('95 model), and although I am so very limited with experience in electric guitar world, it sounds very pleasing to me. When I want some crunch, I can chunk up the pre gain on the lead channel. The only thing I have to get used to is the volume drop in splitting the coils, but if I play with the volume knob at 8 in humbucking, I can zip it to 10 in split mode and it's hard to tell the difference. I did put a set of PRS 9.5's on it and I like the feel and sound better than the M-steel 9's I was using.

Well, those are my thoughts, FWIW. And I am lusting after a Paul's Guitar I've spotted, but I'm not telling where it is, heh, heh .

But I do have a question of my own, and forgive me for sliding off-thread topic, but what is the difference in sound between a mahogany top and a maple (hope I'm not giving anything away)?

Edit #2: Oh yeah, and Duffy, I am like you in that I play at home. And the amp volume is kept at wife-pleasing levels even though I like to run the guitar volume knob up. Unless she's gone shopping! But yes on your original question, it is very smooth when it has to be, and boisterious when you feel like it. And I have no effects at all.

 

[RamziRamman]

Hey first time poster on the forum. But to answer your question, I LOVE my PRS SE Custom 24. It does it all, and I mean ALL. From mellow to in your face shred. Here's an example of some in your face and fast shred guitar!

http://youtu.be/tOepA2fnU9A