SE DGT Appalling Fretwork

Mikegarveyblues

Cream Crackered
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Messages
3,120
Location
Warrington, Nr Liverpool UK
Hey folks, long time no see!

Was hoping to post a happy NGD after joining what seems to be many happy members of the SE DGT club. Unfortunately - at least for now - that isn't the case. Some of you may wish to close your eyes...

I've been intrigued by this model since first release. It sounded like the perfect guitar to fill a niche between my SE Bernie and my Strats. Humbuckers, trem, fat neck, big frets, usable coil split, etc... Plus David is a great player with a long history with PRS. I knew if he put his name to it then it would be a great guitar.

Unfortunately I need to travel several hundred miles to find one in stock (Non goldtop), so I put my faith in an reputable online dealer that photographs, weighs and does set ups on every guitar. Bought from them in the past and they've never let me down until now.

Everything looked good when I first got it out of the box but as soon as I started to play I knew something was wrong. Bending strings felt like I was dragging the strings across sandpaper and the edges of the fretboard / frets felt rough. In 30 years of playing I have only felt one guitar that was close and that was my sons £100 starter guitar. That guitar has bad fret sprout and rough frets but nothing that can't be fixed. This guitar would need major work to make it playable. An expense and hassle I'm not prepared to take on given the prices SE's now go for.

The frets are pretty rough. Ordinarily solvable with some polishing, but a couple have nicks in them. They would need to be re-levelled and dressed. But worse is the butchery to the fret ends. You can see where they have tried to file the ends but have left deep marks n the wood. The bass side isn't great but the treble side is shocking. Not only that but the filing has made the edges sharper rather than smooth. Some frets are level with the edge, others are half a mill from the edge. Some are not flush with the fretboard. Not a single well dressed fret.

But what makes me more angry than the fret butchery is that this guitar has passed through three set of QC / Set up and these issues have been ignored. The factory, PRS Guitars Europe and finally the store. How is this deemed even remotely acceptable at this - or indeed any price!?

I played a couple of SE McCarty 594's recently and a gold top SE DGT (should have bought it) and they were stunning in every regard although the maple Silver Sky I tried was a bit poor but I think that just needed a good setup. I know when Cor Tek Indonesia bring their A game to the table they are more than capable of building stunning guitars that punch above their weight but the QC seems to be severely lacking both at the factory and at the European tech centre. This guitar should never have made it to the store, let alone me!

DGT SE (3)
by MikeGBlues, on Flickr

There's little nicks in the frets (hard to photo) deeper than all the scratches which possible be polished out.

DGT SE (1) by MikeGBlues, on Flickr

DGT SE (8) by MikeGBlues, on Flickr

DGT SE (5) by MikeGBlues, on Flickr

DGT SE (6) by MikeGBlues, on Flickr

DGT SE (11) by MikeGBlues, on Flickr

DGT SE (13) by MikeGBlues, on Flickr

For comparison, here is a sub £150 Indonesian built Yamaha acoustic:

Yamaha Fret by MikeGBlues, on Flickr

And a £200 Chinese built Washburn acoustic:

Washburn Fret by MikeGBlues, on Flickr

If these guitars can be built with good quality fretwork for less than a quarter of the price of the SE, then what is going wrong with this part of the manufacturing process on the SE line at Cor Tek Indonesia?

Anyways, sorry for the rant. Just bummed to get this lemon!

I'll give the store a chance to put it right and hopefully I can post something a lot more positive!

And hopefully Jack might see this and other complaints and lean on Cor Tek to up their game and be more consistent with their QC!!!
 
Is the SE DGT the only SE model that has the self-bound fretboard? (Rosewood fretboard bound with thin rosewood strips... notice there are no visible fret tangs.)

I know the SE hollowbodies have maple binding, but as far as I know, the rosewood binding on the SE DGT is a new feature.
 
Companies need to stop being overly optimistic in their claims about their inspection processes.
Yeah, it came with the hang tag and a slip from the store ticking off everything they checked. At best they are getting the guitars out the big bags and giving them a very quick visual inspection. Perhaps one guitar in so many gets a more complete inspection. Certainly not as in depth as they claim.
It seems when the first batch of a new SE model arrives, they’re spot-on. After that, it’s all down hill.
I’ve long since become jaded with reviews in guitar mags and think less of YouTube influencer reviews. Always the most amazing guitar under X dollars / pounds. At least until the next guitar they review!
This is such a shame to see.

I hope you’re right Mike and something is done about this, both by the dealer and PRS.
Hopefully hear from the dealer tomorrow. They’re well respected so I’m optimistic they’ll put it right.
Great to see you Mike! Hated seeing those pics, though. That’s total crap!
Hey Bodia Good to see you too! Shame really. Was really impressed with the SE McCarty models I played so they can definitely knock out some winners. In fact the guitar sounded great. Nice and resonant. Pickups are brilliant. Nut was cut perfectly. Finish was perfect. If the fretwork had been done correctly that would have been one hell of a great guitar but sadly ruined by someone who had no business holding a file in his/her hand!
 
Is the SE DGT the only SE model that has the self-bound fretboard? (Rosewood fretboard bound with thin rosewood strips... notice there are no visible fret tangs.)

I know the SE hollowbodies have maple binding, but as far as I know, the rosewood binding on the SE DGT is a new feature.
I think so.

I think they pre cut the frets? If so they are a little too short in length but they’re still trying to smooth them with a file leading to the damage seen.

Would love to see the fret ends on some other SE DGT’s to compare.

Would rather it looked like the Yamaha pic I posted. No binding, visible fret tang cut and shaped perfectly to match the board. But I guess this is part of the way they are driving down the cost to manufacture.
 
Something seems off to me...
AFAIK, from watching PRS factory videos, they don't even crown or dress frets after fret level on core models.
 
Something seems off to me...
AFAIK, from watching PRS factory videos, they don't even crown or dress frets after fret level on core models.
I need to rewatch the Indonesia factory videos PRS did. If I remember correctly Jack makes a point of saying the way the fretwork is done is completely different than Maryland.
 
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