Mikegarveyblues
Cream Crackered
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!!!
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 FlickrDGT SE (8) by MikeGBlues, on FlickrDGT SE (5) by MikeGBlues, on FlickrDGT SE (6) by MikeGBlues, on FlickrDGT SE (11) by MikeGBlues, on FlickrDGT SE (13) by MikeGBlues, on FlickrFor comparison, here is a sub £150 Indonesian built Yamaha acoustic:
Yamaha Fret by MikeGBlues, on FlickrAnd a £200 Chinese built Washburn acoustic:
Washburn Fret by MikeGBlues, on FlickrIf 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!!!
