SE Indecision... Tremonti Custom or Custom 24???

[DarKnight]

Indecision... Tremonti Custom , Custom 24 or an S2??!

First of all, hello to all of you guys!!

Well, here I am facing a dilemma...

SE CU 24 in Tobacco Vs SE Tremonti Custom Grey Black......... which one to choose??

I own an American Strat, and my idea is to buy a punchier, fuller sound guitar, better for distorted sounds comparing to the ones I get with the Strat (it has 3 singlecoils - I don't like "hybrid" Strats)

The Tremonti Custom seems to me the most rational choice - as I said, I want to have a fuller sound than I have with the Strat... and keeping the wide thin neck is imperative to me...
The thing is, it's impossible to test one (it's not easy to get signature models in Portugal to try out).
The lack of choice regarding colors is proving to be a real deal breaker as I'm not particularly fond of the grey black look (although I could live with it - or have it professionaly painted for about 70€)... and I think the quilted tops available just............ ugly (and I'm being nice...).

The CU24 is the most emotional choice - already tried one and playing it felt SUPER comfortable! Bends all over the place effortlessly! It was a dream! I mostly play Pink Floyd stuff, so I like bends....... A LOT!! lol
Also liked the sound, although I think the bridge pickup is the weakest link...
I don't know if anyone else noticed this (or if it happens to anyone else), but when using distortion, when II struck chords or power chords, I swear I could hear a little bit of detuning happening... could it be bad intonation?
This was more audible with distortion... using it in the clean channel, it seemed perfectly in tune... weird! Could it be the floating tremolo? Maybe I could be palm muting too hard??

The fact that it's available in tobacco sunburst is appealing to me and the coil tap also pleased me very much - I even thought to my self: "The floyd sounds I'm getting out of this thing are pretty GOOD!! Could it be possible that it sounds better than my Strat??!" (Yeah, I thought it was that good! And my American Std Strat has a set of CS69 on neck and middle and a SSL-5 on the bridge!).
The downside? The bright sound... I mean, it's not a problem per se, it's just that I was initially looking for a "darker" sounding guitar to add to my Strat...

This is such a dillema for me that I'm even thinking of selling the Strat and buying one of each!! LOL

I've watched videos and more videos, I have read forums and more forums and cannot reach a conclusion ... It seems to me that I have to go pay a visit to Captain Lee and Rob Chapman to make up my mind! lol

Help me guys!


P.S. Sorry for any mistakes... my English is far from being updated!

 

[CoreyT]

I own both in the same colors, and I like the Tremonti Custom better.
They both have the wide/thin necks, but I guess I like the 22 fret better.
The Tremonti def gets more play time than the Custom 24.
Look in my sig, you can see pics of both of them.

Welcome to the forum too!

 

[DarKnight]

Thanks!

In your personnal opinion, Is the feeling of the neck exactly the same? Despite having the same spec name, looking at photos the Tremonti neck seems a little bit "chunkier"...

 

[CoreyT]

You are welcome.
No, I believe they feel the same to me.
The SE Wide/Thin is one of my favorite necks, even more so than my Pattern/Thin on my 408.
The Pattern/Thin neck on the USA models is not quite as thin as the SE Wide/Thins, and I just find the thinner neck of the SEs a tad bit easier to play.

I have two other SEs (Zack Myers and Santana) with the Wide/Fat neck profile, and I find them harder to play.
Nice guitars, but I am a thin neck type of guy.

 

[DarKnight]

That's exactly what I've been wanting to hear! Thank you so much for your input!

When I tried the SE Singlecut my thoughts were the same: it feels more comfortable than a Les Paul (even compared to the ones with the 60's slim taper profile neck), but not AS comfortable as the wide thin neck.

My preference for this neck profile goes waaaaay back to when I tried (out of curiosity) an SE One... It literally blew my mind because I remember thinking - this is THE neck for me! And that thought comes to me very often lol

The C shape profile on my Strat is comfortable enough and it has a soft touch that I love, but the wide thin has been on my mind since I've tried that SE One! It felt right for me you know? Still does!

Hmmmmm... I'm starting to lean towards the Tremonti.......

 

[CoreyT]

You are welcome.
I also have a 2012 Gibson '61 SG Reissue with the slim 60s tapered neck which is nice, but the SEs Wide/Thin neck is still better.
I had a '73 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe back in '73, and I did not care for that neck.
Must have been the chubbier style, as my SG is way easier to play than that old Les Paul.

Some folk's dig chubby necks, but I will always prefer a thin one.
I have never tried an Ibanez guitar with their thin Wizard necks, but I have a feeling I would like the neck.

Go for the Tremonti, I think you will like it.

 

[Therinx]

I have the SE Tremonti Custom in Tobacco Sunburst Quilt, and it is BANGIN in person.

 

[DarKnight]

Thanks guys! You've been most helpfull!

After seeing some more videos a new question rises........... lol
Should I spend the extra buck and go for an S2?!
It's just that listening to samples and videos, the sound of the S2 line seems richer, fuller and more powerfull (and it has to do with more than just the pickups)... at least to my ears! It sounds more "dimensional" and solid you know what I mean?

It seems to me that it has a lot of juice and can go from "Gibby" sounds to "Straty" sounds very decently, without loosing it's personality... the fact that there's no volume drop when coil tapping is also important to me.
I don't want to spend a lot of money on a Core model (it's not worth it giving the use I'll make of the guitar), so what are your thoughts on this?

There's something bugging me....... all of the photos I see show different colors, although the color reference is the same!! Damn, makes it so hard to pick one!!

So, last but not the least, S2 Custom 22 or Custom 24?
It may seem a little strange to leave the singlecut idea, but the thing is, in order to buy an S2 I'll have to sell my Strat (if not, I'll be joining the "Ex-married but proud owners of a PRS guys" group lol).
By doing that, I need a guitar with double cutaway.

 

[CoreyT]

Here is another vid for you.
http://prsguitars.com/forum/showthr...ture-amp-PRS-SE-Tremonti-Custom-Guitar-Review

 

[DarKnight]

I've already seen all the videos up to page 14 (and more) LOL just can't decide! :dontknow:

That one is a good example of how good the Tremonti SE Custom is.

But then you see something like this:

Or like this:

And those tones drive you craaaaaazy! If you watch it with good headphones you can easily tell the difference...

 

[Duffy]

I just bought a new Tremonti Custom SE black/grey flame and it is a great guitar. It sounds very decently bright when on the bridge pickup. I like the stock pickups. It is definitely not a strat sound, so I would keep the strat.

I think you would be very happy with the Tremonti SE Custom and your strat. I have never found the coil split guitars to sound remarkable when split. There is really nothing like a strat, for all practical purposes. I would recommend the Tremonti SE Custom.

My next guitar, however, might be a Custom 24 SE. I think you get a lot of guitar with these awesome models.

I like having the four control knobs on the Tremonti SE Custom. I use my tone and volume controls a lot.

Good luck anyway. Also, in my opinion, the color of the guitar isn't as important as the sound and feel, as long as the color is something that you can dig. If one guitar plays and feels better than another one and the only difference is I like the color of the other one better, I'll buy the one that plays and feels better. I've made the mistake of buying a guitar because I liked the color better than another one before, and regretted it. In addition, I dig PRS guitars, but I would hold onto that American Strat. I guarantee you that you will regret selling that, the minute it leaves your hands, and they are not cheap to replace and nothing will be like the "one you let go" probably. I would say to think seriously about absolutely keeping that strat.

 

[CoreyT]

Yes, I think the stock pickups are fine on all of my SEs.
And since this is my favorite SE of the ones I own, I like it better than my $2K+ SG I bought when I got back into guitars.
The Tremonti is so easy to play, and sounds great with the overdriven metal stuff I like to play.

 

[Duffy]

Yes, I think the stock pickups are fine on all of my SEs.
And since this is my favorite SE of the ones I own, I like it better than my $2K+ SG I bought when I got back into guitars.
The Tremonti is so easy to play, and sounds great with the overdriven metal stuff I like to play.

Yeah. It is an awesome guitar and I agree that it holds up really well to ultra high gain and sounds great; plus it sounds great super clean too. That right there is a type of versatility that has some serious value, more so possibly than having split coils. Having a lot of guitars with split coils, I have not found one of them to sound remarkable when the coils are split, much less anything like a strat or tele.

I must say, as well, that I "really" dig the black/grey flame on my Tremonti SE Custom. It looks stunning in person. It actually has a three dimensional depth to the finish. I'm really glad I got this guitar, and I too was trying to decide between it and the Custom 24 SE. I'm glad I made this decision. Maybe the Custom 24 SE will be next.

 

[László]

There's something bugging me....... all of the photos I see show different colors, although the color reference is the same!! Damn, makes it so hard to pick one!!

A few things about that...first, camera and lighting can make the same guitar look different. I could show you pictures of one of my guitars in different lighting, and it looks like a different guitar. And of course, certain colors are more subject to lighting differences.

Second, the color on PRS guitars varies from individual guitar to guitar; every piece of wood absorbs the stain differently, and the color differences in individual pieces of original wood also matter to the final outcome.

Finally they're hand-stained -- the colors are mixed from various stains by hand as well, at least on the USA guitars. It's one of the things that gives the guitars an individual personality, and that's a good thing!

So if you're very, very picky about your colors, the smartest thing you can do is go see the actual guitar you're interested in personally.

So, last but not the least, S2 Custom 22 or Custom 24?
It may seem a little strange to leave the singlecut idea, but the thing is, in order to buy an S2 I'll have to sell my Strat (if not, I'll be joining the "Ex-married but proud owners of a PRS guys" group lol).
By doing that, I need a guitar with double cutaway.

I think the S2 is a really good choice, and I'd go with the CU22. I have no real reason for saying that, other than I gravitate toward the tone of 22 fret PRSes, and I think it's because the pickups sit in a different spot on the guitar body than a 24 fret guitar. To my ears, that pickup positioning seems to emphasize the midrange in a good way, with a fat resonance.

But that's just me, and an awful lot of players prefer the tones of a CU24, which arguably sounds a little more "modern" using that term loosely.