I'll post pics here when I'm done. So far it doesn't look much different. I suppose it won't when I'm done either but...
I got a Tremonti SE Custom early this month. Before I even got to HAVE it (it was a B-Day gift) I was thinking-of and ordering parts with which to mod/improve this guitar.
Found a great pair of fellows over at "another" PRSForums. One GAVE me (and paid to ship it) a PRS USA nut for it. Another awesome man sold me a 59/09 squabbin for it for $100!!!
My Wife was kinda taken a-back (?) by my modification plans. She actually got MAD and said something like.."well if I had known that this guitar wasn't adequate, I wouldn't have BOUGHT it for you...grrr". I was like...no no my Love...it isn't THAT, it's a disease like obesity (pffff) or addiction to cigarettes...I/we just can't HELP ourselves. We see a guitar and immediately we think...hmmm..what can I do to it to make it better or more "me". It's like ordering a brand new corvette but before it is delivered, you have already ordered new/better tires or a cold air intake etc. Think of it as personalizing an item. It isn't because we don't LIKE the thing.
OK so...I get to have the guitar before the components arrive and I have a few rehearsals and gigs before they got here. I was like...HOLY!!! This thing is awesome just the way it is. Maybe she was right. Maybe I'll just leave it alone. It even stays in tune with rigorous use of the whammy bar :-O. And...the pickups and tones are awesome as-is.
I contacted both guys who had already shipped the components and told them that I might not even use them. That I would return the free nut, or give it to the next forum member who needs one...and that I would return the pup or sell it to the next in line for the same $100 shipped. Both guys said...NO man...KEEP it and USE it. You WILL want to keep it once you try it though. Again...great pair of guys.
The only thing I wasn't liking about the guitar was the fact that I was wearing .009s. The nut still wasn't here so I went ahead and put a set of .010s on it. OOPSIES!! lol Just like my old CE24...it doesn't like .010s with a nut that was cut for .009s. Bend a string and it goes real flat real fast...until you give it a quick "git yerself back-intune divebomb" to reel it back in.
Had another gig the next day so I quickly went ou and bought a set of .009s to put back on it :-(
Did a few more shows with it in stock form and then the parts arrived.
Even though I was liking the stock SE245 pups, I have a ton of cool pups in my drawer (another reason to mod it I explained to my wife). My fave lately was a Duncan Custom Custom that I put in the bridge position of my PRS Studio. I have another CC standing-by.
I also have the covered 57/08 that came in the Stood. I have the old HFS from my CE24...but I am not a ceramic mag kind of guy. I also have a bunch of other buckers including a pair of old gold covered DiMarzios (some of their original AIR pups...) a DP194 and a DP195. I have a GFS FATPAT kicking around and some other not worth writing home about...humbuckers.
I started thinking that the CC might be a little round and dark sounding. I was really liking the "normal" sounding stock pups. They must be A5 mags cause they have a nice crispness going on and I was really liking that.
I considered going with the 59/09 in the bridge and the Stood's covered 57/08 in the neck. That would even make it LOOK like the USA Tremontis. I thought it would be a perfect pair. A hotter 59/09 in the bridge and the 57/08 in the neck. Yummy!
Welllll...when I got the 59/09 in, it's a neck/bass pup. I haven't measured but researched a little and found that the 57/08 treble and the 59/09 bass are about the same "strength". Not really what I want. I like a relatively hot bridge pup.
OK well then, maybe I'll try just putting the 59/09 in the neck and leave the stock SE245 in the bridge. Hopefully the squabbin wont make the treble SE245 sound inadequate?. So that's what I did.
The 59/09 sounds really sweet in the neck pocket. The stock pup wasn't really as womany and the squabbin is way more articulate. It almost sounds like a muscular SC in the neck. Pretty awesome.
Of course the stock treble pup sounded a little thin and bright (like most stock bridge pups I've ever had/tried) but maybe OK.
Did a gig with it like that (stock nut and .009s again) and sure enough, that SE245 in the bridge just wasn't cutting it anymore. Shrill, thin, bright, icepicky etc etc etc...YES, this is the same pup that I originally thought sounded really really good.
So now...I has the 59/09 in the neck and it's getting a new bridge pup next time I change strings. I think obviously that the CC is the only pup I have that will be good for this guitar and to compliment the neck's 59/09.
I'm still up in the air with the strings/nut though. It's been decades since I switched from .009s to .010s and I'm embarrassed to say that I really miss those skinny strings. I am scared to get too used to them (too soft) and then when I play my .010 strung guitars I'll be all out of shape. I think though that with the dark sounding CC, those .009s might get a little help and might sound very acceptable.
I just ordered 4 sets of .009s and 4 sets of .010s (S&B is having another wicked sale on elixirs) so it looks like this thing is gonna be sporting .009s for the next little while at least.
Once they arrive and I do a string change I'll add the CC in the bridge and take some pics. Oh...the CC I have is black and blue (bobbins) which is gonna look pretty goofy on this gray black guitar but..oh well.
The only other mod I've done so far was to put a length of electrical tape over the headstock's SE logo lol.
Was going to find some locking tuners for it but I'm not finding a need. With .009s this thing stays in tune just fine.
I was gonna have a TRC made but dude never got back to me so I might skip it. I have a funny feeling that this guitar will get a pup swap (both pups) and that's about IT..well besides the tape lol.
I know that a lot of people (and rightly so) don't think of a $630 guitar as being "cheap"...but if you ask me, these things are one helluva bargain. I've worked on a couple of ESPs and they too are/seem VERY well-built. I assumed that I had a $3K guitar in my hands when the ESPs were just "cheap" imports. It/they felt every bit as good as any Gibson Les Paul.
These PRS SEs are like that...or at least the new ones are.
Sure you can get an epi sc (Paul clone) for under 400 clams....and you can get Squier strats and teles for under 300 bones, Ibanez also has some very sweet offerings for not much money...and sure, a Mexican Fender is gonna be around what a good SE costs...and you can get USA built standard teles and strats for a few (~$300) bucks more...or a Les Paul Studio for about $200 more...but...NONE of those guitars, not even the American made ones are as well built and good feeling and QC passing consistently as the Tremonti SE Custom.
You will not find a better value...you will not find a guitar that is equal to he new SE series for under $2K I don't think.
Anyway...sorry for the rant and lack of pics (they're coming). I just needed to add my two hundred bucks and say that I'm having a blast with this guitar and I was even having a blast with it in it's stock form. It's gonna be even better once I finish with the pups swap but there's no reason we can't be happy with the stock SE pickups. I was...until I changed ONE lol.
If I was only able to change ONE thing on this guitar, I suppose it would be to buy a hard case. If you're a gigger..a hardcase is pretty necessary.
There I'm done this rant. Sorry for it..again.
I'll be back with a (shorter) report once I throw the CC in there.
I have a suggestion for all of you. GET out and test drive the new SEs. Especially the Tremonti Custom and the SE245 and the CU24. They are very well built "copies" that come real close to the real deal.
I've always had a strat kicking around as a beater to take on vacays or to engagements that were a little "unsafe". A strat was always not too far away when gigging as a backup. Well...now that Ive been introduced to the new SE line and now that I finally have a "beater PRS" (oxymoron right there)...it's PRS all the way. NO MORE Fenders for me.
That's some pretty bad news for all the poor kids and schools that know me. I seemed to have a nasty habit of giving strats away to those in need. Well...maybe time to get a paper route...or if you're a school, start selling chocolate bars door-to-door...cause....as soft hearted as I am...as good as it makes me feel everytime I see that kid's eyes light up...or tear-up when I say..."here my man, this is for YOU....FREE of CHARGE!!"...and as awesome as it feels to be thanked by principles or having my name on a plaque in the highschool's hallway...uhhhh...unfortunately...THIS Tremonti SE Custom is NOT going ANYWHERE any time soon!!!
Sorry fellas...and girls...but the good news is that you can snag yourself a Squier Standard Strat for just over a hundred bucks. Spend another hun on it for upgrades and you have yourself a wicked strat for about 200 buckaroobucks.
Ahhh...just get a hold of me and I'll buy one for you and I'll even turn it into a strat that beats the USA strats!!! I'll even pay for the shipping...BUT...you can't have my new baby...the SE Tremonti Custom. No WAY man!!
OK this time I MEAN it...rant COMPLETE!!!!