SE Mods

My completed SE Custom 24 30th Anniversary in Vintage Sunburst. Spent a lot of time setting this one up and I'm well pleased with the results so much so that I can't put the thing down much to the wifes annoyance. I was hoping to have it completed a little sooner, however Her Majesty's Customs decided to keep a hold of the Mann Made over Xmas.

Tuners: Grover 406 locking.
Nut: Tusq
Neck Pup: Seymour Duncan Jazz
Bridge Pup: Seymour Duncan Custom Trembucker
Trem: Mann Made 2000NOS

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My completed SE Custom 24 30th Anniversary in Vintage Sunburst. Spent a lot of time setting this one up and I'm well pleased with the results so much so that I can't put the thing down much to the wifes annoyance. I was hoping to have it completed a little sooner, however Her Majesty's Customs decided to keep a hold of the Mann Made over Xmas.

Tuners: Grover 406 locking.
Nut: Tusq
Neck Pup: Seymour Duncan Jazz
Bridge Pup: Seymour Duncan Custom Trembucker
Trem: Mann Made 2000NOS

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Great upgrades!!!
 
Cool upgrades, bigcraigie!

I thought I'd give a brief tone report of my SE One upgrades...

The stock P-90 is a beautiful pickup but it needed some tone shaping controls for my taste. The V-Treb let me dial the right resonant peak and the tone control ended up being almost like a cocked wah control. It's brilliant!

It's been so long since I played a mini hummer that I've forgotten what it could do. The bass growl under hard picking is so tasty...almost syrup-y. The aggressive attitude of the P-90 is swapped with a bit more dynamic range, surprisingly enough. The Mini is a little brighter, but not too much so, or shrill. Thru the Boogie, it's wonderful. I may need to raise the height a little, but the attack is more gentlemanly that the P-90 with nice dynamics changes between finger and flat picking. The telltale mini hummer microphonics are certainly there under high gain, so I'll have to keep my distance from the speakers, but it's a real joy.

The big surprise is the bridge. There is a marked difference with the USA version: not in tone, necessarily, but in feel or perception. Sustain is better. But tonally, there is, for the lack of a better term, a more refined, or more PRS-focused quality. It's tough to qualify or quantify but was a very worthy investment. I'm skeptical, no more.

And thanks guys for all the nice comments. This guitar continues to give up the goods. :wub:
 
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Cool upgrades, bigcraigie!

I thought I'd give a brief tone report of my SE One upgrades...

The stock P-90 is a beautiful pickup but it needed some tone shaping controls for my taste. The V-Treb let me dial the right resonant peak and the tone control ended up being almost like a cocked wah control. It's brilliant!

It's been so long since I played a mini hummer that I've forgotten what it could do. The bass growl under hard picking is so tasty...almost syrup-y. The aggressive attitude of the P-90 is swapped with a bit more dynamic range, surprisingly enough. The Mini is a little brighter, but not too much so, or shrill. Thru the Boogie, it's wonderful. I may need to raise the height a little, but the attack is more gentlemanly that the P-90 with nice dynamics changes between finger and flat picking. The telltale mini hummer microphonics are certainly there under high gain, so I'll have to keep my distance from the speakers, but it's a real joy.

The big surprise is the bridge. There is a marked difference with the USA version: not in tone, necessarily, but in feel or perception. Sustain is better. But tonally, there is, for the lack of a better term, a more refined, or more PRS-focused quality. It's tough to qualify or quantify but was a very worthy investment. I'm skeptical, no more.

And thanks guys for all the nice comments. This guitar continues to give up the goods. :wub:

That is one cool... One!!! Good call on the mini. I would secretly love to have a Firebird someday, or maybe some kind of mod machine SE or S2 with them. It's the only pickup not in my stable right now.
 
Thanks guys. I'm super pleased to the point its my number one guitar right now. I'm now contemplating the idea of offloading my Ibanez Prestige to fund an SE245 (I never thought I'd hear myself say that!!). The guitar is now that good it's right up there with the higher end Japanese and USA made brands and then some.

I've never spent so much time modifying a guitar before this and it's not only been great fun (although harsh language was used on a few occasions), but makes the guitar feel that bit more special.

Just need to figure out how to add pictures to this thread as it didn't seem to work on my last post.

Edit - managed to sus out how to add pics
 
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Hi,

i'm a new member here and i'm fascinated from this posts and of the many fantastic mods of SE's. So i will upload one of my work i've don to an SE Santana. First i've changed the tuners to schiller M6 mini locking ones, then i've changed the toggle switch to a 6 position freeway switch...i've modified the original pickups to coil splitting. The pickups get's nickel caps on it, original USA pickup rings and knobs. i've designed a small pick guard which is only glued on with adhesive tape so it is removable without leaving traces on guitar....truss rod cover has changed too, this is my main guitar in my home studio.


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Welcome, guitar man! We`ll all be looking forward to some pics soon.
Like i said i'm a new member here and i thought it is possible to upload pics direct into a comment but i'm unable to do this. So now i tried to insert a link to photo bucket, maybe this will work:) if yes i will post more pics.
 
Nice work on that Santana, it looks great - amazing - with the white on the that top

** To post an image put this in front of and after your link:

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I used a feeway too with some mules, and love the position 4 (alternate bridge position)

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(they gave me the above wiring diagram for non-magnet flipped mules in Bernie (2 vol, master tone), in case anyone needs it)
 
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I'll play... upcoming project is a 2009 SE CU24 (whale blue/moons), in perfect stock condition. Going to outfit it with HFS/VB/5 way rotary and Switchcraft/CTS electronics once it gets here, along with swap to cream hb rings and core strap buttons. Future mods will be Phase II locking tuners and John Mann's trem upgrade kit.

Does it count that I put the big PRS strap buttons on all my PRS guitars? Love those things, will happily trade strap locks for em.

Current project that is almost complete (complete for now, want to put a Mann bridge on it eventually) - just need to solder this weekend - is SE Soapbar 2.5 Maple with vintage zebra SD SH4:
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One thing I want to add is how impressed I am by quality control on the SE line. I had gotten out of guitarring for nearly ten years - 2005 to 2015; during that time SEs have really evolved into a niche of their own. These guitars are great out of the box, but really shine as mod platforms. I was familiar with some of the better Korean guitars from back then (going back to the Ibanez Ghostrider line in the 90s), and the original SE Santanas were a letdown to me when first released (now I can appreciate their simple aesthetic). These days? SEs really are PRS guitars, at least to me. The bones are rock solid, and their form follows Paul's basic idea of "if it doesn't look/play/sound better than the competition, it won't draw customers" Sure, everything is cheaper grade, but the specs, quality of components, and quality control is pure PRS. I guess this is what we get when the top dog has spent his entire life playing guitar and chasing tone... good time to be a guitar player imo.

My theory about modern Korean electric guitar manufacturing (some of this I've read, don't have sources though) is that the top Korean companies/builders got their start from established Japanese companies (Matsumoku and Fuii Gen) 20 to 30 years ago. Those Korean companies (Cort, Samick, etc) cut their teeth many years ago, and were building similar style guitars before the SE line existed. Guitar manufacturing is a large industry over there, and obviously some companies - and skilled employees - take pride in their instruments.
 
Agreed.I have 6 modified SE`s. The ones i`ve kept have resonance that speaks to me. My 2007 Mira has more resonance, but I can`t bring myself to modify that, other than better shielding, locking studs, and ebony pickups rings. SE`s are like a blank canvas to me. That`s where I try out my various wiring/pickup/bridge/tailpiece combinations. I don`t look at resale value, because I don`t intend to sell them. I get them to make them mine. With the mods, I like them better than everything except the Core models.
 
Anybody have or have had top hat knobs on their PRS? Maybe its sacrilege, but I really like the classic look of some of them. The lampshades, while super nice, are a bit overpriced in my opinion.
 
Anybody have or have had top hat knobs on their PRS? Maybe its sacrilege, but I really like the classic look of some of them. The lampshades, while super nice, are a bit overpriced in my opinion.
I had some on my old SE245. Personally loved the look, but didn't like them as much as the speed knobs as far as functionality and feel.

 
I'll play!! I've had this one like this now for about a year and it's been a pleasure the whole time...

Satin finish everywhere...wife thought I was nuts sanding down the finish the day after I received it new :)
Dimarzio 36th anniversary pups scuffed up like they do the 57/08's etc.
Phase III tuners...just had to drill the post holes a tad bigger. mounting screws went right into the old holes
Tusq nut
Flame maple pup rings
Truss rod cover with a pic of the wife and kiddo...brownie points
and while I was sanding the entire finish I figured I'd sand off the headstock decal. The logo came off before I went all the way through the clear. I kept the info on the back of the headstock as to not be able to pass this thing off as something that it is not.
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