Story of my PRS SE Tremonti Custom purchase from FRET12- Great Service/Great Company!

[Beach_Pilot]

Hey guys my name is Abe and I'm new to the PRS forum. I recently purchased a PRS SE 245 guitar and loved it so much, I decided to take the plunge and buy the new Tremonti SE Custom. I was originally going to order the guitar through Sweetwater as they have great service. But I decided to call FRET12- Mark Tremonti's company after seeing their FB post. When I spoke with Tim, I asked him why order through FRET12 and not elsewhere and he assured me I would receive great customer service and he was right. They threw in a free copy of Mark's instructional DVD "The Sound and The Story" as well as other extras which was really nice of them. Normally, when you purchase a guitar through FRET12, you receive an autograph from Mark himself for no charge. It just so happened Tim was visiting Mark this weekend, and he offered to get my guitar personally autographed for me. I understand that I may have been lucky with the timing, but I was surprised they would go that length to make a PRS and Tremonti fan happy. Being a loyal Tremonti fan as many of you are, I was really impressed with the level of customer service this company offers. It is not very often that a simple guitar purchase leaves such a good impression. Needless to say I will do repeat business with FRET12, but I thought fellow PRS enthusiasts should know this story. If you are in the market for a PRS guitar, check them out! I will recommened these guys to anyone after my experience.:rock:

 

[dbonanno]

That's AWESOME!
I'd love to see some pics.

I also purchased the SE245 a couple weeks ago and loved it so much, I also purchased the Tremonti SE Custom.
Both guitars are very different and I really love them both.

I also bought the Original Tremonti SE when it first came out.
I was very fortunate to meet Mark Tremonti at Washington Music Center years ago for a "meet and greet" and asked him to sign the guitar.
I have to say I was impressed with that guitar, especially for the price, but it doesn't even come close to the new SE's that are available now.
PRS rocks!

 

[Beach_Pilot]

That's awesome! Yeah I'm stoked to play the custom, wanna see the difference from the original Tremonti. I will post the pics when I receive the guitar!

 

[dbonanno]

That's awesome! Yeah I'm stoked to play the custom, wanna see the difference from the original Tremonti. I will post the pics when I receive the guitar!

The difference is like day and night, IMO ...
The new Tremonti Custom SE has the thicker body and though both necks are supposed to be "wide/thin", the neck on the Tremonti Custom feels thinner.
This may be due to several things ... the contrast to the thicker body, the binding on the older Tremonti, or maybe the difference in the heels due to thickness.
Both necks feel great but whatever the reason, they just have a different feel.

Other differences (tailpiece, tops, and other cosmetics) are pretty obvious.
I can't honestly do a pickup comparison because I put different pickups in my original Tremonti many years ago.
But I will say that the pickups in the new Tremonti appear much better than what I remember being in the original model.
Both guitars are great though, IMO.

 

[djpvguitarist]

Hey Abe. I've also bought from Fret12 and like you, also thought about buying from Sweetwater(they have great service... bought a PRS multifit case for the guitar, will definitely buy again from them). I'm expecting the guitar to arrive this coming week since they've already received their stock yesterday. I've chosen Fret12 cause they have a free DVD and the guitar will be signed by Mark(hard to get one, I went to see them Live on the Creed 2012 tour in DC). *also bought other items* And to add with that, when I inquired about the guitar via email, Tim (I'm about to go home from work at 11pmET on a Friday) was the first one who emailed me back(I've also inquired in Sweetwater that night) well I use email as my primary tool for communication rather than talking on the phone(english is my second language just got here in the US last 2011 so I'm still getting used to pronounce words, also with my grammar)** And the first thing that I bought from my salary was a 2011 Tremonti SE(from GuitarCenter.. love playing it, since this was my first guitar I bought using my hard earned money) **


Tim was very helpful with me too but I've waited 2weeks(already ordered the next day he emailed me back) expecting it to arrive anyday from the past 2weeks since he kept telling me that it will be shipped when they receive it on a Monday(this past 2 Mondays) so I was a little disappointed with that, he could just tell me that they were not sure when the guitars will be in stock on their warehouse. And here comes Brian, who sent me a message (Tim also did shoot an email) last Thursday when I was inquiring about the Tremonti WAH w/ DVD bundle(trading it with another DVD, also bought it *serious GAS with Tremonti Signatured Prods :dontknow: MY ULTIMATE GAS... US PRS TREMONTI IN CHARCOAL OR FIRE RED BURST can't afford right now can't resist these SE's) and I also asked him about the guitar, I was really glad since he was the one who talked to PRS about the delivery and he said they will have it either that day or this last Friday, then I saw the pic yesterday on their Facebook page and Twitter account where the backplate signed by Mark was being installed by one of their techs.. :rofl::rofl: atlast! I've waited for it too long, in fact dreaming about it one night(am I weird because of this lols)


I also bought some hardware for modification(locking tuners, 10s cobalt strings *these strings sounded better and more durable based on my experience, actually bought a set of three and ever since I've only used one, but now starting<after 8months, I play every other weekend> to have discoloration due to my finger sweat* and tusq nut). Also been thingking about putting the Tremonti pickups(don't have it yet).


well Abe, this week is gonna be our NGW** NEW GUITAR WEEK ** I'll post some pics when I get it. I'd love to see yours too :rock:

 

[Duffy]

The trem plate on the back of my Santana SE is not recessed into the wood and flush with the back. It is screwed onto the surface of the back. It seems totally inconsequential. My Singlecut SE tremolo plate on the back of the guitar is also not recessed into the wood and is also screwed onto the surface of the back. I never noticed any difference until someone brought up this feature.

It doesn't bother me at all and I wouldn't even think about considering having it recessed into the body; if that is even possible without interfering with the mechanical movement of the trem system.

I guess if it bothered you excessively you could be compelled to file a bevel on the sides. Using a flat file that could produce excellent results and leave a much smoother surface when running your hand across the back of the guitar. One would probably have to have a pretty strong case of OCD to be compelled to do this though; even though it seems like a good idea actually.

 

[hubbdub]

Awesome story man, and congrats on the new purchase!

 

[Duffy]

Awesome story man, and congrats on the new purchase!

Thanks man.

One thing I wish I would have considered though is the shipping method.

The place I ordered it from has a warehouse in NJ and one in Nevada. Almost all of my stuff comes from NJ and I get it in one day.

This guitar, however, is coming from Reno by truck and taking a week to get here. This whole idea scares me. It is super hot and dry West of Nebraska, and just plain hot and dry across Nebraska and to the Mississippi. We just made a trip to Chicago and back and it was really hot but not really low humidity - but still hot.

If I would have known the item was coming from Nevada I would have requested two day air freight for a small extra charge. I hope I don't find any heat/dry related problems or a crushed box. I'll look it over as best I can. If I had it to do again I would have paid extra to have it air freighted. The less time in transit seems to be the best strategy. The problem is that they don't know where it is shipping from until it has already been shipped. I actually don't believe that and am pretty sure that they know where their inventory is.

Imagine how hot it gets in those tractor trailers.

Well, I suppose if we knew all of the climate conditions and rough handling that our guitars go thru coming from the Far East, we would be even more concerned than I am. I don't suppose that the Asian transportation system and trans-ocean shipping is exactly ideal.

I'll let you know how it all turns out. I realize that this is an everyday thing and is the norm of this type of doing business. I just wish I requested air shipping across the states.