PRS SE Custom 24 (2009)

It wasn't too long ago when PRS boomed in sales. To keep up with their demand they made their first line of off shore guitars in Korea and refer to them as the SE line. The SE is usually well marked on the headstock of the instrument.

I saw this at my local Guitar Center and thought I would give it a shot. Brand new with a PRS factory gig bag the PRS SE Custom 24 sells for $679.99

What makes this instrument unique to me is the fact that it has a killer tremelo and whammy bar on it. This is uncommon to come stock on most Gibson or PRS guitars. Definitely a big plus.

The maple trim around the guitar really sets of the visual appeal. It makes a cheaper imported instrument look like a higher end model.

I feel the pickups are almost too diverse. The black and white Zebra striped bobbins definitely look cool, but the bridge is very bright and the neck is very bassy. I was able to roll the tone knob back too kill some of the brightness, but I am ultimately thinking about upgrading the pickups.

No shortcuts taken here. The body is mahogany and the top is a maple veneer finished in sunburst to let just enough wood grain show through. 25' scale, the neck is thinner compared to a Gibson. 24 frets and the infamous PRS bird mother of pearl inlays.

A sharp looking axe that plays like a dream. A big plus was the tremelo system yet I was a little letdown by the stock pickups. Definitely no shortage of the quality and craftsmanship you've learned to expect from Paul Reed Smith.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

SE CUSTOM 24 MODEL SPECS
BODY
Top Wood Beveled Maple Top and Flame Maple Veneer
Back Wood Mahogany
NECK
Number of Frets 24
Scale Length 25"
Neck Wood Maple
Fretboard Wood Rosewood
Neck Shape Wide Thin
Fretboard Inlays Birds
HARDWARE/ELECTRONICS
Bridge PRS Designed Tremolo
Tuners PRS Designed Tuners
Truss Rod Cover "PRS"
Hardware Type Nickel
Treble Pickup PRS Designed SE HFS Treble
Bass Pickup PRS Designed SE Vintage Bass
Pickup Switching Volume and Tone Control with 3-Way Toggle Pickup Selector

UTILIZATION

Paul Reed Smith started his company officially in 1985 with the ever revered Custom 24 model. The guitars were build by hand in his Maryland factory then, and they gained a huge following. Twenty-five years after the introduction of the USA Custom 24, PRS decided to make a tribute guitar with their import SE line, drawing from much of the same inspiration, yet cutting a few costs to make the guitar much more affordable to the average musician.

The SE Custom 24 is very much like its USA counterpart but for one obvious difference - the top is not carved. There is a small bevel in the cutaway for hand comfort, but aside from that, the guitar has a flat top. This is not a bad thing, it's just not a feature that something like a $3000 USA PRS would have. The tremolo looks and feels the same as the USA version, yet I suspect the metal isn't quite the same quality. That's ok too - it doesn't feel or look cheap by any means. Aside from this, the main differences are that it is a Korean-made guitar, with many more automated processes than the USA guitars, and that the finish isn't quite as rich.

SOUNDS

All that being said, the guitar is not bad at all! Not being at the same level of quality as a $3000 boutique instrument is nothing to be ashamed at. For a sub $700 guitar, this is a fantastic piece of engineering. The pickups sound wonderful - every bit as good as the US versions. PRS guitars are very versatile, and this one is at home in about any style.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall, I feel that this is one of the best deals in a sub-$1000 level guitar. It sounds great, plays great, and it looks very nice as well. Also, this could be a great stage guitar or backup for someone with a more expensive PRS, as one needn't worry as much about battle scars! Recommended.

Paul Reed Smith guitars are very exotic and extremely beautiful to look at. They have a great feel and overall are a fantastic good guitar for pretty much any style of music. I think has to be their construction and build qualities that make these guitars extremely appealing to a lot of guitar players. They're very beautiful because they generally have an nice fingers or flamed maple top on a mahogany wood body and neck. It's very beautiful and they sound phenomenal and pretty much any musical setting you put them in.

UTILIZATION


Paul Reed Smith SE Custom 24 Solidbody Electric Guitar Features:

* Color: Orange
* Body: Mahogany
* Top: Maple with flame-maple veneer
* Neck: 3-piece maple, wide-thin carve
* Fingerboard: Rosewood
* Inlays: Bird
* Frets: Medium jumbo
* Pickups: PRS-designed HFS and Vintage Bass humbuckers
* Controls: Master volume, tone, and 3-way toggle switch
* Bridge: Tremolo
* Case: Includes PRS-designed SE gig bag

SOUNDS


The tone of these guitars sound very good in pretty much every style of music. From a clean guitar all the way up into a hard rock metal guitar these guitars sound fantastic. That's one of the selling points of these guitars over eight say a Gibson Les Paul is that the sound good and a clean setting. I've never found a Gibson Les Paul to sound I get in a clean setting. Sound okay but overall don't really work with like offender type camp. I swear these guitars I think it a notch above the Gibson Les Paul guitars in the clean category because they just sound really good. I'm not sure if it's the pickups are the builder with the body shape but they just work very well and he cleaned to bluesy typesetting.

OVERALL OPINION

These guitars are pretty expensive but you can find them pretty easily in the classifieds of eBay or even online. These are guitars priced at the professional musician at hand or someone is as a decent size budget. I recommend these guitars to anyone is looking for an alternative to a Gibson style guitar and one something pretty exotic that generally comes in multiple different colors and options available. Their fun instruments and for the money there's not a whole lot of competition at this price point.

Paul Reed Smith has always been a popular guitar maker among high end players. Over the years this has kind of put them off among working class players who couldnt afford their guitars for the most part. PRS is trying to change their image now by making a line of cheaper overseas made guitars that everyone can afford. The SE line is like their Epiphone or LTD. These guitars are made to mostly the same specs with simpler tops and are made overseas. This model is based off the PRS Custom 24 which is one of their most popular models. The main difference with the SE is that it has a much flatter top for ease of construction. It also has simpler dot style moon inlays that some people may even prefer over the traditional PRS bird inlays. The SE Custom 24 has the dual cutaway prs body with the flat top. It is mahogany with a maple top and a flame maple veneer on it instead of a thick piece of flamed maple for the top. It has the traditional 25 inch PRS scale length on a 24 fret maple neck with a rosewood fretboard. It has PRS's wide thin neck and two PRS in house pickups. There is a master tone and master volume with a 3 way toggle switch that is unusually placed. These models come with the PRS Fender style non locking tremolo system to complete the package.

UTILIZATION

PRS guitars are known for playing out of their price range. These guitars play like shred machines although they dont look the part. The Wide Thin neck is one of my favorite neck shapes. Its the combination of a Les Paul neck with a Jackson neck or something. It has a great feel but like with most PRS guitars there is a huge neck joint heel that starts at the 17th fret and just gets fatter until the end of the neck. Big heels like this are there for ease of manufacturing. If they wanted they could have sanded down the heel after attaching it to the guitar but that would be pretty labor intensive. A company like Carvin will do that for their set neck guitars. Apart from the heel the neck is great. The Fender style tremolo system is surprisingly good for a non locking tremolo. It will go out of tune eventually but it holds tune longer than most other tremolos of a similar design. A set of locking tuners would have been nice. The volume and tone knobs are traditionally placed but the pickup switch is way out in another state. It kinda looks like they designed the guitar and forgot about it and just threw it on later. It wont take long to get use to this placement but you will have to get use to it nonetheless. The flat top kind of feels unusual for a guitar of this type.

SOUNDS

The pickups in this guitar are pretty decent for stock pickups. They know that the people buying these affordable 24 fret PRS guitars are most likely playing heavy music on them so they put decently chunky pickups. The pickups are uncovered and have Zebra Bobbins so it adds a little extra to the look of the guitar. The pickups are hot and clear but are nothing special. The guitar overall has a slightly bright tone to help with the clarity. The neck pickup is also pretty bright. It is not the type of neck pickup I prefer I usually prefer a smoother neck pickup. Like just about every lower end import guitar this guitar would be a winner with a set of after market pickups. A set of Seymour Duncans like a Jazz in the neck and JB in the bridge would really give you the most out of this guitar.

OVERALL OPINION

If you are looking for a PRS guitar but cant afford paying thousands and thousands of dollars for one of their American made guitars these are a good alternative. A pickup upgrade on one of these guitars can get you 80 percent of the way to the tone you would get with one of the American made PRS guitars. It is nice that PRS is making guitars that everyone can afford now because before they were seen as a pretty elitist guitar company which was a shame because most of their designs are really good and their guitars play really well. Now more people can experience them.