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tjon901 « Budget PRS »
Published on 07/21/11 at 09:43Paul 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.
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.