All user reviews of 4/5 for the PRS SE Santana - Black

Ok now we've read all the other reviews. No one mentioned the great playing rosewood fretboards or flawless jumbo frets. Plus being an absolutely beautiful Tobacco Sunburst finish on a one piece mohagany body as well as the same for the set neck. Makes this the perfect platform for a very fine touring and recording guitar. With that and it's great low price, I bought one and with only a few mods it's the go to guitar.
First off I replaced the non-locking tuners with Grover Rotomatics. The saddle issues mentioned with a set of Graph-Tech PRS Santana SE saddles and their Tusk self lubricating nut (can be bought as a set for this model. I had it set up by a pro and wow! It stays in tune for weeks even when I use the tremolo, and it's now a resonating, sustaining dream. I also changed the bridge pickup to a Seymore Duncan JB4, the pots for CTS ones with orange drop caps, and a set of D'Adarrio XL 10's and now it is a gigging and recording tone monster! It truly is a players guitar and will now easily keep up with and surpass many U.S. humbuckered Strats, Teles or Sg's and a few cheaper Pauls and definately anything offshore. All of these mods cost less than $400 installed, and lots less if you can do the work yourself. I own in total 13 guitar and 8 basses all of which are U.S. and/or

It originally sold for the regular dealer price (don't remember) at the local PRS dealer here in southern Ontario, Canada. Where it was bought and modded by me.

With these modifications I love everthing about it, even the stock neck pickup shines for cleans and overdriven/bluesy tones with the new pots and Graph-Tech parts etc..

The big neck heel...but it's really not a big deal.

see above

It may seem like a lot of money for a guitar that costs not too much more than the mods but for under a $1000 you get a guitar that tone wise will keep up to the best of them, and with great playablity that together can't be rivaled at this price point buy anyone.

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

I ordered the guitar from Musician's Friend
in 2002 for $400.

The guiatr is crafted with quality materials.
The body is a select piece of mahogany.
The fingerboard is rosewood with pearl inlays.
The pickups are medium output.
The tremolo is excellent as well.

It takes some time to find your own voice on the guitar.
It has a vintage vibe, which I like.
However, for hard rock and metal, it lacks some "edge."

The construction is commendable.
It has an impressive all around "feel."

PRS did a good job making an affordable,
great sounding instrument with the Santana SE!

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

I ordered this through Musiciansfriend.com for 399.99 brand new. After reading a good amount of reviews and knowing that I had a budget, I decided on this two humbucker guitar without even playing it, mostly because the guitar store in my city did not carry it.

It was completely worth the money I payed for . The bridge pickup gives you good Jimmy Page type tone set with distortion, even some early Eric Clapton type Cream tones when set on clean. By the way I play it through a Marshall Valvestate Amp (great product as well). The neck pickup is smooth too. You can coax clean Jimmi Hendrix strat style sounds and when set on completely clean its like butter man. I use a wang bar too and the guitar stays in tune well as long as you dont do huge dive bombs on it.

The only thing I didn't like was that since it was a lower price PRS they had to sacrifice on some of the apointments. My only problem is that my bridge saddles are starting to turn brown, but those can always be replaced.

The tuners are fabulous, finish is excellent, it colore black, like i said the only set back so far is the bridge.

Bottom line its a great guitar, if it were stollen I would feel very angry and try to find a way to replace it. The tone is great, finish is good, neck is smooth and it plays well. Remember the search for tone lies within, the instrument and equipment help but everybody is different. By the way if you try hard enough you can even get it to sound like Carlos Santana himself. Im only putting 4 stars because nothing is perfect.

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

The PRS SE Santana is another axe that’s made in Korea, Korea has been known to create great guitars and they are well built. The overall, quality of this guitar will amaze you. It is very clean, not a big fan of the standard burnt orange color though. I like simple basic color schemes. But if you can look past the color you will love it.

UTILIZATION

You can reach the frets very easy. You will get a nice sound with out any problems as well.

SOUNDS


The pickups are PRS and it shows. You really feel the sound with any PRS roundness and warmth. I love! The guitar has 2 knobs, 1 volume and bass / treble. Button bass / treble enormously influence the sound and provides access to a very wide range of sounds. The guitar has a 3 position selector:
Micro-position low: wonderful for clean, jazzy enough anyway, but it's not a Start (for those looking for a specific stratum). For saturates, it's a very hot with lots of bass.
Intermediate-position: It's the heat of the micro bass with more acute. Perfect for saturates to be clearer while retaining heat.
Position micro-acute: I use it to saturate only.


OVERALL OPINION

Overall, The sound from this guitar is pretty dag on smooth. The clean tones from this guitar are super mellow because of the short scale. With less tension on the strings you get less snap on each note. The pickups help make the notes super fat when you are playing with some drive. The neck pickup has a really vowelly PAF sound to it. Almost like you have a subtle wah on at all time. This gives you really smooth but clear leads in the neck position. The bridge position has a crunchy classic rock voicing. Soloing in the bridge position gives you great bite and attack on the notes. The pickups are like hot rodded PAF's. They give you a great combination of clarity and definition with your overdriven tones.

This review is for the very first series of Santana SE guitars, the ones that didn't even have PRS branded on them yet.

Made in Korea
Mahogany body - flat, not arched like a USA PRS
Mahogany set in neck
22 nickel frets
Diagonal line inlays
2 PRS SE Humbucker pickups
PRS SE Stoptail bridge, one piece
Volume, Tone, 2 way switch


UTILIZATION

The guitar is certainly easy to play, but it's not a shred beast. The neck feels like it is more suited for bluesy riffing and soulful solos. I guess that's fitting with the Santana name! The inlays are a nice touch - they are definitely unique. One thing I'm not a fan of is the bridge - it seems to intonate fine with 9s or 10s, but any hybrid sets, or using 8s or 11s tends to make the intonation suffer. There are no individual saddle adjustments, so the bridge only has a treble and bass side set screw to adjust the intonation. The metal used in the bridge also seems to be a cheaper pot metal, not cast, so it is the weak point of the guitar in my opinion. Another annoyance is the blocky neck heel - no hindrance, but it just doesn't feel like it belongs to a guitar with a PRS name.

SOUNDS

The guitar sounds surprisingly good for the price. The treble humbucker (PRS doesn't use the terms "bridge" or "neck" pickup) has a lot of definition, even on heavy gain settings and complex chords, and the neck pickup does the "violin tone" very well. Thick, ample warmth, and singing sustain are the name of the game here. One way I'd recommend to enhance the overall sound would be to get a PRS USA stoptail, like from the McCarty series, and put it on here instead of the supplied stock bridge. Another modification I'd recommend would be to change the pots, switch, and cap to something higher quality, like RS Guitarworks.

OVERALL OPINION

This review looks like a winning Vegas slot machine - straight 7s across the board. It's better than average, and is certainly no slouch for the price. The guitar is a good candidate for projects - buy it and then mod a few parts, and then you'll have a surefire budget winner on your hands.

Guitar bill Corenne PRS licensed US
22 frets, 2 HB (EMG parat licensed it) and a vibrato
CONTRL 1 volume, 1 Tone slecteur 3 positions
gibson type neck (much less fat)

UTILIZATION

The touch of the handle is enjoyable thanks to the patent
the grip is comfortable, the game pretty easy, Access in acute trs is good
the weight is reasonable (no lumbago after 1 hour at home gibson)

SOUNDS

The sounds of humbuckers are good but be exceptional.
The microphone allows for serious sound good on fender jazz and other roland JC 120 and can be hard to tease no problem with the microphone in an acute branch marshall all lamps
Shame not to have intermdiaires positions (for funkers and fans of SRV)
But tinkering a bit (add some splits), has arranged without problem.

OVERALL OPINION

APRS jou have Ibanez on for 2 years, I finally a (real) guitar but I still think changing pickups (seymour probably).
The report quality price, however trs good (I bought about 850 2 years ago)
It was the sound gibson (I'll do the followers of rler gibson) for two times cheaper and especially for the weight of a fender (yes, they do not care about the world, gibson, on this point- l.
And the finish is trs honnte while on other guitars much Chres and heavier ...

It says in the notice dja Previous, I do not see what I could add.

Oh yes, the cover is supplied with!

UTILIZATION

The handle is a little big. I felt ca APRS have played on my Chevy, I felt like taking a pickaxe handle, but c'tait APRS have played on another skyscraper.

Pretty easy to use, one volume knob, 1 Tone 1 3 position selector, there's more complicated as use. Apart from the selector knob up derrire Tone can be a bit far.

A good place for lgret and natural position taken by the guitar, well balance.

SOUNDS

Uh .... I would say the bof. The micro acute lack of personality and bright and then also winning, I'll also change it. The microphone must be serious trs well for clean sounds, I used only for ca elsewhere.
A bad point for the micro acute, not happy

EDIT 20/12/2004:

Since I have a Bill Lawrence L500 mountain top and I have my paufin rglages, it's going much better! I ride a 7 note because I'm in a good mood and what not sound so bad.

OVERALL OPINION

I do not think I would do this choice, for her, otherwise I like the color and shape. In addition to mine the volume knob a squeaky, guitar control by PRS?? I have a doubt ...., surtoutq hether a continuous crack APRS change, finally, the sav that merdouille. I'm on the wrong tomb SERIES of knobs.

For the next three times I would take my time to choose!

EDIT 20/12/2004:

In fact it is not bad, but thinking has to change the micro acute if you want to do more than rock!

I think I love him well in the end ... I would put samples of my stuff the day I realized how Tracktion!

Against it by a hair remains CHRE ...

PRS is a super high end guitar maker known around the world. They are known for their high end instruments built for professionals. Lately they have started a Line of foreign made guitars called the SE line. These guitars are much cheaper but have most of the tone and playability of the much more expensive USA made models. This is the foreign made version of the Santana signature guitar. This guitar is pretty unique in the PRS line since it has more of a Gibson Double Cut shape to it and a short scale. The body on this guitar is mahogany with a mahogany set neck. The profile is PRS's wide fat neck that a lot of people like. It has a 22 fret rosewood fretboard with the PRS birds on it. The neck scale is 24.5 inches. You get PRS tuners up top and a PRS Fender style tremolo bridge. The pickups are two PRS pickups voiced specifically for this model. The controls are basic with a master volume and master tone with a 3 way switch.

UTILIZATION

PRS guitars are some of the best playing guitars out there. This one has a strange feel to it due to it being a Santana signature. The Wide Fat neck profile is something you find on many PRS guitars. It is a very popular profile. It is not as fat as the name implies. The shorter upper horn gives you a bit different feel when playing high on the neck. The short scale may trip some people up. It is shorter than that of a Gibson. It gives you a really loose feel on the strings so you can bend them like crazy but it also gets very crowded on the upper frets. With just about every PRS SE model I hate where they put the pickup selector. It is out by itself on the body away from the knobs. I wish they would put it closer to the knobs. This isnt a big problem but it takes some getting use to.

SOUNDS

The sound from this guitar is super smooth. The clean tones from this guitar are super mellow because of the short scale. With less tension on the strings you get less snap on each note. The pickups help make the notes super fat when you are playing with some drive. The neck pickup has a really vowelly PAF sound to it. Almost like you have a subtle wah on at all time. This gives you really smooth but clear leads in the neck position. The bridge position has a crunchy classic rock voicing. Soloing in the bridge position gives you great bite and attack on the notes. The pickups are like hot rodded PAF's. They give you a great combination of clarity and definition with your overdriven tones.

OVERALL OPINION

This guitar is good for the hardcore Santana fan but personally I would not select this guitar over a normal PRS. The things that make this guitar unique for Santana do not add to the overall great playability of a normal PRS. The unusually short scale may put people off as well as the modified shape. If you are a PRS fan looking for a more affordable way to have the same guitar as your hero here it is.

Korea original PRS licensed
2 humbucker pickups (neck and bridge)
1 3 position selector
1 volume and 1 tone
handle typical PRS (very comfortable, not too flat or too round!)
22 boxes

UTILIZATION

This is a 6-string electric guitar
branch and we play it!
the handle is super nice
the fact that there is only one volume and tone for the two microphones is not ideal.

Very good mechanical tuning is done very easily and keeps the concert.
The vibrato is limited but it can do nice effects qq, however it is not his main asset.

SOUNDS

Very versatile guitar, the pickups sound good home but with Di Marzio or Seymour Duncan's foot

blues rock pop crunch is impeccable clear but it is not that the metal is a bit light.

OVERALL OPINION

I have 3 years.
I like the handle ultra comfortable
his vibrato is good but without more
for a mid-range guitar it's worth, we do not get bored with a floyd, grrr ..
and even home address it allows bcp style.
short if you can not afford to pay you a gibson or a PRS made in USA
santana the SE will satisfy all your desires (with a change in microphone, you will not be disappointed)