NGD! Limited edition PRS SE *UPDATE WITH THOUGHTS 4 MONTHS ON*

chrishill901

Okay so I got it last Friday but you’ve got to have a good few days with a guitar before you can confidently review it!

I went to Newcastle last Friday to get some Black Friday bargains with the girlfriend and decided to drag her to GuitarGuitar as they had the blue PRS SE Custom 24s for £599 in the hope that they looked better in the flesh. They don’t. And it didn’t play too nicely either. I didn’t play any others as the rest were £799 and I wouldn’t pay that for an SE Custom 24 based on how the blue one played. I really want a Tremonti but not in grey black but I was out of luck. I played a candy apple red telecaster too as I’ve been gassing for one for ages but I couldn’t get away with the high gloss maple board. I left with nothing and headed for the car.

I remembered at this point that there was also PMT and dragged her there too. Again no sunburst tremonti, they seem hard to get hold of. I saw one of the new maple fretboard Custom 24s which looked stunning in the flesh. I wasn’t fussed on the product photos that got released so never considered them and didn’t want to pay £799 for a custom 24 when I really wanted a tremonti (I spent a few hours at gear4music a while back and played both and decided that the tremonti was better). My girlfriend said ‘wow that’s pretty, you should try that one’ so I tried it out of politeness seeing as I had dragged her there!

As I’m sure you’ve worked out it was a superb instrument. I was blown away by the immaculate finish. The fretwork was flawless, the flamed maple top very 3D and less ‘photo’ looking than the blue custom 24. The satin neck made it effortless to play. As I said I spent a good few hours playing pretty much every SE in gear4music and came to the conclusion that £799 was too much for one given that you can get S2s for not much more used, which I tried at gear4music. This custom 24 knocked the socks off that S2 in every conceivable way. I never buy new as it’s like buying a new car, it loses value immediately but I felt compelled to buy the SE. I got it for £750 in the end and left a happy bunny.

The next day I played it and couldn’t get on with it, my fingers were sticking on the maple board and I couldn’t hit the right notes with bends. I thought ‘oh no what have I done?’... it turns out I was just having one of those days and on the Sunday I picked it up and played some of the best guitar I’ve played. I gave it a real hard test through my Katana (I tried it with a helix in PMT which I hated) and I was really impressed with the SE pickups. I play SD APH-1s in my guitars and have tried so many pickups and never got on with anything except the SDs but these pickups really are excellent. I don’t think I’ll swap them out which for me is very impressive.

I have played a good number of SE Custom 24s and found the coil tapping pointless, it doesn’t give it the ‘Strat-like’ single coil tones it’s supposed to. On this one however it really does, the tone is snappy and spanky; I’m not sure if that’s because of the maple board or not but it definitely has more of a strat character when coil split than any other SE CU24 I’ve played, I’ve been playing SRV on this thing and am perfectly happy with the tone. The tone is clear and bright and wonderful, but put it back into humbucking mode and it can really chug and handles high gain very well

I realised when I got it home that there was no case candy (or the Allen key to adjust the tremolo) but I rang PMT and they sent it out immediately with some free strings and it came next day. Speaking of that tremolo after initially struggling to keep it in tune I gave it a good setup on Monday, tuned it to E-flat and haven’t retuned since, and I’ve been abusing the bar as if it were a floyd. I’m so impressed with the bridge! I’ve even had it in drop D and drop B (well, half a step down from that!) and it didn’t sweat. 

I really cant speak highly enough of this guitar, and the fact that it is 1 of 100 in the world is pretty cool. It doesn’t quite have the look that a rosewood board PRS has but I’m not letting that bother me, I’ve just decided that my next purchase has to be an actual Custom 22/24 with this one as a backup! And I have been a Les Paul guy for 16 years and thought I’d never play anything else!

I would have never considered spending £750 on a Korean PRS SE, it doesn’t seem worth it. But if you’d have blindfolded me and got me to play that guitar without telling me what it was I’d have spent over £1k without hesitation, it’s a sublime instrument and by far the best SE I’ve played, and I’ve always thought they were good instruments. It’s not just a good example of an SE but a good example of a quality instrument full stop and I don’t regret it one bit!

https://i.imgur.com/JJS9OKM.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/5Da3cjC.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/FEP0GH1.jpg

StefB

Good score fella, that is one fine looking guitar!

Musicman20

Nice looking guitar!

sunshinewelly

that is very nice

BRISTOL86

That’s lovely! 

LKV_Jazzmaster

Happy NGD! That’s a stunner! I had been very tempted by the maple neck range when they came out but decided to get a new schecter instead as I’d never had a PRS. I’ll certainly be keeping any eye out for one of these down the line with such a glowing review. 

drwiddly

Have to agree that this year the Korean factory have really upped their game. The SE's were always a decent buy but the latest output is exceptional.

I bought a SE Custom 24 Floyd 'Exotic' a few months ago. I already own a Cu24, two CE24's and several other quality guitars. This SE is right up there in terms of feel and performance. The new Korean versions of the 85/15 pickups sound great and I've no urge to swap them for something else. The satin neck feels lovely and plays really well. Just a really good guitar.

No surprise that you like yours so much - enjoy!

stonevibe

Maple fretboard looks great. Nice looking PRS that.

steer

Yes, I agree - the maple fretboard makes this one stand out from the crowd. Great looking guitar. 

grayn

Great score, it looks really tasty. I've had a couple of the recent, exotic woods SE models and they are fantastic guitars. Korean stuff is very good, these days.

thegummy

Looks so nice, I love those maple fretboard ones.

Your one looks identical to mine apart from the fretboard.

I wish it was a different model that I already had so I could get a maple fb custom 24!

Jonathanthomas83

Looks so much better with the sig on the headstock. Classy guitar, mate, congrats!

Skipped

Looks great.
PRS guitars have not quite connected with me. But I am shocked at how good the SE models are for the money.

Nunogilberto

Looks great. I know what you mean about the price of some of the SE models though - I tried a Chris Robertson not long ago and couldn't bring myself to part with the near £800 they were asking...

chrishill901

Thanks guys, I’m absolutely in love with it. I’ve had an MIJ Tokai Les Paul for about 10 years now and have bought countless guitars since (of all types; ESP, Jackson’s, EVH, Michael Kelly, a few ‘PRS style’ ones...) and they’ve all sold except for a Vintage V100AFD that is solely a backup for gigging and a Fender Strat (US) that is such the opposite end of the spectrum I kept it. I have played a stupid amount of Gibson Les Paul standards looking for one that is better than my Tokai so I could have the real deal but never found one better (plenty were as good, but not better)

This PRS is on par if not a little better than that Tokai. I’m blown away by the craftsmanship and clarity of tone. I’d love to hear an actual set of 85/15’s because the Korean versions are a superb pickup!

Jalapeno

a looker fo' shu' !

Nikc

Very nice I do like the look of the maple fretboard 

Sassafras

You don't have to be a dentist or a lawyer to own a decent PRS.

chrishill901

UPDATE:

So we are nearly 4 months on. Do I still think this guitar is the dogs gonads?

 I was blown away by the immaculate finish. The fretwork was flawless, the flamed maple top very 3D and less ‘photo’ looking than the blue custom 24. The satin neck made it effortless to play. 

 I play SD APH-1s in my guitars and have tried so many pickups and never got on with anything except the SDs but these pickups really are excellent. I don’t think I’ll swap them out which for me is very impressive.

I’ve just decided that my next purchase has to be an actual Custom 22/24 with this one as a backup! And I have been a Les Paul guy for 16 years and thought I’d never play anything else!

Well, the first statement still rings true, this guitar is a dream to play. Effortless. It is an immaculate instrument and a real fine example of craftsmanship.

As for the pickups, I'll probably put APH-1s in there now... honeymoon period is over. Not to say that the 85/15S is a bad pickup, it certainly is not. I just prefer the characteristics of an APH-1.

Final statement... I think I'm still a Les Paul guy and I won't be buying a Custom 22/24 anytime soon or if ever.



So basically how do I feel about it? Well, its almost too perfect. It feels amazing to play, its comfortable. Nice clean tones, nice rock tones, nice heavy tones, great coil split. It has a fantastic bridge that even 4 months on I can't pull out of tune. It's just amazing, it can do it all... but it's like what I imagine dating a super model to be like. There is something lacking, a teatime debate about Brexit negotiations or a balanced discussion on the decline of cinematography in a green screen world.... I just know she's humouring me.

 It's jack of all trades, master of none tonal characteristic which was initially a plus point has settled to be a negative. This guitar has no distinguishing character, no quirks, no mojo. I get 'warts and all' when I dig in to my US strat or my Les Paul, and I like that! The PRS makes me sound better than I am - this PRS makes me sound good. But I'm not, I miss notes all of the time, my picking technique is awful. I want a guitar that reminds me how crap I am in the most brutally honest way, a guitar that laughs at me and says 'honey, you didn't even come close to hitting the spot. Try that again', not one that gives me a false sense of security that I'm better than I am.

I'm not sure if this is a characteristic of all PRS guitars? Thoughts? I feel like this guitar is the blonde Cylon from the latest Battlestar Galactica. Virtually indistinguishable from a human but ultimately still a robot that is programmed and 'perfect'. My guitar is Tricia Helfer and although I'm cool with that its not the be all and end all. It's a useful tool in my arsenal and I have found that if I don't know what I'm in the mood for and only have limited time I'll pick up the PRS as I can get a multitude of tones out of it and it's easy to play. But if I'm in the mood for blues then I pick up my strat and if im in the mood for rock then it's my Les Paul, and it can't even come close to these guitars. Would I gig it? Of course I would. Its perfect for it. It can cover a range of tones in an environment where the subtleties I'm discussing would be lost anyway. It's a perfect guitar in that sense... or it should be! But I'd know that its lacking something even if everyone else came up to me and drooled over my tone. This marriage is a sham Tricia, its pointless keeping up appearances.

It's currently the only guitar I keep the trem arm on so it gets usage when I'm in the Van Halen/Dokken mood but i'm starting to think that getting something specifically designed for that tone would be better. I'm starting to worry that I will eventually push the PRS out by buying loads of guitars that do specific parts of what it does but better. I'm already looking to get a Wolfgang Special... By buying a guitar that was supposed to bridge the gap between my Les Paul and my strat I have ended up talking myself into having a shopping list of about 5 guitars... Keep your eyes peeled for incoming NGDs!

So, any thoughts on this? Is this a typical PRS reaction? I just feel like they are the most beautiful things to look at but even demos of high end ones I don't hear the mojo I'm looking for. Perhaps its the thinner construction of the Custom 24? Perhaps its the 24 frets? My strat is SSS but its warmer and more alive than my PRS... Am I a snob? Is it in my head?

sgosden

GAS is never ending.

A set of bareknuckles really bough my cu24 (s2) to life. Its been my number 1 for over two years for gigging / rehearsals, I don't know if its the dents and dings, or playing it so long means I know how to work it to get that 'mojo'. 

It kinda fits in with your 'would I gig with it' idea ... but the marriage with mine is solid :P

I've had plenty of guitar come and go in the time and always end up back on the 24.

Funkfingers

chrishill901 said:

I'll probably put APH-1s in there now ... Not to say that the 85/15S is a bad pickup, ... I just prefer the characteristics of an APH-1 ... I think I'm still a Les Paul guy

Word of caution. The Duncan APH-1 pair is designed to go in a Les Paul. It may not suit a twenty four fret guitar with a vibrato and a maple fingerboard.

IMO, the SE Custom 24 needs something smoother than an APH-1N to avoid screechiness and something hotter than an APH-1B to compensate for the spring cavity.

The design development from Custom to McCarty to Singlecut to SC245 to the 594 provides a clue that no Custom is ever going to sound exactly like a Les Paul.