Dear all,
I'm currently on the market for a decently priced Les Paul copy. Long story short, after spending 6 solid hours today in music stores, playing their instruments, including Ibanez, Vintage and Epiphone models, it all seems to narrow down to either Dean Soltero Standard (Korean), and the PRS SE Singlecut (Korean). There are no Dean Deceivers (Soltero's successor) available to try at the moment.
Dean Soltero Standard:
PROS:
- very versatile, could become a very handy as a studio guitar. Coil-tapping on both humbuckers, I managed to squeeze some very passable single-coil twang.
- does deliver that LP bassy "oomph"
- excellent dry sustain
- nice extras, i.e. Grover tuners, straplocks
- build quality seems top notch
CONS:
- not sure about that soft V neck... mixed feelings about it at the moment, having never played that shape extensively -- would appreciate any feedback on that fact alone, actually!
- Pick-ups somewhat lacking output power, also just a little muddy in the bass and lower mids (up to a point, this could be having with the setup, action was a bit too high, pick-ups might have been too low)
PRS SE Singlecut:
PROS:
- hands down, in this price range, this guitar delivers the most in terms of sound definition and separation, I don't know, it's very likely the stock pick-ups themselves, but I could NOT get this guitar to sound muddy, and I tried pretty hard. It's the one brand where the stock PUs actually force you to play better, because all your mistakes come through crystal clear.
- very playable and fast wide fat PRS neck
- excellent cleans, in their own awesome right (not Fender, not Gibson, perhaps Fender-ish, or Gibson-ish, but none of the actual them sounds). Having never played a high-end PRS, I assume this is it -- these tones are THE "PRS tone", and it's awesome
- build quality seems top notch, but I would say the Dean seems better built
CONS:
- no coil-tapping, I think needs PU upgrade besides push/pull knob in order to do it (not enough wires for stock PU to coil-split)
- less dry sustain than the Soltero
- does not sound like an LP, at all
So, does anyone have more experience with these? I lean towards the Soltero, perhaps with a PU upgrade (which Duncans for a classic LP tone, yet also suitable for modern prog rock? Got a SH-5 Duncan Custom around), if I decide the V neck is for me, but I simply cannot easily discard the sheer joy of playing the PRS and its wonderful tones.
NOTE: Schecters are (very) unfortunately excluded, where I am right now I can't physically try a Solo-6 Classic, because there's no Schecter dealer around. Also, could not get my hands on an ESP/LTD EC-XXX (Eclipse series), but I've been told by the guys at the stores these are almost exclusively metal axes -- hard to believe, but hey.
Please consider my "versus" and also suggest alternatives (sort of in the same price range), it'll be much appreciated.
Thanks!
I'm currently on the market for a decently priced Les Paul copy. Long story short, after spending 6 solid hours today in music stores, playing their instruments, including Ibanez, Vintage and Epiphone models, it all seems to narrow down to either Dean Soltero Standard (Korean), and the PRS SE Singlecut (Korean). There are no Dean Deceivers (Soltero's successor) available to try at the moment.
Dean Soltero Standard:
PROS:
- very versatile, could become a very handy as a studio guitar. Coil-tapping on both humbuckers, I managed to squeeze some very passable single-coil twang.
- does deliver that LP bassy "oomph"
- excellent dry sustain
- nice extras, i.e. Grover tuners, straplocks
- build quality seems top notch
CONS:
- not sure about that soft V neck... mixed feelings about it at the moment, having never played that shape extensively -- would appreciate any feedback on that fact alone, actually!
- Pick-ups somewhat lacking output power, also just a little muddy in the bass and lower mids (up to a point, this could be having with the setup, action was a bit too high, pick-ups might have been too low)
PRS SE Singlecut:
PROS:
- hands down, in this price range, this guitar delivers the most in terms of sound definition and separation, I don't know, it's very likely the stock pick-ups themselves, but I could NOT get this guitar to sound muddy, and I tried pretty hard. It's the one brand where the stock PUs actually force you to play better, because all your mistakes come through crystal clear.
- very playable and fast wide fat PRS neck
- excellent cleans, in their own awesome right (not Fender, not Gibson, perhaps Fender-ish, or Gibson-ish, but none of the actual them sounds). Having never played a high-end PRS, I assume this is it -- these tones are THE "PRS tone", and it's awesome
- build quality seems top notch, but I would say the Dean seems better built
CONS:
- no coil-tapping, I think needs PU upgrade besides push/pull knob in order to do it (not enough wires for stock PU to coil-split)
- less dry sustain than the Soltero
- does not sound like an LP, at all
So, does anyone have more experience with these? I lean towards the Soltero, perhaps with a PU upgrade (which Duncans for a classic LP tone, yet also suitable for modern prog rock? Got a SH-5 Duncan Custom around), if I decide the V neck is for me, but I simply cannot easily discard the sheer joy of playing the PRS and its wonderful tones.
NOTE: Schecters are (very) unfortunately excluded, where I am right now I can't physically try a Solo-6 Classic, because there's no Schecter dealer around. Also, could not get my hands on an ESP/LTD EC-XXX (Eclipse series), but I've been told by the guys at the stores these are almost exclusively metal axes -- hard to believe, but hey.
Please consider my "versus" and also suggest alternatives (sort of in the same price range), it'll be much appreciated.
Thanks!
