NGD PRS SE

[v8stang289]

The PRS SE that I was asking about in the other thread came in today. It was advertised as used, but still had plastic on the cavity covers and the "35th anniversary" tag on the headstock, with an inspection date of 8-5-20. So it may have been a new return or something, but at any rate it appears unplayed, and I got it for $400 shipped.
First impressions are that it is a really nice guitar for the money. Fit and finish are top notch, and setup and intonation are great. Probably the best I've had for an out of the box guitar. Frets are level and nicely rounded. The nut does need a little work as it appears to have some "flash" and is binding a little, but should be easily cleaned up and taken care of. It came set up with 9's, which are a bit different as I usually play 10's on 24.5" and 9.5's on 25.5". But I may stay with 9's on this guitar as they do feel pretty good. The pickups are perfectly useable. I'll likely replace them as they're not exactly what I'm looking for, but they're definitely not bad. They sound really good clean, but with distortion they just seem to be missing something.
Overall I'm very pleased with the purchase.

I have a APH2B that will likely end up in the bridge of this guitar, and for the neck I'm kind of back and forth but I'm thinking 59N with either an A2 or A4 magnet

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Import PRS guitars are pretty killer. Not "for the money," just plain killer.

 

[Hsb]

Congrats on the new guitbox

 

[Lewguitar]

Beautiful guitar. I'm a big fan of the PRS SE guitars and have three.

Mine are made in Korea.

Where was yours made?

If those pickups are like the ones that came with mine they can be improved with a magnet swap.

Roughcast A2, A4 or A5 is what I experimented with.

I replaced the pickups with Duncans in mine.

59's sound killer in those guitars but again, I experimented with magnet swaps until I got the best tone for me.

 

[ErikH]

That's a nice one. I had a MIK Singlecut Korina. I kinda miss it really. I put DiMarzio Air Classics in it, changed the nut to bone. The thing played amazing. It took me a little bit to adjust to the 25" scale. I tried 10-46 on it but ultimately settled for 9-46. It just sounded and played better with the hybrid set.

 

[v8stang289]

Beautiful guitar. I'm a big fan of the PRS SE guitars and have three.

Mine are made in Korea.

Where was yours made?

If those pickups are like the ones that came with mine they can be improved with a magnet swap.

Roughcast A2, A4 or A5 is what I experimented with.

I replaced the pickups with Duncans in mine.

59's sound killer in those guitars but again, I experimented with magnet swaps until I got the best tone for me.

This one is Indonesian made.
since I already have the slash bridge and 59n I plan to put those in, though I will mag swap the 59 1st.

 

[ErikH]

If you're interested in seeing the Indonesian facility, watch the video in this listing.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SEStd245TSV8--prs-se-standard-245-tobacco-sunburst

Very impressive. I'd heard the story about Carlos being influential in the SE line getting started.

 

[weepingminotaur]

Beautiful axe!

 

[Calsip]

My PRS SE has an APH-2 in the neck and a CC in the bridge. Love it. I have one SE but they were so good I wanted to try out an S2 and man, the difference is not that much on quality. They are definitely different guitars but they are both immaculate build quality.

I use 11 - 52 on mine (I play in Drop D but prefer tighter string tension).

I hope you enjoy yours and that is a good price you got it for!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mincer]

My PRS SE has an APH-2 in the neck and a CC in the bridge. Love it. I have one SE but they were so good I wanted to try out an S2 and man, the difference is not that much on quality. They are definitely different guitars but they are both immaculate build quality.

I use 11 - 52 on mine (I play in Drop D but prefer tighter string tension).

I hope you enjoy yours and that is a good price you got it for!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I always wondered what the difference in quality was between the SE and S2. BTW, that is my fav pickup combo.

 

[Nostalgic Distortion]

Nicely done man, she’s beautiful!!!

I have a couple PRS S2’s that I absolutely love!!! One is a highly modified S2 Vela & the other, a Custom 24. Just for reference I’ve also got about 8 Gibson’s, a extremely nice Strat, & a extremely nice Tele....

That Vela gets more use than all of the rest combined & I literally played the finish off my Custom 24 before lending it to the other guitar player in my band..

I mean the kid was still playing his beat to hell, broken in more than one place, Gibson Blueshawk that he bought new a couple decades ago!!!

LOL!!! Not. because he loved it, sentimental value, or even anything close. Its been his only guitar ever since that day quite literally just because he’s a cheap SOB who wouldn’t even consider buying a Squire as a replacement. Regardless of how much we would complain about it...

After a while I just couldn’t deal with his fret buzzing, bending that would fret out, Etc., any longer. So now it’s on something of a long term loan...

 

[misterwhizzy]

Looks great. I hope you play the hell out of it.

 

[Demanic]

Love that shade of blue. It's so dark that it almost looks black at first glance.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[JB_From_Hell]

I always wondered what the difference in quality was between the SE and S2. BTW, that is my fav pickup combo.

I had a sweet CU24 SE and an S2 Standard 22 at the same time. Different neck profiles, to further confuse things. However, build quality on the SE was just as good as the S2. Overall, I liked the S2 a little more, but the SE was terrific.

 

[Mincer]

I had a sweet CU24 SE and an S2 Standard 22 at the same time. Different neck profiles, to further confuse things. However, build quality on the SE was just as good as the S2. Overall, I liked the S2 a little more, but the SE was terrific.

That review ought to save some people money! I dig the SEs that I've played, but I didn't get a chance to play the other models next to it.

 

[Explorer84]

I changed all of the parts except the input jack on my PRS SE and if I hadn't I would've sold it. The biggest improvement was installing a new PRS USA nut on it. I ended up putting a 59 in the neck and Screamin Demon in the bridge.

 

[v8stang289]

I changed all of the parts except the input jack on my PRS SE and if I hadn't I would've sold it. The biggest improvement was installing a new PRS USA nut on it. I ended up putting a 59 in the neck and Screamin Demon in the bridge.

I would be disappointed if this one was like that. Other than the roughly cut nut, I'm very pleased with this guitar. I don't like the bridge pickup, but the neck one is actually really good. I plan on switching them out for an APH2 bridge and 59/a2 neck anyway, and I'll clean up the nut while I'm at it.