The CE24 SE models all have satin necks, as does the USA CE24. It'd be nice in a set-neck too because I like that join better, but a little 800-grit sandpaper and about 2-3 minutes of elbow grease make it close enough for me.
The SE's are great, and being able to afford a great guitar just starting out is a huge advantage to the junk that was available and affordable when I was, that's for sure. I have a few core PRS's and they're incredible, and obviously the SE's aren't at the same level, but I just got an NF-3, because I wanted single pup sounds but I hate Strats, and after having to do some work on the D string slot because the string was hanging up a little when using the whammy, it's playing and sounding great for the $700 or so I paid for it. Definitely punching above it's weight class! Here's my pro tip for the SE's, get the thing set up the way you want it, but make sure your nut is cut correctly by tuning up and pressing the strings behind the nut to make sure they're returning to pitch. if they go sharp, it's because there's some friction from the nut slots.
Love it - love it! Since you've also got the Hollowbody ii Piezo (core model as I recall), if you did an A/B comparison with the neck pickups, that would be very interesting. Paul (and others) makes the point that with the 22 fret neck, you can position the neck pickup in a sweeter spot vs. the 24 fret neck. I realize the humbuckers aren't identical, but it would still be an interesting comparison. Great video! 🙂
@@seanmurphy26yes, PRS has already sold SE models at this same price point for several years now, the SE Hollowbody II Piezo being one example. I’m not sure why people are suddenly shocked at the price of this new model.
i got McCarty 594 SE last year and it's great. the one i got is heavy as hell it weighs almost as much as my bass and just sits so comfortably and feels really solid. my first single cut and im very happy with it
The price seems high but that is a work machine. Great studio guitar or playing some one man gigs. Saves time and equipment. Not to mention it a good looking guitar if that matters. I think I could get over the price. Something to think about.
I have a Custom 24 Piezo and a cool thing because of the 2 separate jacks on the guitar is you can go into something like a Hotone Ampero II Stage Effects Processor/Modeler which has 2 Instrument inputs and then use a Parallel setting to set each input up anyway you want. I've experimented with all kinds of Ambient Reverbs and the possibilities are endless. Lots of Fun
They're killing me with these SE's. I own 2 as well as three core guitars from them and they are on point. With the addition of the lamp shade knobs, flat tip for pup selector it just really brings the game up on them. I only wish they would go ahead and make those features and locking tuners standard at this point, but that's just being nitpicky. Thanks for the review Phil.
When the government gave out $1600 dollar checks during covid I went over to Guitar Center and bought me a PRS SE Custom 22 Semi Hollow AND an Epiphone Custom 335 Dot AND still had money left over for a nice bottle of Lagavulin 16 and a steak dinner. That SE is top friggin knotch. Quilted maple top, too. Which I'm a sucker for. That was one of my favorite days of all time.
Can’t complain about what people did with a check that was sent to them, it’s the jerks that fraudulently got the PPP money by lying about their ‘business’ hiring that bugs me.
My PRS Custom 24 SE has become my 'Go to' guitar that I always seem to pick up and play. Awesome build quality and sounds/plays great. I do have a PRS semi hollow 22 SE fret that I just don't care for , maybe I should swap it out for one of these. Phil....that silver guitar in the background...??
This baby into multiple amps at once would be killer. Mags into clean and dirty amps and the acoustic into a real acoustic amp. I’ve done the same thing in a way with the Boss acoustic pedal and a Strat 12 string. Great for worship teams when musicians can be scarce. Fills the stage and makes the band bigger. Especially when you use the EHX C9 organ pedal into the clean amp. Killer.
I have a PRS SE McCarty 594 that I purchased at Sweetwater for the biggest reason of it was a really good deal. It was like $300 off I believe. Wasn’t the color I would go for, but I can’t believe how much I love it. Feels so good to hold and holds tune really well. And I’m not someone who knows jack about setting it up properly and I’ve never taken it to a luthier. Have no complaints except one of the tune knobs is a little lopsided.
i get that terms like 'thin' and 'small' are relative but as an Ibanez / Jackson player hearing 22-24mm necks as 'thin' or 'fast' is always a trip ha. Great review as always!
I will keep my 2019 SE custom 24 with the Roasted Maple Neck, paid $750 brand new and it is great. At that price point they might be blowing them out in a couple of months.
Hi Phil, I have learned a lot from your videos, so first of all, thank you for that. Last year I put together a LP kit and I learned many things from you and others regarding tools and setup. I was wondering if you would consider making a video or few videos on aftermarket piezo bridges/systems. As much as I would love to buy a PRS SE with a piezo, it is just not within what I can afford. However, I would love to upgrade my LP kit with a piezo. There are some on eBay for Strats, Teles and TOM brdiges which do not require a battery, but I know next to nothing regarding the electronics. I would love if you made a few videos onthe subject, including modding a guitar with one of these piezo bridges.
Next to Fender Tel/Esquires, I LOVE PRS. The look and sound sweet, whether playing blues/Rock/Metal. I just picked up a used excellent ( more like DEAD mint ) 2023 SE Hollow body charcoal from reverb for 746.26 with ship and Tax. It was priced around 674.00, I made an offer for 5% less. Within 5 minutes, my offer was excepted. LOVE the guitar. I made one mod, changed the truss rod cover to McCarty, because, well, I am one.🙂 Thank you Phil as always, for your top notch reviews. They are a pleasure to watch.
I purchased a custon 24 bird PRS in 95 its still my main guitar still looks and sounds like new ive ouned 1 of almost every guitar 58 strat 60 les paul 59 335 67 sg and my PRS beats them all hands down so im glad young guys can get these PRS imports for a fraction of what i paid for my 95 core model a great guitar makes it easy to play and helps you develop as a player because it fun to sound goid cheers !
Definitely more expensive than it needs to be. At that price can get a decent import HH guitar, Sire A4 and an import Semi Holllow, so 3 for the price. No matter how good the specs after 1000 USD a lot of people would want a US made guitar.
Anecdotal fact, but the only Korean WMI SE that i played was very poor, uneven frets, sitar buzz in the G string and sustain ... well it didn't sustain, the notes just died even after i raised the bridge.
?? like the features of this SE . The price is good. The neck is perfect for my small hands . I prefer the back covers to be sunk into the body , but I appreciate the shielding . Great Demo Phil! ❤
I’ve had a Piezo Hollowbody II SE, it has the same piezo/mag pickup set up. It doesn’t coil split, but what an absolutely beautiful guitar. I’m sure these semi Hollowbody ones will be no less a great guitar.
Really appreciate the acoustic sound of this guitar. Would love one but a bit pricey right now. Someone buy one and sell it to me used for half price. 😂
Good review, though I wish there was a test of the Tremolo/Whammy on any guitar that comes with one. I know they usually work well on a PRS, but it should be verified. Thanks
Sweet new SE semi/piezo model. I love my SEs but I wish there was a thinner neck than the 'wide thin', something more like Gibson 60s taper. My arthritis can't play the wide thin anymore.
Some tasty playing Phil! That thing sounds great! I think it's overpriced for an Indonesian-made guitar tho. For that price, I'd expect at least the US pickups.
1600 is a lot for an indonesian guitar, but the concern is really about the resale value of non american guitars. But if you're like me you see this guitar as a possible forever guitar and worth the price
Makes me wonder why Gibson wouldn't do this level-up with their studios at the older prices to make it a nicer student guitar option again...later gen Z is missing the hype that existed during the mid to late 2000s with bands like MCR
Not an affordable instrument, but good value for the money. Not a lot of instruments in that “niche” (semi-hollow with piezo and pickups). Seems like a good buy if someone is looking for a versatile instrument.
I have the PRS SE CE stained Cherry color.. absolutely can't be beat on quality for 499! Best trem I've had on a guitar too! Just so smooth and precise
The SE line is great,but If some SE models are getting to these prices, imagine what the S2 series will cost? I bought an S2 McCarty 594 Thinline brand new two years ago for just over $1,300 ,but the S2's went to around $1,700 even before they recently added the USA pickups /electronics. Now theyre even more money. And they still have an indonesian bridge and tuners. Now the S2 series is between $1729 and $2349. Even tho PRS added USA pickups and electronics to the S2 line, its just too much money. People who couldnt afford a core line PRS , atleast felt maybe they could get an SE PRS,but even some of the SE models are out of reach ,let alone the S2 line and higher. Tough one to accept here.
Yeah, I drew the line at $1,000 for anything mass produced overseas. I feel like they don't even deliver value at that price point most of the time, so paying more is absurd. Once you get above $1,000, you're betting off buying an Amazon brand or a Harley Benton and doing a couple of mods.
PRS has already sold SE models at this same price point for several years now, the SE Hollowbody II Piezo being one example. I’m not sure why people are suddenly shocked at the price of this new model.
@@AWMJoeyjoejoe clearly he got his Economics degree from ‘Doesn’t Understand the Infinite Variables That Effect the World Economy University’. Go D-U!
@@AWMJoeyjoejoeJoe Biden was actually sitting at his desk plonking away on his American guitars and thinking "these kids buying their guitars from Asia is nonsense" and called his Cabal contacts to jack up the price on PRS SEs This is a joke
HR would like to speak with you upstairs about being out of uniform. I tried to talk them down, but honestly Phil, at this point I would think you would have taken the time to familiarize yourself with our corporate policy.
Man, if this had existed a year ago I wouldn't have paid Sweetwater to install the Graph Tech Ghost into a Custom 22 semi-hollow SE. :D It cost more to do it custom, I'm into that thing for like $2100 and I don't really like the sound of the piezo. If this is like the Hollowbody II SE Piezo, it probably sounds more acoustic-y.
the price is justified IMO. Paul actually cares about putting out a quality product and is very hands on with the design and production of the SE guitars. unlike most companies who only care about the cost
Personal preference, but PRS doesn't make necks thick enough for me. Yes, I've tried every neck they make. It doesn't keep me from owning a Zac Myers SE. I wish they offered a R7 type feel.
Still laugh at the "import" comments. Do you really think built in the USA guitars are better at or near the same price point? They're not. Look at the people working in the Cor-tek factory and look at the people working in the Gibson factory. I can tell you which one is more focused on doing a good job. I have a EBMM Stingray that retails for over $2500. I have the same model Sterling by EBMM that retails for $900. Is there a difference? Yes. The nut is better and the tuners are a little better. But the fit, finish, fretwork, etc., is practically the same. So there is a difference, but there isn't $1600 worth of difference and 99% of the audience in the crowd can't tell the difference. Same goes for my G&L Custom Shop P-bass and my $500 Vintage P-bass. But hey, it's your money.
Its re-sellability and price stability. A brand new PRS Hollowbody 2 with piezo dropped from 1600 to under 1k in the market downturn. The drastic cuts from retailers like Sweetwater lower consumer confidence and price memory. American-made guitars really don't experience that flux and as a result your more likely you get roughly what you put into it (unless we want to live in the fantasy world where guitar collecting isn't a thing)
I just watched Jerry Cantrell's rig rundown He's made enough money with that shitty G&L thing he has played since 1980 something to buy your whole guitar collection. That's not fantasy either
" I can tell you which one is more focused on doing a good job." - No, no you can't. You have no idea what the people in each factory think. And your individual example is NOT a good indication. The issue with the imports is there is typically more variation in quality. I've had some dogs from coretek factory. There is nothing wrong with them in general. They are excellent guitars, and perfectly capable. But this idea that somehow they are doing things better, or you're getting more value, is simply predicated on the fact they are paid a very low wage, and there is less time spent on things like fret work and refinement.
My take on your take is "perhaps," and "it depends." I had an EBMM St. Vincent for a while and it was a stunningly good guitar. Do I think some Sterlings played as well ... not quite. But they definitely punch above their weight class. Do my Epiphones play as well as my Gibsons? Actually, yes, for the most part. Do they feel as good? No. Does my Dunable DE play as well as my U.S. Dunables? No. Not even close. Most of these opinions of mine are based on the guitar's finish. The ridiculously thick poly finish on most import guitars immediately feels cheap to me. I just can't get over that plastic feeling. I have one of the recent PRS SE Custom 24s and it is a fantastic guitar, but the finish turns me off. I think that's where most U.S. (and some import) guitars make up the difference. Even when a high-end company uses poly, it still >feels< better. A Dunable especially.
1599$. Wow. Just wow. I thought epiphone was losing their minds when they stuck custombuckers in a some stuff with a different headstock and went for 1500. I get it stuff is more expensive now, but an se costing this much is just too much, at least for my brain
We've seen industries do the same damn thing with all product, for example cars. When they can't justify the prices anymore, they put a bunch of goochi gadgets on them and we know North American are gadget nuts. This complicates the product, usually lessens life expectancy but puts the price up there. I'm personally in retro mode these day, trying to get back to basics and lovin' it.
I just wish PRS would do something about that headstock shape, I HATE It. I know you are not supposed to get hung up on these things, but no matter how great something plays or sounds, if its as fugly as that headstock, I will probably never even try it.
Plastic cliff 1/4" jacks are not a good idea for electric guitars or amps. That is a big issue. Most of us buy an electric guitar because its an electric not an acoustic. at 1000 USD it's way over priced as are the so called core models. Just like Gibson , Fender the actual cost to build a CNC guitar isn't that much different from entry level to custom shop. A decent fret job is around 300 USD. Leo Fender and the rest had one line including student models with all the best quality they could do. The Motto today seems to be screw the consumer. Don't let eye candy fool you it's cheap to do too. This bullsheit and Reverb ruined the used market. Greed is contagious.
