I think you may like the prs 277, it the 27.7" scale guitar made for those low chungus tunings. It has a hard tail bridge, so you don't get any of that instability when playing. The quality is top notch with those as well. They are a bit more pricey however
Dude, I bought my first PRS SE CU24, put a L500XL in the bridge, set it up for AGCFAD, and it’s been my number one ever since. My next is gonna be a Holcomb 7. PRS is always a cut above!
I wanted to hate PRS but i tried 1 and loved it. I now own a couple. They are an amazing company and very transparent about their process. Great QC at every step. Even on the SE from Indonesia. You can't go wrong.
The 25 inch scale is pretty much designed for perfect tension and tonal balance on E standard. To be honest it sounds killer and i've never considered PRS as a possibility.
I bought the first PRS SE, the Santana. At the time it was one of the best import guitars you could buy. Thanks for enhancing my boring Sunday! Great review as always.
PRS guitars are insane quality, i am a roady for a Belgian guitarist that's endorsed by PRS and at first it was not my cup of tea, but now I want one, even for death metal, look at Opeth and the black dahlia murder
I am a PRS owner and lover...i especially love when someone tries out a low end PRS SE and is given the "well damn!" Moment...they only get better going up Taylor
@@TaylorDanley I'm not 100% sure if this will work, but if joi come across the low E not staying in tune in C standard, try removing the spring on the bridge. I had to do that once with an old strat. Love watching your videos man and 🤘
These are the best guitars for the price point. I’ve tried several at different stores and the quality has always been top notch and consistent. The pickup are very good and they can chug with the right set of strings and amp. Most off all it’s comfortable and the fret job is awesome as well
I love my PRS! It's an SE 277, an import model with a set neck and 27.7" baritone scale, so maybe not exactly super comparable to that one haha, but I can agree that the craftsmanship is pretty great on these guitars
A buddy of mine has one that I’ve played several times. The only issue we could find was the trem just destroys tuning when you mess with it. Other than that it plays like a dream, without a professional set up.
I have been playing guitar for 41 years,and the only guitar I personally have had a single problem with is the dean Vmnt series of guitar's or vengeance series of guitar's,and trust me in 41 I have played a lot of guitars,,,but I have only kept a few..
Glad to see you cover this one! I have this guitar in the Satin Gold finish and it is the first guitar I pick up every time I go to play. It is simple, comfortable, and sounds great. Only thing I changed was the tuners to come Gotoh locking, which were a drop in replacement.
I had the intonation issue with my PRS S2 too. Thankfully I have graph tech piezo saddles on that guitar and sanded down the low E saddle to make it go further back.
The thing I noticed with PRS’s is that they do indeed resonate differently. They are very acoustic as well, I find them to be much louder than your average electric while being unplugged
I’ve never really considered PRS that much until recently,mainly because of the lack of Floyd’s and HT bridges….. however having now experienced the superior quality at SE level I’m sold ….. very solid tuning great tones but very good build quality due to them having their own exclusive Cort factory 👍🏻
I think the lack of a maple cap on the body contributes to how bass heavy the guitar is at a lower tuning. Paul def. wasn't considering tuning that far down when he made his standard scale length 25" even. As far as tuning stability, maybe heavier springs would help. The PRS bridge isn't a Floyd, but it's a good bridge, and less prone to detuning open strings when another string is bent than a Floyd.
14:12 I know it's not *your* guitar and all, but typically, when I find I need more range on the saddles for intonation, I remove the saddle spring as needed. It usually gives me enough room to move the saddle far enough back to intonate properly. I'd prefer not to, but when ya need it, ya need it. 🍻
I have a mikeal akerfeldt signature prss se and i have the exact same issues with tuning stability. Its to the point i hate playing it. It has never stayed in tune since i bought it. Wouldnt buy another prs se, but my cort 7 string is a monster of a thing! Same company making them..... :P
I think PRS should have a Budget Brand. An Epiphone to their Gibson, a Squier to their Fender, an Ltd to their ESP, a Sterling to their Music Man. That way they can maintain their PRS image, whilst also offering budget options. Personally I'd go with Aviary Guitars / Aviary by PRS.
@@Neuroanalisis Not really the same thing though if they won't offer even more budget models to keep their premium brand recognition. I mean a brand they can offer $200 starter models with, a brand they would be willing to experiment with. Offering things you won't see on a PRS or PRS SE. Like a Multiscale model. Which even IF they did offer, would be out of the price range for most.
@@RainMakeR_Workshop starter guitars go against the values of Paul. He wants every instrument to be usable for a student the entire time they are learning to play and to last. It has lower costs overall and had a lower fall off rate. If you looked at a classic vibe with a usable gig bag; you would be at ce see money for a guitar that could not properly play out of the box with minimal set up. He advocates for used guitars if you cannot afford a new one.
@ Having a budget brand wouldn’t go against that for the main PRS brand, it would just give more people access to PRS-inspired designs at entry-level prices. As for "starter guitars going against Paul’s values", that assumes that every beginner has access to a well-set-up used guitar, which is VERY rarely the case. Not every beginner wants to or even knows how to hunt for used gear or deal with potential setup issues. A budget brand would ensure that new players that likes PRS designs, get a solid, well-built instrument from day one without spending SE-level or PRS money. Also, a separate brand could allow PRS to experiment in ways they might not with their main brand. Multiscale, different body shapes, unique features, without affecting the PRS image. It’s not about sacrificing quality, it’s about accessibility and innovation.
To be fair there SE line is made at the same factory as Cort guitars and a lot of cross over happens there so even tho it’s not official I would say that Cort is there absolute budget brand
It’s a Beautiful Guitar, they cut a lot of cost with the Bolt on Neck. I’d get a PE series used, or the old Standard SE if You can find one (Satin). I’ve owned 2 PRS S2 Standard 24s Satin Natural and A dark red and lost both in very crazy circumstances. Those are My dream guitars (with a more Modern SG type look 25 inch set neck) but of Course Even at 1899$ the Pick Ups Suck, don’t even care about coil tap, drop I. A Lawerence XL 500 or the like and DONE! Also PRS Killer, Carvin California Top, Same satin Birds Eye grained work horse, Mine came with Lace Sensor Pick Ups and it’s A Beast (used 800$ if Your Lucky, it’s sad Your buying someone else handmade dream thrown away). You’ve surprised Me with the Cleans Even on this one! Another great Axe (last time I told this, all 5 that I was looking to trade for were bought) That’s Washburn. I have the Parallaxe PXS100 and it does Everything (it’s a solar and Nuno for 1000s less) Essentially the Archtype of what Solar would Become! I’ve already said to Much But Taylor, please, please, please!!! Grab a Blackbox or tank G or Donner Leo Jayme H.B. Variants and Make AMX/ANN Neural Captures of Your amazing Amps! I’ve never seen anyone get so Close to a Rectifier with A XXX Peavey. You may be our only (cheap budget friendly) Savior with the Greatest Good to do this. Great Demo, long time fan, and Guitarist.
I think more people prefer the trem. The custom 24 with trem always outsold the fixed bridge versions until prs finally discontinued the fixed bridge models. That said some fixed bridge SEs would be great because the SE trem just doesn’t work as well as the USA trem.
Imo under $400-500 is budget these days, not bad just budget. $500 to about $1500ish is mid level. 2k to around 4k is high end and everything over that is getting into collectors guitars.
I have a SE custom 24, and it's not quite a chug monster, but it's great for everything else, and the QC on it for an Indonesian guitar is unmatched. But I recently got my first Gibson 😔 and now I feel like a snobby traitor 😮
Had a Tremonti signature SE back in the day. Traded a Fender for it and traded it away later, and never should have. Best playing and sounding guitar I’ve ever owned.
I’m just a casual player now, haven’t played in a band since my college years, so I can’t justify spending a ton on a guitar that doesn’t leave my house. I have 3 PRS SE’s, and I love them all. It feels like it’s a more expensive guitar than it is. I have 2 Tremonti Custom SE’s, and the SE CE24 Swamp Ash. They are beautiful, sound great, and play great. They have that same Bridge, and I agree about tuning low, I don’t go lower than Drop C with slightly beefier strings.
Great guitar, I got mine from Zzounds last year, gigged it out twice with a cover band, ended up swapping out the pickups and tuners but man, it’s a rock machine and a killer guitar.
The intonation issue issue is interesting. I have two American PRS CEs. One of them lives in C standard and I have no intonation issues. I would seriously consider reaching out to PRS on this. The only way you should be out of travel to intonate is if the bridge is in the wrong place; the scale length shouldn't matter. Which would obviously be a huge defect.
I play CEs. Mine are from the core line, but SEs are nearly the same. The thing you may not realize is that CE is the only PRS with a bolt on maple neck. (with exception to the swamp ash) I don’t tune down, and I’m sure it can’t solve the intonation, but maybe try a set neck version. It’s meant more for that funk pop, and snap you’d favor in pop styles.
In my opinion Budget guitars would start at the high-end would be about 300 and the low end is 125.00 or 150 bucks 0:55 I just bought a used (Chapman) for $250 modern , singlecut off of eBay used but it had minimal wear 3:01
Used to have Gibsons: first an SG and then a Les paul classic. Very good guitars but there was always something wrong with them, couldn't feel completely fine or comfortable with them. Then I tried a prs tremonti: got it and sold the gibsons. Then a guy offered me to buy his custom24 cause he needed some extra income: tried it for like 2 minutes and brought it home. Amazing guitars, amazingly crafted, beautiful, comfortable. Love Prs guitars, for my taste they are simply perfect.
I don’t know if you filed out the nut slots but if not then im not surprised you had tuning issues. the nut on an SE isn’t really cut to take anything more than 11-49s. Buddy of mine had same issues your having. He finally got the nut slots filed out to fit the big strings and now it’s an extremely stable guitar. As for the intonation issue yeah the prs trem on the SE models just doesn’t have a ton of range compared to the trem on the core models.
Couple of years ago I got a PRS SE custom 24. Quality & workmanship was great on that guitar, comfortable neck, all around was a really good high quality guitar especially considering what I got for the 600 some bucks I paid for it. Though like you I put heavier strings on it & set it up in C standard tuning and then that’s when I found out that the PRS 25 inch scale length wasn’t for me. I had the same issues as you did when I set it up with heavier strings & C standard tuning. I traded that PRS SE for a Ibanez baritone which suits my needs better. I can say top notch quality, workmanship and QC throughout the entire PRS line since they pay attention to every detail in their import line of guitars as they do their high end US models
12:30 On resonance, and I’m not knocking any of your more shred-focused guitars, but “metal” guitars in general don’t have the same feel in the hand as something like a PRS, which can influence how you play. Most metal-specific guitars are made out of lighter woods with more emphasis on the pickups to do the work for you. Even Aristides, whose guitars are 100% composite, refer to the ARIUM bodies as “tone material” in their site literature.
Nice video. I actually bought one of these few months ago. I also noticed the tuning was not stable which was initially disappointing. But i realized the issue was that every time i did a palm mute the floating bridge would move from my hand pressure. I added a big wood block behind the trem in the cavity and that fixed the issue. Stays in tune great now. I also noticed the spring noise in there. I feel like they should have just done a hard tail at this price. The Neck pickup was too dark sounding for me but the bridge pickup sounded great. The top edge of the guitar body is also kind of sharp and dug into my right arm so i rounded that over. The guitar comes with 9-42 gauge is pretty small, so it makes sense that you might have intonation issues going heavier but im surprised that you ran out of adjustment. Maybe the low string doesnt quite fit the nut after going heavier.
@@Decalo8225 I mean TBF I probably could have removed the spring, but I didn’t want to do that to a guitar I’m sending back and risk losing it you know?
yea totally get it. if you are borrowing and need to send it back then that kind of limits what you can really do to modify it. Also i forgot to mention my pickup selector switch was really tight. like it had a really high effort to push. so yea overall not perfect but pretty good.
I have the American made CE24 and love it. It is my main guitar. And I’ve played the SE version at guitar center. The main difference is the heel joint. The American one is way less chunky. But otherwise I thought the SE version was a solid rendition in a more “affordable” option.
I got the exact same guitar. Stuck some Daddario 9-42 gauge strings on it. Tuned to standard E and have the same intonation problem on the low E. I would have to remove the spring on the saddle to compensate, but I shouldn't have to. It has tuning issues as well when using the trem or doing big bends. I bought some PRS SE locking tuners for it, but that didn't fix anything. I would like to think that PRS could do a little better. I had an Amazon Fesley guitar that cost $100 and the trem rarely caused the guitar to go out of tune. And that's doing divebombs. Oh well.
I was always impressed by the quality of PRS SE guitars, they’ve always played and sounded great! Regarding the change in tone, it’s mainly the string gauge and tuning change generating darker, more bass-heavy tones. I’ve done the “Tone-wood”tests, made my decision and this is my belief, although, I’m not going to engage in tone-wood debates, everyone can believe what they want, just talking about my experience, here. String gauge is a very personal thing and varies wildly per player. A old buddy of mine who is a full-on killer death-metal guitarist, uses .10’s in D-standard w/floating-Floyd-equipped guitars, (this seems insane and inadequate for tuning stability to me, but it works for him, so that’s all that really matters)! On the opposite end of the scale, I use what most would consider heavy string gauges for a given tuning, I mainly play in D standard/Dropped C. For that tuning, I use Daddario EXL145, not for tonal purposes, but for tension and feel purposes. I’m primarily a rhythm player, but I also play lead, but I’ll never be a shredder, as I’m self-taught w/atrocious technique(think Willie Adler of LOG). 🤣 I prefer the heavier strings because I pick and palm-mute quite hard, so a standard setup would buzz, flub and sound like farty shit, being played by my cave-man hands. 😂 The other reason is tuning-stability, my guitars stay in tune incredibly well, because there’s more than enough tension to support the lower tuning. Basically, what I do I maintain tension similar to a set of .10’s in E vs a set of .09’s, using sets that don’t have a wound 3rd, (hate that), so any other tuning is usually me hunting down very specific plain steel string gauges for my higher strings. Kind of a P.I.T.A. for the average guy, but I worked at a music store for 8 yrs, therefore figuring this out per tuning and knowing where to find what I need is much less of a challenge for me. Any time I’m using a guitar in a lower tuning, I have to adjust the EQ, (less bass, more treble and mids) to dial in that sound, because lower tunings just contain more muddy frequencies that require more EQ to tighten up that tone, especially when your music is full of palm-mutes and trem-picking. 👍🤘🏻
It's not a budget guitar it's a "beginner by brand guitar" lol Like in middle school when the Nike air guys gave ya a hard time for just having nikes. Lol Big reason I just started wearing shoes I liked. Lol
I had to have Nike Air so I would be cool like the Jocks. Still didn't work. I skated, listened to heavy metal. Played guitar and had long hair. I was destined to get bullied. 🤣
I don't think the bridge is supposed to float. The bridge should be flush with the body so you don't need a tremelno. That is how the other similar ones are in the se range. That could be the intonation issue. The other non se ce use 10s stock. Maybe a 10.5, 11 or 10-52 set was the play?
Great video, I love your enthusiasm, you can pick one of these up new in the UK for around £430 now, I may be tempted... By the way be careful with painters tape, it is designed to be removed quite quickly after application, if you leave it in place for a long time it will leave a residue.
9:17 by the way the math is a little off, this guitar is a 25” scale and not 25.5 like your usual doesn’t really change what you said instead the case of tension being very similar and reducing the potential set up work required. Though the shown calculation are slightly less in tension, personally I’d bump up to .56’s for this slight change but the difference will be minor. Edit: I see you addressed the scale difference, the slight bump up in size should fix the intonation issue
The normal ce ship with 10s, but the SE ce ships with 9-42 so it should have been fine but very slinky with the 10-46 I personally think it was the trem. It should be decked but it was fluttering and it should not do that.
Just for consensus, I'm throwing in that $500 is the bottom end of a midrange guitar. Which, to me, is still a "budget" guitar. It's not a cheap guitar, but it's the level of entry that comes with some expectations. Such as the RG470 from Ibanez, shit was so good I returned it for a 550 and that's my main guitar, beating out my $1400 Carvin in some (many) ways. Enough where I will keep precious BB expensive in the case.
would you recommend a used excellent condition one of these or a new ibanez grgr 131 ex-bkf grg for a beginner that wants to learn different genres but mainly alt and rock
I keep mine in drop B and use the shit out of the whammy bar and it stays in tune with now issues, i wonder if there is something up with yours....I didn't do any mods to min accept muting the springs still though this is easily one of the best guitars I've owned/borrowed
@@alejandroaaaeverything he touched on in the review is why i didnt keep the PRS. also dont know if it was just the particular one i had, but it had bad electronic problems, like the coil split would only work with 1 pickup and the bridge pickup just sounded meh. the HB CST24 i have is a set neck with P90s. i honestly prefer the P90s over the coil split buckers
Anyone who expects to down tune heavier gauge strings on a floating trem that's not double locking. Apparently doesn't understand how they work? Sure you could eventually get it to settle down if you kept messing with the trem claw screws for a few days. But what part about it's not designed to do that, don't you understand? There's literally thousands and thousands of those exact same trem systems on guitars all around the world. They're widely considered one the absolute best 6 point units ever built. If it's used in the manner it was designed to. There's really no issues. I'm not sure how else to say this, but it's just operator error. Peace.
I think this is probably the wrong PRS for someone like you. It would be interesting to see what your opinion of one of the more 'metal' themed PRS guitars like the Majesty and JP lines which are the signature models for John Petrucci of Dream Theater (don't worry, I'm not expecting you to play like him).
So funny to call for the bridge and to play the same four notes, ain't it?! I was tempted by airplane mode but the second passport expired. Who cares?! Namastè.
SMH reviewers always playing through both high end setups and free plugins how am I supposed to know what the guitar really sounds like if you dont play it through my brothers hand-me-down line 6 spyder?
Gonna be real with you there's no such thing as tonewood with electrical instruments and the guitar sounds like every other guitar demo you've done with the same gear because the filters that matter aren't in the guitar.
I agree. There is zero "difference" in tone that comes across. Sounds identical to every other guitar as long as the basics are in place (tuned, intonated, no buzzing frets etc).
Gonna be real with you. Guitarists are the only musicians who think the instruments they play defy the laws of physics of how sound is produced. They also confuse sound PRODUCTION and the native tone of the instrument with sound amplification and processing. He could hear the difference in tone because he was playing with a relatively clean tone. PRS CEs have a mahogany body and are going to produce more natural low end than a guitar made of alder or ash. Every other kind musician who plays instruments made of wood accept that the kind of wood has an impact on tone. The issue with electric guitar is that the amplification process and signal processing colors the tone. So we have a habit of using these to alter the tone in ways that we want to hear (“finding a tone”) rather than noticing what the guitar wants to do on its own.
I honestly feel, from experience, that PRS are definitely overrated. Not as good as my ESP as far as neck and frets and overall playability. I'm talking PRS USA vs ESP Japan. Don't even get me started on the fn gig-bag that comes with a 4K PRS Custom! WTF?
If you want to be more accurate - stop thinking like a guitarist and just going on gut feelings when you listen to it, oh it resonates, oh it's thick blah blah. That's a great way to be wrong. Think like an audio engineer and A/B the tone with other guitars. You could do Vs. Cheap GIO vs Expensive Jackson or something. Also, block the trem riffmeister, and really, even tuning down to C is better done on guitars with extended scale lengths, at least 26.5".
Zzounds link www.zzounds.com/item--PRSSECESTD24?siid=347851/a--3990820
I think you may like the prs 277, it the 27.7" scale guitar made for those low chungus tunings. It has a hard tail bridge, so you don't get any of that instability when playing. The quality is top notch with those as well. They are a bit more pricey however
Dude, I bought my first PRS SE CU24, put a L500XL in the bridge, set it up for AGCFAD, and it’s been my number one ever since. My next is gonna be a Holcomb 7. PRS is always a cut above!
I wanted to hate PRS but i tried 1 and loved it. I now own a couple. They are an amazing company and very transparent about their process. Great QC at every step. Even on the SE from Indonesia. You can't go wrong.
The 25 inch scale is pretty much designed for perfect tension and tonal balance on E standard. To be honest it sounds killer and i've never considered PRS as a possibility.
@@diegolatorre6793 yeah that makes sense!
I wouldn’t grab this guy, used SEs and signature models are cheaper and better
Fenders cheapest guitar is also made in Indonesia and more expensive, and also at a lower quality! 😅
What a joke, it makes Me sad
bought this as my first electric in october, and im not dissapointed with my purchase
I bought the first PRS SE, the Santana. At the time it was one of the best import guitars you could buy. Thanks for enhancing my boring Sunday! Great review as always.
💪
I've still got my 2012 PRS SE Santana, unbelievable guitar
Damn... so awesome to see a Zzounds link on RUclips... they've been my favorite for over a decade now!!!
PRS guitars are insane quality, i am a roady for a Belgian guitarist that's endorsed by PRS and at first it was not my cup of tea, but now I want one, even for death metal, look at Opeth and the black dahlia murder
I am a PRS owner and lover...i especially love when someone tries out a low end PRS SE and is given the "well damn!" Moment...they only get better going up Taylor
@@jasonsapp792 I can imagine!
@@TaylorDanley I'm not 100% sure if this will work, but if joi come across the low E not staying in tune in C standard, try removing the spring on the bridge. I had to do that once with an old strat.
Love watching your videos man and 🤘
Saddle, remove the spring from the saddle 😂 good grief lol
These are the best guitars for the price point. I’ve tried several at different stores and the quality has always been top notch and consistent. The pickup are very good and they can chug with the right set of strings and amp. Most off all it’s comfortable and the fret job is awesome as well
I love my PRS! It's an SE 277, an import model with a set neck and 27.7" baritone scale, so maybe not exactly super comparable to that one haha, but I can agree that the craftsmanship is pretty great on these guitars
@@ericwinterspruce0110 it was really impressive!
Thumbs up for the Jim LIl insert.
Another great video. Love your style
Every guitar review by everyone seem to be positive but comments have horror stories, it's really confusing
Because commentors dont set up their instruments and complain
A buddy of mine has one that I’ve played several times. The only issue we could find was the trem just destroys tuning when you mess with it. Other than that it plays like a dream, without a professional set up.
Tuning is a pretty serious issue if the trem is useless@@thatdonkey7215
I have been playing guitar for 41 years,and the only guitar I personally have had a single problem with is the dean Vmnt series of guitar's or vengeance series of guitar's,and trust me in 41 I have played a lot of guitars,,,but I have only kept a few..
@ always like asking a veteran player, whats your favorite guitar
A 56 would help your intonation. I would recheck the string tensions at 25in instead of 25.5
Glad to see you cover this one! I have this guitar in the Satin Gold finish and it is the first guitar I pick up every time I go to play. It is simple, comfortable, and sounds great. Only thing I changed was the tuners to come Gotoh locking, which were a drop in replacement.
Really good review bro!
I had the intonation issue with my PRS S2 too. Thankfully I have graph tech piezo saddles on that guitar and sanded down the low E saddle to make it go further back.
I've always found resonance in the wood is for the feel in your hands and against your body, not the output
I'm sorry, low hanging fruit and overplayed joke....but..."thats what she said"
@ hahaha true
The thing I noticed with PRS’s is that they do indeed resonate differently. They are very acoustic as well, I find them to be much louder than your average electric while being unplugged
First time seeing the new intro! Both awesome and scared me a bit 😂
as a strat sounds best in Eb, PRSs sound better in D...surprisingly
I’ve never really considered PRS that much until recently,mainly because of the lack of Floyd’s and HT bridges….. however having now experienced the superior quality at SE level I’m sold ….. very solid tuning great tones but very good build quality due to them having their own exclusive Cort factory 👍🏻
I think the lack of a maple cap on the body contributes to how bass heavy the guitar is at a lower tuning. Paul def. wasn't considering tuning that far down when he made his standard scale length 25" even. As far as tuning stability, maybe heavier springs would help. The PRS bridge isn't a Floyd, but it's a good bridge, and less prone to detuning open strings when another string is bent than a Floyd.
Having owned a couple of PRS guitars, I can honestly say their bridges are top notch for a floating bridge. It always handled any tuning like a champ.
14:12 I know it's not *your* guitar and all, but typically, when I find I need more range on the saddles for intonation, I remove the saddle spring as needed. It usually gives me enough room to move the saddle far enough back to intonate properly. I'd prefer not to, but when ya need it, ya need it. 🍻
I have a mikeal akerfeldt signature prss se and i have the exact same issues with tuning stability. Its to the point i hate playing it. It has never stayed in tune since i bought it. Wouldnt buy another prs se, but my cort 7 string is a monster of a thing! Same company making them..... :P
I think PRS should have a Budget Brand. An Epiphone to their Gibson, a Squier to their Fender, an Ltd to their ESP, a Sterling to their Music Man.
That way they can maintain their PRS image, whilst also offering budget options. Personally I'd go with Aviary Guitars / Aviary by PRS.
They already do it's called SE.
@@Neuroanalisis Not really the same thing though if they won't offer even more budget models to keep their premium brand recognition. I mean a brand they can offer $200 starter models with, a brand they would be willing to experiment with. Offering things you won't see on a PRS or PRS SE. Like a Multiscale model. Which even IF they did offer, would be out of the price range for most.
@@RainMakeR_Workshop starter guitars go against the values of Paul. He wants every instrument to be usable for a student the entire time they are learning to play and to last. It has lower costs overall and had a lower fall off rate. If you looked at a classic vibe with a usable gig bag; you would be at ce see money for a guitar that could not properly play out of the box with minimal set up.
He advocates for used guitars if you cannot afford a new one.
@ Having a budget brand wouldn’t go against that for the main PRS brand, it would just give more people access to PRS-inspired designs at entry-level prices. As for "starter guitars going against Paul’s values", that assumes that every beginner has access to a well-set-up used guitar, which is VERY rarely the case. Not every beginner wants to or even knows how to hunt for used gear or deal with potential setup issues. A budget brand would ensure that new players that likes PRS designs, get a solid, well-built instrument from day one without spending SE-level or PRS money.
Also, a separate brand could allow PRS to experiment in ways they might not with their main brand. Multiscale, different body shapes, unique features, without affecting the PRS image. It’s not about sacrificing quality, it’s about accessibility and innovation.
To be fair there SE line is made at the same factory as Cort guitars and a lot of cross over happens there so even tho it’s not official I would say that Cort is there absolute budget brand
It’s a Beautiful Guitar, they cut a lot of cost with the Bolt on Neck. I’d get a PE series used, or the old Standard SE if You can find one (Satin). I’ve owned 2 PRS S2 Standard 24s Satin Natural and A dark red and lost both in very crazy circumstances. Those are My dream guitars (with a more Modern SG type look 25 inch set neck) but of Course Even at 1899$ the Pick Ups Suck, don’t even care about coil tap, drop I. A Lawerence XL 500 or the like and DONE! Also PRS Killer, Carvin California Top, Same satin Birds Eye grained work horse, Mine came with Lace Sensor Pick Ups and it’s A Beast (used 800$ if Your Lucky, it’s sad Your buying someone else handmade dream thrown away). You’ve surprised Me with the Cleans Even on this one! Another great Axe (last time I told this, all 5 that I was looking to trade for were bought) That’s Washburn. I have the Parallaxe PXS100 and it does Everything (it’s a solar and Nuno for 1000s less) Essentially the Archtype of what Solar would Become! I’ve already said to Much But Taylor, please, please, please!!! Grab a Blackbox or tank G or Donner Leo Jayme H.B. Variants and Make AMX/ANN Neural Captures of Your amazing Amps! I’ve never seen anyone get so Close to a Rectifier with A XXX Peavey. You may be our only (cheap budget friendly) Savior with the Greatest Good to do this. Great Demo, long time fan, and Guitarist.
i used coins to block my prs se bridge, im much happier since i did that
I think more people prefer the trem. The custom 24 with trem always outsold the fixed bridge versions until prs finally discontinued the fixed bridge models. That said some fixed bridge SEs would be great because the SE trem just doesn’t work as well as the USA trem.
I just played one of these in Red a week ago at a GC, I was very impressed with it.
Imo under $400-500 is budget these days, not bad just budget. $500 to about $1500ish is mid level. 2k to around 4k is high end and everything over that is getting into collectors guitars.
I have a SE custom 24, and it's not quite a chug monster, but it's great for everything else, and the QC on it for an Indonesian guitar is unmatched. But I recently got my first Gibson 😔 and now I feel like a snobby traitor 😮
@@heavybrett-al4082 😂
Had a Tremonti signature SE back in the day. Traded a Fender for it and traded it away later, and never should have. Best playing and sounding guitar I’ve ever owned.
I’m just a casual player now, haven’t played in a band since my college years, so I can’t justify spending a ton on a guitar that doesn’t leave my house. I have 3 PRS SE’s, and I love them all. It feels like it’s a more expensive guitar than it is. I have 2 Tremonti Custom SE’s, and the SE CE24 Swamp Ash. They are beautiful, sound great, and play great. They have that same Bridge, and I agree about tuning low, I don’t go lower than Drop C with slightly beefier strings.
Great guitar, I got mine from Zzounds last year, gigged it out twice with a cover band, ended up swapping out the pickups and tuners but man, it’s a rock machine and a killer guitar.
Great video. I love this guitar. I have owned it for around a year. Cheers
The intonation issue issue is interesting. I have two American PRS CEs. One of them lives in C standard and I have no intonation issues. I would seriously consider reaching out to PRS on this. The only way you should be out of travel to intonate is if the bridge is in the wrong place; the scale length shouldn't matter. Which would obviously be a huge defect.
With regard to the trem springs & tape, use coban. The stretchy stuff they put on your arm after a blood test. Has zero adhesive.
I play CEs. Mine are from the core line, but SEs are nearly the same. The thing you may not realize is that CE is the only PRS with a bolt on maple neck. (with exception to the swamp ash) I don’t tune down, and I’m sure it can’t solve the intonation, but maybe try a set neck version. It’s meant more for that funk pop, and snap you’d favor in pop styles.
In my opinion Budget guitars would start at the high-end would be about 300 and the low end is 125.00 or 150 bucks 0:55 I just bought a used (Chapman) for $250 modern , singlecut off of eBay used but it had minimal wear 3:01
Cos no one likes chapman lol
I bought one when they released and I love it more than all my expensive guitars
Used to have Gibsons: first an SG and then a Les paul classic. Very good guitars but there was always something wrong with them, couldn't feel completely fine or comfortable with them. Then I tried a prs tremonti: got it and sold the gibsons. Then a guy offered me to buy his custom24 cause he needed some extra income: tried it for like 2 minutes and brought it home. Amazing guitars, amazingly crafted, beautiful, comfortable. Love Prs guitars, for my taste they are simply perfect.
If I’m not mistaken, the CE 24 comes with 10 gauge strings
I think most guitars seem to come with 010's.
@@brycejackson9232 yeah. PRS uses 10s on all of their guitars.
They’re 9’s. I have the CE24 sandblasted and I was told it was 10ga but when I restrung it to 10’s the first time it raised the bridge up
Buying a shirt as soon as you release a 'Manly Danley' logo
I've played one in every GC store i have gone in to while traveling. Each one seems great, and i am tempted. I don't need one...but i wanna get one
Probably needs more springs on the tremelo or beefier springs.
I don’t know if you filed out the nut slots but if not then im not surprised you had tuning issues. the nut on an SE isn’t really cut to take anything more than 11-49s. Buddy of mine had same issues your having. He finally got the nut slots filed out to fit the big strings and now it’s an extremely stable guitar.
As for the intonation issue yeah the prs trem on the SE models just doesn’t have a ton of range compared to the trem on the core models.
Couple of years ago I got a PRS SE custom 24. Quality & workmanship was great on that guitar, comfortable neck, all around was a really good high quality guitar especially considering what I got for the 600 some bucks I paid for it. Though like you I put heavier strings on it & set it up in C standard tuning and then that’s when I found out that the PRS 25 inch scale length wasn’t for me. I had the same issues as you did when I set it up with heavier strings & C standard tuning. I traded that PRS SE for a Ibanez baritone which suits my needs better. I can say top notch quality, workmanship and QC throughout the entire PRS line since they pay attention to every detail in their import line of guitars as they do their high end US models
Prs is great in my experience. Glad you were able to finally try one 🤘🤘🤘
I always use 12 to 56 for c standard on 24 3/4 because of the same intonation problem, so maybe that would help
11-54 is waay too light for C standard, intonation issues gonna happen
12:30 On resonance, and I’m not knocking any of your more shred-focused guitars, but “metal” guitars in general don’t have the same feel in the hand as something like a PRS, which can influence how you play. Most metal-specific guitars are made out of lighter woods with more emphasis on the pickups to do the work for you.
Even Aristides, whose guitars are 100% composite, refer to the ARIUM bodies as “tone material” in their site literature.
Nice video. I actually bought one of these few months ago. I also noticed the tuning was not stable which was initially disappointing. But i realized the issue was that every time i did a palm mute the floating bridge would move from my hand pressure. I added a big wood block behind the trem in the cavity and that fixed the issue. Stays in tune great now. I also noticed the spring noise in there. I feel like they should have just done a hard tail at this price. The Neck pickup was too dark sounding for me but the bridge pickup sounded great. The top edge of the guitar body is also kind of sharp and dug into my right arm so i rounded that over. The guitar comes with 9-42 gauge is pretty small, so it makes sense that you might have intonation issues going heavier but im surprised that you ran out of adjustment. Maybe the low string doesnt quite fit the nut after going heavier.
@@Decalo8225 I mean TBF I probably could have removed the spring, but I didn’t want to do that to a guitar I’m sending back and risk losing it you know?
yea totally get it. if you are borrowing and need to send it back then that kind of limits what you can really do to modify it. Also i forgot to mention my pickup selector switch was really tight. like it had a really high effort to push. so yea overall not perfect but pretty good.
I kind of like the way it looks besides the pickup rings
I have the American made CE24 and love it. It is my main guitar. And I’ve played the SE version at guitar center. The main difference is the heel joint. The American one is way less chunky. But otherwise I thought the SE version was a solid rendition in a more “affordable” option.
I've only been tempted by two PRS guitars. The Mike Mushok baritone, and the first (the purple stuff) Mark Holcomb model.
I got the exact same guitar. Stuck some Daddario 9-42 gauge strings on it. Tuned to standard E and have the same intonation problem on the low E. I would have to remove the spring on the saddle to compensate, but I shouldn't have to. It has tuning issues as well when using the trem or doing big bends. I bought some PRS SE locking tuners for it, but that didn't fix anything. I would like to think that PRS could do a little better. I had an Amazon Fesley guitar that cost $100 and the trem rarely caused the guitar to go out of tune. And that's doing divebombs. Oh well.
I was always impressed by the quality of PRS SE guitars, they’ve always played and sounded great!
Regarding the change in tone, it’s mainly the string gauge and tuning change generating darker, more bass-heavy tones.
I’ve done the “Tone-wood”tests, made my decision and this is my belief, although, I’m not going to engage in tone-wood debates, everyone can believe what they want, just talking about my experience, here.
String gauge is a very personal thing and varies wildly per player. A old buddy of mine who is a full-on killer death-metal guitarist, uses .10’s in D-standard w/floating-Floyd-equipped guitars, (this seems insane and inadequate for tuning stability to me, but it works for him, so that’s all that really matters)!
On the opposite end of the scale, I use what most would consider heavy string gauges for a given tuning, I mainly play in D standard/Dropped C.
For that tuning, I use Daddario EXL145, not for tonal purposes, but for tension and feel purposes. I’m primarily a rhythm player, but I also play lead, but I’ll never be a shredder, as I’m self-taught w/atrocious technique(think Willie Adler of LOG). 🤣
I prefer the heavier strings because I pick and palm-mute quite hard, so a standard setup would buzz, flub and sound like farty shit, being played by my cave-man hands. 😂 The other reason is tuning-stability, my guitars stay in tune incredibly well, because there’s more than enough tension to support the lower tuning.
Basically, what I do I maintain tension similar to a set of .10’s in E vs a set of .09’s, using sets that don’t have a wound 3rd, (hate that), so any other tuning is usually me hunting down very specific plain steel string gauges for my higher strings. Kind of a P.I.T.A. for the average guy, but I worked at a music store for 8 yrs, therefore figuring this out per tuning and knowing where to find what I need is much less of a challenge for me.
Any time I’m using a guitar in a lower tuning, I have to adjust the EQ, (less bass, more treble and mids) to dial in that sound, because lower tunings just contain more muddy frequencies that require more EQ to tighten up that tone, especially when your music is full of palm-mutes and trem-picking. 👍🤘🏻
when you said bridge tone.... the switch was flipped up..... wouldnt that be the neck lol? Or is PRS just that bad?
PRS is an AMAZING company. TOP QUALITY. I have a Silver Sky and 12 other guitars that I dont play nearly as much.
It's not a budget guitar it's a "beginner by brand guitar" lol
Like in middle school when the Nike air guys gave ya a hard time for just having nikes. Lol
Big reason I just started wearing shoes I liked. Lol
I had to have Nike Air so I would be cool like the Jocks. Still didn't work. I skated, listened to heavy metal. Played guitar and had long hair. I was destined to get bullied. 🤣
I don't think the bridge is supposed to float. The bridge should be flush with the body so you don't need a tremelno. That is how the other similar ones are in the se range. That could be the intonation issue.
The other non se ce use 10s stock. Maybe a 10.5, 11 or 10-52 set was the play?
Great video, I love your enthusiasm, you can pick one of these up new in the UK for around £430 now, I may be tempted... By the way be careful with painters tape, it is designed to be removed quite quickly after application, if you leave it in place for a long time it will leave a residue.
@@peterreeves6825 thanks for the tip 💪
Great demo...i think it would probably handle drop D fine and that covers a lot of ground
This the one I’ve been waiting for lol.
Fuck, that VHT tone sounded GOOD! I still dont understand why PRS doesnt offer a fixed bridge option on these cheaper guitars.
9:17 by the way the math is a little off, this guitar is a 25” scale and not 25.5 like your usual doesn’t really change what you said instead the case of tension being very similar and reducing the potential set up work required. Though the shown calculation are slightly less in tension, personally I’d bump up to .56’s for this slight change but the difference will be minor.
Edit: I see you addressed the scale difference, the slight bump up in size should fix the intonation issue
The normal ce ship with 10s, but the SE ce ships with 9-42 so it should have been fine but very slinky with the 10-46
I personally think it was the trem. It should be decked but it was fluttering and it should not do that.
6:51 Neck***
Styrofoam works excellent for stopping the spring jingle....
Just for consensus, I'm throwing in that $500 is the bottom end of a midrange guitar. Which, to me, is still a "budget" guitar. It's not a cheap guitar, but it's the level of entry that comes with some expectations. Such as the RG470 from Ibanez, shit was so good I returned it for a 550 and that's my main guitar, beating out my $1400 Carvin in some (many) ways. Enough where I will keep precious BB expensive in the case.
Thanks Taylor like your work mate , good shit ,never try PRS looks cool sound ok :)
would you recommend a used excellent condition one of these or a new ibanez grgr 131 ex-bkf grg for a beginner that wants to learn different genres but mainly alt and rock
I know it come with alot of extra work but why not see what these budget guitars sound like in a mix.
I keep mine in drop B and use the shit out of the whammy bar and it stays in tune with now issues, i wonder if there is something up with yours....I didn't do any mods to min accept muting the springs still though this is easily one of the best guitars I've owned/borrowed
i had one of he CE24 a few years ago and it was nice, but i honestly enjoyed playing the Harley Benton CST24 a bit more
What are the differences? Thinking of getting one
@@alejandroaaaeverything he touched on in the review is why i didnt keep the PRS. also dont know if it was just the particular one i had, but it had bad electronic problems, like the coil split would only work with 1 pickup and the bridge pickup just sounded meh. the HB CST24 i have is a set neck with P90s. i honestly prefer the P90s over the coil split buckers
add 5 springs to the tremolo. instant fix
This is ~570 euros in Europe. Id buy this if it were a singlecut... and all SE singlecuts are above 700 euros wtf is up with that PRS ?!
I think most budget level guitars tend to be the 200-500 range.
Hey at least the intonation isn't bad enough that the 12th fret on the high E string gets you a barely out of tune D#. Tiny acoustic = uh oh
I think 500 bucks is the line for budget guitars
OPETH is what made these guitars metal.
Tune it up to F sharp ❤😂🎉
Painters tape leaves a lot of residue over time, unfortunately. Just an fyi 👍🏻
Anyone who expects to down tune heavier gauge strings on a floating trem that's not double locking. Apparently doesn't understand how they work? Sure you could eventually get it to settle down if you kept messing with the trem claw screws for a few days. But what part about it's not designed to do that, don't you understand?
There's literally thousands and thousands of those exact same trem systems on guitars all around the world. They're widely considered one the absolute best 6 point units ever built.
If it's used in the manner it was designed to. There's really no issues. I'm not sure how else to say this, but it's just operator error.
Peace.
Used the price of these arent to bad like 430$ or so i have never played a prs ethier
I sent a swamp ash back ! Ugly, truss cover wasn't even screwed on. Played like 💩, and heavier than a boat ⚓ !
I think this is probably the wrong PRS for someone like you. It would be interesting to see what your opinion of one of the more 'metal' themed PRS guitars like the Majesty and JP lines which are the signature models for John Petrucci of Dream Theater (don't worry, I'm not expecting you to play like him).
So funny to call for the bridge and to play the same four notes, ain't it?! I was tempted by airplane mode but the second passport expired. Who cares?! Namastè.
"Bougie" rig, but using a 2 cent cable to connect the pedal to the amp input. 🤦♂ They do make a difference.
Boosted by the devil
SMH reviewers always playing through both high end setups and free plugins how am I supposed to know what the guitar really sounds like if you dont play it through my brothers hand-me-down line 6 spyder?
The most expensive cheapest P.O.S. guitar 😂😂
Gonna be real with you there's no such thing as tonewood with electrical instruments and the guitar sounds like every other guitar demo you've done with the same gear because the filters that matter aren't in the guitar.
I agree. There is zero "difference" in tone that comes across. Sounds identical to every other guitar as long as the basics are in place (tuned, intonated, no buzzing frets etc).
Gonna be real with you. Guitarists are the only musicians who think the instruments they play defy the laws of physics of how sound is produced.
They also confuse sound PRODUCTION and the native tone of the instrument with sound amplification and processing.
He could hear the difference in tone because he was playing with a relatively clean tone. PRS CEs have a mahogany body and are going to produce more natural low end than a guitar made of alder or ash.
Every other kind musician who plays instruments made of wood accept that the kind of wood has an impact on tone.
The issue with electric guitar is that the amplification process and signal processing colors the tone.
So we have a habit of using these to alter the tone in ways that we want to hear (“finding a tone”) rather than noticing what the guitar wants to do on its own.
Someone's been watching to much Glen again lol 😂
I do not gum on Ernie ballz
With your style of playing( you know this), you're gonna need a longer scale. Kinda unfair.
I honestly feel, from experience, that PRS are definitely overrated. Not as good as my ESP as far as neck and frets and overall playability. I'm talking PRS USA vs ESP Japan. Don't even get me started on the fn gig-bag that comes with a 4K PRS Custom! WTF?
Thought the prs guy was being kinda based at first then realized he was saying the opposite.
No wonder the guitar sounds amazing. Its played through a ferrari
If you want to be more accurate - stop thinking like a guitarist and just going on gut feelings when you listen to it, oh it resonates, oh it's thick blah blah. That's a great way to be wrong. Think like an audio engineer and A/B the tone with other guitars. You could do Vs. Cheap GIO vs Expensive Jackson or something.
Also, block the trem riffmeister, and really, even tuning down to C is better done on guitars with extended scale lengths, at least 26.5".