I have bought and sold several PRS SE guitars and sold most of them. So far I have kept two. I also have four PRS USA and I’m keeping them all. They just feel, play and sound like professional instruments.
I’ve owned many core and the new SE guitars are the better instrument FOR the money. They’ve just gotten that good, imo. I have an SE 24/08 that I find myself playing more than more core’s during some weeks lol and it’s not cause i am trying to baby the core…I play and gig my instruments and if they get dinged, so be it.
Great comparison! Love your shop too. It's actually a good thing you're not located in Buffalo or my wife would kill me for buying so many guitars. I have both the core and the SE CE 24 and the most noticeable differences for me are the pickups, feel of the neck, zero friction pots on the core, and the look/feel of the nitro finish on the core. The core pickups just have more sparkle, clarity, and a slight boost to the upper mids and highs. As a perceivable percentage I'd say they're maybe 10%-20% apart in both tone and feel. The core is the sound I was looking for for years so I bought that first, but then they dropped the SE and I had to have one of those too. I got the sandblasted swamp ash SE CE 24 and it definitely sounds different. With the satin ash it sounds even closer to a strat single coil than the core. Super versatile from hard rock/metal to single coil shoegazey tones. Each has their own place and the Indonesian stuff is better now than when they first started building there. P.S. I still have my eye on that charcoal cherry burst Tremonti singlecut you guys have! Maybe one of these days...
A couple months ago i was out to get an PRS SE Custom 24 in quilt maple (my first PRS) But the lacquered neck was not good for my hot hands. Behind stood the SE CE 24 in glossy turquoise, with a silky smooth neck. And I was just sold 🤩 And I have been it since, I just love it. Give it some SE locking tuners and a new Tusq nut, and it stays rock solid in tune. And for the price, it’s unbeatable 🤘
I got an S2 satin new for $900. It was an older model with non-USA pickups. Upgraded the pickups, the saddles as that is the biggest issue with that bridge, the entire wiring with better copper and a .022 capacitor as PRS comes stock with .033 which makes it too warm sounding. In total I made it cost 1300. Still cheaper than a CE by far and USA woods and quality...locking tuners, USA nut.etc
Owner of a US CE in Eriza Verde. It's very hard to explain differences without playing those guitars. CEs are getting better and better and with the US models you pay: better wood selection, single piece bodies/necks, hand stained full solid maple caps and the pickups. Whether the experience is worht 2000$ or not is very very personal and I think that for 99% of people wanting to learn the instrument and looking for the first high quality guitar a good SE would set a very high bar on expectations. If 2024 CEs would've existed before pandemic I would've probably bought one as a gateway to expensive guitars rather than biting for the US made one. By, anyway, I can say that I have no regrets...I;ve played my CE for 4 years with 0 regrets and I love it.
on my 2016 USA CE you have two coil tabs, one for the neck pickup one for the bridge. dont wanna sound rude but I guess you actually didnt split the neck pickup🤔
I'm gonna get a little long winded here but my path I just took in the last year needs the back story.... In 1994 I bought a CE-24. I think I paid $1800 for it. I was 23 years old & gigging 4-6 days a week. It was a WORK HORSE. Thing never went out of tune (I left the bar off of it). It was my main gigging guitar for 15 years. In 2009 I bought a brand new 2008 PRS Mira (Pre S2 factory - so technically a "Core Mira). That turned into my workhorse guitar for the next 3 years. It was lighter, it had the newer locking tuners and a stop tailpiece so changing strings on the fly was quicker. Sounded great too. Can't leave that out. In 2012, I grabbed the CE-24 at a gig one night (it had become my backup). It was heavy & I just didn't like the tone as much. So I got a wild hair to buy another 2008 Mira. So started a search on Ebay. I found one for $1200. So I basically put my CE-24 up on eBay with a buy it now of $1200. All I wanted to do was fund the 2nd Mira. The CE also needed new frets. A PRS rep had come to town and did a clinic. I asked him about the frets. He told (at that time) there was only 1 guy at PRS that was doing re-fret guitars. It was going to cost around $350 (not an issue), but it would taken anywhere from 2 months to 2 months to get it back (that was an issue - not knowing). So I disclosed that on the eBay listing. I put a counter on my eBay listing to watch the traffic. I went out in my living room to watch some tv. Came back an hour later to check the counter... and it had sold. lmao. So clearly I sold it for 2 little. The 1994 model was pre "big factory" and the neck hub on those early/mid 90's CE's was different. So this guy knew what he was looking for. Anyhow. I didn't regret it. Didn't look back. I eventually sold BOTH of the Mira's to fund buying some custom builds from a local kid that made (still does) beautiful guitars. I have 3 of them. About 3 years ago I went into his shop (the custom builder also owns a guitar shop) and MY 2008 black Mira I had sold 8 years earlier was hanging on his wall. I had to buy it back. I ended up paying about $200 more for it used than I did in 2009 when it was new. That's a different conversation. So I got the PRS bug back. Well I started looking for 1994/1995 CE-24 guitars on Reverb. They had skyrocketed into the the $2200+ range depending on the shape they were in. I just couldn't pull the trigger knowing I had one. Then when the SE line of CE guitars came out, I thought this is a perfect opportunity to grab a CE and not spend so much. Ordered the locking tuners with it when I bought it. So it was $799 after the tuners. I also had bought a used SE Swamp Ash Special that was at the shop. That was $600 after I bought the locking tuners. So basically $1400 for the 2 of them. All the while, there was a 2020 USA CE-24 on consignment at the shop for $1999. I couldn't justify it at the time I ordered the SE. Then a month later the guy dropped it to $1699. Still... nah. Then in October he dumped it to $1499 . At which point I was like? It's stupid not to trade these back in on that. I lost a couple of hundred dollars. But found my way back to a USA CE-24. Is it as nice as the 1994 model? I can't answer that. It's been so long since I held that guitar, I simply don't remember. I think the pickups in the new models are better. The one thing I liked about the 1994 model is it had the 5 way rotary switch. Which I hated at first. But ended up loving. I think the neck on the new one is nicer. But again. I just don't remember. Short story into a long one (and my main point) is that for the 6 months I owned the SE version? I was very happy with it. I recorded with it. It felt nice. The tuners while an upgrade are still not as nice as the USA locking tuners (they are specific SE locking tuners). If I was still gigging and didn't want to trash out a nice guitar? You could ABSOLUTELY gig with the SE version with some upgrades and I'm sure it would be a fine workhorse guitar. But in the end, being a bit of a PRS snob... I just felt like I had to have another USA version. It was a long path to get back to having one, but I truly think it's the nicest guitar I've ever owned. I recently bought a 2024 S2 Vela Semi-hollow in satin red. It's a GORGEOUS guitar. So I have 3 USA PRS guitars, all very different & I love all 3 of them. The only "next move" I would consider making is to sell all 3 of them and invest in a core model or a custom shop mode. But the total estimated value of these 3 guitars is about $4500 & that barely gets in the door for any of the core models. So the value these 3 bring to the studio outweighs my ego and desire to have a top end PRS. Your video was very well done & I enjoyed the hypotheticals of which one each of you would buy. Just wanted to chime in as a guy who has owned both & who like an idiot, got rid of what would now be considered a "vintage" CE-24 that I should have NEVER sold. Nobody ever accused guitarists of being smart while chasing "THE" model... and likely never finding it.
I should also point out, one of the things I considered was just buying the USA version of the pickups to put in the SE. But I think when I checked that was a $560 purchase direct from PRS. So buy the time you'd swap out the tuners, upgrade the pickups to the USA counterpart & maybe upgrade the pots? You're adding $1000+ to the guitar. At that point? Buy the USA model. But value vs. value, pound for pound? You can't go wrong with the SE version. My first "nice" guitars were late 80's Charvel Model 4 guitars. Gigged with those for 5-6 years before I bought the first PRS. In hindsight of what I remember those guitars sounding and feeling like? The SE CE-24 for $700 is a much nicer guitar than those were. So yeah. You could 100% gig with the SE line and not lose sleep over your tone.
@@seventallguitaristThank you for your detailed report! As a Strat guy that's always messing with them like Goldie locks😂 I really look forward to not having to being a luthier 😂 the CE sounds best to me. Appreciate your input.
My opinion. The one guy said he would buy the American model because by the time you swap tuners, pickups, electronics, and a setup you could just buy the American model. I feel different. The tuners on the se are adequate, but the PRS locking tuners are a very nice upgrade, and they make SE model. Tuners are 1 wood screw and a nut. Don't pay someone to do this! That's a $90 upgrade. Pickups, I thought they sounded the same. I wasn't in the room with them but the video sounded the same to me. I wouldn't change the pickups unless you had something you were looking for and had this guitar as the vehicle to drop them in. Seymour Duncan's run around $100-$150 a pickup depending on what you get. So that's potentially a $300 upgrade. Electronics, honestly I used to be of the camp that believed you needed the nicest CTS pots you can get, and Switchcraft toggle switch. But the harsh reality is the cheap pots in your SE will give you a great sound and will probably last the lifetime of the guitar assuming its taken care of. Lets just say I wouldn't change this out unless something failed. A wiring kit will cost you around $50, and a prewired kit will be in the area of $100. Last thought on this, how many of you guitar players actually turn your knobs during a performance? Most people I know now days turn on a boost pedal to get a lead tone and leave all their knobs on 10. Dynamics in your electronics is a waste of money if that's you, because you aren't turning the knobs anyway. Setup. If you are just adjusting string height and not dealing with nut work I would skip the shop. You can set your own string height and pickup distance. Watch a youtube video Phil McKnight does a setup on his channel at least once a week! Unless its something major like a fret is not level and causing the string to do something weird I wouldn't pay someone to fix anything. If it tarnish you can polish that out with some buffing compound yourself. Save the money. In closing buying upgrades and assuming a repairman did all this work for you for $100 roughly per job, you are looking at $500 in parts and about $200 in labor. That is still less than $1000 for a great guitar.... So why would you buy USA model over the SE unless its looks? In my opinion American labor, and the flame maple cap are all you are paying for and if that's what you want go for it! But the idea that its less hassle and will cost about the same after you upgrade is complete bullcrap. If it were me I would buy 2 SE's and have a backup for the other one at gigs. Don't worry about upgrading it, I think they sound the same.
I have a PRS Standard 24-08 that I paid around $500 for. I put in Vaughn Skow pickups, PRS locking tuners and a Mann-Made bridge upgrade. After getting the neck straight and the action where I like it, I found it have one high fret. $75 for a tech to fix it (I don’t do fret work). All told I now have ~$1200 into the guitar. It plays like a dream and sounds amazing…. But…it’s still doesn’t have the feel of a core and it never will. Also, one other little niggle: it doesn’t stay in tune from day to day. All my cores hold virtually perfect tune for months at a time. I keep all my guitars in a temperature and humidity controlled room. Cores are just better. Only you can decide how much “better” is worth to you.
@@MrPhotonjockeyI have a CE custom 24 SE Satin, NF3 SE in orange with rosewood neck, and a recently acquired McCarty 594 SE single cut. All stock. I can take the NF3 se and the satin and dive bomb it, you can’t make them lose tune. I did minor neck reliefs on all the guitars because the stock setup had the necks straight as an arrow. I like to bend strings so a little relief aids in that. I paid $450 for the satin, $680 for the NF3 se, and $500 for the 594 se. So $1700 for 3 guitar that I have zero interest in upgrading. I don’t own a core model so perhaps I don’t know what I’m missing. All I can tell you is I’ve owned Fender and Gibson and not one of those guitar did I ever say this is perfect right out of the box. I see no reason to upgrade a PRS SE, I feel like they are their own thing and they are perfect. Plus I can take these to a gig and if it’s damaged or stolen I’m not going to have to lose sleep over it.
Where the neck meets the body is significantly more comfortable on the USA version. That being said, the SE version is a really nice design with it being rounded a bit to make it a bit more comfortable.
To pay a guitar 2k$ more, because it is made in USA? Nonsense. Really. We all know tahat many high end guitars/brands are made by Cort. I will buy some SE sooner or later. I have enough good guitars, but I don't have PRS. Gas.
You’re not paying that much because it’s made in the US. You’re paying that much because there’s more time put into fit and finish and all the parts are a higher grade. Cort makes the SEs but has nothing to do with the US models. The quality you get for money on an SE is great, but it pales to a nicer guitar. It’s just whether you care at all that makes the decision interesting
@@StupidGuitar This is very well put. The USA models just feel better. One of my biggest gripes about the SE version I had was the fretwork. They seemed to pop a bit on the edges and felt sharp in spots. The USA models have impeccable fretwork 99% of the time. It's one of the biggest selling points to me about USA PRS guitars. The time they spend making sure that wood is as amazing as it can be before they even choose them to start building them. There is a GREAT documentary style video on RUclips that tours the Maryland PRS factory and they explain the process that all of the wood and the frets go through and it's beyond impressive. There is also a nice tour video of the SE factory as well. And it too is impressive. But it's not the same.
I have bought and sold several PRS SE guitars and sold most of them. So far I have kept two. I also have four PRS USA and I’m keeping them all. They just feel, play and sound like professional instruments.
I’ve owned many core and the new SE guitars are the better instrument FOR the money. They’ve just gotten that good, imo. I have an SE 24/08 that I find myself playing more than more core’s during some weeks lol and it’s not cause i am trying to baby the core…I play and gig my instruments and if they get dinged, so be it.
Great comparison! Love your shop too. It's actually a good thing you're not located in Buffalo or my wife would kill me for buying so many guitars.
I have both the core and the SE CE 24 and the most noticeable differences for me are the pickups, feel of the neck, zero friction pots on the core, and the look/feel of the nitro finish on the core. The core pickups just have more sparkle, clarity, and a slight boost to the upper mids and highs. As a perceivable percentage I'd say they're maybe 10%-20% apart in both tone and feel. The core is the sound I was looking for for years so I bought that first, but then they dropped the SE and I had to have one of those too. I got the sandblasted swamp ash SE CE 24 and it definitely sounds different. With the satin ash it sounds even closer to a strat single coil than the core. Super versatile from hard rock/metal to single coil shoegazey tones. Each has their own place and the Indonesian stuff is better now than when they first started building there.
P.S. I still have my eye on that charcoal cherry burst Tremonti singlecut you guys have! Maybe one of these days...
Thanks for adding to the discussion! All great points. We hope you come visit us soon and maybe take that Tremonti home with you!! 😉
A couple months ago i was out to get an PRS SE Custom 24 in quilt maple (my first PRS) But the lacquered neck was not good for my hot hands. Behind stood the SE CE 24 in glossy turquoise, with a silky smooth neck. And I was just sold 🤩
And I have been it since, I just love it.
Give it some SE locking tuners and a new Tusq nut, and it stays rock solid in tune.
And for the price, it’s unbeatable 🤘
The USA CE24 are definitely worth it. Love mine. I own 2 plus many SE guitars.
Hi just wanted to know if its better to get a squier 40th anniversary or classic vibe telecaster over the se ce 24
I would... Get the telly that is.
I got an S2 satin new for $900. It was an older model with non-USA pickups. Upgraded the pickups, the saddles as that is the biggest issue with that bridge, the entire wiring with better copper and a .022 capacitor as PRS comes stock with .033 which makes it too warm sounding. In total I made it cost 1300. Still cheaper than a CE by far and USA woods and quality...locking tuners, USA nut.etc
Nah. The issue is the bridge base plate and steel block. The saddles are fine lol. Swap in a Core tremolo and these guitars sound SOOOO much better.
Owner of a US CE in Eriza Verde. It's very hard to explain differences without playing those guitars.
CEs are getting better and better and with the US models you pay: better wood selection, single piece bodies/necks, hand stained full solid maple caps and the pickups. Whether the experience is worht 2000$ or not is very very personal and I think that for 99% of people wanting to learn the instrument and looking for the first high quality guitar a good SE would set a very high bar on expectations.
If 2024 CEs would've existed before pandemic I would've probably bought one as a gateway to expensive guitars rather than biting for the US made one. By, anyway, I can say that I have no regrets...I;ve played my CE for 4 years with 0 regrets and I love it.
Reminder: The SE had 9s and the USA had 10s.
I have many SE's and one CE. All great to play guitars. But...the CE is NOT worth $2000 more. And SE's are getting better and better.
on my 2016 USA CE you have two coil tabs, one for the neck pickup one for the bridge. dont wanna sound rude but I guess you actually didnt split the neck pickup🤔
They’ve changed it so it’s one switch for both. I have a 2019 USA CE and my buddy has a more recent one and they are both that way
I'm gonna get a little long winded here but my path I just took in the last year needs the back story....
In 1994 I bought a CE-24. I think I paid $1800 for it. I was 23 years old & gigging 4-6 days a week. It was a WORK HORSE. Thing never went out of tune (I left the bar off of it). It was my main gigging guitar for 15 years. In 2009 I bought a brand new 2008 PRS Mira (Pre S2 factory - so technically a "Core Mira). That turned into my workhorse guitar for the next 3 years. It was lighter, it had the newer locking tuners and a stop tailpiece so changing strings on the fly was quicker. Sounded great too. Can't leave that out.
In 2012, I grabbed the CE-24 at a gig one night (it had become my backup). It was heavy & I just didn't like the tone as much. So I got a wild hair to buy another 2008 Mira. So started a search on Ebay. I found one for $1200. So I basically put my CE-24 up on eBay with a buy it now of $1200. All I wanted to do was fund the 2nd Mira. The CE also needed new frets. A PRS rep had come to town and did a clinic. I asked him about the frets. He told (at that time) there was only 1 guy at PRS that was doing re-fret guitars. It was going to cost around $350 (not an issue), but it would taken anywhere from 2 months to 2 months to get it back (that was an issue - not knowing). So I disclosed that on the eBay listing.
I put a counter on my eBay listing to watch the traffic. I went out in my living room to watch some tv. Came back an hour later to check the counter... and it had sold. lmao. So clearly I sold it for 2 little. The 1994 model was pre "big factory" and the neck hub on those early/mid 90's CE's was different. So this guy knew what he was looking for.
Anyhow. I didn't regret it. Didn't look back. I eventually sold BOTH of the Mira's to fund buying some custom builds from a local kid that made (still does) beautiful guitars. I have 3 of them.
About 3 years ago I went into his shop (the custom builder also owns a guitar shop) and MY 2008 black Mira I had sold 8 years earlier was hanging on his wall. I had to buy it back. I ended up paying about $200 more for it used than I did in 2009 when it was new. That's a different conversation.
So I got the PRS bug back. Well I started looking for 1994/1995 CE-24 guitars on Reverb. They had skyrocketed into the the $2200+ range depending on the shape they were in. I just couldn't pull the trigger knowing I had one.
Then when the SE line of CE guitars came out, I thought this is a perfect opportunity to grab a CE and not spend so much. Ordered the locking tuners with it when I bought it. So it was $799 after the tuners. I also had bought a used SE Swamp Ash Special that was at the shop. That was $600 after I bought the locking tuners. So basically $1400 for the 2 of them.
All the while, there was a 2020 USA CE-24 on consignment at the shop for $1999. I couldn't justify it at the time I ordered the SE. Then a month later the guy dropped it to $1699. Still... nah. Then in October he dumped it to $1499 . At which point I was like? It's stupid not to trade these back in on that. I lost a couple of hundred dollars. But found my way back to a USA CE-24.
Is it as nice as the 1994 model? I can't answer that. It's been so long since I held that guitar, I simply don't remember. I think the pickups in the new models are better. The one thing I liked about the 1994 model is it had the 5 way rotary switch. Which I hated at first. But ended up loving.
I think the neck on the new one is nicer. But again. I just don't remember.
Short story into a long one (and my main point) is that for the 6 months I owned the SE version? I was very happy with it. I recorded with it. It felt nice. The tuners while an upgrade are still not as nice as the USA locking tuners (they are specific SE locking tuners).
If I was still gigging and didn't want to trash out a nice guitar? You could ABSOLUTELY gig with the SE version with some upgrades and I'm sure it would be a fine workhorse guitar.
But in the end, being a bit of a PRS snob... I just felt like I had to have another USA version. It was a long path to get back to having one, but I truly think it's the nicest guitar I've ever owned.
I recently bought a 2024 S2 Vela Semi-hollow in satin red. It's a GORGEOUS guitar. So I have 3 USA PRS guitars, all very different & I love all 3 of them. The only "next move" I would consider making is to sell all 3 of them and invest in a core model or a custom shop mode. But the total estimated value of these 3 guitars is about $4500 & that barely gets in the door for any of the core models. So the value these 3 bring to the studio outweighs my ego and desire to have a top end PRS.
Your video was very well done & I enjoyed the hypotheticals of which one each of you would buy. Just wanted to chime in as a guy who has owned both & who like an idiot, got rid of what would now be considered a "vintage" CE-24 that I should have NEVER sold.
Nobody ever accused guitarists of being smart while chasing "THE" model... and likely never finding it.
I should also point out, one of the things I considered was just buying the USA version of the pickups to put in the SE. But I think when I checked that was a $560 purchase direct from PRS. So buy the time you'd swap out the tuners, upgrade the pickups to the USA counterpart & maybe upgrade the pots? You're adding $1000+ to the guitar. At that point? Buy the USA model.
But value vs. value, pound for pound? You can't go wrong with the SE version. My first "nice" guitars were late 80's Charvel Model 4 guitars. Gigged with those for 5-6 years before I bought the first PRS.
In hindsight of what I remember those guitars sounding and feeling like? The SE CE-24 for $700 is a much nicer guitar than those were. So yeah. You could 100% gig with the SE line and not lose sleep over your tone.
@@seventallguitaristThank you for your detailed report! As a Strat guy that's always messing with them like Goldie locks😂 I really look forward to not having to being a luthier 😂 the CE sounds best to me. Appreciate your input.
Nice playing... reminds me of Pearl Jam!
good cheap guitars are still 300 bucks new. 700 bucks buys you a great used guitar.
My opinion. The one guy said he would buy the American model because by the time you swap tuners, pickups, electronics, and a setup you could just buy the American model. I feel different.
The tuners on the se are adequate, but the PRS locking tuners are a very nice upgrade, and they make SE model. Tuners are 1 wood screw and a nut. Don't pay someone to do this! That's a $90 upgrade.
Pickups, I thought they sounded the same. I wasn't in the room with them but the video sounded the same to me. I wouldn't change the pickups unless you had something you were looking for and had this guitar as the vehicle to drop them in. Seymour Duncan's run around $100-$150 a pickup depending on what you get. So that's potentially a $300 upgrade.
Electronics, honestly I used to be of the camp that believed you needed the nicest CTS pots you can get, and Switchcraft toggle switch. But the harsh reality is the cheap pots in your SE will give you a great sound and will probably last the lifetime of the guitar assuming its taken care of. Lets just say I wouldn't change this out unless something failed. A wiring kit will cost you around $50, and a prewired kit will be in the area of $100. Last thought on this, how many of you guitar players actually turn your knobs during a performance? Most people I know now days turn on a boost pedal to get a lead tone and leave all their knobs on 10. Dynamics in your electronics is a waste of money if that's you, because you aren't turning the knobs anyway.
Setup. If you are just adjusting string height and not dealing with nut work I would skip the shop. You can set your own string height and pickup distance. Watch a youtube video Phil McKnight does a setup on his channel at least once a week! Unless its something major like a fret is not level and causing the string to do something weird I wouldn't pay someone to fix anything. If it tarnish you can polish that out with some buffing compound yourself. Save the money.
In closing buying upgrades and assuming a repairman did all this work for you for $100 roughly per job, you are looking at $500 in parts and about $200 in labor. That is still less than $1000 for a great guitar.... So why would you buy USA model over the SE unless its looks? In my opinion American labor, and the flame maple cap are all you are paying for and if that's what you want go for it! But the idea that its less hassle and will cost about the same after you upgrade is complete bullcrap. If it were me I would buy 2 SE's and have a backup for the other one at gigs. Don't worry about upgrading it, I think they sound the same.
I have a PRS Standard 24-08 that I paid around $500 for. I put in Vaughn Skow pickups, PRS locking tuners and a Mann-Made bridge upgrade. After getting the neck straight and the action where I like it, I found it have one high fret. $75 for a tech to fix it (I don’t do fret work). All told I now have ~$1200 into the guitar. It plays like a dream and sounds amazing…. But…it’s still doesn’t have the feel of a core and it never will. Also, one other little niggle: it doesn’t stay in tune from day to day. All my cores hold virtually perfect tune for months at a time. I keep all my guitars in a temperature and humidity controlled room. Cores are just better. Only you can decide how much “better” is worth to you.
@@MrPhotonjockeyI have a CE custom 24 SE Satin, NF3 SE in orange with rosewood neck, and a recently acquired McCarty 594 SE single cut. All stock. I can take the NF3 se and the satin and dive bomb it, you can’t make them lose tune. I did minor neck reliefs on all the guitars because the stock setup had the necks straight as an arrow. I like to bend strings so a little relief aids in that. I paid $450 for the satin, $680 for the NF3 se, and $500 for the 594 se. So $1700 for 3 guitar that I have zero interest in upgrading. I don’t own a core model so perhaps I don’t know what I’m missing. All I can tell you is I’ve owned Fender and Gibson and not one of those guitar did I ever say this is perfect right out of the box. I see no reason to upgrade a PRS SE, I feel like they are their own thing and they are perfect. Plus I can take these to a gig and if it’s damaged or stolen I’m not going to have to lose sleep over it.
Where the neck meets the body is significantly more comfortable on the USA version. That being said, the SE version is a really nice design with it being rounded a bit to make it a bit more comfortable.
Se is the way
To pay a guitar 2k$ more, because it is made in USA? Nonsense. Really. We all know tahat many high end guitars/brands are made by Cort. I will buy some SE sooner or later. I have enough good guitars, but I don't have PRS. Gas.
You’re not paying that much because it’s made in the US. You’re paying that much because there’s more time put into fit and finish and all the parts are a higher grade. Cort makes the SEs but has nothing to do with the US models. The quality you get for money on an SE is great, but it pales to a nicer guitar. It’s just whether you care at all that makes the decision interesting
u sound like ur from a 3rd world country
@@StupidGuitar This is very well put. The USA models just feel better. One of my biggest gripes about the SE version I had was the fretwork. They seemed to pop a bit on the edges and felt sharp in spots. The USA models have impeccable fretwork 99% of the time. It's one of the biggest selling points to me about USA PRS guitars. The time they spend making sure that wood is as amazing as it can be before they even choose them to start building them.
There is a GREAT documentary style video on RUclips that tours the Maryland PRS factory and they explain the process that all of the wood and the frets go through and it's beyond impressive. There is also a nice tour video of the SE factory as well. And it too is impressive. But it's not the same.