Review: PRS SE Custom 24 30th Anniversary

Started by Tek, September 24, 2016, 10:50:13 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Tek

     I bought a PRS SE Custom 24 30th Anniversary last week (a Sweetwater closeout) and thought I would share my experience with it.

     I received the guitar in just a few days. My first impression was that the guitar looked beautiful! The chesnut finish was flawless, something you don't always see on a guitar in this price range. It played very nicely right out of the box. Fret edges were nice and smooth and seemed to be fairly level. No buzzes. Intonation was spot on, as was the action.
     
     The first thing I did was change out the nut to a Graph Tech so I could put .10's on it. (I also added some chrome pickup covers just 'cause I'm not real fond of the zebra pickups).
     
     It sounds great, The pickups are clear with a medium output. It's got kind of a Les Pauly warmth. Also, with the coil tapping, I had no trouble getting some Strat type tones. I'm pretty impressed with the stock pickups at this point. The vibrato works well and manages to keep things in tune even with the occasional dive bomb. I had no problems with the tuners, they seem to be very stable. I had originally thought I would have to do many more upgrades than I will end up needing to do.
     
     I put on an external GK-3 that I had gotten with my GP-10 but hadn't used. (Kind of a shame to put the wart on this lovely finished guitar...  :P) Easy install and setup. I bought a PRS GK-3 pickup ring adapter from Guitar Vault. It worked nicely although it was a bit pricey.

     I can't believe how well this guitar tracks with my GR-55. I really noticed a big difference in my piano sounds. Much faster and a lot less ghosting. It's a lot more usable now. I even noticed an improvement in my synth leads and pads. And I thought I had my other guitars set up just right  :) (a GC-1 and a PRS SE 245 with GK-3).

     Anyway... I'm really impressed with this Guitar! Obviously it's not a US made, but for the money, I don't think it can be beat for my needs.

Rating: 9/10