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PRS SE Paul Allender - Guitar Review: Part 1
PRS SE Paul Allender - Guitar Review
This is a review of the made in Korea PRS SE Paul Allender model guitar. Be warned that this review is not sharp and sweet like the others presented here. Its long, winding, boring, and a slow read. And it beat around the bush so much! I've recorded some stuff to give a clearer "picture" of its tones. You can check them out here: http://www.purevolume.com/mrecho. More about the sounds below.
If its too wordy, just skip and go to the appropriate headings. Keep in mind, the views here are entirely my own... Enjoy!
INTRO:
History:
I've never been so excited about a new guitar model since the day i saw the Ibanez Jem at Swee Lee in the 80's or the 1st time i got my hands on a 2nd (3rd/4th?) hand black US Fender Strat Plus in the mid 90's. I've always been a "Fender person", having bought, sold, borrowed, stole (from my brother), a number of Strats and Teles. I've only started taking notice of PRS when i saw Santana with one (before the creation of "his model") in an ad ages ago, and read, Ted Nugent played one in his "If You can't Lick 'Em... Lick Em" album. I bought a cassette (yes, it was a LONG time ago!) of that album. Then i got more interested the moment i noticed a few of my fav guitarists (or guitarists in bands i love) playing one: Larry LaLonde - Primus (incidentally he used to play a Fender Strat), Mike Einziger - Incubus (ironically he switched to Fender recently!), Chris Haskett - Rollins Band, Dave Navarro - Jane's Addiction and Tim Mahoney - 311, to name a few... I always thought it was unattainable to get a PRS with the 24 frets and the "birds-in-flight" fretboard inlays. It was too pricey, and buying it won't justify owning one as i don't "play music" as a means of income/career. So i was just content at looking and admiring the beauty of PRS guitars from afar... until...
PRS introduced the SE series! Well the prices were "more justifiable" for a weekend-jam-warrior/bedroom-guitarist like me. But what they had were the early Santana SE (pre pickguard series) and the fretboard inlays were "not for me". They then proceed to introduce the SE Billy Martin (the green bat inlay is cute, but the flat black finish is not!) and the SE Soapbar II, which i nearly bought (the sunburst one!) but it was fast "out-of-stock". After a few times not being able to get my eager hands on one, i decided to "forget it" and stick to my well-worn Strat. Problems started arising when i tried recording guitar tracks into my Mac. I soon realized the single-coils sounds like a "pack of bees in a bottle" once i clicked the record button. The frequency emitted from the monitor and cpu were interfering too much. I'm not going to switch the pickups to stacked-ones from Dimarzio or Seymour just for casual recording, and start messing with the tone/sound of the Strat, so i made a mental note to look-out for a nice humbucker equipped guitar.
That's when i read an interview with Paul Allender about his SE model. It showed a SEXY guitar with gold hardware, bats inlays, 24 frets, and its a PRS! Another thing i'm drawn to: its not "overly-decorated" with lots of mother-of-pearl inlays everywhere. Its just simple, pure and nice! Even the fretboard is not bound, just what i like. Also i don't have to bother with allen keys when restringing. A review in Guitar Player later, and i'm more than convinced its the right "humbucker equipped guitar" for me. But alas, it was fast "out-of-stock" too! After more than 3 months doing cat-and-mouse and calls, e-mails, a month of overseas trip and back, a few more calls, a 3 weeks wait... i finally got this baby!
THE REVIEW:
CONSTRUCTION:
Ok, the 1st time i hold this guitar at the shop (to check the neck, and overall inspection) i realize its extremely light when compared to my Strat! I'm mildly surprised, especially when the specs indicated its a mahogany & maple combination build.
Body:
Mahogany back with maple top and quilt maple veneer. The maple (not the quilted maple veneer) is just a thin piece slab over the mahogany back. It can be seen when looking at the guitar from the side. About 5mm thick. Initially, i assumed it was just a maple bind for aesthetic purposes, but soon realize its an actual maple top/cap. I'm not sure if this will contribute to the tone since its a bit thin, but who knows... The quilted maple veneer is definitely for looks, and yes, it does make the guitar look more expensive/beautiful!
Neck:
25" scale length 24 frets maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. This is one of a few models from the PRS and SE guitar line with a maple neck (the rest are mahogany). The others being the CE and Swamp Ash (those are bolt-on neck series). This should theoretically make this guitar "brighter" (sound/toned) than the other series. The shape is wide and thin. Though not as wide or as thin as an RG550, but its definitely thinner than a Strat. I even felt "slightly, mildly, uncomfortable" with the neck, due to the fact of not "feeling any wood on my palm" when i grab the neck for bends. And the fretboard is quite flat (again, not as flat as an RG but flatter than a Strat/Tele), good for neo-shredders. It takes me a while to get used to the neck because i've been so accustomed to Strat/Tele's. I need to push a bit more for bends, and chordings (funk/reggae types) are a bit more challenging. But after about half hour "playing/noodling" i quickly got comfortable with it...
Inlays/Frets:
OK, there is the infamous "bats-in-flight" (a nice spin on the "birds-in-flight" original) inlays. Its plastic-fake-mother-of-pearl, and its perfectly and cleanly inlaid (no pun intended) with no trace of shoddy stray glue whatsoever. The frets too, are beatifully done: nicely polished, perfectly crowned, and even through-out the whole range of the neck. The fret ends are nicely rounded with no signs of sharp edges. The frets are medium-jumbo. Funny that its somewhat a tad smaller and lower than a Strat's. But it don't create much of a problem for me tho...
Hardware:
It comes with Gold hardware (fake-gold finish). It definitely looks stunning. But i feel with time, and constant playing, cleaning and wiping, the gold-finish will definitely fade away. But that will make it the more "beautifully used". The tremolo comes set-up with 4 springs. The arm is the push-in type, unlike the screw-in type like Strats. It can be tightened via an allen-key access at the back, is located beside the intonation screws. What i don't particularly fancy is how the tremolo/bride "float". Its well 2.5mm over the top of the guitar. I find there's no way to lower it flat on the surface to block the tremolo movement (for those who prefer push only, not pull), without the strings buzzing! The only option is to block the trem via the spring cavity at the back with a block of wood (like Clapton). At the moment, i will live with the float...
Electronics:
Comes equipped with 2 humbuckers (PRS designed Paul Allender treble & bass pickups) with gold-finish pole pieces. They are controlled by a 3-way toggle switch (like a Les Paul's), and master volume and tone knobs. I did not actually peek into the control cavity to check the pots' value, but they can be accessed from the back via a V-shaped plastic cover.
PRS SE Paul Allender - Guitar Review
This is a review of the made in Korea PRS SE Paul Allender model guitar. Be warned that this review is not sharp and sweet like the others presented here. Its long, winding, boring, and a slow read. And it beat around the bush so much! I've recorded some stuff to give a clearer "picture" of its tones. You can check them out here: http://www.purevolume.com/mrecho. More about the sounds below.
If its too wordy, just skip and go to the appropriate headings. Keep in mind, the views here are entirely my own... Enjoy!
INTRO:
History:
I've never been so excited about a new guitar model since the day i saw the Ibanez Jem at Swee Lee in the 80's or the 1st time i got my hands on a 2nd (3rd/4th?) hand black US Fender Strat Plus in the mid 90's. I've always been a "Fender person", having bought, sold, borrowed, stole (from my brother), a number of Strats and Teles. I've only started taking notice of PRS when i saw Santana with one (before the creation of "his model") in an ad ages ago, and read, Ted Nugent played one in his "If You can't Lick 'Em... Lick Em" album. I bought a cassette (yes, it was a LONG time ago!) of that album. Then i got more interested the moment i noticed a few of my fav guitarists (or guitarists in bands i love) playing one: Larry LaLonde - Primus (incidentally he used to play a Fender Strat), Mike Einziger - Incubus (ironically he switched to Fender recently!), Chris Haskett - Rollins Band, Dave Navarro - Jane's Addiction and Tim Mahoney - 311, to name a few... I always thought it was unattainable to get a PRS with the 24 frets and the "birds-in-flight" fretboard inlays. It was too pricey, and buying it won't justify owning one as i don't "play music" as a means of income/career. So i was just content at looking and admiring the beauty of PRS guitars from afar... until...
PRS introduced the SE series! Well the prices were "more justifiable" for a weekend-jam-warrior/bedroom-guitarist like me. But what they had were the early Santana SE (pre pickguard series) and the fretboard inlays were "not for me". They then proceed to introduce the SE Billy Martin (the green bat inlay is cute, but the flat black finish is not!) and the SE Soapbar II, which i nearly bought (the sunburst one!) but it was fast "out-of-stock". After a few times not being able to get my eager hands on one, i decided to "forget it" and stick to my well-worn Strat. Problems started arising when i tried recording guitar tracks into my Mac. I soon realized the single-coils sounds like a "pack of bees in a bottle" once i clicked the record button. The frequency emitted from the monitor and cpu were interfering too much. I'm not going to switch the pickups to stacked-ones from Dimarzio or Seymour just for casual recording, and start messing with the tone/sound of the Strat, so i made a mental note to look-out for a nice humbucker equipped guitar.
That's when i read an interview with Paul Allender about his SE model. It showed a SEXY guitar with gold hardware, bats inlays, 24 frets, and its a PRS! Another thing i'm drawn to: its not "overly-decorated" with lots of mother-of-pearl inlays everywhere. Its just simple, pure and nice! Even the fretboard is not bound, just what i like. Also i don't have to bother with allen keys when restringing. A review in Guitar Player later, and i'm more than convinced its the right "humbucker equipped guitar" for me. But alas, it was fast "out-of-stock" too! After more than 3 months doing cat-and-mouse and calls, e-mails, a month of overseas trip and back, a few more calls, a 3 weeks wait... i finally got this baby!
THE REVIEW:
CONSTRUCTION:
Ok, the 1st time i hold this guitar at the shop (to check the neck, and overall inspection) i realize its extremely light when compared to my Strat! I'm mildly surprised, especially when the specs indicated its a mahogany & maple combination build.
Body:
Mahogany back with maple top and quilt maple veneer. The maple (not the quilted maple veneer) is just a thin piece slab over the mahogany back. It can be seen when looking at the guitar from the side. About 5mm thick. Initially, i assumed it was just a maple bind for aesthetic purposes, but soon realize its an actual maple top/cap. I'm not sure if this will contribute to the tone since its a bit thin, but who knows... The quilted maple veneer is definitely for looks, and yes, it does make the guitar look more expensive/beautiful!
Neck:
25" scale length 24 frets maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. This is one of a few models from the PRS and SE guitar line with a maple neck (the rest are mahogany). The others being the CE and Swamp Ash (those are bolt-on neck series). This should theoretically make this guitar "brighter" (sound/toned) than the other series. The shape is wide and thin. Though not as wide or as thin as an RG550, but its definitely thinner than a Strat. I even felt "slightly, mildly, uncomfortable" with the neck, due to the fact of not "feeling any wood on my palm" when i grab the neck for bends. And the fretboard is quite flat (again, not as flat as an RG but flatter than a Strat/Tele), good for neo-shredders. It takes me a while to get used to the neck because i've been so accustomed to Strat/Tele's. I need to push a bit more for bends, and chordings (funk/reggae types) are a bit more challenging. But after about half hour "playing/noodling" i quickly got comfortable with it...
Inlays/Frets:
OK, there is the infamous "bats-in-flight" (a nice spin on the "birds-in-flight" original) inlays. Its plastic-fake-mother-of-pearl, and its perfectly and cleanly inlaid (no pun intended) with no trace of shoddy stray glue whatsoever. The frets too, are beatifully done: nicely polished, perfectly crowned, and even through-out the whole range of the neck. The fret ends are nicely rounded with no signs of sharp edges. The frets are medium-jumbo. Funny that its somewhat a tad smaller and lower than a Strat's. But it don't create much of a problem for me tho...
Hardware:
It comes with Gold hardware (fake-gold finish). It definitely looks stunning. But i feel with time, and constant playing, cleaning and wiping, the gold-finish will definitely fade away. But that will make it the more "beautifully used". The tremolo comes set-up with 4 springs. The arm is the push-in type, unlike the screw-in type like Strats. It can be tightened via an allen-key access at the back, is located beside the intonation screws. What i don't particularly fancy is how the tremolo/bride "float". Its well 2.5mm over the top of the guitar. I find there's no way to lower it flat on the surface to block the tremolo movement (for those who prefer push only, not pull), without the strings buzzing! The only option is to block the trem via the spring cavity at the back with a block of wood (like Clapton). At the moment, i will live with the float...
Electronics:
Comes equipped with 2 humbuckers (PRS designed Paul Allender treble & bass pickups) with gold-finish pole pieces. They are controlled by a 3-way toggle switch (like a Les Paul's), and master volume and tone knobs. I did not actually peek into the control cavity to check the pots' value, but they can be accessed from the back via a V-shaped plastic cover.
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