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PRS SE Custom
List: $900
Guitar fans owe it to the PRS team for churning out the very affordable Student Edition models (SE) back in 2001. We are also thankful that the SE range are now not exclusively associated to the endorser models, this SE Custom is just a member of that offering. What does one need to know about the SE Custom before parting with cash?
Construction/ fit/ finish
The SE Custom is surely eye candy; major account goes to that gorgeous flame top. This guitar is just one of three (others being the SE Singlecut/ Soapbar II Maple) featuring a flamed exterior. Despite showing substantial depth, the flame top is actually a ply unit; the top-most flamed veneer is coupled with another maple layer beneath, to make up for the marked depth. This enviable finish offsets the body’s dull, flat top, an anti-climax for PRS enthusiasts really, we’d expect at least a mild carve from a guitar of this calibre. At least a forearm relief could be a consolation…
Moving on to the neck, despite its far-eastern construction, it feels very American to the touch, namely due to the retention of the wide-fat profile. Nevertheless, the SE’s version is a little slimmer than the American counterpart. Credit goes to the medium frets here as they successfully balance between modern livery and vintage acuteness.
Top marks to the physical aspects of the SE Custom less the graphite nut, whose plain string incisions could have been more immaculate as choking ‘pings’ were heard during tuning. A vaseline treatment might just cure this anomaly…
Playability/ tone
If you’re expecting an immaculate PRS feel, you might be setting too high an expectation but that’s just natural with a guitar bearing the PRS name. Nevertheless, what you get is beyond the mid-price associations; the SE team’s prudence ensures enough finishing to invoke an exclusive feel but nothing excessively synthetic. A cheap Korean knock-off this is not. If you dislike a finished neck, the SE Custom ensures adequate organic presence but bear with the inevitable stickiness upon prolonged engagements. Like its American siblings, the neck profile ensures maximum playability despite featuring a blocky exterior beyond the 17th fret. Slow-hand blues-mongers & shred meisters would approve the SE Custom’s playability.
The ‘throat’ of this guitar consists of a pair of zebra-finished, open humbuckers. It is good to hear the absence of default sterility owing to the eastern make of these electronics. The neck pickup has an impressive open tone, evident with drive-type settings. The bridge counterpart however, excels in high-gain performances but knock the volume off to taste & it’s arguably a perfect blues-rock player. Do note that a coil split option is not available here; no push-pull tone knob on board but position 2 of the 3-way switch does offer a split humbucker combo.
Parting words
The SE Custom is a very sensible mid-priced guitar in the market right now; impressive tone & feel to appease the critics. Beginners might find the wide-fat neck carve a little repulsive but for the more acquainted players, the bulk & its playability are PRS hallmarks. Ignore the PRS association, the SE Custom is a grand guitar per se.
Rating: 9/10
Likes:
• Superb playability/ tone
• Price
Dislikes:
• No forearm relief/ rib-cage chamfer
• Choking nut
Worthy adversaries:
• Ibanez SZ520
• Schecter C1
• Cort KX Custom
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