PRS SE Custom 24-08
I
t’s hard to believe it’s been
20 years since we saw the
fi rst PRS SE guitar. Where
have those decades gone? It
took PRS some time before
they created their ‘import’ line -
their Squier or Epiphone, if you
like - and from a slow start with
a single Santana guitar, the SE
range now outsells the exclusive
USA models by quite margin.
Do the maths: a USA Core PRS
Custom 24-08 will cost you
around £3,799; the SE version
we have here is nearly three
grand less.
Originally made in Korea, the SE
line is now built in Indonesia in a
special tie-up with Cor-tek who
also make for numerous other
brands as well as manufacturing
their own Cort range. Now, many
of us don’t care where our guitars
are made but we should all care
how well they’re made, and this
relatively recent location change
has put a real rocket up the
backsides of the SE team.
The new SE Custom 24-08 is
based on the USA model and the
key elements are the same: that
now-classic body and headstock
outline, the ‘halfway 25” scale
length for starters and while
the vibrato, like the rest of the
hardware and pickups are based
on the pucker USA parts, they’re
not made in the USA. New here is
a ‘shallow violin’ top carve that
more closely emulates the USA
models though, as ever, the
fi gured maple we see is a thin
veneer applied over a plain maple
cap. But comparing our review
model with a USA made CE 24,
it was hard to tell the diff erence
between veneer and solid wood.
Yes, the glued-in neck here is
maple, not mahogany, and is
a longitudinal laminate of three
pieces, nicely grain matched for
stability. The Wide Thin profi le
isn’t vastly diff erent to Fender’s
American Pro II Strat HSS we
recently reviewed, slightly wider
at the nut (42.8mm) with a similar
depth at the 1st fret of just over
20mm that fi lls out to 22.7mm by
the 12th fret. The back carve is
a wide C, certainly nothing like
a fl at-backed D shape of a shred
axe either. It might be the thinnest
depth profi le PRS off ers but it still
feels very mainstream not least
with its 10” fi ngerboard radius and
medium jumbo frets: not to big;
not too small - the middle ground.
Part of the recent rise in detail of
the SE guitars lies in the pickups.
These are not your off -the-shelf
Asian fare. The TCI ‘S’
humbuckers here closely ape
those of the USA Core Paul’s
Guitar and have, we’re told, been
tweaked from those used on the
SE version of that guitar. As we
explain in our boxout, the single
coil switching, achieved via those
two mini-toggle switches, is
slightly diff erent too and with
a switch for each pickup you can
combine bridge humbucker with
neck single coil, and vice versa
giving us the two extra sounds
over the standard six of SE Custom
24. The drive is simple: master
volume (with a treble bleed to
keep things clear as you roll the
volume down), master tone and
a three-way toggle switch to
PRS SE
CUSTOM 24-08
The best SE ever?
1
2
3
£899
BODY: Mahogany with
figured maple veneer
over maple top
NECK: Maple, wide thin
profile, glued-in
SCALE: 25” (635mm)
FINGERBOARD:
Rosewood/10” radius
FRETS: 24, medium
PICKUPS: PRS 85/15
‘S’ Treble and Bass
humbuckers
CONT ROLS: Master
volume and tone, 3-way
toggle pickup selector
switch, master volume
and tone, two
mini-toggle coil split
switches
HARDWARE: PRS
patented vibrato
(cast), PRS designed
non-locking
tuners – nickel-plated
FINISH: Eriza Verde
(as reviewed), Vintage
Sunburst
CONTA CT: PRS Europe,
www.prsguitars.com
AT A GLANCE
PERFECT FOR THE PLAYER THAT
WANTS TO CROSS GENRES
1
NECK
PRS’s USA-made
guitars typically use
mahogany for their glued-
in necks. The modern SE’s
use maple. What doesn’t
change is the 10” radius
fingerboard with the
trademark bird inlays.
2
PICKUPS
The ‘S’ humbuckers
are made in Indonesia
but closely follow PRS’s
designs. Here, the TCI ‘S’
humbuckers, as used on
the SE Paul’s Guitar, are
designed to maximise
the humbucker and
single coil voices.
3
VIBRATO
Closely modelled
on the vibrato PRS
introduced with their
original Custom back in
1985, the modern SE
version is cast, not
machined, from steel.
As ever, the arm push-fits
and can be adjusted for
swing tension.
Photography Olly Curtis
REVIEW
87
MAY 2021 TOTAL GUITAR
TGR344.gear_lead.indd 87 23/03/2021 12:21