PRS SE STANDARD 24-08
13
AUGUST 2022 GUITARIST
PRS SE STANDARD 24-08
Not only do they impress, but they keep us
playing way past our allocated testing time.
To say this lowly Standard punches above
its price is a serious understatement.
Straight out of its gigbag the tuning is
extremely stable, too, and once the vibrato
and strings are settled in all we can say is
that we wish all guitars at this price point
stayed and played in tune like this.
Verdict
Once upon a time, many of us would look
down on ‘offshore’ lines, at best being
cheap and cheerful, though not a patch
on the real thing. When PRS’s SE line
launched in 2001 it was little different, but
in partnering with Cor-Tek in Indonesia
there seems to have been a considerable
change that’s vividly demonstrated by the
SE Silver Sky. We get the same vibe here
with this lowly SE Standard 24-08. It’s
faultlessly made and functions perfectly,
but it’s the ‘08’ switching that turns it from
being an also-ran into a serious workhorse
for any player who needs to cover a lot
of ground from one instrument. Yes,
there’s an element of it being a Jack-of-all-
trades, master of none, but for the serious
practising, performing and recording
musician, it’s £600 well spent and £300
less expensive than the SE Custom 24-08,
which, when we reviewed it last year,
got a Guitarist Gold 10/10 rating. A new
standard for the mass production guitar?
It’s a yes from us.
There’s never been any
confusion about where
PRS’s SE guitars are made.
Here’s another endorsement
of Cor-Tek in Indonesia
PRS SE STANDARD
24-08
PRICE: £620 (inc gigbag)
ORIGIN: Indonesia
TYPE: Double-cutaway solidbody
electric
BODY: Mahogany, bound top edge
NECK: 3-piece maple, wide thin
profile, glued-in
SCALE LENGTH: 635mm (25”)
NUT/WIDTH: Friction reducing/
42.94mm
FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, ‘old
school’ bird inlays, 254mm (10”)
radius
FRETS: 24, medium
HARDWARE: PRS patented vibrato
(cast), PRS designed non-locking
tuners – nickel-plated
STRING SPACING, BRIDGE:
52.5mm
ELECTRICS: PRS TCI ‘S’ Treble and
Bass humbuckers (open coiled
black bobbins); 3-way toggle pickup
selector switch, master volume
and tone, 2x mini-toggle coil-split
switches
WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.38/7.44
OPTIONS: SE Standard (£590)
RANGE OPTIONS: SE Custom 24-08
(£959), S2 Custom 24-08 (£1,999),
Core Custom 24-08 (from £3,950)
LEFT-HANDERS: Not this model;
SE Custom 24 ‘Lefty’ (£920)
FINISHES: Trans Blue (as
reviewed), Tobacco Sunburst
PRS Europe
01223 874301
www.prsguitars.com
10
PROS Aside from the faultless
build, great playability and tuning
stability, it’s the diverse, quality
sounds that elevate this ‘start-up’
guitar way beyond its price
CONS Minimal colour choices, but
who cares when it sounds this good?
GOLD
VIDEO DEMO http://bit.ly/guitaristextra
Use those controls because
they’re the key to the
breadth and range of
sounds… This Standard
punches above its price
GIT487.rev_prs.indd 13GIT487.rev_prs.indd 13 09/06/2022 11:1409/06/2022 11:14