Greetings from my new digs in Zion National Park! Now you might be thinking, Huh, that's a strange way to start talking about a guitar! Stay with me here it will make sense in a moment!
So, while I am on an extended work trip for the next few months I need a guitar! I flew out to Utah and don't necessarily trust airlines with important items made of tree wood.
The majority of my guitars are either out of production or custom shop guitars, I also was incredibly unsure how my guitars would do with the dry conditions here in Zion. So what did I choose to do? I took the fun route and got myself a new guitar! An import!
I got myself a Paul Reed Smith SE 24 Standard. This is the second SE model I now own and like the other guitar, I'm pleasantly surprised! Okay, that's the review.
Not quite, Let's get into talking about it! We all know that the SE line is a fantastic value proposition and solid guitars. I remember what an SE electric felt like in 2011 when I briefly owned a Custom 24 variant. As time has gone on the model range has had a number of updates, and all for the better.
In my history of past guitars owned at one point had a PRS Standard 22 from 2001 (I really miss that guitar, curse being young and dumb). One of my favorite aspects of the SE 24 Standard is how much it feels like the Maryland-made Standard 22 I previously owned. Blindfolded I would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the two necks. The finish work is great, it looks better than offerings from some American-made brands that start with a “G” and an “F”.
The fretboard is a nice slab of rosewood, these days in 2023 a rosewood fretboard is almost turning into a luxury under $1,000. The frets are tall and wide, taller than my PRS DC3, but that can be the difference between a guitar made in 2012 and one made in 2023. The fretwork and binding on the neck are on par with what Gibson is doing these days. The trem feels like the Maryland-made one. I do know the materials are different to cut costs and just by looking at it, I'm thinking that the construction is different for mass production at scale.
Production at scale, that's something I want you to keep in mind as you read this.
Now the biggest thing for me right now is the tuning keys. I am absolutely going to be changing them. Lucky for me, Paul Reed Smith makes a drop-in locking tuning key for the SE electric line. I will also eventually be changing the pickups in this guitar, which I'm in no rush for. That will be a modification when I am back home on the East Coast. That said, the pickups it comes with are very musical and by no means bad. I would say that the biggest cost-cutting measurements are the non-locking tuning keys and possibly the internal wiring harness.
As far as pickup sets I may be replacing them with, I am looking into the Bare Knuckle True Grit set in the boot camp range. I don't plan to upgrade the tremolo system and keep it simple with just the pickups and the tuning keys.
Paul Reed Smith and Cor-Tek in Indonesia have come together to make and design a solid instrument. I really struggle to find anything negative with this guitar, and I've played a lot of guitars over the years! One note that I find a little strange is that this guitar comes factory set up with a set of 9s. That's a quick fix and nothing to go on about, I just found it to be an interesting choice.
After many hours of playtime, I'm definitely bonding with this guitar and I've decided that this will be the guitar I do reviews with going forward. Why? Because it is a budget-friendly guitar that is readily available to everyone. This would also be the guitar that I throw in the car and take to play with others.
These days import guitars are very good, I would argue at $700 these SE line guitars are boxing with the Fender American Professional line as far as quality goes (those guitars start around the $1600 - $1750 mark). For a guitar that is made at a large scale your own millage may vary but I am very happy with this instrument and would absolutely recommend them to others!
In a few weeks, I will circle back to this review and talk about how this guitar has settled into its life with the dry climate, for myself this has been a big question, and possibly it is for others too!
You might also be asking, is there any guitar I have my eye on to own in the PRS line? I've owned a 2001 Standard 22 and a 2011 Mira along with the SE Custom 24 I mentioned in the beginning. I currently have a DC3, an SE Tonare, and this SE Standard 24.
The quick answer is, Yes! The CE 24 is very high on my list!