Members ILikeGuitar Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 Lookin for a second electric to complement my strat... I've had a PRS SE p90 semi-hollow before and really liked it so I thought I'd start looking at the SE series some more I don't care about scale that much, most important is flatter radius and bigger than vintage frets. I have decent sized hands and like a medium to medium/large neck shape. These are the guitars I am interested in based on my budget: PRS SE 245 PRS SE Bernie Marsden (I think same as the 245 but middle pos is out of phase, 1 tone control and it has neck binding) or maybe an Epi LP (bonamassa) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GodBlessTexas Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 I'd take any of those PRS SE's over any Epiphone except the Elitists that are no longer made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretless Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 based on looks alone that 245 , but as a SE owner I know they are very high quality and I have no doubt those SE's kick much ass . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FoonkySteve Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 1st one looks the classiest to me. Nice finish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members yanktar Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 What feels and sounds best in your hands, that you can afford? No other opinion matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrbirdman Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 If you have ruled out a Tele, then I would probably go with the PRS 245. But give the Baja Tele or Sqiure CV a test drive. The SCV will keep $ in your pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Meowy Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 The marsden has been getting talked up a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tweak'd Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 I just got my Bernie early this week and absolutely LOVE it. I've had SE's before, both SC and a Custom and this new 245 variation is a much better guitar in alot of ways. Thicker body gives it more beef in it's sound. I like the neck better, as well, and the binding is a plus for me. I know PRS calls this a wide fat neck, but it is neither wider than you would expect from a singlecut guitar, nor is it really "fat". Just right, IMO. The pickups sound pretty good, especially in the neck and middle positions because of the PG wiring scheme. I ordered mine blind from MF, since I got such a good price on it, rather than buy one in person as I had originally planned to do. I lucked out. Big time. The top on the one I got is stunning. This guitar could have been used for their ad pics. Nice touch is the yellowed binding, adding some "vintage" to the Vintage Sunburst body color. I am going to buy a 245 now, but I'm not sure I could be so lucky again and get such a great top, so I will most likely buy one that I can see the actual guitar I will get. I've seen more SE Singlecuts in person that had ho-hum tops, than ones with good ones. The PRS's are nicer guitars than the EPI's, including the Tribute Plus I got a couple of months ago. Mine is just something special... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JRicoC Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 I'd say the SE Custom Semi if it did not have those hideous zebra pickups in it. Just a question: are these all around the same price? It seems that there's a pretty wide range here ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ILikeGuitar Posted December 31, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 I just got my Bernie early this week and absolutely LOVE it. I've had SE's before, both SC and a Custom and this new 245 variation is a much better guitar in alot of ways. Thicker body gives it more beef in it's sound. I like the neck better, as well, and the binding is a plus for me. I know PRS calls this a wide fat neck, but it is neither wider than you would expect from a singlecut guitar, nor is it really "fat". Just right, IMO. The pickups sound pretty good, especially in the neck and middle positions because of the PG wiring scheme.I ordered mine blind from MF, since I got such a good price on it, rather than buy one in person as I had originally planned to do. I lucked out. Big time. The top on the one I got is stunning. This guitar could have been used for their ad pics. Nice touch is the yellowed binding, adding some "vintage" to the Vintage Sunburst body color. I am going to buy a 245 now, but I'm not sure I could be so lucky again and get such a great top, so I will most likely buy one that I can see the actual guitar I will get. I've seen more SE Singlecuts in person that had ho-hum tops, than ones with good ones.The PRS's are nicer guitars than the EPI's, including the Tribute Plus I got a couple of months ago. Mine is just something special... Wow you got a great top! Yeah I wish I didn't have to order this blind... some of the SE tops can be inconsistent. Nice colored fretboard too. I hate ones with streaks and stuff.I've had an SE P90 Semihollow with a wide fat and I liked the profile. Would you recommend the Marsden over the 245? How's that out of phase middle pos sound? Not a huge fan of the 245's finishes. I'm not a big tobacco burst guy. Leaning towards the Bernie Marsden or the SE Semi-hollow. I've never had a singlecut before EVER. Hate teles but wanted to experiment with a LP type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tweak'd Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 Besides looking really sweet, my Bernie is a fantastic playing guitar. Feels far more like an LP than the longer scale SC does. I absolutely love the PG wiring method. The neck and middle positions are so much more useful than any dual HB guitar I've tried. Definitely going to mod a few of my LPs to this wiring/neck pickup orientation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ILikeGuitar Posted December 31, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 Besides looking really sweet, my Bernie is a fantastic playing guitar. Feels far more like an LP than the longer scale SC does. I absolutely love the PG wiring method. The neck and middle positions are so much more useful than any dual HB guitar I've tried. Definitely going to mod a few of my LPs to this wiring/neck pickup orientation. I'm fine with the scale. I've had a similar scale SG before. Do the neck and bridge positions sound the same as the other 245s? Do you have any sound clips? I'm just worried that these LP type guitar tones are a little too thick sounding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members animalwithin Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 Could I interest you in one of these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pedaltones Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 PRS SE 245 - I have the same sized hands and have owned LP's,Strats,Teles,Ultra thin-necked pointy ones and the 'Wide Fat' neck on my PRS Cu22 is the most comfortable quickest neck I've ever played. And gotta love those birds and flaaaaaaaaaammmme. Don't like the out-of-phase sound though, so I'd give Bernie a miss, but that's just me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blazingblake Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 Thats a gorgeous Bernie too bad about the zebra pickups they kill it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ILikeGuitar Posted December 31, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 Narrowed it down to three. Goin for an LP shape for the first time ever. That Bonamassa LP seems really nice with the Gibson BB2 and BB3 pickups. How are the pickups in those 245s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kayd_mon Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 The Bonamossa LP has Gibson Burstbuckers, so I'd choose that one out of all you posted. Otherwise, any of the SEs will be great guitars. I'm a big fan of the PRS SEs, and I'm interested in getting another one sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kayd_mon Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 Narrowed it down to three. Goin for an LP shape for the first time ever. That Bonamassa LP seems really nice with the Gibson BB2 and BB3 pickups. How are the pickups in those 245s? I just won some SE Santanna pickups off ebay, and I believe they're the same pickups as are in the 245. Once I get them installed into my Hamer, I can report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bbreaker Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DARKMETL/ Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 Love both of those PRS's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted December 31, 2011 Members Share Posted December 31, 2011 The Bonamossa LP has Gibson Burstbuckers, so I'd choose that one out of all you posted. Otherwise, any of the SEs will be great guitars. I'm a big fan of the PRS SEs, and I'm interested in getting another one sometime. I'd lean towards the same call on that one. I had one on order myself for quite some time, but before it was shipped, I caught wind of the Gibson JB LP Studio coming out so I canceled my order for the Epi and went with that one instead. I must plead ignorance however on the new SE 245s (and sig BM), haven't tried one. The best SE I've bought so far is the new Santana model, so if the 245 does indeed have those p'ups then that would be an improvement fer sher. But I think the Epi is a solid build and the BB 2 & 3 are a lively rocking combo, although I do personally prefer the more vintage voiced 1 & 2. Plus you get an uber cool case with the Epi. Although I had some problems with my Epi Slash that required a bit of warranty work to get rid of its fret buzz (which IMO is unusual on an Epi) I've been quite happy with that tone. I think Epiphone is now doing a pretty good job on their newer Artist Series. But then again, so does the PRS SEs. One of the reasons I bought the Santana SE was the dang thing weighed in at a mere 7.0 pounds, and it sounds like it as well. Quite a light resonant tone, but yet it still manages to have very good sustain. Kind of a pleasant conundrum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.