PRS SE 2019: Trio signatures

This is, hands down, a very good proposition; making something personal from PRS' Private Stock lineup, more affordable, more within reach. Paul's Guitar has a very McCarty vibe to it while keeping things in line with the SE philosophy- hence the largely flat top design with beveled surrounds. We also get that mini toggle coil split units for more tonal options. OK, it's definitely the best among the three mentioned here.

This one's a limited run, only 1,000 world-wide. If you don't already know what this is about by virtue of that graphic on the body, you are really... Never mind. 

The last & definitely the most disconcerting from the way I see it, the Santana SE is now offered as a singlecut iteration. This reeks of desperation because the label is riding on another label, the Santana name, to push things through. In the SE realm, the Santana monicker means nothing when it comes to identity. Throughout the years, the Santana SE had never been the more affordable take of the real deal; it's always mutated to manifest its own quirk so why bother with the Santana tag anyway. 

Worthy quotes: Carlos Santana

It may look nice, but if it doesn't have the tone I want, I'm not interested.

Some of us are too engrossed with the instrument's cosmetics (especially the flamed/ quilted tops of guitars), we forget that this has limited (if any) influence on tone & playability. We do not need to be of Carlos Santana status to know or understand this consideration (we thank him for this reminder) but it's rather difficult to convince the human mind this is the case. I've talked to countless people about it but they say looks would add to that feel-good factor- nothing beats being seen with an attractive something- guitar/ car/ coat/ shoes/ house... you name it. But I'd caution you against your haste should you choose looks above everything else when making a selection for guitars. You handle the guitar & its tone serves your needs- these should be the immediate concern so all factors contributing to playability & tone should be foremost. Visual attraction should be a bonus inclusion. However, we note the renowned brand names out there- they would make it essentially attractive when it comes to their product offerings, in addition to the feel & ear candy. They believe that an instruments which feel & sound good, SHOULD look good as well.

SE Santana... almost there.

Here's the older version of PRS' Santana SE guitar...

Meet the current manifestation, as above...



Finally, the original Santana aka the non-SE version. PRS has revised the Santana SE design to bring it closer to the real article however, the neck remains to be the generic selection- note the headstock design of the current SE make. The body is also not quite the curved top of the original version.

Misleading Santana

Was there anything wrong with the PRS Santana SE? Guitar-wise, there's absolutely nothing wrong- it's a great instrument to own in terms of feel & tone. It's just that it doesn't look like the Santana model...

There's currently a subsequent Santana model but it doesn't do any better in terms of its representation of the original Santana model outline; this one is in fact the SE One model with a relevantly themed graphic...

GHS: Santana

I had this GHS set in my LP Std lately; not that I believe it would Santanarized my tone (no such miraculous presence to report) but the fact that I have another .0095 set to consider in addition to the Curt Mangan/ D'Addario set. The presence offered by this string set is rather substantial, if you have ever tried DR strings, you know what I'm driving at.

The highlight here is the strings' ability to eliminate the trigger of natural harmonics (no worries, you can still pinch them at will) at very high gain/ drive settings. This would be beneficial if you like your tone smooth & round especially in the top end; some of us would like our tone not to end off in a squeal.

Durability- the Curt Mangan brand name, in my books, is still the standard to beat when it comes to treatment-free (no fancy cryogenics or Cutex-like coating) endurance.