PRS SE Studio Standard

Have not been keeping up with the PRS SE releases / development. PRS SE joins Fender (Mex) & LTD in manifesting excessive asking prices that betrayed their initial affordable pedigree. We notice that top tier features (or variation of these features) are being cascaded unto these models to justify higher prices. The Studio Standard you see above is listing for $1,149. Basically, this is an SE CE given the gloss treatment & a more celebrated set of pickups. Price is nearly double that of the SE CE's. 

Based on price alone, it's unfair to speculate the instrument's worthiness. Individual discretion is required. If you think it's worth parting money for this type of guitar, by all means, please do so. As it is, just by the sheer visual reference, I deem this price to be agreeable. It's already available at Swee Lee if you are interested.

Pic: PRS

CE 22

I'm a closet admirer of bolt-on PRS guitars after the Silver Sky experience. The CE 22 already existed in the annals of PRS' history but only the 24 fretted version remained in production. The revived CE 22 here is simply gorgeous with those silhouette inlays. Like many core models, the price of this one is semi-prohibitive. Since it's a limited edition model, let's see if it gets here at all.

Pic: PRS

Epiphone Tribute... how much?

As predicted, the Epiphone Les Paul Tribute is now listing at City Music for $459 (Initial mention: CLICK). If you are interested, please be informed of its bolt-on construction hence the very pocket-friendly price. The 2-knob SG version is also available for $429.

Pics: Epiphone

200DX

This was a rather recent launch by LTD for the Summer, the 200DX models. 

These are essentially souped up 200 models so expect them to list for more than the regular 200s but looking at the catalog in the mean time, there are indeed no more regular 200s. The DX here refers to a bolt-on construction. The models now feature covered pickups, quilted / maple veneer & a roasted maple neck. The 200s are LTD's most affordable guitars in the catalog but these upgrades might just push prices up a bit to reflect the enhancements.

Pics: ESP

SE NF3

PRS just released the SE NF3 a couple of days ago. It's another bolt-on make with a trio of Narrowfield DD pickups. These are, according to the manufacturer, very single coil sounding humbuckers. From the various videos I've watched since release day, the pickups could not twang. Either that or there are videos yet to be made featuring the NF3 manifesting this kind of tone. This might be the deal breaker for me.

Pic: PRS

Re-string Saturday: Martin SC-13E

Gloomy weather + sick + no money = Stay home. An indoor weekend made a little exciting by the presence of this Martin SC-13E. Not mine though, belongs to an ex-colleague who bought it at the City Music sale yesterday.

It's a showroom piece & the strings were dead. The guitar sounds awful when I tested it for its electronics. I happened to have this SIT set & managed to inject life back into this rather awesome guitar. Folks, if you wish for some crispy tones from your acoustic guitar, do give this Golden Bronze set a try. 

Next to receive some attention were the frets. These look well played (L) & after a quick polish (R), they look shiny & attractive once more.

Last but not least - wood care. The air-conditioned showroom might have dried the wooden parts of this guitar, especially the unfinished & open pore areas. An example would be the bridge; note the dryness (top) & its re-conditioned look (bottom). Folks, dry wood will flake off or even crack if unattended to. The dry fretboard was taken care of as well but it's not as dry as the bridge.

Here are the exciting bits:

• A: The neck sports a shallow C profile, in fact, it feels like some modern Fender electric guitar more than an acoustic where things tend to be beefy in this department. The special feature here is the flattened upper fret / heel area so it appeals to those shredders very easily. In fact, Martin refers to it as a heel-less joint. Very convincing.
• B: Sculptured cutaway bit to encourage more upper fret access especially when the guitar features a cutaway. This guitar is almost heel-less due to the fact that it's a bolt-on construction as seen here.
• C: The guitar also includes a neck tilt adjustment access. A bolt-on construction allows this to happen just like the solid body counterparts.

If you missed it, the SC-13E is an offset design. The understanding of 'offset' here refers to the waist curvatures which are not located at the exact opposite of each other as highlighted above; they are a little misplaced. Of course, the well known offset design we can always understand are the Fender instruments; Jaguar, Jazzmaster, et al.