I've seen guitars costing five times as much with worse neck pockets than that one. The thing that I notice now is that due to CNCs the internal machining tends to be much better than even a lot of vintage guitars valued in the thousands. Sixties Strats for example often have diabolical machining internally with no attempt to sand edges before paint or lacquer, but its rare for reviewers to mention this purely because they are considered the holy grail of guitars. Even cheap guitars these days are incredible compared to what we had to put up with back in the fifties and sixties so we should be thankful.
But they didn't have CNC machines in the 60's. You would think they would invest in a Plek machine! The guitars made in the 60's didn't have high frets like all of the guitars on the market now (except Gibson).
I took the PRS factory tour in Maryland a few years ago. The top floor looks like the warehouse at the end of Indiana Jones. It’s mountains of SE guitars. As far as I know, they QC and set up EVERY guitar in the Maryland HQ before it leaves.
They check Americas SE's in Maryland. European at PRS Europe (UK). I think they mentioned Australia has its own SE QC facility. Makes sense - no point shipping everything from Cort to Maryland then back to Aus etc.
My goal in life is to create a foundation where EVERY guitar gets a fret level, crown and polishing, a correctly cut nut and a proper set-up…”no guitar left behind”….think I can do it!!!!!!!!
I’d like to add an SE Silver Sky to my USA Strat one day just because I love S-style guitars and the SE SS seems like a great buy. My only complaint are the current colour offerings … none of them really speak to me. Hope they release a polar white or daphne blue-like colour.
I love these "tear down" video's. I'm beginning to realise that virtually all new guitars are shipped with some flaw or another, which kind of fits with my experience. I've bought guitars for over 40 years and even the most expensive ones I own, which I have loved playing from the first minute, have tended to have a slight "niggle" here or there. It's usually in the "playing" i.e. something in the neck / frets / nut. I've never really been able to put my finger on exactly what the issue is (unless it's very significant), many of the times, but I can see from these video's, there is almost a fret issue from new. And as an example that I recently experienced and really shocked me, I recently took my 30 year old Strat to a luthier for some fret work.. I though there were a few minor worn frets. it was still very playable, but I wanted to see if it could be improved. The Luthier did a level, crown and polish and OMG!! The guitar is transformed!! It plays better than it ever has, and better than every other guitar I have. By a mile! I now need to save up for fretwork to be done on all my other guitars!
Unless it is a custom guitar, every guitar needs to be setup before use by the owner. which is why I learned to setup my own instruments a long time ago because no one else will know how you like the setup better than you as the player. As simple as filing the nut can make a huge difference or setting action and relief. or even as simple as sanding down the back of the neck with scotch brite :)
@@allstopblue5717 Its extremely easy and not that expensive all you need is a proper levelling beam, a crowning knife, a Sharpie, blue painters tape and fret eraser or polish pad set. I also use a Dremel cloth wheel and Frine for the final polish. The sandpaper and levelling beam will be enough to do all the guitars in a 5 mile radius twice. Fret Guru is what I use for all the above. It aint rocket science but you will run into other things that will force you to buy other tools like nut knives, rubber mallet, maple and rosewood blocks for repairs...its a rabbit hole.
British term for a small fault or inconvenience that you just put up with, rather than solve. Imagine a minor itch between your toes when you are wearing thick socks and walking boots on a muddy track. That is a niggle.
According to Dylan Talks Tone, the ‘slugs’ on the pickups are also magnetised Alnico. He’s compared the US pickups with these, and they have quite similar construction, although these are higher resistance - around 7k whereas the US ones are around 5k. However, they sound similar, and if quite low output. He’s puzzled, but really rates both guitars with a couple of minor personal misgivings about this Indonesian model. His reviews were done back when this guitar was ‘released’. Very interesting.
Dylan Talks Tone has reviewed those pickups specifically. Those are just steel slugs between the pole pieces. They are to sweeten the tone a bit by changing the magnetic field just enough.
I’m a bit confused as to why Sofia didn’t take the volume/tone knobs off to properly remove the pickguard plastic after painstakingly polishing the frets by hand… seems a bit ironic, especially since those knobs are installed horribly.
A really cool note on this guitar is that PRS basically took the budget level electronics and spec’d them to be as close as they could get to the core model setup which are based on John’s 64 Strat. Now in the marketing John says the electronics “are the same” and that’s definitely not true but to be able to get some mayery pickups at this price point is a really great thing. That’s a lot of the battle in tone chasing Mr. Mayer. Great video!
@@whynottalklikeapirat sure. But there's no magic in it. No secret mojo. It's a few thousand turns of enameled copper wire around some alnico rod magnets. That's it. If they're made properly.. as in the way fender does, they're as replicatable as a light bulb.
I think it's a real good idea to closely check out some of the mid-range priced guitars just under $1000. a lot of people are talking about the new Epiphones so I would like to see your take on those as well. I own an '05 Epi LP Classic which has been great..I'll probably order a Custom from them eventually just to see what people are talking about, it's cheap enough to gamble on.
woah thats crazy, so i bought a se silver sky used from a fella, he said he got in used from a shop. When i pulled the string off, they were tied on exactly the same. the guitar looks like its been in a bag and never opened. maybe it had factory strings on it. plastic was still on it too.
On the off chance that someone from PRS makes their way to this comments section, I'll say that I've had to do fret leveling of all 3 of my SE's. An '05 Soapbar II, '16 Custom 24 and a '21 Zach Myers. The fret ends were good, but the leveling ranged from mediocre to terrible in a few places. Nice to see a video that finally talks about this.
@@xF1revolution My main point was that most UA-cam reviewers portray them as perfect. My guess is either inexperience or paid shills. Again, it's refreshing to see an unbiased review.
@@knowwhey7559 To be fair, most channels don't go at the guitar with a fret rocker so unless it causes buzzing or choking out, reviewers would have no way to tell. Also, if it doesn't hurt playability, it's not really an issue. This is the reason PRS moved to the 8.5" radius. There's no way to make a 7.25" consistently at this price point.
@@xF1revolution I think if you're paying double what a Squier CV Strat costs, you're entitled to expect level frets. What else are you getting for your extra $400?
That powder is not sawdust; it's residue from the polishing process. Shielding the cavity without applying a shield to the back of the pickguard is incomplete shielding. Those strips of copper tape do nothing, really. This--from a huge PRS fanboy. I work at the factory in Stevensville, MD.
Knowing little about guitars found it fascinating to watch a Luthier. Wonder if one is better off buying a guitar at this price point and paying g a Luthier to fettle it than spending 1000's more on a custom shop.
Under a thousand? The worst guitars I've ever received, from a fretting standpoint, were from the Fender Custom Shop and cost was >$3000. Money can't buy me love.
People complain about Gibson and PRS being “overpriced.” They’ve clearly never played a fender CS (some of them anyway). Say what you want about the two former, you’re getting a FUNCTIONAL instrument when you go CS/Private stock.
Curious observation: the initial 4 launch colours for SE Sky are the teletubbies! JM wanted to flip the headstock to give his fingers more room. Can't say I know what he's doing with his fingers to need it, but also can't deny his fingers work a bit better than mine. The extra metal in the pups is just that. In the launch livestream Jack Higginbotham was talking about some special sauce the team discovered that got them so close to the USA pup sound, but Paul said something like "it won't be a secret for long, everyone will see it the moment they take the pickguard off!". Given nothing else sticks out visually, I can only think it's those extra metal slugs.
@@markseymour8365 i think ur referring to their trademarks, like the double cream humbuckers? Their patents are legitimately original ideas that they came up with afaik
@@hchoe741 Yes, the double cream humbuckers. I hardly think that should qualify as a 'legitimately original idea'. It's like patenting red motorbikes. Quite ridiculous IMO. Having said that, I did just buy a Super Distortion to go in my 'back to my youth project', as it was the first replacement pickup I ever bought and installed.
I have one of the first runs of the full fat Silver Sky, and it's easily one of the best guitar options out there. It's incredible. But I was so let down by the SE version, It felt like they had to be cranked out so some QC was missed. I never expected a guitar with PRS on the head to have a bumpy neck or fret sprout out of the box
@@joeking433 I have a stew mac fret rocker...there is barely any movement on one or two frets the buzz is not there on mine and no fretting out. My US Strat came with horrible fret job from factory.
Reverse Headstock design is awesome, and gives that guitar a new look. This guitar feels easy and uncomplicated like a good acoustic. Modern and without all that balast of a fender. Its nice, i like it. Ps. The plastic tuners are nice
PT Cort generally makes a good guitar. I had one of these to repair from a friend. He just wanted a setup. I found two high frets. But let me tell you, the fretwork was IMMACULATE on the sides of the board! I fixed the two frets, added new strings and checked the neck angle...everything was perfect! But not every one that leaves the factory will be perfect.
The only guitar I have over £1000 is a Crimson and, of course, it's a beauty. I have to say, though, my other guitars range in price from £77 (Harley Benton strat kit) to a PRS custom 24 anniversary (£500) and others like a Chinese Epi LP (£350) and a Cort/Manson Matt Bellamy (£399) and they are all really well finished with no quality issues. The Manson MB1 is now selling for £299 in silver and it's such a good guitar. These days you can get some serious bang for your buck
Theres no excuse for a $1000 guitar to not come out of the box at least close to setup, if not setup. I think weve gotten use to big companies not setting up there guitars well and its become the norm to have to have your guitar setup after you buy it, but that doesnt mean that it cant be done. I find PRS SE guitars that ive seen and picked up are setup very very well right out of the box. Good stuff. Hopefully in the future more brands will discover that setting up their guitars better will sell more. But if we people are just use to and expect this step wont happen then itll continue to be the norm. But there are companies that sell setup guitars for under $1000. Just gotta poke around ;-)
I truly wish people would start gluing the nut to the end of the fretboard only, especially when using CA glue. It’s incredible how much swearing is needed, when the headstock splits open, because someone glued the nut to the bottom of the slot …
PRS modified the headstock of the Silver Sky because John Mayer frets the low E on bar chords with his thumb. Being that Mayer is such a large dude with large hands, he found that he couldn't effectively make an F chord with the normal PRS headstock. I saw him mention this in an interview when the first USA guitars were released.
So in the UK and Euope, all PRS guitars, whether from the US or the far East, go through a QC and setup at the PRS warehouse in Cambridgeshire. So the shop probably didn't setup the guitar, but the guys are PRS did.
on the setup, i seem to recall reading that when prs's come into the country, whatever depot they arrive at gives them a setup before they get to stores
I must be lucky. I have 8 different PRS SE models. Every one was perfectly set up right out of the box. Ive had to do very few upgrades and the Siver Sky i have is by far my favorite.
Absolutely.. I have one with a partially destroyed ziricote top here just waiting for the time to repair.. a spruce up of another would be right up our alley!
I think if they could combine the sound and vibe of a USA vintage strat with the quality and detail of a PRS SE you’d have something. For me these PRS don’t have the woody sound of a Fender Strat, but their playability is absolutely superior. I am not a fan of the PRS stubby headstock, but it is better than some, and I hate that neck pocket from an aesthetic, woodworker point of view. Pretty impressive with the shielding, you’d never see that on other imports. Love the color, would prefer nickel neck plate and tuner knobs.
I really love my maple neck SE. I have a Gibson Custom Shop R6 which is my favorite but costs about 5x the price. Of course it’s better but I find myself playing the SE more lately. It had perfect action and feel and I love the tone in the 2nd position. It really has that JM tone. Mayer has been one of my favorite guitarists for a while and now the SE Silver Sky is one of my favorite guitars I’ve played. I had a Fender Player Series and this is by far better IMHO, in every way
Great info. I found it hard to believe all the other reviews that said the frets were ‘perfect’. I’m no luthier, but that neck pocket play/routing looked kinda crappy. My old 80’s fender Japan fujigen Strat has a neck/body pock interface that feels like CNC machined machine parts. I’m a bit amazed PRs couldn’t replicate that. Only extra info I’d have liked would have been neck measurements and weight. Still, very useful. Thanks.
Immediately the side of my right hand is twitching at the thought of those saddle height adjustment grub screws shredding it's skin. It's such a thoughtless oversight, and so many manufacturers do it.
Easy fix if you don’t like them buy some shorter grub screws off ebay for like £2 job done. Although I doubt it’s really a major problem because every review would be calling it out they’re not.
I heard Paul say in an Interview that they “added extra bits of Metal in the SE pickups” so they didn’t sounds exactly like the U.S. made pickups. makes me wonder if u removed those extra metal slugs if it would sound like its more expensive big brother 🤔. i would luv to See somebody try this to hear what it sounds like.
I enjoyed this. The SE SIlver Sky is a guitar I am thinking about buying. Interestingly I have an SE 245 custom and being a tech did has you did and checked the frets etc. I only found one that needed adjusting. The rest were perfect. Mind you, all workshops depend on the person doing the job on the day, I guess. Anyway, the neck pocket would be an issue that I might return a guitar for maybe. A great video thank you. I owe a lot to your videos. You should perhaps tear down a Fender Player plus Nashville Tele if you would like to see the world worst set up and finishing. Great concept but really shoddy in the important set up details. I'd happily lend you mine.
Great video! The attention to detail is so pleasing, at the same time you leave the viewer judge the value for money (eg fingerprint on trussrod area below the cover…who cares, well maybe some do). I think it would be interesting to try and get in contact with some of the factory workers in Indonesia. I think we assume they just mass produce, but maybe some of them really care and try hard …and watch a channel like this one
Ben, you didn't mention the resistor from lug 1 of the volume pot to earth and the effect that may have. Were there any other small resistors in the circuit?
these are currently £599 in the UK, definitely worth the money, I have a SE 24 standard and the fit and finish is spot on, my volume tone knobs are straight as a die though. Might sell my Pacifica and get one of these just for the bang for buck.
@crimsonguitars I really enjoyed the video. I don’t get the plastic tuners, they look cheap and tacky to me and if they break as you said you need to change the tuner. Do you offer this service to everyone and how much would this setup, fret dress etc cost? Thanks for a great video
I just got my PRS SE Standard 24 earlier in the year and did a similar teardown video. You came to the same conclusions as I did with the setup. I was impressed. It really shows that PRS has sent QC staff to the Indonesian factory. Sure, of course, it isn't going to be the usual PRS quality, but man, the SE series is by far some of the best out-of-the-factory-relatively-affordable guitars I've seen. Though, seems the Silver Sky has a fair few more tiny things "wrong" with it (looking at you dirty finger print).
They’re also checked for setup etc at PRS’ Maryland plant in the US, and at PRS Europe before being sent to dealers. This looks much better in terms of setup than the Indonesian SE 22 Standard I bought a few years back. I had to do quite a bit to that, so good to know they’ve continued to improve - even if I’ll not be buying one.
Bought an SE Hollowbody, and as with my American S2 PRS, the build quality is pretty much perfect, the "cheap" overseas parts/pickups they make are actually *very* good IMO. I own guitars with bare-knuckles, dimarzios, SDs etc. and SE pickups are pretty much on a level with any of those. The only slight issue with the SE was that the neck was set with very little relief, but a truss rod tool was included so that took 5 minutes to fix. All the hardware on the S2 is far eastern as well and it has the best trem I have ever used, tuners that are as good or better than anything else I've had, the volume pots, knobs, pickups, strap buttons are all pretty damn close to perfect, and have stood up well for nearly 9 years now.
I tried this guitar in the local shop a couple days ago and I wasn't inpressed at all. The moment I picked it up it felt like a 150 euro starterskit guitar from wish. It's probably the type of wood used for the body which makes it extremely light but it didn't felt like a guitar. Also, the plastic tuners are a big no no for me. Especially for a guitar in this price range
I agree, it's not cool to be a PRS hater, but someone has to keep things real.... these guitars have some bad points... and mainly an awful tone when played up against other guitars.... like a high pitched crow !
That's a beautiful guitar and seems (mostly) well made for the price range. Did Sofia deliberately remove the nut during the fret work or accidentally knock it off? It was on at the start and I noticed she banged into it with the leveling beam at one point. I'm not picking fault, but genuinely interested if there was a reason for re-seating it as Ben seemed to think it was perfect. I'm thinking of replacing the nut on my cheap guitar - a first attempt at 'real' luthiery, so it's an area I'm looking to learn more about. Also, why have you put up the price of tickets to 6 Euro from 3? I could justify 3 Euro (read: "my significant other allowed me to justify 3 Euro", hehe) as it's "just the price of a coffee", but 6 is the price of dinner here. I bought tickets for the first three guitars in the 'giveaway' (several for one of them) but I can't really justify it any more, unless it's something REALLY special. If they were still 3 Euro then I could simply choose to buy more if I wanted to spend more! Just my take on it - please don't flame me for being a cheapskate!
I've seen guitars costing five times as much with worse neck pockets than that one. The thing that I notice now is that due to CNCs the internal machining tends to be much better than even a lot of vintage guitars valued in the thousands. Sixties Strats for example often have diabolical machining internally with no attempt to sand edges before paint or lacquer, but its rare for reviewers to mention this purely because they are considered the holy grail of guitars. Even cheap guitars these days are incredible compared to what we had to put up with back in the fifties and sixties so we should be thankful.
But they didn't have CNC machines in the 60's. You would think they would invest in a Plek machine! The guitars made in the 60's didn't have high frets like all of the guitars on the market now (except Gibson).
I took the PRS factory tour in Maryland a few years ago. The top floor looks like the warehouse at the end of Indiana Jones. It’s mountains of SE guitars. As far as I know, they QC and set up EVERY guitar in the Maryland HQ before it leaves.
Right next to the famous Wood Library, there was a dude in a little booth absolutely shredding on SE guitars, checking action, intonation etc.
They check Americas SE's in Maryland. European at PRS Europe (UK). I think they mentioned Australia has its own SE QC facility. Makes sense - no point shipping everything from Cort to Maryland then back to Aus etc.
Wow! Thank you, I want you to set up my guitar! Unfortunately, I’m in Southern California.
@@tonflot4531 I’d bet you that was Eric, he’s a monster shredder
Yeah as others have said, no they don't QC and set up every SE guitar in Maryland, only those sold in the USA.
I imagine a PRS quality rep is now on a flight to the Indonesia Cort plant to discuss this video...Nice work Mr.Crowe.
My goal in life is to create a foundation where EVERY guitar gets a fret level, crown and polishing, a correctly cut nut and a proper set-up…”no guitar left behind”….think I can do it!!!!!!!!
I’d like to add an SE Silver Sky to my USA Strat one day just because I love S-style guitars and the SE SS seems like a great buy. My only complaint are the current colour offerings … none of them really speak to me. Hope they release a polar white or daphne blue-like colour.
Great video. I was hoping it wouldn’t disappoint. My SE24 from way back is brilliant, good to see they’ve only got better. ❤
The extra poles on the bottom of the pickups is a DiMarzio patent. Their "virtual vintage" tech that's found in many of their pickups.
I love these "tear down" video's. I'm beginning to realise that virtually all new guitars are shipped with some flaw or another, which kind of fits with my experience. I've bought guitars for over 40 years and even the most expensive ones I own, which I have loved playing from the first minute, have tended to have a slight "niggle" here or there. It's usually in the "playing" i.e. something in the neck / frets / nut. I've never really been able to put my finger on exactly what the issue is (unless it's very significant), many of the times, but I can see from these video's, there is almost a fret issue from new. And as an example that I recently experienced and really shocked me, I recently took my 30 year old Strat to a luthier for some fret work.. I though there were a few minor worn frets. it was still very playable, but I wanted to see if it could be improved. The Luthier did a level, crown and polish and OMG!! The guitar is transformed!! It plays better than it ever has, and better than every other guitar I have. By a mile! I now need to save up for fretwork to be done on all my other guitars!
Unless it is a custom guitar, every guitar needs to be setup before use by the owner. which is why I learned to setup my own instruments a long time ago because no one else will know how you like the setup better than you as the player. As simple as filing the nut can make a huge difference or setting action and relief. or even as simple as sanding down the back of the neck with scotch brite :)
@@allstopblue5717 Its extremely easy and not that expensive all you need is a proper levelling beam, a crowning knife, a Sharpie, blue painters tape and fret eraser or polish pad set. I also use a Dremel cloth wheel and Frine for the final polish. The sandpaper and levelling beam will be enough to do all the guitars in a 5 mile radius twice. Fret Guru is what I use for all the above. It aint rocket science but you will run into other things that will force you to buy other tools like nut knives, rubber mallet, maple and rosewood blocks for repairs...its a rabbit hole.
What in the hell is a niggle?
British term for a small fault or inconvenience that you just put up with, rather than solve. Imagine a minor itch between your toes when you are wearing thick socks and walking boots on a muddy track. That is a niggle.
it probably from shipping because EVERY other video and person I have seen including myself think they are spot on.
So nice to hear an actual luthier go through this guitar after watching about 10 of these!
According to Dylan Talks Tone, the ‘slugs’ on the pickups are also magnetised Alnico. He’s compared the US pickups with these, and they have quite similar construction, although these are higher resistance - around 7k whereas the US ones are around 5k.
However, they sound similar, and if quite low output. He’s puzzled, but really rates both guitars with a couple of minor personal misgivings about this Indonesian model.
His reviews were done back when this guitar was ‘released’. Very interesting.
Dylan Talks Tone has reviewed those pickups specifically. Those are just steel slugs between the pole pieces. They are to sweeten the tone a bit by changing the magnetic field just enough.
I’m a bit confused as to why Sofia didn’t take the volume/tone knobs off to properly remove the pickguard plastic after painstakingly polishing the frets by hand… seems a bit ironic, especially since those knobs are installed horribly.
A really cool note on this guitar is that PRS basically took the budget level electronics and spec’d them to be as close as they could get to the core model setup which are based on John’s 64 Strat. Now in the marketing John says the electronics “are the same” and that’s definitely not true but to be able to get some mayery pickups at this price point is a really great thing. That’s a lot of the battle in tone chasing Mr. Mayer. Great video!
Mayery? They're just Strat pickups.
@@heftosprod Then again - there is nothing “just” about a good strat pickup …
@@whynottalklikeapirat sure. But there's no magic in it. No secret mojo. It's a few thousand turns of enameled copper wire around some alnico rod magnets. That's it. If they're made properly.. as in the way fender does, they're as replicatable as a light bulb.
@@heftosprod Thank you for introducing the topic of magic, just in case a wizard or shaman shows up in the audience.
@@whynottalklikeapirat you're welcome. I for one as m certain such people ain't in the game.
I think it's a real good idea to closely check out some of the mid-range priced guitars just under $1000. a lot of people are talking about the new Epiphones so I would like to see your take on those as well. I own an '05 Epi LP Classic which has been great..I'll probably order a Custom from them eventually just to see what people are talking about, it's cheap enough to gamble on.
woah thats crazy, so i bought a se silver sky used from a fella, he said he got in used from a shop. When i pulled the string off, they were tied on exactly the same. the guitar looks like its been in a bag and never opened. maybe it had factory strings on it. plastic was still on it too.
On the off chance that someone from PRS makes their way to this comments section, I'll say that I've had to do fret leveling of all 3 of my SE's.
An '05 Soapbar II, '16 Custom 24 and a '21 Zach Myers. The fret ends were good, but the leveling ranged from mediocre to terrible in a few places.
Nice to see a video that finally talks about this.
Get what you pay for. Mass produced instruments overseas are unlikely to be perfect with the most laborious high detail bits.
@@xF1revolution My main point was that most UA-cam reviewers portray them as perfect.
My guess is either inexperience or paid shills.
Again, it's refreshing to see an unbiased review.
@@knowwhey7559 To be fair, most channels don't go at the guitar with a fret rocker so unless it causes buzzing or choking out, reviewers would have no way to tell. Also, if it doesn't hurt playability, it's not really an issue. This is the reason PRS moved to the 8.5" radius. There's no way to make a 7.25" consistently at this price point.
@@xF1revolution I think if you're paying double what a Squier CV Strat costs, you're entitled to expect level frets. What else are you getting for your extra $400?
@@markseymour8365 Definitely not perfection with the most labor intensive and difficult part of the process.
Great review! Thanks for taking it apart and offering honest criticism
That powder is not sawdust; it's residue from the polishing process. Shielding the cavity without applying a shield to the back of the pickguard is incomplete shielding. Those strips of copper tape do nothing, really. This--from a huge PRS fanboy. I work at the factory in Stevensville, MD.
Knowing little about guitars found it fascinating to watch a Luthier. Wonder if one is better off buying a guitar at this price point and paying g a Luthier to fettle it than spending 1000's more on a custom shop.
Buy a Squier Classic Vibe and have someone level the frets and cut the nut.
I have a PRS SE Custom 24, it cost £780 new and haven't had an issue with it. Even when I use the tremolo it doesn't really go out of tune.
Under a thousand? The worst guitars I've ever received, from a fretting standpoint, were from the Fender Custom Shop and cost was >$3000. Money can't buy me love.
What kind of custom shop is $3000 fender? I thought custom shop at least $5000...
@@BoyAditya I've purchased (new) two Danny Gatton tele's and an Eric Johnson strat - all were ~3k, as I remember, but it's been a while.
People complain about Gibson and PRS being “overpriced.” They’ve clearly never played a fender CS (some of them anyway). Say what you want about the two former, you’re getting a FUNCTIONAL instrument when you go CS/Private stock.
@@joshoptical
I have a Fender JV modified and it's just scary how good for 1300. All I did was bring the pickups up a bit. Just amazing.
@@leonwolfe536 totally!
I've got one of these on the way, I love the headstock, the shape of the upper fret access cut, it's a beautiful guitar.
Curious observation: the initial 4 launch colours for SE Sky are the teletubbies!
JM wanted to flip the headstock to give his fingers more room. Can't say I know what he's doing with his fingers to need it, but also can't deny his fingers work a bit better than mine.
The extra metal in the pups is just that. In the launch livestream Jack Higginbotham was talking about some special sauce the team discovered that got them so close to the USA pup sound, but Paul said something like "it won't be a secret for long, everyone will see it the moment they take the pickguard off!". Given nothing else sticks out visually, I can only think it's those extra metal slugs.
DiMarzio has been doing that for years. It's their "virtual vintage" technology. I believe they hold a patent on it.
Their pups are made the same way as their d style single coils that look like the gretsch singles
@@hchoe741 I used to love DiMarzio pickups but their patent crazy behaviour put me off them as a company.
@@markseymour8365 i think ur referring to their trademarks, like the double cream humbuckers? Their patents are legitimately original ideas that they came up with afaik
@@hchoe741 Yes, the double cream humbuckers. I hardly think that should qualify as a 'legitimately original idea'. It's like patenting red motorbikes. Quite ridiculous IMO. Having said that, I did just buy a Super Distortion to go in my 'back to my youth project', as it was the first replacement pickup I ever bought and installed.
19:55 did the factory apply putty to the neck pocket to tighten it up?
I have one of the first runs of the full fat Silver Sky, and it's easily one of the best guitar options out there. It's incredible. But I was so let down by the SE version, It felt like they had to be cranked out so some QC was missed. I never expected a guitar with PRS on the head to have a bumpy neck or fret sprout out of the box
High frets are common for Indonesian guitars. They need to get a Plek machine.
@@joeking433 ....i just got mine this week and it had zero issues. perfect right out the box , besides lowering the action where I like it.
@@sixslinger9951 There are high frets, trust me! Get a fret rocker.
@@joeking433 I have a stew mac fret rocker...there is barely any movement on one or two frets the buzz is not there on mine and no fretting out. My US Strat came with horrible fret job from factory.
@@sixslinger9951 Check out this video at 10:28.
ua-cam.com/video/svSElJKyUqU/v-deo.html
Him I trust, you not so much.
Reverse Headstock design is awesome, and gives that guitar a new look. This guitar feels easy and uncomplicated like a good acoustic. Modern and without all that balast of a fender. Its nice, i like it. Ps. The plastic tuners are nice
PT Cort generally makes a good guitar. I had one of these to repair from a friend. He just wanted a setup. I found two high frets. But let me tell you, the fretwork was IMMACULATE on the sides of the board! I fixed the two frets, added new strings and checked the neck angle...everything was perfect!
But not every one that leaves the factory will be perfect.
The only guitar I have over £1000 is a Crimson and, of course, it's a beauty. I have to say, though, my other guitars range in price from £77 (Harley Benton strat kit) to a PRS custom 24 anniversary (£500) and others like a Chinese Epi LP (£350) and a Cort/Manson Matt Bellamy (£399) and they are all really well finished with no quality issues. The Manson MB1 is now selling for £299 in silver and it's such a good guitar. These days you can get some serious bang for your buck
Theres no excuse for a $1000 guitar to not come out of the box at least close to setup, if not setup. I think weve gotten use to big companies not setting up there guitars well and its become the norm to have to have your guitar setup after you buy it, but that doesnt mean that it cant be done. I find PRS SE guitars that ive seen and picked up are setup very very well right out of the box. Good stuff. Hopefully in the future more brands will discover that setting up their guitars better will sell more. But if we people are just use to and expect this step wont happen then itll continue to be the norm. But there are companies that sell setup guitars for under $1000. Just gotta poke around ;-)
You'd think they'd buy a Plek machine!
20:39 why did she snip first then wrap???
haha I agree about not knotting the strings, I've had some dramatic arguments with band members about that in the past.
If you blindfold me and hand me a guitar with knotted strings , then hand me one without, I can tell the difference
I truly wish people would start gluing the nut to the end of the fretboard only, especially when using CA glue. It’s incredible how much swearing is needed, when the headstock splits open, because someone glued the nut to the bottom of the slot …
I think the purpose of the reverse headstock is for John to be able to use his thumb while playing on the lower frets easier.
I love the little guitar bucket for screws.
Why didn't you use shielding paint to complete the circuit (as you mentioned could be done) in case the tape failed in the future ?
Why there is no shielding material in the whole surface of the plate?
I don't fancy every model you make TBH but you know your tools and craftmanship.. And that is what makes me stick around haha... Great work!!!
PRS modified the headstock of the Silver Sky because John Mayer frets the low E on bar chords with his thumb. Being that Mayer is such a large dude with large hands, he found that he couldn't effectively make an F chord with the normal PRS headstock. I saw him mention this in an interview when the first USA guitars were released.
So in the UK and Euope, all PRS guitars, whether from the US or the far East, go through a QC and setup at the PRS warehouse in Cambridgeshire. So the shop probably didn't setup the guitar, but the guys are PRS did.
No the shop probably did when they knew they were selling it to a UA-camr who would review it. They should have leveled the frets, LOL!
Lovely review. I love the thorough honesty.
Holy moly 😳 did you shim that loose neck before you put it together
I know Paul sat up with a bowl of popcorn for this one. Good job!
on the setup, i seem to recall reading that when prs's come into the country, whatever depot they arrive at gives them a setup before they get to stores
I must be lucky. I have 8 different PRS SE models. Every one was perfectly set up right out of the box. Ive had to do very few upgrades and the Siver Sky i have is by far my favorite.
Can you guys spruce up an original fender acoustasonic stratocaster?
Absolutely.. I have one with a partially destroyed ziricote top here just waiting for the time to repair.. a spruce up of another would be right up our alley!
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars how can I get ahold of you for a price quote?
Love this series, I like that other people get in on the fun .
Great video, & surprisingly not much wrong with it. My favourite part? Peeling the plastic off! I'm a simple man.
Nice review, may I ask for the squier 40th and the sire s7 Larry Carlton as comparison
The highlight was the Kings Of Leon riff at the end.
Did you fix the crooked knobs?
I would love to see a teardown of an eastman guitar. They seem pretty interesting
I have two...T486 (best EVER!!!) and a very nice SB59Goldtop...lefty.... Love Eastman....going up in price now...
PRS SE guitars simply can't be beaten for value for money. I own 2 SE's and they're amazing for $1500 AUD
That protective film removal shoot though....😅😢😂
I just got my Se on Tuesday...and wow! It's an incredible instrument for what I paid for it.
I think if they could combine the sound and vibe of a USA vintage strat with the quality and detail of a PRS SE you’d have something. For me these PRS don’t have the woody sound of a Fender Strat, but their playability is absolutely superior. I am not a fan of the PRS stubby headstock, but it is better than some, and I hate that neck pocket from an aesthetic, woodworker point of view. Pretty impressive with the shielding, you’d never see that on other imports. Love the color, would prefer nickel neck plate and tuner knobs.
Some fender vintage pickups might do the trick
As an owner of many Cort basses, It's good to see a master luthier giving one of the factory's products a once over
It was a joy to watch and listen to you sir. You’re very good at what you do, a true master. Just subscribed to your channel. Peace.
I was surprised you didn’t even talk about the bridge and bridge setup?
Nice bit of Molly's Chambers at the end
Really miss my old PRS swamp ash, the closest strat they did at the time, but this looks great!
I really love my maple neck SE. I have a Gibson Custom Shop R6 which is my favorite but costs about 5x the price. Of course it’s better but I find myself playing the SE more lately. It had perfect action and feel and I love the tone in the 2nd position. It really has that JM tone. Mayer has been one of my favorite guitarists for a while and now the SE Silver Sky is one of my favorite guitars I’ve played. I had a Fender Player Series and this is by far better IMHO, in every way
Great info. I found it hard to believe all the other reviews that said the frets were ‘perfect’. I’m no luthier, but that neck pocket play/routing looked kinda crappy. My old 80’s fender Japan fujigen Strat has a neck/body pock interface that feels like CNC machined machine parts. I’m a bit amazed PRs couldn’t replicate that. Only extra info I’d have liked would have been neck measurements and weight. Still, very useful. Thanks.
From everything I've seen, they're all between 7 and 8 lbs.
The Silver Sky core model doesn't have a cover on the back . I've read this is JM preference for faster string replacement while performing
That was definitely set up by the shop. Any SE I have seen comes with higher action from the factory… ~2mm
Factory specs are 1.7-2.0.
Immediately the side of my right hand is twitching at the thought of those saddle height adjustment grub screws shredding it's skin.
It's such a thoughtless oversight, and so many manufacturers do it.
Easy fix if you don’t like them buy some shorter grub screws off ebay for like £2 job done. Although I doubt it’s really a major problem because every review would be calling it out they’re not.
the PRS silver sky SE's are all set up by PRS before shipping? that's what they say
on their videos?, and even showed the guys doing just that
I heard Paul say in an Interview that they “added extra bits of Metal in the SE pickups” so they didn’t sounds exactly like the U.S. made pickups. makes me wonder if u removed those extra metal slugs if it would sound like its more expensive big brother 🤔. i would luv to See somebody try this to hear what it sounds like.
Chrimson Guitars: Making PRS look better since 2022. 🤣
I really like the guitar, but if the knobs came on the one I bought like that, PRS would hear about it definitely. Thanks for this video!
Thought you'd roll the fretboard edges... but its all good. Great teardown/buildup. Now I have to look at more...
Love my. Silver Sky SE. as much as my Fender American Professional I
what about the wonky knobs??
I enjoyed this. The SE SIlver
Sky is a guitar I am thinking about buying. Interestingly I have an SE 245 custom and being a tech did has you did and checked the frets etc. I only found one that needed adjusting. The rest were perfect. Mind you, all workshops depend on the person doing the job on the day, I guess. Anyway, the neck pocket would be an issue that I might return a guitar for maybe. A great video thank you. I owe a lot to your videos.
You should perhaps tear down a Fender Player plus Nashville Tele if you would like to see the world worst set up and finishing. Great concept but really shoddy in the important set up details. I'd happily lend you mine.
Great video! The attention to detail is so pleasing, at the same time you leave the viewer judge the value for money (eg fingerprint on trussrod area below the cover…who cares, well maybe some do). I think it would be interesting to try and get in contact with some of the factory workers in Indonesia. I think we assume they just mass produce, but maybe some of them really care and try hard …and watch a channel like this one
I was wondering what the price for your fine work with this guitar is? Best regards
Ben, you didn't mention the resistor from lug 1 of the volume pot to earth and the effect that may have. Were there any other small resistors in the circuit?
The resistor lowers the value of the potentiometer. The US made SS has the same thing.
That's a tremble bleed most likely. Keeps it from losing as much high-end when rolling the vol down a bit.
To be fair the PRS SE line has always been known to be fantastic budget and working guitars. Wish I still had my Paul Allender SE.
KOL Demo just sold me on this guitar!!
What was the nut material and how was the fit with the tremolo arm?
Wow!
Another Strat!
these are currently £599 in the UK, definitely worth the money, I have a SE 24 standard and the fit and finish is spot on, my volume tone knobs are straight as a die though. Might sell my Pacifica and get one of these just for the bang for buck.
I love this video so much! I like how you deliver in such a nice and friendly way especially to the newbie (I am 😁) keep up!!
I cant wait till the DGT se comes out
How did u fix the knobs
I’ve got the PRS Paul Allender SE with the bat inlays and I love it. Great vid
Well done Sophia 👌
Dang, that speedy looks so good.
Why wasn’t the cavity in my usa silver sky shielded but this se was?
Is the Great Guitar Giveaway just for UK or Worldwide?
Dose the three wonky knobs not matter or are they an easy fix
@crimsonguitars I really enjoyed the video. I don’t get the plastic tuners, they look cheap and tacky to me and if they break as you said you need to change the tuner. Do you offer this service to everyone and how much would this setup, fret dress etc cost? Thanks for a great video
Email Rikki at office@crimsonguitars.com and he should be able to let you know prices. DC
I play 12 strings ... dont think you've made one ? plus this is the first time i've seen the back of your head....really cool bit !
I just got my PRS SE Standard 24 earlier in the year and did a similar teardown video. You came to the same conclusions as I did with the setup. I was impressed. It really shows that PRS has sent QC staff to the Indonesian factory. Sure, of course, it isn't going to be the usual PRS quality, but man, the SE series is by far some of the best out-of-the-factory-relatively-affordable guitars I've seen. Though, seems the Silver Sky has a fair few more tiny things "wrong" with it (looking at you dirty finger print).
They’re also checked for setup etc at PRS’ Maryland plant in the US, and at PRS Europe before being sent to dealers. This looks much better in terms of setup than the Indonesian SE 22 Standard I bought a few years back. I had to do quite a bit to that, so good to know they’ve continued to improve - even if I’ll not be buying one.
Sophia skills are impressive !!! I am sooo temped to get this guitar ! !
she is going to be a phenomenal luthier by the time I am done with her.. right now she is merely excellent!
The pickups almost remind me of Carvin pickups that have similar smaller poles in between the actual slugs. I think they used small screws though.
Bought an SE Hollowbody, and as with my American S2 PRS, the build quality is pretty much perfect, the "cheap" overseas parts/pickups they make are actually *very* good IMO. I own guitars with bare-knuckles, dimarzios, SDs etc. and SE pickups are pretty much on a level with any of those. The only slight issue with the SE was that the neck was set with very little relief, but a truss rod tool was included so that took 5 minutes to fix. All the hardware on the S2 is far eastern as well and it has the best trem I have ever used, tuners that are as good or better than anything else I've had, the volume pots, knobs, pickups, strap buttons are all pretty damn close to perfect, and have stood up well for nearly 9 years now.
LOL!
@@joeking433 how is that funny
I tried this guitar in the local shop a couple days ago and I wasn't inpressed at all. The moment I picked it up it felt like a 150 euro starterskit guitar from wish. It's probably the type of wood used for the body which makes it extremely light but it didn't felt like a guitar. Also, the plastic tuners are a big no no for me. Especially for a guitar in this price range
I agree, it's not cool to be a PRS hater, but someone has to keep things real.... these guitars have some bad points... and mainly an awful tone when played up against other guitars.... like a high pitched crow !
That's a beautiful guitar and seems (mostly) well made for the price range.
Did Sofia deliberately remove the nut during the fret work or accidentally knock it off? It was on at the start and I noticed she banged into it with the leveling beam at one point. I'm not picking fault, but genuinely interested if there was a reason for re-seating it as Ben seemed to think it was perfect. I'm thinking of replacing the nut on my cheap guitar - a first attempt at 'real' luthiery, so it's an area I'm looking to learn more about.
Also, why have you put up the price of tickets to 6 Euro from 3? I could justify 3 Euro (read: "my significant other allowed me to justify 3 Euro", hehe) as it's "just the price of a coffee", but 6 is the price of dinner here. I bought tickets for the first three guitars in the 'giveaway' (several for one of them) but I can't really justify it any more, unless it's something REALLY special. If they were still 3 Euro then I could simply choose to buy more if I wanted to spend more! Just my take on it - please don't flame me for being a cheapskate!
Nuts are usually held on with the minimum of glue to make them easy to remove. A small tap with a chisel and hammer should be enough to knock one out.
What is the brand and model of your watch?
What are those pucks you use to support the guitar body when you’re working on them.
Triton Bench Cookies. DC