PRS Guitars continues its 40th Anniversary celebrations by releasing new models every month and March welcomes four of its SE range of electric guitars refinished in exotic wood veneers – and there’s a small but significant update to the SE Swamp Ash, which now has five-way pickup switching
The SE Exotic Veneer lineup is a limited edition run comprising the PRS SE DGT Laurel Burl in McCarty Tobacco Sunburst, the PRS SE McCarty 594 Laurel Burl in Vintage Sunburst, the PRS SE Custom 24 Burled Ash in Lake Blue and Natural, and the SE Custom 24-08 Poplar Burl in Charcoal Cherry Midnight Burst and Lake Blue Midnight Burst.
Don’t expect these to stick around. That PRS SE McCarty 594 Laurel Burl? Just take a look at that finish in close-up below. It’s bougie all right, and they are only making 500 of them. David Grissom’s signature guitar wears that McCarty Tobacco Sunburst laurel veneer nicely too.
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These are not just PRS Guitars in celebration mode, opening another bottle of bubbly to mark its ruby anniversary. They are a mark of how far the Stevensville, Maryland high-end electric guitar brand’s relationship with Cor-Tek in Indonesia has matured over the years, and the rude health the SE line finds itself right now.
Jack Higginbotham, COO, PRS Guitars, describes Cor-Tek’s Indonesian team responsible for building the SE line in partnership with PRS as an “elite group”.
“This is a team that enjoys pushing boundaries and exploring new ideas and our guitars reflect that passion and enthusiasm. Our visits almost always yield new ideas,” he says. “When I saw their library of veneers on a recent trip, I knew we could build some really special guitars with them. These guitars are going to turn some heads. The natural designs in the wood create ‘aesthetic arrest’ from the first look.”
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Besides the exotic wood veneers, these limited edition models will share the same key specs as their equivalents in the SE lineup.
The SE Custom 24-08 Poplar Burl Limited Edition’s highlights include TCI “S” pickups and the expanded electronics that offers eight core sounds from its pair of mini-toggle switches and three-way pickup switching. It has a 25” scale, a solid mahogany body, and a Wide Thin glued-in maple neck.
As far as fingerboards go, it’s rosewood all the way. You will find bird inlays on all these models.
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There are coil-taps on the SE Custom 24 Burled Ash, too, teasing plenty of tone out of its 85/15 “S” humbucker pairing.
Likewise, the DGT, which hews close to Grissom’s regular model with the signature “S” humbuckers controlled by three-way switching and push/pull tone control. It is installed with the highly respectable PRS Patented Tremolo system, the Smoked Black hardware complementing that dark burst finish nicely.
Finally, the McCarty 594 doubles up with the push/pull coil splits on both its tone controls, again making full use of both coils on its 58/15 “S” humbucker pairing.
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As for the SE Swamp Ash Special, well, check out the demo video above. With those snappy single-coil tones from the expanded switching setup, has this HSH doublecut ever sounded as good? You’ve got the bolt-on maple neck and maple fingerboard, with the abalone bird inlays adding a bit of bling.
The SE Exotic Veneer Series is available now, priced from £999 $949 street. For more details, head over to PRS Guitars.
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