Following the PRS Singlecut Trem review of last month, I thought I’d bring you a slightly more wallet-friendly alternative this month, the SE Semi Hollow. The SE range has now been going strong for some seven years, and the Korean built collection now includes single cut styles, double cuts, gloss and satin finishes, soapbars and now.... finally.... a semi. Quality control issues that seemed to dog the range in the early years are long past, and what you get from the SE range these days is a well finished, well set up guitar that looks as good as it plays.
The review model has a natural finish as in the picture above, in my opinion the best looking option. It is also available in Cherry, Black and Blue Matteo. The controls are pretty standard – one volume, one tone and a 3-way toggle. PRS sealed tuners keep things stable, and uncovered PRS designed pickups provide the power. There are similarities with the USA PRS guitars, most notably the mahogany body with maple cap although on the SE semi there is no carve to the maple. The most striking difference immediately is the weight – only 2.95kg, making it playable all night. The neck is the familiar PRS wide/fat although it feels more like a Fender Strat than a Gibson Les Paul.
Time to plug in. With the pickup selector in the middle position the tone is full and open – almost acoustic, and it lends itself perfectly to clean rhythm parts beautifully. The semi-solid construction changes the tonal balance of the guitar, making it markedly different from the rest of the SE range. The bridge and neck pickup positions give more bite and with a light distortion would be ideal for Funk or Jazz. Playing the guitar through a drive channel changes its character completely. Rhythm work becomes meaty and dynamic, and lead reminiscent of an old 335. This guitar has personality, and allows the player to shine.
Full Specs:
BODY:
• Maple top and flame maple veneer with mahogany back
• Semi-hollow body with single sound hole
NECK:
• 25" scale length 22 fret mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard
• Moon inlays
• Wide fat neck carve
HARDWARE:
• PRS designed stoptail
• PRS designed tuners
• Pickguard
ELECTRONICS:
• PRS designed treble and bass humbucking pickups
• Volume and tone control
• 3-way toggle pickup selector
The SE Semi Hollow is a worthy addition to the PRS SE stable, and would be worth the consideration of anyone in the market for a thinline semi-hollow guitar. At around $1000 in the stores it may not be cheap, but for the quality of workmanship we’re talking about the cost is more than reasonable. Check out the full specs at http://www.prsguitars.com/secustomsh/index.html and go give one a try at a store near you. You might just be pleasantly surprised!
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