I've had this guitar since the beginning of August now and I've held off writing a full review so that I have time to get better acquainted with it. Anyway, here goes:
Body
This is your typical PRS double cut body so no real surprises. The body is mahogany with a maple cap and quilted maple veneer. Mine is Vintage Yellow with a red back and I'd have to say, it looks gorgeous. It's certainly a more beautiful guitar to just look at than my Jackson and always gets very appreciative comments. The finish is really excellent and I don't mean just for the price. The finish on this guitar stands up to any guitar I've ever played and is simply beautiful. It is surprisingly light for a mahogany guitar and the lower horn is sculptured so that upper fret access is easy and comfortable. As this is the SE version, it's a completely flat top so I don't find it quite as comfortable to play as my Jackson but that really is the only negative.
Neck
This is a very comfortable guitar to play. The neck doesn't feel as small as my Jackson so I tend to use the Jackson when I'm playing faster (or at least as fast as I get) and the PRS for everything else. Having said that, this is NOT a chunky neck and I find it considerably easier to play than any Gibson and I find it to be at least as good as a modern Fender neck. It's hard to describe because the PRS neck feels different to any other guitar neck I've tried but it is comfortable to play and easy to adapt to even when playing some complex lead. The neck is beautifully set into the body and the cutaways are so far up the neck that it's almost as easy playing this guitar at the dusty end of the fretboard as it is on my neck-thru Jackson. In that respect it really is a fantastic guitar and I love it. The rosewood fretboard is of excellent quality and the bird inlays are fantastic. I like the neck on this guitar so much that I came within a whisker of just selling my beloved Jackson and just using this. The action is low thanks to a good radius and excellent craftsmanship.
Controls
One tone and one volume control are well positioned and work very well. I'm not as happy with the positioning of the pickup selector as it's a small toggle design and is positioned so that my hand has to reach over the tremelo so quick pickup changes are far more difficult than on my Jackson. I would rather they'd positioned it similar to my Jackson or on the upper horn like a Les Paul. The tremelo system is a vintage style but I find it far superior to the ones used on Stratocasters. Quality is excellent and the action is smooth, fluid and controlled. For subtle stuff it's also better than the OFR on my Jackson which, in comparison, is like a sledgehammer. I suppose the OFR does what it does very well but if you need more subtlety, you'll find the PRS system better.
Sound
This surprised me a bit. It's thick and organic like a Les Paul despite not having the weight so I love the tone this thing has. The pick ups are HFS and VB and they're a lot more versatile than I expected. The pickups don't have the ultimate articulation that my Bareknuckles have but they make up for it in other ways. The HFS is ceramic yet it has all the organic warmth I usually would have associated with Alnico magnets. I also find it to be a hotter pickup than my Holydiver and surprisingly, it's much better at cleans. If I ever play a song that needs a warm, clean tone, the Jackson is immediately ditched for the PRS. It's just so much fuller and warmer than I can manage from the Holydiver and will play anything from clean, through Blues to Heavy Metal without a problem. I absolutely love Bareknuckle pickups and I keep being tempted by a set of Emeralds for this guitar but these are so good, I'm worried I'll lose what the guitar already has. I have NEVER owned a guitar before where I haven't had a powerful urge to put Bareknuckles in it and I think that says a lot about how good the guitar is from stock. The neck pickup is also wonderful, with creamy lead tones and warm rhythms.
Overall
You can buy the same model as mine (25th Anniversary model) from GAK at the moment for only £450 and quite honestly, that's a complete steal because in terms of quality, I'd say it's worth close to twice that. It's certainly no worse than my Soloist and that cost me about £800 in a cash sale on a model that was on runout and I still felt the need to put Bareknuckles in on top of that! If you want a double cut guitar that is beautifully made, easy to play, has incredible tone and will cover almost any style, I can't see you finding a better guitar than a PRS SE Custom 24. It's the best money I've ever spent on a guitar that's for sure.
