Review: Paul Reed Smith Tremonti SE

Well guys, I've been busy lately and was out of town so I couldn't come on yesterday but here's an awesome post to make it up for it!

Features: Specs:

- Frets: 22
- Inlays: Birds
- Neck: Wide Fat
- Neck Scale: 25"
- Wood: Mahogany (Body and Neck)
- Finish: V12
- Body Style: Singlecut
- Bridge Style: Stoptail
- Pickups: 2 PRS SE Humbuckers
- 2 Tone and Volume Knobs
- 3 Way Pickup selector
- PRS Tuners
- Gig Bag Included
- Truss Rod Adjustor Included

I wish a trem had been included so I knocked off 2 points. // 8

Sound: Now that specs are over we can get on with the review. Personally the stock pickups sounded great, which I did not expect at all. The instrument was very well made, which surprised me.  It has suits most styles of music. I haven't found anything it couldn't tackle. .

If you play the guitar through a clean channel, it sounds like a higher being has putTremonti's actual clean tone in your hands (In Loving Memory, One Last Breath, etc). I love the clean tone on that guitar.

If you enjoy hard rock or metal, this guitar can handle any sort of hi gain settings you throw at it without sacrificing tone. I didn't expect anything less. If you haven't heard the hi gain riffs Mark plays, listen to White Knuckles or Ties That Bind. It can easily reproduce those sounds without sacrificing clarity. I know a lot of your tone comes from your amp, settings, etc, but I really think in Tremonti's case, his guitar has a hell of a lot to do with it. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: I had an issue with this part. There were a lot of muted frets. It has seriously pissed me off . Also, the nut is awful. If you get this guitar, buy a PRS graphite nut. When tuned down to lower tunings, the nut creaks. For example, say you do a bend on the higher strings, you'll hear creaking sound due to the nut and you'll have to replace it right away. If not, it keeps creaking and eventually the guitar will not stay in tune.

The pickups were perfectly adjusted. I was surprised they sounded as good as they did for SE humbuckers. There were literally no flaws in setup, wood, anything, except the damn nut. That nut and muted frets (Musicians Friend caused that sh*t) are knocking off 3 points. Other than that, it's amazing.

Musicians Friend even sent a little piece of paper saying that the guitar most likely had a warped neck due to shipping. I don't know if this is always the case and they ship that with every guitar, but it certainly was warped and no amount of truss rod adjusting did the job.// 7

Reliability & Durability: The guitar is rock solid. The hardware is fine. I hate that the chrome does start to fade. My palm rests on the stoptail and it has started to fade. I would definitely use this guitar without a back up. No need for another. I think the finish will last a very long time. // 9

Impression:  It fits perfectly for  hard rock. But if you play anything hard, don't let that stop you. It will be able to handle it. Honestly this has everything I wanted in a guitar (minus the tremolo) so it fits my needs as a musician. But if you had the cash, you should get the full Tremonti model, because I honestly cannot fathom how PRS can sell such excellent instruments at such low prices (SE Line). I've played a lot of high end guitars and this SE has easily trumped those. I can't imagine how the actual Tremonti sounds and feels.

I really liked how smooth the neck was. The headstock has always looked really cool. My favorite feature isn't a big deal, but the bird inlays are sick. I really wish it had a tremolo with a locking nut. If you've been holding off, don't. It's f***ing awesome. // 9