Paul Reed Smith Se Singlecut Electric Guitar For Sale (Jan 2023 Update)

I've always wanted a PRS and now I have one it was worth the wait. The range of tones, the sensitivity of the controls, the playability are all top notch. Not to mention it looks stunning. Out of the box it was all nicely set up, low action and very very playable. I've switched from the stock 9s to 10s and it sounds perfect. I've never been one for coil taps…all the others I have stay firmly in humbucker territory but there's something about these which really work for me – putting one in coil tap and then switching to the middle position is a tone I've not had on any other guitar and one I shall be using a lot. Top work, PRS…top work…Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This is the first prs I’ve ever owned and I have to say if this is the quality prs puts out for their SE line, I can only imagine how good the core models are! I mostly play heavier stuff (djent, deathcore, death metal, etc.) and with the right eq settings these pickups do just fine. But they really shine with lower gain and crunch scenarios. I love playing jazz or doing some chicken pickin with the multiple sounds you can get out of the wiring setup. Superrrr versatile, very well built for an Indo guitar. My only complaint is the glossy neck, since I mostly play leads. But that can be solved fairly easily. It’s an easy guitar to play and it plays like butter. Stays in good tune even with whammy abuse. No sharp fret ends, fret buzz, high action, bad intonation etc. played great out of the box with a tuning. Now the only thing I would “upgrade” on this guitar are the tuners to locking tuners. Other than that for it’s price point it’s amazing!Sixstringfury

If you are looking for a guitar that can be used on all occasions, if you are undecided and do not know which guitar to choose, if you do not know which way to go, whether a strat, super strat or a Les Paul. Well, here you have the indicated guitar. I did not know what to choose, I tried many guitars, at the guitar center in Lynnwood WA, they were patient with me when I arrived and tried several guitars repeatedly, they are very kind. But in the end I was looking for a guitar that would be useful for everything, I wanted quality, comfort, good sound and versatility. Well I found it, after a long search, I called the call center and Sarah Hance attended me, she is the best salesperson, she is not only a saleswoman, she is the best advisor, she takes the time to explain, she is a professional, she always has a solution at hand, there is simply no better advisor than her, this girl should be given an award for the enormous work she does, Guitar Center should have more people like Sarah; After Sarah helped me, she sent the guitar to my doorstep. the guitar came in good condition, without a single scratch, it shone a lot, I tried it and fell in love with it, it can touch the sky with sweet notes but it can also put pure evil in notes with this guitar, it can do whatever you want, its neck very comfortable, its excellent frets, none sharp, unique details. Do not miss the opportunity to take one of these and I assure you that you will not regret itRicardo

Yes, the tonal range is great, especially the piezo pickup, nicely playable and overall looks and finish seem perfect. But, with nicely contoured access to the high notes let down by the overly large neck heal which starts a fret or two earlier than my other electric guitars. Another annoyance is the very cheap knobs which don't sit straight on the pots. I have a guitar costing a tenth of the price with better fitting knobs. The battery compartment is a bad joke of a design, as the battery holder comes out with the wires attached, you then have to prise up the battery from its contacts and the lever it out for replacement. Overall these are minor annoyances on what is a great guitar but, at this price I expected better. Oh yes, it came with a hard case. Which doesn't fit properly and with no tags or brand markings so who knows what it was made for. It did come with two loose bits of foam, one which was floating around unsure of its purpose.Kevin L.

PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo — I've owned and played this guitar for about three months now. Bottom line: I'm very happy with it–and would recommend it–in spite of a couple issues. There are dozens and dozens of videos that go into detail about the appearance, fit, and finish of this guitar so I won't bother with all that except to confirm that it is very well made overall. The magnetic pickups sound fantastic, period. The piezo pickup was putting out FAR too hot of a signal, distorting at low guitar volume, but once I learned how to adjust the trim pot for it (thanks to the PRS guitar forum website), that problem was solved and now it sounds good. It's a tad bright in my opinion but that's easily fixed with the tone knob on any amp or with an EQ pedal. The battery compartment opens easily enough, but getting the 9V battery out of it without breaking the plastic frame is a challenge. Fortunately, the battery isn't used unless you plug a cable into the PIEZO/MAG jack. The 3-way selector is garbage and I was experiencing crackling and signal drop right out of the box. HOWEVER, this is a known issue and several reviewer videos mention it so I knew what to expect. My soldering skills are only beginner-level (and I've never worked on a hollowbody before) so I paid to have a pro replace the switch for me. MF has offered to credit me the amount of the repair once I send them the receipt, so that's good. The Guitar Case — This shipped with a hard case, which I'm not happy with. When the guitar is properly seated and the lid is properly closed and latched, there is a quarter-inch gap around the bottom (see pics). That's not good. There are several (expensive) case options that are touted as "PRS and PRS-style" cases but they WILL NOT FIT this particular guitar because the lower bout is 14" wide (at least an inch wider than other PRS models). Also, it's about an inch thicker (front to back) than a Jazzmaster so a Jaguar/Jazz case won't work either.RiserGrease

I received the Black Gold Burst version about a week ago. It's a BEAUTIFUL guitar. The pictures don't do it justice. The f-holes really add to the appearance. Fender ALSO makes a hollowbody guitar, but they went the round sound hole direction, which, IMHO, is hokey looking. The sound is INCREDIBLE! I have 4 other electric guitars, including a Fender American Standard Strat, Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG and an Ibanez Prestige- They are ALL wonderful guitars, and each has its own personality, in how they play AND how they sound. THIS guitar has a sound that TRANSCENDS ALL of my other guitars. There are a number of videos on YouTube. BUT, as with the appearance, they simply DO NOT do it justice. The humbucker pickups ALONE produce a sound that is CLEAR and RESONANT. Adding the sound from the piezo pickup sends it over the top! ABSOLUTELY MARVELOUS. I was a little reluctant to purchase a guitar made in China. However, the CONSTRUCTION and FINISH are PERFECT! PLUS, the cost is WAAAY less than the equivalent US-made version. I hope I've given you the idea that this is a SPECIAL guitar, BECAUSE IT IS!Kevin

Overall: This guitar was sold as blemished. The actual blemish on the guitar was on the back of the body. I very small pin hole like indent, maybe 2-4mm. Almost ingenious. What I mean by that, is that is saved me 200.00 dollars and when you notice it, it looks kind of cool. Hard to explain, maybe a relic touch or something. Besides that, I can’t help but loving this guitar, for its simplicity, good taste and the extra birds on the fret board and lightness. Maybe someday, I’ll replace the stock pickups with something more extravagant, but right now, I’m completely satisfied. Thank you zZounds.Rodrigo

Overall: This guitar is amazing. It plays well right out of the box. The neck is smooth and no sharp frets. The pickups sounds great. I play a mix of rock, metal, and Jazz and it can handle all of those no problem. I love that you can split the coils on the pickups. It really gives you a wide range of tones.John

Overall: This rating is for the instrument itself, not zZounds. Their customer service is amazing and unparalleled. I've been waiting for the release of the Holcomb SVN for some time now. The finish is great, it's beautiful, the fretboard and neck are beautiful, the pickups are great. The flat radius fretboard is insanely comfortable! Unfortunately, there are an equal amounts of negatives. The nut is garbage. It's plastic, very sharp, and has slag hanging off of it everywhere. I doubt very much that it's properly shaped or set. It has made tuning impossible. The tuning machines themselves are also extremely low quality and seem to have a gap in the gearing, which also makes tuning a very aggrevating process. The low A# string seems impossible to intonate correctly, the saddle is maxed out and it's still registering extremely sharp. This is all in the tuning and string gauge that Mark plays in so… quality control seems to be an issue with these first run Holcomb SVN's. All in all, an extremely beautiful guitar for a ridiculous price while PRS's competitors build far better instruments in the same budget. I would return this if alllowed.Dayne

This is my second fiddle purchase from AMS in less than a year. And let me say they don't disapoint. This PRS SE Custom 24 is one nice guitar. I have wanted a PRS for many years but didn't want to spend core money. After reading many reviews and watching the factory tour in Indonesia I was sold. The quality of this guitar is on point with a MIM guitar I bought last year. As to quality I am very impressed. The tone and clarity are ery nice. Not quite the same as the US made but very close. The only thing I did change per some of the other reviews were the tuners. I also highly recommend the PRS ones AMS sells. Literally drop in replacements. I do plan on upgrading the trem to some brass parts like the American made model. But all very simple upgrades bring this so called poor man's PRS that is already way above average to better. Oh yeah I also ordered the lampshade knobs. Very nice design as well.Oger

Having played just strats for many years (I'm a blues guy) I fancied a bit of a change in sound. Watching videos on andertons TV introduced me to PRS (Both the man and the brand). I went for this model as I loved the look. It arrived in one day and has totally reinvigorated my love of playing, the bright high gain sound has made me look at new music styles and sounds, getting me out of a rut of the playing the same artists. This thing doesn't have squeal when you want it to.. my runs sound cleaner as the wide thin neck actually is a better fit for my hand than the strats i own. I've started exploring the trem for the first time too. The core tap is great for my style, giving single coil for SRV type stuff then humbucker for Gary Moore and beyond.. just by pushing the tone control, very versatile instrument. It is very bright, so takes some taming but worth it. My only minor niggle is the tuning is not quite as stable as my strats, which have locking pegs. So I plan on investing in some PRS locking tuners. Overall I love it… sounds and looks amazing. If this is how good the SEs are then the cores must be out of this world. Would I sell the strats – no, but this is a great addition and a much needed push in totally a new direction for me. Another PRS convertee……Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

If you are looking for a guitar that can be used on all occasions, if you are undecided and do not know which guitar to choose, if you do not know which way to go, whether a strat, super strat or a Les Paul. Well, here you have the indicated guitar. I did not know what to choose, I tried many guitars, at the guitar center in Lynnwood WA, they were patient with me when I arrived and tried several guitars repeatedly, they are very kind. But in the end I was looking for a guitar that would be useful for everything, I wanted quality, comfort, good sound and versatility. Well I found it, after a long search, I called the call center and Sarah Hance attended me, she is the best salesperson, she is not only a saleswoman, she is the best advisor, she takes the time to explain, she is a professional, she always has a solution at hand, there is simply no better advisor than her, this girl should be given an award for the enormous work she does, Guitar Center should have more people like Sarah; After Sarah helped me, she sent the guitar to my doorstep. the guitar came in good condition, without a single scratch, it shone a lot, I tried it and fell in love with it, it can touch the sky with sweet notes but it can also put pure evil in notes with this guitar, it can do whatever you want, its neck very comfortable, its excellent frets, none sharp, unique details. Do not miss the opportunity to take one of these and I assure you that you will not regret itRicardo

Overall: This is an awesome guitar! Looks great, feels great, sounds great, plays great. The finish is perfect, great book matched top and the Myers blue is beautiful. Feels and plays perfectly; neck is nice, action is nice, setup is nice. PRS goes over the top on quality control. It was in tune right out of the box! Plugged into my Orange head and has bright clean tones to a nice bark with the gain turned up. There is a reason PRS has a great reputation and it’s because of the ultra high quality even on their affordable guitars. Some people might not get over it not being a Les Paul, but this is just a flat out awesome guitar and will outshine anything in its price range all the way up to a super high end guitar.T.j.

A fantastic SE model. I have core models and various Fender Gibson Schecter Epiphone guitars. This is in my top 3. I've been playing 30+ years. Mostly hard rock and 70's bands and metal. It handles all of the above. I sometimes just playing it acousticly. I did change the tuners to Kluson black locking tuners. Much better.Skip

I want to start by saying I did not get it from GC. I got it from another site where they had a charcoal option. This is a review on the guitar and not the supplier. They say a good guitar isn't necessary how it looks. I also read a lot about "a PRS sounds somewhere between a Les Paul and a Strat." For some reason people hold these sounds as the "gold standard" for musical guitar tone. Now I don't know about that either. What I can tell you is that what makes this a good guitar is how inspiring it is and how creative it's making me play. I don't know how to describe it- maybe a more experience person can weigh in (I've been playing on and off for a few years) but I seem so much more creative in my playing when I'm jamming with this as compared to my Gibson SG standard or Fender Player. At the end of the day, you want a guitar that not only sounds great (which this absolutely does) but also feels great and inspires you to play out of your norm. It does not have as much rock power when distorted when compared to my SG, so if you're looking for a rock heavy guitar, I don't know if this is for you. But it sounds incredible clean (which is how I mostly play). My Player sounds great clean too, but I love the wider and thicker neck profile it has compared to my strat (I got big gorilla hands so I like a chunkier neck). I've only had this for 2 weeks but it's become my grab guitar.Robbie A

I was looking for an entry level guitar that was priced right and built well. First of all, how can you go wrong with this beautiful style. It is also very light and wont leave you with back pain after a couple hours of riffing. Tuning keys are solid without any dead spots and dont slip. The guitar stays in tune very well with only slight adjustment needed due to temperature changes. Pick up selector is smooth and not notchy. Havent used the whammy bar and have been playing with studio headphones, so sound is subjective, but as someone that has been playing several instruments for 30 years, I like to think I have a good ear. All in all a great purchase decision.oxouk

Love this guitar. I mainly play classical pieces, but decided I wanted to give electric a try for a change. This guitar is very well made, has an amazing sound and a great finish. It looks exactly as advertised and I really do like the bird fretboard. The product came very well packaged I would recommend this guitarChloe H.

This is by far the best single cut you are going to get for the price. Nice articulate pickups, even under serious gain, cool bridge setup that seems to really sustain well, and beautiful fretwork. The tuners are nice enough that I have no desire to replace them, and with the straight string pull at the headstock, the tuning stays put. You could easily put this guitar up against a "brand name" single cut twice the price and it would eat it for breakfast. Only potential downside I could see for some people – the neck is pretty thick and wide, and if you don't like a substantial neck, you probably won't like this guitar. If you have smaller hands, I would suggest going in store and playing one before pulling the trigger. Also, the wood patterns on the standard series is widely variable, from amazing almost flame-y, to no figure at all. Again, it'd be wise to see it in person before, but in any case it's still amazing that PRS can build these so well at this price point.Paul

Fantastic guitar right out of the box. Did restring it with heavier gauge because I tend to prefer lower tunings and things were getting floppy, but it's beautifully built and the pups sound great on pretty much everything. Very rich cleans and distorts wonderfully. For this price range you can't do much better. Great service from PMT too!David H.

Prior to buying this guitar I was a TOTAL PRS fanboy. I watched all of the reviews online and the interviews from Paul, talking about how he wanted to create a better quality entry-level guitar, as to not discourage newbies from honing their craft when trying to overcome the issues with trash instruments. But from the moment I tried to strum the first chord I have been progressively more disappointed. Terrible fret buzz. The tremelo springs were anchored so poorly that the entire guitar buzzed. Then while at rehearsal I couldn't play in tune, no matter how many times I tuned up, so I played while still connected to the tuner and discovered SEVERE symptoms of tuning instability from the 5/6th fret down. When fretting any notes below the 5th fret the pitch will be an entire half step sharp. So I sent it in to get warranty work performed. It's only gotten worse from there. Suffice to say if Ryan, the Customer Service and Tech Support staff member I've been working with is the norm, PRS won't care about any issues you have unless you're spending $5k on a Core line instrument. He blamed my lack of understanding of how to play guitar and excessive neck relief for the issues, and kindly offered to charge me $150 to set up the brand new guitar properly. All in all you should look elsewhere for an affordable, middleweight guitar. If you're lucky enough to get a guitar that's good quality, awesome. If you aren't so lucky, good luck to you.Matt

Amazing sound and feel, I bought it a year ago, the hardware including the pickup selector are great and premium quality, the PRS pickups sound amazing even when they are passive, I'm really impressed!Juan

Chitarra fantastica, suono stupendo . Miglior rapporto qualità prezzo. Scorrevolezza massima nella tastiera Materiali top , Assolutamente consigliata .Tommaso Cusino

Buying guitars online always seems like a crapshoot. I have had good, bad, and horrible experiences. This guitar, oddly enough, has been the only guitar that I have bought that has needed no further setup at all. It was totally perfect. Everything. And this is after buying a Majesty and a Stratocaster which did need additional setup. No complaints whatsoever. I rarely feel the need to write a review, but the quality of this PRS definitely deserved some comments. Only thing that was a little different was the scale length which I had overlooked. 1/2" shorter than many of my other guitars. This makes it extremely easy to play, but getting up to 22-24 frets… well, ya gotta squish your fingers a tad.Steve

I've had mine for a couple of weeks now and I have to say it doesn't look, play or feel like a $500 guitar. I was immediately impressed by the quality and comfort of this instrument. I have a couple of Les Pauls and a G&L and this thing is at least a couple of pounds lighter than any of them. The body has an extremely compact feel and the cut and shape make it comfortable to play anywhere on the neck. The neck itself is comfortable and fast. The pickups have a warm, full tone with a nice amount of growl with a little overdrive. Many guitars in this price range have weak, tinny sounding pickups, but not this one. On the downside, it's a bit of a challenge to keep in tune. But, that's common of many guitars in this price range that don't come equipped with locking nuts and trems. I'll change and stretch the strings and lubricate the nut and do all the normal things and we'll see how it comes out. Also, the neck seems to pick up a slight twist every couple of days and I've had to adjust the truss rod several times. Hopefully, I'll get it just right soon and this won't be an ongoing issue. I've never played a PRS before and this was an affordable way for me to dip my toe in that pool. I'm glad I did. For $500 you can't go wrong with this one.nowalruses

An absolutely brilliant guitar for the money. The finish is excellent, the setup was perfect out of the box. Frets are nicely finished, nut is cut well, strings feel nice, tuners work well, switches are smooth. Honestly the only things that do not feel like they could be on a much more expensive guitar are a small amount of play in the tremolo arm, and a small amount of play in the tone knob (with coil tap). For less than £500, this is a beautiful instrument – huge tonal diversity with the humbuckers and coil split, and plays exceptionally well. You don’t get a maple top, but you do get the PRS bird inlays, which look great!Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This is my second fiddle purchase from AMS in less than a year. And let me say they don't disapoint. This PRS SE Custom 24 is one nice guitar. I have wanted a PRS for many years but didn't want to spend core money. After reading many reviews and watching the factory tour in Indonesia I was sold. The quality of this guitar is on point with a MIM guitar I bought last year. As to quality I am very impressed. The tone and clarity are ery nice. Not quite the same as the US made but very close. The only thing I did change per some of the other reviews were the tuners. I also highly recommend the PRS ones AMS sells. Literally drop in replacements. I do plan on upgrading the trem to some brass parts like the American made model. But all very simple upgrades bring this so called poor man's PRS that is already way above average to better. Oh yeah I also ordered the lampshade knobs. Very nice design as well.Oger

Having played just strats for many years (I'm a blues guy) I fancied a bit of a change in sound. Watching videos on andertons TV introduced me to PRS (Both the man and the brand). I went for this model as I loved the look. It arrived in one day and has totally reinvigorated my love of playing, the bright high gain sound has made me look at new music styles and sounds, getting me out of a rut of the playing the same artists. This thing doesn't have squeal when you want it to.. my runs sound cleaner as the wide thin neck actually is a better fit for my hand than the strats i own. I've started exploring the trem for the first time too. The core tap is great for my style, giving single coil for SRV type stuff then humbucker for Gary Moore and beyond.. just by pushing the tone control, very versatile instrument. It is very bright, so takes some taming but worth it. My only minor niggle is the tuning is not quite as stable as my strats, which have locking pegs. So I plan on investing in some PRS locking tuners. Overall I love it… sounds and looks amazing. If this is how good the SEs are then the cores must be out of this world. Would I sell the strats – no, but this is a great addition and a much needed push in totally a new direction for me. Another PRS convertee……Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

If you are looking for a guitar that can be used on all occasions, if you are undecided and do not know which guitar to choose, if you do not know which way to go, whether a strat, super strat or a Les Paul. Well, here you have the indicated guitar. I did not know what to choose, I tried many guitars, at the guitar center in Lynnwood WA, they were patient with me when I arrived and tried several guitars repeatedly, they are very kind. But in the end I was looking for a guitar that would be useful for everything, I wanted quality, comfort, good sound and versatility. Well I found it, after a long search, I called the call center and Sarah Hance attended me, she is the best salesperson, she is not only a saleswoman, she is the best advisor, she takes the time to explain, she is a professional, she always has a solution at hand, there is simply no better advisor than her, this girl should be given an award for the enormous work she does, Guitar Center should have more people like Sarah; After Sarah helped me, she sent the guitar to my doorstep. the guitar came in good condition, without a single scratch, it shone a lot, I tried it and fell in love with it, it can touch the sky with sweet notes but it can also put pure evil in notes with this guitar, it can do whatever you want, its neck very comfortable, its excellent frets, none sharp, unique details. Do not miss the opportunity to take one of these and I assure you that you will not regret itRicardo

Overall: First off I'd like to respond to the previous reviewer. He stated that there was zero sustain with the 594. The specs state that the pickups are LT which means Low Turn. The guitar was built for the vintage gang out there and these particular pickups are not high output but that's nothing that a boost pedal won't remedy. Had the previous reviewer researched this instrument, he would have found that the pickups excel in clarity and definately have the vintage vibe. What Paul was trying to do was make an instrument that would have followed the progression of a Les Paul. Also if the reviewer wanted a guitar for anything including hard rock and metal, he should have picked up the Custom 22 or 24. With that being said, I love this model and have had one for several years. I will also be buying another one but a single cut this time in March. If you want quality buy a PRS or Music Man. You just can't go wrong with PRS..Matt

Overall: I've had several PRS guitars, from core Custom 24s to SE's to S2's. This example is an S2 McCarty 594. It feels nice, looks nice and plays nice. That's about the extent of it. It doesn't do anything to excite the senses. I have a Prestige Heritage Standard that just begs to be played and is inspiring. These guitars, while solid, are just kind of "meh". There is one thread that I find runs through most, if not all PRS guitars I've tried; I absolutely do not like PRS pickups. The ones in this McCarty are very dull, like a blanket has been thrown over them. No clarity, they're just "there". In summary, these are good guitars, but you'd really need to spend some additional money to make them great. Whether or not you want to go down that road is, of course, up to you. But no matter what, zZounds is awesome, and they are my go-to retailer. Very easy to deal with.Keith

This is PRS's version of a vintage style Gibson Les Paul. John Mayer dubs it "the best new guitar I've played in years". I say it is the best guitar I've played. It is the ultimate Les Paul. My band was in awe of it's tone. I'm surprised by how noticeably better the tone is than my 2015 PRS Custom 22 Stoptail. I thought the CU22 was amazing, but the 594 blows it away. I've owned 3 Les Pauls: 1973 Custom, 1991 Standard, and 2017 Standard HP. The PRS 594 beats them all in tone, playability, tuning and comfort. The only thing PRS doesn't have is the cool looking Gibson headstock, but that design is why Gibson's dont stay in tune.Raz

First off, this guitar is just a work of art on its own. Surprising versatility as a hollow-body. Has a very rich, round, earthy tone on clean but can handle it when you dial up the gain as well.Will

I tried two of the PRS 509s. I was disappointed because in my opinion the pickups were not as defined as my PRS 513s. First the 509 does not have heavy humbucker as does the 513. BEcause I perform such a variety of music I need Single, Clean, and Heavy. Second the neck clean humbucker was not as clear as my 513's. It seemed a little darker. The 509 bridge clean humbucker seemed not to have the drive the 513 has. Third. And here is the kicker with the 509. In Pseudo Single Coil Tap Mode it is NOT truly single coil mode. You see there is some coil sharing from the other bobbin to keep the volume from dropping to noticeably. Therefore, the sound is not a single coil sound. Fourth. Also, another sticky point. With the switch position in bridge and middle pickup you do get that Strat quacking sound however with the neck and middle switch position you don't really get that quack like the 513 does. I has to do with which bobbin is being used as the main bobbin. With the 513 there is truly single coil mode because only one bobbin is activated. I did buy one of the 509s. I thought I could get used to it or set it up different. I am still sorry I did. I would rather buy another 513. I also have a PRS Custom 24-08.(with the 498 pickups). Now that sounds great because in single coil mode they really only activate the one coil. All that being said it might be just right for some guitarists.prs32164