Find Your

So I've been spiraling over guitar picks again. Seems like my aggressive alternate picking and overall heavy hand just couldn't keep up with most picks.

And when I was at a local Guitar Center, I had it narrowed down to this and the 1mm. I told the shop assistant my conundrum at the till, and one of his coworkers chimed in saying in so many words: "If you're an aggressive player, get the 1.5mm Flows."

And he was right. At first try I was shocked that Tortex could be this thick, and that I didn't feel the chalky sensation I've felt from other Tortex picks when they were new. But the results have been amazing! I've been able to play as hard as I typically do, and it hasn't worn down much at all! Thank you, random background Guitar Center employee eavesdropping!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the "a" version, which means the new adjustable neck. I have the one that come out before this, that is named the same thing, but with the standard dual action truss rod.

I love it. Rich sound. Good bottom, delicate cedar sounding top end. good resonance and sustain. Comfortable matte satin finish on the neck. They call the neck profile a "soft V" but honestly it feels like a C shape. It's comfortable and there is no ridge from a V. It's built well, the hard case is light and works well. This has been on my GAS list for a long time, and I finally got one. With tax this would have ran me $3933 new, but I got this in very good used shape for $1988 (including tax and shipping) The best deal on reverb at the time. I have seen the Stonebridge version (non-master's choice) go for ~$1300, but those don't show up much.

TLDR the hype is real, these are amazing professional instruments that are truly beautiful in sound and feel. It's the most expensive thing I've ever bought (other than my car) but I'm very happy with it.

Life is short, buy the guitar!

So these were selling new for like, less than 500 bucks about a year or so ago? And of course because of tariffs and the global economy and world being the way it is, everyone had to increase prices. BUT EVEN STILL this guitar is like, A LOT of guitar for the money. I've owned the trem version of these and realized in a cover band where I constantly go back and fourth from Drop D to Standard and vice versa on a floating trem sucks... Like it really sucks. Great guitar, the satin finish feels amazing, the neck is fast but not uncomfortably small. The tuners are different with this model, they actually feel and function better than the old SE tuners which is wild me saying that. The electronics are great, real orange drop capacitors, full sized pots, great feeling switch. Only thing I think could be subbed out here are the pickups but that's like, really to taste. I don't like 85-15 S pickups, I prefer an Alnico II snarl but again, for what they are, they are pretty fantastic. The stop tail bridge is different from older PRS SE models, they are Aluminum but with brass slots where the strings rest. and you can audibly hear the result from that. The guitar acoustically is loud and bright (in a good way) with the bridge, plus it has brass posts which make a difference in terms of sustain. Great choices all around. I swapped my bridge out with a WIlkinson Wraparound bridge (the one with individual saddles you can adjust... I use a weird string gauge) and unlike older SE's where you have to swap out the post, this one is a literal drop in replacement. Amazing, no notes. I play in a professional cover band, and I would not think twice about playing this guitar for a full blown 4 hour gig... Stock! The setup is amazing, frets are perfect and the factory setup out of PRS is perfect. Seriously, for about $550 bucks you get a pro level instrument you don't need to upgrade. I could literally take it out of the box, tune it up, plug into the rack and play a set comfortably. Would recommend the stop tail if you are a player that doesn't need a whammy bar and trem system. If you need a rock solid, grip it and rip rock machine you can legit tour with but also don't have enough money to pay for a big boi guitar without a years worth of plasma donations, grab this guy! Oh and being over 40 with 4 kids, this thing is stupid light and great on your back. It weighs less than my Gibson SG and doesn't have neck dive. Okay I'm done, I swear!

When I acquired this pedal I was as excited as a child on Christmas morning. But with extended use and as soon as regency bias had faded I asked myself: "Do I really need this?". The answer was unfortunately no. It's a fun pedal, don't get me wrong, but I can hardly think of a practical use case that warrants the hefty price tag and the even more hefty 1000 mA current it needs from your board. The lack of a blend knob on the harmonizer function means that the harmonies absolutely overpower your clean notes. The "detune" function (which i experienced as just chorus) are nice but carry a large flaw. The pedal, being a pitch shifter, is meant to go at the front of your board and chorus should go almost last which makes the function nearly unusable with other effects.

Tldr. It's fun for going "Weeeeeee" but lacks the practicality for most pedal boards that a bassist would reasonably use.