horse_to_water's Reviews

PRS SE - all the quality you'll ever need.

I was looking for some time for another singlecut to accompany my Telecaster. I had decided on something more LP like in style and setup. I had decided I would spend around £500. That buys you a fair amount of choice.

I was also looking for something that - bar a lottery win - would be with me for the long haul. Eventually, I decided on an Epiphone tribute. Good reviews, US pickups, case etc. Then came the actual day. I went into a shop that had three of them to try them out. Then came the mounting disappointment.

They looked great, but the first one I tried was hopelessly setup. The second one I tried had finishing issues on the neck binding, but sounded pretty good. Then a PRS Bernie Marsden caught my eye. I picked it up and was immediately struck by how much more solid it felt. How flawness the flamed finish was throughout. From frets to hardware, from binding to tuners. A full width long tenon joint, A proper maple cap. You can add this PRS to Cockroaches and Keith Richards as things most likely to survive a nuclear war.

I plugged it in. The action was perfect. Not good, not great, perfect. Slides, bends, harmonics, tremolo. Effortless. Sustain, sweetness, darkness, grunt. The 245 humbuckers in this were easily as good as the '57 Gibsons in the Epiphone. These ones leave the factory with a set of 10's on as well.

I compared it to a Gibson LP Melody maker and an LPM, both of which played well, but seemed like poor relations. The Bernie Madsen was not only a great guitar for the price, it was a great guitar period. I ended up buying it several days later.

Now almost a month in, I am hugely happy with my purchase. From blues to classic rock and into grunge, it never underperforms. Unsuprisingly, getting Santana style tones is a breeze. Rather more suprisingly, given the 24.5 inch scale length, it can pull off convincing 'Stones.

I wear a strap with locking tuners that allow the guitar to hand at a comfortable, stable position. The strap buttons are snug, and it really does feel incredibly natural. The weight is not a concern, even though my Tele feels light by comparison.

I originally bought a PRS SE Tremonti custom. Another great guitar, but the neck was far too thin for my taste and the finish a little too gaudy. The Bernie Marsden felt just right. I have no problem with access to the higher frets, the signature riff to Mississippi Queen easily achievable.

Some may question the inclusion of a single tone knob that affects both pickups. For me, it removes an unncessary level of complexity. One less thing to adjust. If you do prefer having seperate tone knobs, go for the PRS SE 245. It is essentially the same guitar.

I am really impressed by the quality of the PRS SE range. Nothing in the same price range even comes close, and I have looked and looked. For those of you that may be tempted by the standard, spend the extra cash. You'll be glad you did.

Great bang for your buck!

I wanted an archtop. Partly because I wanted something as different as possible from my Telecaster as possible, and partly to have something I could lay unplugged and still get a reasonable volume. After much research and sitting down in a booth at Andertons for over an hour, it came down to this or a dot. The more comfortable dimensions, higher tolerance for distortion, bound neck and location of the amp input socket won out. I also have to say that the Sheraton II (dot with a party dress!) looks AMAZING in person.... ;)

Onto the Epi ES-339. This guitar has proven so popular, the price rose soon after I bought mine for £299. Other Epis stayed the same. The finish is almost flawless. The setup from the factory was dead on. The action nice and low, without buzzing. Intonation for harmonics is easy. Runs and licks are seamless and even barre chords are not a chore.

The 12" rosewood fretboard is a synch for bends. The mahogany construction means sustain goes on for days. I got mine in a nice two tone sunburst that sets the grain off nicely. The D shape neck fills the hand nicely. This is not a shred machine, but something to savour as waves of vibration travel through your body!

Both humbucking pickups have coil taps - and usable ones at that. A feature you won't find on the Gibson version that costs FIVE times the price. The pickups are really, really powerful when you add some dirt. The bridge HB can go a little indistinct and muddy if you don't balance it out with a treble booster. Having said that, for blues it is wonderful. I wouldn't ever think of swapping the pickups out for anything else. They are seriously high quality for a guitar of this price point.

The vintage tuners work very well. Thanks to the greater size and weight of the body, you're never at any risk of neck diving the way you might be with an Epi SG or Flying V. The only thing I don't like about the es339 is the top hat knobs and the selector switch, all of which feel very cheap and flimsy. The good news is, you can swap those out cheaply and easily.

All in all, if you are looking for an Archtop that can handle overdrive and is comfortable to play, I honestly can't think of a better option without going above £500.

A huge array of options - and that's a problem at first ;)

It may seem strange to complain about being given so many features and functions for such a tiny price, but the main problem with the VT40+ is the sheer multitute of options and settings you have. Nirvana for some, but offputting for others. But if you put the time in, you begin to appreciate why this amp has so many fans.

For a start, there are few amps around this price range that have a real valve in them. Of course, you're not going to get a pure valve driven amp for anywhere near the £164 this cost me, but what you do get is a clear differentiator over, for example, a Mustang II.

Essentially you have three main settings. There is a manual mode, where the switches and dials control exactly what output you are getting, you have an amp modelling mode with 11 amp types with three variations (that's 33 amp models in total!) and you have a "song setting" mode that adds effects to emulate specific tracks. And i've not even touched on the ability to add a plethora of foot switch settings and effects on top.

What is confusing is that the last two main settings effectively ignore what your switches and dials are set to until you subsequently change them. The general consensus among the best valvetronix fan site out there (Valvetronix.net) is to start with either just manual mode and experiment, or choose a specific amp setting and work within it to find a tone that suits your guitar, then save that. Otherwise you run the risk of running from one to another, never satisified and growing more frustrated.

What you get from the song settings depend largely on what you are playing. My Fender telecaster plus loves the Californian clean, 2x12, AC30 and Boutique metal settings above all others. Adding in effects like phasers for the clean or treble boost for the AC30 work well. It's all about experimentation.

My Epiphone es339 has pickups so powerful that in order to avoid an asbo, I need to pick amp modes that work best with that. The Bues setting with/without tube overdrive, AC15 and US high gain are really good. You can also change drastically the sound by altering the master level to crank the amp while having seperate volume control on the amp (and of course, your guitar pots).

The power levels this amp can crank out would make it suitable for small gigs. For the money, it is excellent. Just learn to walk before you start sprinting ;)

Incredibly versitile tele - not for traditionalists!

A genuine bargain, this is a 3 pickup tele that provides seven settings. The neck pickup is standard tele territory. Your setting for blues and jazz. The mid pickup is a out of phase strat pickup, and is my favourite; rich yet stinging. The humbucker is great for that Jack White type of gretch-y distortion, making raucous open chording a pleasure.

You have a pine body, lacquered maple one piece neck and a six saddle bridge. If you are a tele traditionalist, look elsewhere. If not, the pine body is incredibly resonant and in combination with the maple neck gives a suprisingly long degree of sustain. The bridge allows you to set string specific height and intonation. There is a gut cut which many players will find a welcome addition.

Restringing is a breeze thanks to the open hole tuners. Measure an inch past the post, bend at 90 degrees, cut an inch out beyond the bend. Insert the end into the hole and tighten. Marvellous! The only negatives on this guitar are the lacquer on the neck will bother some. It is rather thick. The coil tap for the humbucker is essentially worthless unless you combine it with the mid pickup.

You will hear a lot of negativity online about the guitar being made in China. This is the same sort of sneering the Fender mexican plant recieved, followed by the now defunct Japanese plant. Don't let it put you off. As ever around this price point (sub £400!), you need to check out a few in person before buying one to be sure you don't get a lemon.

Mine is charcoal transparent. This is not the brown finish you might see from some pictures. It looks jet black, and the chrome hardware sets it off beautifully. Namm '15 just changed things again. Before it, buying the modern tele plus was a no-brainer if you wanted a tele with grunt for a low price. Now you have the standard Tele HH which replaces the blacktop range at a more wallet friendly cost. Things have never been more interesting for the tele chassis!