SE Custom 24/08 VS : Versatile work horse at a good price, with some downsides

Was looking for a versatile rehearsal & backup guitar. I'm primarily a Les Paul guy, but PRS caught my eye as a great design — better for me than an HSS strat.

+ Individual split coils offer convincing tele twang (bridge) and strat sweetness (neck)

+ No huge volume loss when splitting coils

+ Looks nice with the zebra pups and maple top that looks like binding

+ Stunning veneers - nicely matched, no obvious dead spots. I got 2 copies to pick the nicest veneer, one was a fine tiger stripe the other a more classy cloudy/wavy pattern.

+ Comfortingly heavy, not as much as an LP but it's no Fender alder lightweight

+ Neck feels great - no stickiness, frets are properly filed, easy access to upper frets

+ Cost-cutting measures mostly not detrimental to quality (3-piece neck with scarf joints, maple veneer, 3 piece body...)

+ Vibrato bar feels stable, strings stay in tune reasonably

+/- Gig bag is okay. I've had better, but it's acceptable

- Definitely not "vintage sunburst" - the colours are more vivid than in the pictures, and the contrast is quite large, making it look cheap.

- The toggle switches for coil split look very DIY

- Nut & saddles/bridge feel cheap - luckily these can be upgraded if need be

- Linear potentiometers

Overall it's great value for money - a versatile, quality instrument at a reasonable price. I'm planning on returning though it because frankly I can't stand to look at that god awful clown burst job.