SE Standard 24 TB : Beautiful design and gorgeous sound - PRS quality for a great price

Even though it's the most affordable model of the PRS family, this beauty is near perfect. I bought it as an upgrade over my old strat clone and was immediately amazed by the handling, the design and its awesome sound. Perfect for beginners and hobbyist but even seasoned players can find it appealing.

What's in the package:

The guitar came fully set up from the factory, instantly playable after unwrapping and tuning. In the package you can also find a little tool set for adjustments and the tremolo arm.

Handling:

Very comfortable to play, I really like the wide-thin neck profile and for me the factory setup was just perfect with nice low action. Comes with .009-.042 gauge D'Addario XL strings, easy to bend and sounds nice with a lot of treble.

Sound:

Well what can I say, I'm really amazed by how this beauty sounds. Look at the official video - it's that good, yes. Pickups are the upgraded 85/15 "S"-es, nicely balanced and well defined - you can hear all the individual strings in all settings, no smearing, very clear, very harmonic.

In split coil mode you get a bright, nearly acoustic sound (especially with both pickups on), while in humbucker mode it can shred with a lot of punch. Together with the great tone control this guitar offers tons of tonal options making this a super versatile guitar.

Build and design:

I love the finish (everything sounds better in blue! :) ) and again, despite this being a 'budget' model, it does not mean any compromise in build quality.

Cons:

The only negative I noticed is that it tends to get out of tune. After playing a 2-3 songs, you have to re-tune a few string (G and B being the main offenders on my instance, the others stay pretty well in tune). It's kind of expected though with the basic, non-locking tuners and based on what I read on forums I suspect that the nut might be a culprit, too.

Thus, adding locking tuners and a better nut can be a worthy upgrade for more serious players.

This is why I gave only 4 stars for quality, however, I think this is a minor inconvenience and a small compromise to take to get such a nice instrument for this great price.

Conclusion:

Unbeatable value for the price - this is a basic but great sounding, quality instrument you can't go wrong with.