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PRS SE Custom 22 Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar

I got a PRS SE guitar for this time review and, first thing I wanna tell you is, that we should give credit to PRS guitars for the hardworks. Paul Reed Smith has taken his guitars into world’s music library like a new vocabulary for distinctive sound and playability. This PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar is a wonderful balance between price, sound, action and finishing layout. yes, Paul Reed Smith did it..

PRS SE Custom 22 Semi-Hollow

lucky i got this guitar for my guitar review. At first I didn’t even know how to start, so i search on youtube about this guitar and I found few great things to make comparison. first interesting thing is, if we turn the volume down to about 80% we will get an acoustic-piezo-pickup-like sound. So tried it and it works as it said on the review. The warm, clean tone sound that came out from the middle switch position becomes very nice acoustic steel strings guitar sound if we turn down the volume knob a little. I guess this comes from the semi-hollow guitar body and the factory default PRS SE pickups for this guitar has succeeded in capturing the semi-hollow guitar body sound. Very good. The clean tone itself has a twang, although I can’t say it’s a tele twang. But it’s in between Fender and Gibson. It’s truly amazing. While I can’t say this is for my playing, but, definitely I’ll choose this guitar for recording purposes for its wide sound range.

>> check my video review PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar <<

Next thing I wanna know about this guitar is, of course, how this guitar sound with overdrive and distortion effect. I have digital effects pedal and analog pedals for this, unfortunately my amp hasn’t come yet when i made this post, so i use Behringer ultra-G GI100 DIbox and an ordinary 1×10-inches speaker. The result is beyond expected. this guitar has warm overdrive and gritty distortion (I still can hear the note clarity in full distortion), while I can get a distinctive-fat and rich sound for lead guitar session as I use the booster. Overall, the sound is pretty amazing for medium grade PRS SE guitars.

PRS SE Custom 22 Semi-Hollow guitar

If there is one thing that might people dislike about this guitar, my guess is only the matter of taste. there are few minors about the finishing layout, but definitely it isn’t about the playability and precisions. The neck is unique, it’s wide BUT THIN, perfect for shredders but it also give a secure and safe feeling when playing jazzy chords (yes, IT IS). the strings lay very low to the fretboard and no buzzed frets at all. I guess the guitar neck is the thing which made PRS Guitars distinctive characteristics so bold.

I have Fender Special edition spalted maple and Gretsch electromatic for comparison, and i have to tell you PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar neck is very nicely different, yet you will get used to it quick and soon the fun begins. well, I did. 😀

this is a cliche but i got to tell you anyway,

“Semi-Hollow Electric Guitars are light-weighted and PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar IS NOT HEAVY AS IT SEEMS. not heavy at all”

about the price, unfortunately this guitar model is discontinued so the latest new price for this PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar model isn’t available, but, you might get lucky on eBay, and my suggestion is, take it. This guitar is the FIRST model for PRS SE custom semi-hollow, so consider if you have it, you got a historical stuff.

so far so good, if anyone have one, please share the information with me, thanks. have a good day 🙂
March 24, 2015
Muddy Pickups Mods with Caps

Dull guitar sound is always bothering everyone. We re-fretted the fretboard, changed the strings, bought an expensive equalizer pedal, even we changed the pickups with a new expensive one. BUT, it doesn’t always work that way, buying new things doesn’t take us to new things beside product knowledge. We know we can always modify things which we already have to get better results. And this is one of it. i got this from the Seymour Duncan’s Facebook

A muddy neck pickups is one annoying problem, I tried to overcome it by doing Muddy Pickups Mods with Caps and i really am satisfied by it. you know, Add capacitors to the guitar circuit is a favorite thing. It’s cheap and easy. this could be one of best of it.

There are two things you can do about this mod.

– First is wiring the .047 capacitor with the output of the pickup on the switch

– Second is wiring the .047 capacitor with the output of the pickup on volume knob

removing muddy neck pickup mod

In this post, I’ve done the first option, hopefully someone did the second option and share me some feedback

So i wired the .047 caps on the switch on my 2 guitars. first guitar is my Fender Spalted Maple Telecaster. I felt that BOTH OF PICKUPS were still too muddy while i had lowered the pickups heights to get brighter sound, so I took two of .047 caps and wired them to both pickups output on the switch. Here’s the pic:

removing muddy neck pickup Tele mods

i hope this Muddy Pickups Mods pics are easy enough to understand

for my next guitar is Gretsch G5236 electromatic pro jet 125th anniversary . Here i felt that the neck pickup had a big brightness sound difference compared to bridge pickup, so i put only one of .047 caps on the switch. my expectation was to add more color to That Great Gretsch Sound and IMHO, I REALLY did it with this mod.

removing muddy neck pickup Gretsch mods

one thing i need to improve is my video sound record. It seems not enough to justify the sound, but I assure you will get big difference when you try this Muddy Pickups Mods. and this is exactly what i wanted.

I have something to say overall about this.

this Muddy Pickups Mods is useful.

I’ve been trying to get brighter sounds on my guitar using compression pedals, pickups height adjustments and the most i hate, using equalizer bands ( i want my guitar sound like it is without any output enhancements/adjustments). this mod is significant, it removes unwanted mud-bass-like sound so the sound clarity goes on top.

so, do you like it? or you wanna share it with your bandmate? have good day, virtuosos!
March 5, 2015
pedal board Aluminium DIY for analog effect pedals

So I’ve tried few DIY about guitar and this is my favorite, making pedal board for my analog effect pedals. why does it become favorite? because it’s easy! And i consider this will be everyone’s successful first try. I really forgot to taking pictures while i made the pedal board, I only can show the result and make a list for this DIY pedalboard.

First, I took the used aluminium bar on my warehouse, and yes, it was for curtains actually.

and then I cut it into pieces. I didn’t have any idea about the size at first so i decided to use my Boss GT 8 dimension so i can put it in the GT 8 softcase.

Aluminium pedal board using Boss GT 8 size dimension

well, it works. I use screws for joining the edges, using drill machine to make holes and it turns out okay.

Aluminium pedal board

As you can see I’m not good at making things. this pedal board isn’t exactly precise, there are gaps between joints, BUT, the Aluminium bar is strong enough to keep my rough craftsmanship’s result in rigid condition.

by the way, I put used paper board below the pedal board to cover the cables so they don’t come out and messy.

I’m not using velcro, I’d prefer Double-Sided Bonding Tapes to put my pedals on the board. but if it’s not strong enough, I’ll replace the tapes with velcro or something else.

Aluminium pedal board

right now while I’m watching my pedalboard, I have some tips for everyone:

– For every DIY project, please take enough time to make blueprints. my first and fatal mistake is, I’m in hurry in preparing my stuff for next performance and I was just too excited about DIY things, in matter of fact, I’m always too excited about guitar things.

– We can also use wood, but IMHO, aluminium is great material, considering it came from used stuff. you have to buy good wood for this, you just can’t pick any used wood. DIY project is great with all-new-bought stuff, but for me, recycling used stuff comes first.

– you might wanna upgrade your cable connectors for your analog pedals. there is rumor about my cheap cable connectors reduces tone, and I’d like to read more about cables and put that topic in other posts

– instead of making one, surely you can buy a pedalboard.. a Boss bcb-60 pedal board will satisfy your needs and it saves you a lot of time BUT >>>

if you bought brand new pedal board, you will always be haunted by CURIOSITY, HAHAHAHA

March 2, 2015
MBC-1 Matt Bellamy Cort signature guitar

Get the note, Manson Guitar Works and Cort guitars have made brand new signature guitar for Matthew Bellamy, the notable frontman of Muse. manufactured by Cort and designed by Hugh Manson and Matt Bellamy, the Cort MBC-1 is taking the same body outline as Bellamy’s previous custom MB models. the MBC-1 is manufactured by Cort and NOW available to pre-order from Manson Guitar Works. The full launch scheduled for NAMM 2015 in January. This MBC-1 Matt Bellamy Cort signature guitar with a UK retail of £499.00, will offer incredible value for money for all guitar players seeking a quality and unique shaped instrument.

The controls on the MBC-1 are simply versatile. There is a single volume control, master tone and a three way switch. This controls the humbucker/single coil pickup combination. It all works together with the kill button and the overall instrument design to give you a highly creative and great sounding instrument.
specs:

MBC-1 Matt Bellamy Cort signature guitar specifications

– basswood body
– maple neck
– rosewood fingerboard
– Manson-designed pickups (single coil – neck, humbucker – bridge)
– kill switch
– three-position pickup selector
– fixed bridge
– Model Name: Cort MBC-1 Matt Bellamy Signature Model
– Brand Series: Signature / Artist
– Color/Finish: Matt Black
– Body Shape: Matt Bellamy / Manson Signature
– Neck Shape: Soft ‘V’
– Fingerboard Radius: Compound Radius
– Scale Length: 25 1/2 “
– Machine heads: Height Staggered Locking Machine Heads
December 5, 2014