PRS have announced a trio of SE signature guitars for 2019, the SE Santana Singlecut Trem, SE Schizoid and SE Paul’s Guitar. The SE signatures are the latest in a slew of announcements from PRS ahead of the 2019 NAMM winter conference, so far including CE 24 Semi-Hollow, Ziricote SE Custom 24, Paul’s Guitar and new SE acoustics, plus the McCarty 594 Hollowbody II. As per the SE range, all are modeled from pricier signatures and custom models, designed to offer similar tone at a lower price.
SE Schizoid (Jakko Jakszyk, King Crimson):
Certainly the most eye-catching axe of the three, the SE Schizoid is modeled off current King Crimson guitarist and singer Jakko Jakszyk’s PRS Custom 24 Piezo – similarly adorned with the iconic album artwork from King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King depicting the “schizoid” man. Production is an ultra-limited run of a 1000, but with that finish, it’d be hard to resist.
Jaksyk remarked how the album was the beginning of his listening journey with King Crimson, and how fitting it feels to return to it, saying, “I could never have imagined that I would actually find myself in that very band years later, singing and playing that very song.” The mahogany body is fit with a rosewood neck while packing the same 24 fret, five position toggle-switch, 85/15 pickup madness as the original guitar.
SE Paul’s Guitar:
With the SE edition of Paul’s Guitar, PRS have fit their TCI “S” treble and bass pickups and two mini-toggle switches between volume and tone knobs outside of the Private Stock and Core lines for the first time. The SE Paul is hellbent on tonal flexibility – the setup is designed to allows players to put either or both pickups in true single coil mode, delivering clarity from vintage single-coil tones in both single coil and humbucking positions. The result is the brand’s signature vintage sound. Available in Amber, Aqua, or Fire Red finishes.
SE Santana Singlecut Trem:
Santana and PRS have created a new signature modeled on the one-off gold leaf Private Stock PRS that the guitarist is often seen with onstage. The biggest tonal feature is the CI “S” pickups, developed out of Santana’s request for the 2018 Paul’s Guitar TCI pickups without the coil taps. Elsewhere, the 24.5″ scale manages to fit two full octaves thanks to the unique PRS tremolo bridge. Finished in a signature gold.
Missed out on NAMM’s first announcements? Check out PRS’ McCarty 954 Hollowbody II here or Supro’s new David Bowie signature 1961 Dual Tone here.
