The Custom 24 is often attributed as the model that kickstarted PRS, one of the greatest guitar manufacturers in the world. This cheaper, foreign-made SE version of the iconic 30-year-old instrument distills the essence of Paul Reed Smith’s versatile icon into an affordable package with great sound, stunning looks, and amazing playability.
As one of the main guitars in my arsenal, I’ll give my thoughts on why you might want to consider the PRS SE Custom 24. I’ll also share some personal gripes I have with it.
PRS SE Custom 24: My Honest Thoughts
The PRS SE Custom 24 best suits the intermediate player exploring various styles but has yet to settle on any particular one. This guitar will allow you to explore the full range of your musicality and then some.
Professionals should consider the SE 24-08, with greater coil-split features, or its big brother, the Custom 24 USA Core model, which features locking tuners, the original 85/15 pickups, and a more expressive 5-way pickup selector.
That being said, the SE Custom 24 is a great guitar, as you can push it hard for any music you want to play. PRS was not wrong in branding this as a ‘perfect workhorse guitar.’
Build Quality (9/10)
There is a fear that cheaper variants of a company’s high-end guitars sacrifice build quality and materials to cut costs. The SE Custom 24’s stellar build quality and great craftsmanship circumvent this stereotype.
The body is made of mahogany, with a maple cap and carved to a shape PRS calls – shallow violin. A beautiful flamed maple veneer crowns this guitar and is paired with a durable gloss finish that can handle any hardships you can throw at it.
The neck is maple and made to a very comfortable profile that PRS calls – “Wide Thin.” The fretboard is rosewood with the ‘Old-school’ bird inlays.
Its shape looks like somebody traced a Les Paul over a Strat, giving it deep bass and treble cutaways. This makes it very comfortable to play with access to all 24 frets without strain.
This SE series features some of the most vibrant colors of any PRS lineup – Bonni Pink, Faded Blue Burst, and Black Gold Burst.
Although the variants look great, seeing some subtler color and non-gloss finish options would have been nice. The vibrant pinks and blues may not appeal to players who want to keep a lower profile.
Hardware and Electronics (8/10)
SE lineups have always had great hardware for the price, and this one is no exception.
The hardware on this model features Indonesian-made versions of US designs. Although these are cheaper made, PRS guarantees their quality through strict measures taken at their factories.
The pickups are PRS 85/15 ‘S’ Treble and Bass Humbuckers with open coils and double black bobbins. It is called 85/15, as it enriches the original design from 1985 and applies 2015 advancements.
The uniqueness of this pickup is its ability to switch between single Coil and humbucker sounds, using a coil split feature that offers great benefits in terms of tone. The pickups are also height adjustable, using the threaded screws part of its construction.
The controls are fairly simple, with a master volume, master tone, and a 3-way pickup selector blade. The coil split feature is integrated into the tone knob and uses a push-pull method. Pull for single coil, Push for humbuckers.
The bridge is a custom PRS molded tremolo with an integrated whammy bar. The tailpiece and bridge do a decent job keeping the instrument in tune, and the whammy response is good without too much flexion.
There is also a Custom 24 “Floyd” version, with the funky Floyd Rose Bridge, if you want more pitch control. The tuners are PRS-made standard Nickel tuners, arranged in a Gibson style – ‘3 per side’ layout. The nut is a PRS standard synthetic-metal blend seen mostly on their cheaper-made guitars.
For the asking price, all the parts are extremely well-made and durable. That said, I noticed the nut and tremolo combination struggle to keep the guitar in tune, especially when playing expressively. Although this could be rectified with a better setup, having a well-tuned instrument out of the box would have been great to handle some hard whammy play.
Our unit also had some issues with dust accumulation in the knobs and blade switch, leading to crackling and static when changing controls. It is a minor issue but could be of concern to touring musicians who have to perform outdoors or in harsh conditions.
Sound (9/10)
If you are looking for tone, then this guitar has it. A lot of it. A truly do-it-all instrument, the SE Custom 24 has a rich, warm, clean sound that never gets too thin. It is amazing how many sounds you can get out of this guitar.
This versatility is due to the PRS 85/15 ‘S’ pickups that can achieve both single coil and humbucker sounds. Using the 3-way blade switch, you can get six unique tone combinations between the bridge and the neck. All this control allows you to get the sound of two guitars in one body!
The Single Coil sound is reminiscent of an 80s Strat. It is warm, twangy, and great for blues, country, and power leads. Be it in the bridge or the neck position, the tonal balance was on point, without sounding too thin at any point (A problem often seen with Strats, where the sound becomes too thin at low volume)
If you want something thicker, push the pot in and switch to the Humbuckers for that large Les Paul sound. Full and warm, it is great for metal, rock, and punk.
One fun but not strictly “safe” thing to do is to jam the 3-way blade between each locking position to get even more different tones. However, be careful, as it can permanently damage the switch.
It sounded great on a clean channel, but could it handle overdrive, distortions, and FX? To test this, we hooked it up to a Mooer GE250 Multi FX Pedal, and to our surprise, it could handle every setting we could throw at it. No loss of clarity, even at full gain!
Who Is The PRS SE Custom 24 For?
The SE Custom 24’s unique combination of pickups, build, and tone customization makes it attractive to many players and styles.
The thick humbucker tones make it an excellent pick for rhythm and metal players who want to push some heavy distortion and grit without losing clarity. Rock and country styles go well with the single coil tones, with a Strat-style twang coming from that molded tremolo.
The “Wide Thin” neck profile was built for fast lead players and is excellent for the occasional power ballad. But blues players may have to work a bit harder to bend due to the long scale length.
This may not be the best choice for styles that feature alternate/low tunings. The tuning issues with the molded tremolo might be a dealbreaker. You could try swapping the standard .9 gauge to a .10 or .11 gauge string to counter this, but the results may not be consistent.
Wrapping Up
The SE Custom 24 is a great example of what this manufacturer has to offer for their money-minded consumers. PRS’s SE line offers some of the greatest value guitars in the world. Their fantastic build quality and playability make it an easy choice for most players who want that PRS legacy for a fraction of the asking price.
This line is also creating better credibility for foreign-made guitars and is making great gear accessible to more musicians around the world.
