PRS 245 Opinions
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Jimmie V
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PRS 245 Opinions
Any owners of these out there. Just wondering what the quality of the build & cmponents are. From what I gather they are made in Korea. I am leery of guitars made out of the USA. Once had a Ibanez that was total junk and not worth what I paid for it. The PRS 245s look really nice though.
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Veitchy
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Re: PRS 245 Opinions
People in other countries are perfectly capable of making great guitars. Many of the owners of Japanese Fenders and lawsuit-era guitars can attest to that. Hell, my Indonesian Squire is a damn fine guitar for what I paid for it. I wouldn't let the provenance of the guitar bother you unless you have strong feelings on wages and really plan to follow through on them.
Speaking to the PRS specifically, I'm under the impression that all the final setup and QC for their OS guitars are done in Maryland(?) alongside the USA models. I don't know if they're pass/failing them at a different standard, but they're, on paper, subject to similar discretion of a USA PRS. As far as guitars made overseas go I haven't heard a ton of bad experiences with the PRS.
Usual caveats - play one before you buy if possible - all that.
Speaking to the PRS specifically, I'm under the impression that all the final setup and QC for their OS guitars are done in Maryland(?) alongside the USA models. I don't know if they're pass/failing them at a different standard, but they're, on paper, subject to similar discretion of a USA PRS. As far as guitars made overseas go I haven't heard a ton of bad experiences with the PRS.
Usual caveats - play one before you buy if possible - all that.
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HarlowTheFish
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Re: PRS 245 Opinions
PRS SE is, to my understanding, all MII lately via Cort except their SE Hollowbody and maybe another model or so that's MIC.
Also to my understanding, as Veitchy mentioned, all overseas production is shipped straight to their facility in Maryland where they're QC'd (again) and set up by actual PRS staff before being shipped to dealers. What this gets you is a phenomenally well-built instrument with the caveat that sometimes the money that goes into QC could have been spent on nicer parts stock, but the SEs are at a price point where the hardware is good enough and it's not a dumb move to pick one up as a mod platform. Electronics are pretty alright, bridges are pretty good (especially the hardtails, the trems are perfectly functional but not super great), tuners can be a bit sketch and pickups aren't great -- which is also a complaint I have with basically every PRS pickup except a couple (the 53/10 and 59/09 sets, and the HFS and \m/ bridge).
Yeah if you're used to higher-end stuff you're always gonna be able to find something to bug you, but put it on a strap and play instead of finding finish flaws and you probably won't really be able to tell the difference. Player's grade gear for sure, but pretty great player's grade.
Also to my understanding, as Veitchy mentioned, all overseas production is shipped straight to their facility in Maryland where they're QC'd (again) and set up by actual PRS staff before being shipped to dealers. What this gets you is a phenomenally well-built instrument with the caveat that sometimes the money that goes into QC could have been spent on nicer parts stock, but the SEs are at a price point where the hardware is good enough and it's not a dumb move to pick one up as a mod platform. Electronics are pretty alright, bridges are pretty good (especially the hardtails, the trems are perfectly functional but not super great), tuners can be a bit sketch and pickups aren't great -- which is also a complaint I have with basically every PRS pickup except a couple (the 53/10 and 59/09 sets, and the HFS and \m/ bridge).
Yeah if you're used to higher-end stuff you're always gonna be able to find something to bug you, but put it on a strap and play instead of finding finish flaws and you probably won't really be able to tell the difference. Player's grade gear for sure, but pretty great player's grade.