Barnes and Mullins

Barnes and Mullins

PRS Maple Top SEs to get major updates for 2017

PRS’s highly successful SE series maple top models are to receive a host of updates for 2017, the company has announced.

The most obvious change will be look of the PRS SE headstock which is getting a remake for 2017. The new design features Paul Reed Smith’s signature with the SE logo on the headstock, while model names are moving to the truss rod cover. The company says: ‘This change is a bold endorsement of the series, directly reflecting the company’s sense of pride in the brand and the instruments.’

Perhaps more significantly, 2017 maple top PRS SEs are also being updated with new and redesigned pickups. New pickups include 85/15 “S,” 245 “S,” Tremonti “S,” and Santana “S” pickups. The new PRS 85/15”S” pickups are modelled after the 85/15 pickups Paul Smith designed for the company’s 30th Anniversary: ‘and offer remarkable clarity and extended high and low end,’ PRS claims.

The SE 245 pickups have been updated to deliver more clear, warm tones. Mark Tremonti and Carlos Santana signature models are also getting new pickups. Both artists worked with PRS to enhance their signature model pickups and bring them more in line with the PRS-wound pickups of the same name.

Finally, the SE Santana is being updated with 24-frets and a new electronics layout to better reflect the legendary artist’s Core model. The SE Series was developed largely from Santana’s desire for more young players to be able to afford the instrument he was playing. With these updates, his signature SE model allows for that now more than ever, PRS says.

‘We sweat the details on our SE guitars the same way we do with anything else. We wanted to bring the SE ‘closer to home’ to reflect that and bring more fluidity across our product offerings,’ said Jack Higginbotham, PRS Guitars President.

The new PRS SE series carries recommended retail prices between £775 and £1,015.

Info: www.prsguitars.com.

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