the box until I ’ d had a chance to spend some serious playing time with the SE . And , truth be told , I think I actually prefer the SE .
Where the SE is only available with a maple neck and rosewood fingerboard , the USA model is available with either a rosewood or maple fingerboard , mine being the latter . While the top-end snap of my USA Silver Sky does pop a bit more in the mix , adding a bit of top end quickly eradicates that difference . And in general , I found the SE to be just a bit fuller in tone overall .
The arguably biggest difference between the SE and USA models is the 8.5 ” fingerboard radius found on the SE compared to the 7.25 ” radius on the USA model . I actually prefer the feel of the 8.5 ” radius , and in Phillip McKnight ’ s excellent video ( see below ), he demonstrates that the difference between 8.5 ” and the more common 9.5 ” radius is virtually negligible . PRS rep-extraordinaire James Fox also pointed out the 8.5 ” radius makes for an easier install at the factory , which helps keep the quality up . Again , having played both guitars , there is nothing that looks , feels or sounds budget or dumbed down about the SE .
Interestingly enough , per Phillip ’ s video , the measured output on the 635JM “ S ” pickups on the SE is higher than that of the 635JM pickups found on the American counterpart . Again , my preference was the SEs , which sounded
Phillip McKnight