The Mod Squad
With modding in mind, Dave Burrluck evaluates a new PRS SE. But has he met his match?
Can you make a good guitar a great guitar? Well, if we had the answer to that, as Del Boy would have said, we’d all be millionaires. For us modders, making an instrument a little better – its looks, playability and sound – is the best we can hope for, isn’t it? When PRS Europe wondered if we’d like to put a new SE Starla Stoptail through our modding mangle we obviously accepted. Even before the guitar arrived, we began to wonder what upgrades we might perform… but then the actual guitar turned up and it’s damn-near perfect. £599 with a good gigbag? It’s a steal!
Guitars such as the Starla and the Mira were developed to access a different audience, and pulling this one from its gigbag it’s certainly a far cry from the ‘posh’ aesthetic that PRS is known for. While the Mira chased more of a thinnerbody all-mahogany SG-alike vibe, the Starla (originally offered with a Bigsby) screamed retro alt-rock. In its original USA Core level and later S2 version it was an enjoyable instrument.
But the new SE version is a hardtail and, despite its name, it goes for a classic tune-omatic bridge/stud tailpiece combo rather than the actual wrapover PRS Stoptail. While high-end Core 594 models – along with the just-announced new S2 versions – use PRS’s own-design version of this classic two-piece setup, the SE Starla is the only current PRS with this more generic pairing: a ‘Nashville’-style tune-omatic bridge and a standard stud tailpiece. For us modders, this is excellent news.
Like Leo’s classic blueprints, there’s a modular aspect to the Starla that also plays a big part in its appearance: the large 11-screw scratchplate onto which all the electrics are mounted, with the exception of the side-mounted output jack. While this might make assembly in production a little more efficient, it’s a right pain for us modders. It’s a set-neck guitar not a bolton, so whereas with a Strat, for example, you can quickly capo at the 1st fret, slacken the strings and unscrew the neck, unscrew the scratchplate, do your mods and then reassemble with the same strings, the Starla isn’t that easy. You can still slacken the strings, again capo’ing at the 1st fret, and unscrew the stud tailpiece, but that’s quite a faff. In short, even to check what pots and caps are used, or whether there’s a treble-bleed circuit, let alone swap pickups, it’s not easy. Hmm.
But straight out of its gigbag, just how does it sound? First off, it’s a great weight, at just 2.91kg (6.4lb), and the Wide Fat neck is still one of the best shapes out there, combining girth with lightly V’d shaping in lower positions. There’s a generous unplugged ring with a little evident midpush. The guitar differs from any other SE with its pair of DS-02 humbuckers (the ‘DS’ stands for dual slug, referring to the second row of slugs visible through the cover that, in a PAF, for example, would be hidden). The stylistic reference is Gretsch-y but compared with a pair of TV Jones’ TV Classics they’re hotter; the neck especially is thicker, but there’s a good nasally bite at the bridge. A pull/push pot voices the slug single coils of both, which produces a lower-output voice that’s quite detailed with an almost acoustic-like high-end, especially with both pickups on. The TV Classics actually seem to sit between these two voices. Aside from that
“Stylistically and as a player, the Starla hits the spot, but it struggled during a recording project on a couple of levels”
coil-split function, the controls are simple: master volume and tone plus a three-way lever switch. It seems to sit in a vintage-y clean-to-crunch setting nicely. Headstock and bird inlays aside, there’s a very retro vibe from the lightly sparkly finish and that sizeable scratchplate.
Stylistically and as a player, the Starla hits the spot, but it struggled during a recording project on a couple of levels. Every time I tried a part I was not sure whether it was the sound or the actual part that wasn’t quite sitting right. I also seemed to be checking my tuning more than usual. Double hmm.
I’m sure many of you will have experienced the fact that some guitars
sound more in-tune than others. Some guitars need constant tuning adjustment; others you tune and they stay in for ages. But this Starla is a new guitar built to a low price, so let’s not pretend otherwise. Rather than being disappointed with our ‘purchase’, how do we chase down the issues? Well, it’s about eliminating actual or potential problems.
One avenue is to replace the generic parts – tuners, bridge, tailpiece – with higher-grade retrofits. That’s not going to be cheap and, as regular readers know, we don’t like spending money unless it’s really necessary. That said, PRS has just released a very smart set of locking tuners for its SEs, and although not really necessary on a hardtail guitar they do make string changes easier and prevent any string slippage,
“I’ve learned a lot about this new guitar, it’s all working as it should, and to my ears a good guitar is sounding better already”
especially if we’re going to be slackening and re-tightening strings while we perform other mods. As I said, constantly removing that stud tailpiece is a pain, but simply fitting Tone Pros locking studs means that it’s a lot quicker. Time is money. Fitting those parts, then, is very easy and not a huge outlay – and while I’m at it I can investigate what’s under the hood.
The circuit is standard PRS in that it’s used on plenty of its guitars including the S2 line (you’ll find the schematic here: http://bit.ly/457prsmod). So we have Alpha 500k audio pots, and the tone is a pull-push for the coil splits, which are PRS’s partial splits with a 1.1kohm resistor on the bridge pickup and a 2.2k on the neck. Then there’s PRS’s standard 180 picofarad treble bleed capacitor on the volume and a .033 microfarad tone cap wired modernstyle. The block-style five-way lever switch has a Cor-Tek logo. All standard stuff. Pickups for the SE line are now apparently sourced in Indonesia, although PRS prefers to keep the source to itself, and aside from checking the DCRs, there’s little more we can surmise.
So with new strings, checking through the intonation on a Peterson Strobe, I begin to fine-tune the intonation at the saddles. They are pre-notched and there’s a bit of a hump on some, so the string isn’t actually speaking from the front of the saddle as it should. A little work with a razor saw or fine file soon has the strings sitting properly. The nut is nicely cut and there’s no obvious issues, so I leave that alone. Don’t be afraid to use your ears to finally sweeten the intonation.
A little while later I’m happy. I’ve learned a lot about this new guitar, it’s all working as it should, and – not for the first time with this attention to detail, not to mention the new parts – to my ears a good guitar is sounding better already. Time to consider what I’m hearing through my amp. Maybe we can make it great?