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PRS SE basses!

#81
BurningSkies said:
I speak as a former owner of a PRS bass. I don't know why they do such a nice job on the guitars in terms of design, sculpting and aesthetics and haven't ever put the same amount of effort into the basses. The exception is the handful of early shop-PRS basses and the Granger which was never a real large production model as far as I can tell. Side stepping some of the tonal problems of the past series of PRS, it would be nice if these didn't look like an afterthought or like every other cookie-cutter import slab.

My PRS played and felt amazingly good...to me it lacked in the looks and design and had some very obvious issues with the electronics and end sound.
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Yeah, that was my experience as well. I had #40 (since sold) and while it felt nice and sure got a lot of sounds, I didn't find any of them to be all that pleasing. The finish was, well, vanilla. The moon phases inlays were actually pretty cool and understated. But overall it didn't really scream PRS. I wanted to like this bass but in the end I just never used it.

That said, I think that doing a SE series for bass is a cool idea. An SE 5-string Grainger would be very tempting!

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#82
While I wish they came out with 5 string versions right away, at least they say in their intro "now offering its first two basses through the popular SE line" so that's encouraging.
A Grainger SE would be great but it might be too pricey for an SE, I think an S2 series Grainger in the mid teens would sell. The Kestrel sounds huge for passive singles.
 
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#83
Man, I was expecting so much more from PRS. Their guitars are arguably the best buy on the market, yet these basses are really underwhelming. I mean, yeah, the Kestrel sounds pretty and all - but it's not a sound you can't get from similar basses in that price range or lower. And the Kingfisher does nothing for me either.

I'm sure there are people out there who will love them though, different strokes and all that.
 
#85
ozzyismetal said:
Man, I was expecting so much more from PRS. Their guitars are arguably the best buy on the market, yet these basses are really underwhelming. I mean, yeah, the Kestrel sounds pretty and all - but it's not a sound you can't get from similar basses in that price range or lower. And the Kingfisher does nothing for me either.

I'm sure there are people out there who will love them though, different strokes and all that.
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Just curious, have you seen their Grainger basses?
 
#86
An active bass wasn't on my radar, ash isn't my body wood of choice, neck-thru can be "iffy", and poly necks aren't typically my cup of tea.

All that said: I have a black Kestrel on order from SW. ETA (there) first week in August - in my hands within a week of that. I'll post then...
 
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#88
SlingBass4 said:
An active bass wasn't on my radar, ash is not my body wood of choice, neck-thru can be "iffy", and poly necks aren't always my cup of tea.

All that said: I have a black Kestrel ordered from SW. ETA (there) is first week in August - in my hands within a week of that. We shall see...
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Two questions:

1) Why did you post the same thing twice about 10 minutes apart?
2) Why do you think a neck-thru joint can be "iffy?"
 
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#90
SlingBass4 said:
1) Don't know why that happened. Fixed.
2) There's no such thing as a neck-thru joint.

This bass shouldn't have made an impression on me - but it did. I've been known to go against my own grain from time to time ;)
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You ducked the question about what you usually don't like about neck-thru and instead gave a snarky answer. (Which is fine, but I was hoping for some actual, meaningful insight) I would still like your thoughts, but let me also respond in kind: if there is no such thing as a neck-thru joint, how do you suppose they attach the body wings?
 
#95
MoeTown1986 said:
Ahh, I read it as "an active bass wasn't on my radar, but I ordered this one anyway." My bad.
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That's how I read it too...he listed all the stuff he wasn't looking for that supposedly was featured on the new bass:
"An active bass wasn't on my radar, ash isn't my body wood of choice, neck-thru can be "iffy", and poly necks aren't typically my cup of tea."
 
#97
Sadly, I'll be canceling my Kestrel order. Upon calling PRS I was informed it was no misprint that the neck radius IS 7.5". That's going back to the 60's IMO & IME. Nothing wrong with that IF that's what you're used to, or you like, or accepting of...but it's a deal breaker for me. As most of my basses over the last 10 years have been parts basses, and to my needs and tastes - it just doesn't fill the bill for what I'm wishing. I can deal with 9.5", 10", with 12" seeming to be my preferred radius these days. To all that have ordered (or will) - I wish you good fortune. I'll keep an eye to the feedback for these instruments when they start arriving. I have to believe there will be many folks that do find them a fit, and (hopefully) will serve them well. Lord knows the price is right.
 
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#98
SlingBass4 said:
Sadly, I'll be canceling my Kestrel order. Upon calling PRS I was informed it was no misprint that the neck radius was 7.5". That's going back to the 60's IMO & IME. Nothing wrong with that IF that's what you're used to, or you like, or accepting of...but it's a deal breaker for me. As most of my basses over the last 10 years have been parts basses, and to my needs and tastes - it just doesn't fill the bill for what I'm wishing. I can deal with 9.5", 10", with 12" seeming to be my preferred radius these days. To all that have ordered (or will) - I wish you good fortune. I'll keep an eye to the feedback for these instruments when they start arriving. I have to believe there will be many folks that do find them a fit, and (hopefully) will serve them well. Lord knows the price is right.
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Awe, man! I was looking forward to your review. Well, at least you caught the misprint early.
 

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