Introduction

Six weeks with the PRS SE Custom 24, and one conclusion imposes itself: this is the guitar we reached for by default, whatever style was on the day’s agenda. Funky cleans with the coils split, crystalline arpeggios, rock riffs, saturated leads: it does everything to a standard few instruments in this bracket reach, with a finish that borders on cheeky for the money. Its real flaw is the flip side of its main quality: by being good everywhere, it is the best nowhere, and purists of twang or Gibson grain will keep their references. For everyone who wants a single guitar able to follow every whim, it earns a place right at the top of the list.

Design and build

The SE Custom 24 uses the double-cutaway silhouette that has defined PRS since 1985: mahogany body, arched maple top capped with a flamed maple veneer, and those bird-shaped fretboard inlays that identify the brand at a glance. Our example in Charcoal Cherry Burst is objectively superb, with a deep gradient and a flawless finish. Let us be precise on one point: the spectacular figuring comes from a thin veneer laid over the maple top, standard practice in this segment, but worth knowing before you believe you are buying a solid flamed top.

The set maple neck adopts the Wide Thin profile of the recent vintage: wide at the nut but shallow in depth, it aims at comfort for fast playing without falling into the extremes of ultra-flat necks. The 24 frets are perfectly finished on our example, with no sharp edges, and upper-fret access is total thanks to the double cutaway. The 635 mm scale, sitting between Fender and Gibson, sums up the instrument’s philosophy: the tension stays slack for bends while keeping definition in the low end.

The moulded PRS vibrato is one of the guitar’s best arguments. Designed for musical use — gentle vibrato and moderate dives — it returns to pitch with a reliability that makes a tuner almost decorative mid-set. The house tuners do their job without weakness. The supplied gig bag is properly padded, sufficient day to day, without rivalling a hard case.

Tone

The 85/15 “S” humbuckers are the Indonesian version of the American pickups of the same name, and they acquit themselves with honour. In the bridge position the tone is full and precise, with a present but civilised top end: driven riffs keep their definition and power chords do not collapse. In the neck position you get a singing, round lead that takes distortion very well, with the comfortable sustain the mahogany body and set neck provide.

The push-pull tone control changes the versatility equation. With the coils split, the guitar shifts into a credible bright, nervous register: funk chops and sparkling arpeggios genuinely work, where many splits produce only an anaemic humbucker. A Stratocaster keeps more character and bell-like quality in those tones, but the gap is small enough for one guitar to suffice on stage when the set mixes styles.

Against the benchmarks of the genre, the verdict is coherent: less fat and grit than a Les Paul Standard on big vintage tones, less surgical aggression than an Ibanez RG550 for shred, but a unique ability to navigate between those territories without ever sounding wrong. That is the essence of PRS, and the SE owns it fully.

In real conditions

Over six weeks, the SE Custom 24 went through rehearsals, a jam night with unpredictable styles and a lot of work at home. It is in that context of imposed versatility that it shines: one instrument, one push-pull, and every song finds its tone in seconds. Balance on a strap is excellent, with no neck dive, and the moderate weight spares your back over long sessions.

Tuning stability deserves a mention: with the vibrato used without reasonable restraint and with heavy bends, the guitar holds pitch across a whole rehearsal. The only limit noted is that deep Vai-style dives eventually shift the tuning slightly, this vibrato not being a locking system. Picking near the bridge also revealed a slightly high factory pickup position on our example, corrected in two turns of a screwdriver — the only adjustment we had to make.

Value for money

Under the symbolic thousand-euro mark, the SE Custom 24 offers a level of construction, finish and quality control that direct rivals struggle to match with this consistency. The reliable vibrato, the genuinely usable split and the supplied gig bag complete a package with no major blind spot. Depreciation is low on the second-hand market, a sign of a solidly established reputation.

You simply have to buy this guitar for what it is: a very high-level generalist, not a specialist. The pickups, very good, remain a notch below the American versions in fineness of detail, and anyone chasing a sharply defined tonal character will find stronger personalities elsewhere.

Final verdict

The PRS SE Custom 24 is the current definition of a successful do-it-all guitar: faultless construction, a stable vibrato, an enormous tonal palette thanks to the split, and a playability you only stop noticing after several hours — which is the best possible compliment. For six weeks it made every other guitar in the house a little less indispensable.

It is for the versatile guitarist moving between clean, crunch and gain within the same set, for anyone who wants one serious guitar rather than three average ones, and for anyone stepping up from a beginner instrument. Purists of a single style — Telecaster twang, Les Paul grain or extreme shred — will stay with their dedicated references. For everyone else, it is hard to spend better in this price bracket.

Prices are indicative.

Tested over six weeks, in rehearsal, at a jam and at home, through valve and modelling amps, from clean funk to moderate metal, with direct comparison against a Les Paul Standard, a Stratocaster Player II and an RG550.