# NGD - PRS SE Soapbar II



## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

I actually bought this Tuesday but I waited until Wednesday to take the pictures as I wanted to take them in natural light. I was on the lookout for an inexpensive, but not cheap, good sounding and playing guitar and I'll tell you the reason for that later. I'd been looking at both the Long & McQuade and Steves Music websites and my price range was between $250.00 and $450.00, basically the lower mid-range. I initially narrowed it down to these four:
Sterling Silo (made by Ernie Ball/Music Man) $399.00 
Yamaha Pacifica 112V $300.00 
Squier Deluxe Stratocaster $279.99 
Paul Reed Smith SE One Korina - Vintage Amber $399.00

I tried the Sterling Silo at the L&M at the Steeles and Keele location but I didn't care for it. It didn't have that certain feel or vibe to it. The pickups sounded okay though. I also tried the PRS SE One Korina at the Bloor Street L&M which was nice but I found the playability wasn't what I was looking for. I never did try the Yamaha Pacifica as I read that the vibrato bar didn't work properly and would put strings out of tune if you used it and it wasn't just one person who said this, there were numerous comments about that one flaw. As for the Squier Deluxe Strat, as with most Squiers, I found they can be hit or miss. You might find one that has nice action and tone but it may have sharp fret edges (fret sprout). While I was at the Bloor Street Long & McQuade last week for the Variax guitar and amp demonstration I happened to see the Soapbar II up on the wall near the back. I took it down and checked the action which was quite nice and the price was $399.00 which was the same as the PRS SE One Korina model I'd previously tried. I went back later in the week to try it out and found out it was a discontinued model. As a matter of fact the salesman told me it was the only Soapbar II available in any Long & McQuade store in all of Canada as he did a check of all 52 stores. I liked the sound of the pickups, the light weight and the action was just right. I didn't buy it on the spot as I wanted to check out Steves one more time.

The last time I was there inquiring about the Sterling Silo I noticed they had a few Logical guitars near the back of the store and I saw a Les Paul goldtop copy. I picked that up and tried it out and it felt just as good and played just as well as either my Gibson Les Paul or my Tokai Love Rock. The only real "flaw" if you can call it that was a slight buzzing on the first fret of the "D" string. I mentioned to one of the salesmen that I liked the guitar except for that buzzing and he went to the back and fixed it. He mentioned it had to do with the climate as these guitars are shipped in from Vancouver. I came very *very* close to buying that guitar as I used to have a Gibson 1960 reissue goldtop which I later traded for a Tokai Love Rock and it reminded me of it. This Logical LP was also the same price as the PRS SE Soapbar II - $399.00 and it included a hardshell case. It was a hard decision to make between the two but the fact that the Soapbar II was discontinued and was lighter in weight (the Logical was probably 8.5 to 9 lbs) was the deciding factor.

Yes, this guitar is very light, only 6 lbs and it has what PRS calls the "wide fat" neck. As with my PRS CE24 model I found it to be very comfortable in my hand. The action and playability are just right and the sound you can get from the two P-90 pickups is very well balanced (no boominess on the low strings and no shrill/piercing high end) and as was mentioned in the P-90 thread http://www.guitarscanada.com/electric-guitar/44834-p-90s-what-am-i-missing.html, the tone is between a single coil and a humbucker. When I was trying it out at the store I noticed there was a buzzing on the neck pickup position and the bridge pickup position but not in the middle position. I told the salesman about this and he said that's normal and one of the things to do is to stand at an angle to the amp to cut down on the buzzing. He also asked me if I was close to the amp and I told him yes, I was sitting about three feet away from the amp when I was trying it out. He told me that closeness is also a factor and it's better to stand away from it which makes sense of course. (It's my first experience using P-90s so give me a break.) ) 

BTW, this guitar is also Korean made and I have to say that when it comes to overseas builders I'd put the quality of Korean guitars right up there with Japanese made guitars. Now here's the reason why I decided to get an inexpensive good sounding and playable guitar. As you may or may not know I own both a Roland VG-99 and a Roland GR-55 and of course to use the amp, guitar and synth models you have to have either a GK-2, GK-2A or GK-3 divided pickup mounted on your guitar either with double sided tape or screwed directly into the body. Up until this point I've used double sided tape with my guitars (there's *no* way I'm putting screws into my PRS CE24 for example) but I decided I wanted to get a lower priced but still nice guitar that I can mount the GK-3 pickup onto. The photos I'm posting haven't got the GK-3 pickup mounted on the Soapbar II yet but I'll probably be installing it this weekend. And BTW Pete (Faracaster), if you're reading this and want to check out this guitar let me know. I think it would be right up your alley. Here are the photos:

The PRS in the gigbag










On the floor










A closer look at the headstock










Rear view of the headstock










Rear view of the guitar










After a hard day of being played the PRS likes to relax in the chair ;o)


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Congrats on the new guitar!

Looks great, nice burst.

mmmmmmm, P90s. 8)


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## KoskineN (Apr 19, 2007)

I used to own a Soapbar 1 and it was an awesome player. Yours look very great!

Happy NGD!!! lofu


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

sulphur said:


> Congrats on the new guitar!
> 
> Looks great, nice burst.
> 
> mmmmmmm, P90s. 8)


Thanks Sulphur and I like your new avatar. )


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

KoskineN said:


> I used to own a Soapbar 1 and it was an awesome player. Yours look very great!
> 
> Happy NGD!!! lofu


Thanks KoskineN. I was playing it earlier this evening through my Tech 21 60 watt amp and it sounded really nice.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Nice 1, I still have my Soapbar SE Singlecut, from the first run. Neck is too big for me, but the kids like it so it sticks around. Hum is much more than on, for example, a Strat or Tele but the only time it ever bothered me was recording...jamming or whatever, I don't even notice it.


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## Big_Daddy (Apr 2, 2009)

These are awesome guitars for the money. My first PRS was an SE II Soapie and it convinced me of the quality of PRS guitars. Congratulations!


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## Petey D (Sep 8, 2011)

Very nice! I'm also a big fan of the PRS SE line. I'd reccommend it to anyone. Mine was an SE Standard with trem in matt mohogany. Went into Gilbert Guitars in Barrie back in Jan of 08 looking for a new amp and came out with the PRS instead. Traded it last year for a Gretsch Electromatic Pro Jet that suited my style a little better. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it.


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

very nice! i tried a tromonti SE...it was too light for me...it wasn't comfortable...

looking forward to seeing the finished product though!


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

keto said:


> Nice 1, I still have my Soapbar SE Singlecut, from the first run. Neck is too big for me, but the kids like it so it sticks around. Hum is much more than on, for example, a Strat or Tele but the only time it ever bothered me was recording...jamming or whatever, I don't even notice it.


 Thanks Keto. Yeah at first the hum put me off a little but then again I'll be using the GK-3 pickup after I install it so it wasn't really a big deal. I think if anybody does have issues with pickups humming then a noise gate would be a pretty good solution. 



Big_Daddy said:


> These are awesome guitars for the money. My first PRS was an SE II Soapie and it convinced me of the quality of PRS guitars. Congratulations!


Thanks Big_Daddy. I agree, even the clerk told me it's doubtful I'd find a better guitar for the price and he really meant it.



Petey D said:


> Very nice! I'm also a big fan of the PRS SE line. I'd reccommend it to anyone. Mine was an SE Standard with trem in matt mohogany. Went into Gilbert Guitars in Barrie back in Jan of 08 looking for a new amp and came out with the PRS instead. Traded it last year for a Gretsch Electromatic Pro Jet that suited my style a little better. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it.


Thanks Petey D. The SEs really are great bang for the buck guitars. I'm definitely hanging on to this. If the Gretsch suited you more then it really wasn't a bad trade but I can understand you missing it.



ezcomes said:


> very nice! i tried a tromonti SE...it was too light for me...it wasn't comfortable...
> 
> looking forward to seeing the finished product though!


Thanks ezcomes. I can take or leave light guitars myself. I've got a Dillion Rosewood Tele that probably weighs 10 lbs and I don't mind playing it but this guitar is not only light but it's very resonant, even unplugged. I'll be adding the GK-3 pickup sometime this weekend and I'll post a photo.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Congrats! I have 2 SEIIs, one like yours, a red one and a singlecut soapbar se. The SEIIs have been my go to guitar since I got one around 2007. Excellent guitars. BTW I have not seen one of those red cases like yours. Looks much better than the grey and black ones.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

Chito said:


> Congrats! I have 2 SEIIs, one like yours, a red one and a singlecut soapbar se. The SEIIs have been my go to guitar since I got one around 2007. Excellent guitars. BTW I have not seen one of those red cases like yours. Looks much better than the grey and black ones.


Thanks Chito. I agree, they're not just very good "bang for the buck" guitars but very good guitars period. I didn't know the gigbags were normally grey and black. I guess I was lucky to get a red one.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

very nice!!!


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

Looks great. Congrats on the new acquisition.


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## Maverick (Oct 21, 2009)

I was looking for a used P-90 axe to take to Mexico with me. Didin't want to spend to much because I would be leaving it down there and the weather is hard on it.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

cheezyridr said:


> very nice!!!


Thanks Cheezyridr. Hope you're still playing your guitars.



blam said:


> Looks great. Congrats on the new acquisition.


Thanks Blam. I still can't get over how light it is. I was playing my Dillion PRS clone earlier this evening and even though it's not what I would call a "heavy" guitar you could definitely feel the difference.



Maverick said:


> I was looking for a used P-90 axe to take to Mexico with me. Didin't want to spend to much because I would be leaving it down there and the weather is hard on it.


Maverick, you can probably find a PRS like this either on your local Kijiji or Craigslist plus Ebay has them cropping up on a regular basis. If you like P-90s, you really can't go wrong with a guitar like this.


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

I use one of these as a tester
I can't find anything wrong with it .very nice & good quality 
congrats


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## bluesmostly (Feb 10, 2006)

congrats Kenmac, that looks great, your not helping with my P-90 GAS though:sport-smiley-002:


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

copperhead said:


> I use one of these as a tester
> I can't find anything wrong with it .very nice & good quality
> congrats


Thanks copperhead. I was playing it again earlier this evening and there are no dead spots, no fretting out, no boominess or sharp fret ends, etc. This goes, IMO, beyond "bang for the buck". )



bluesmostly said:


> congrats Kenmac, that looks great, your not helping with my P-90 GAS though:sport-smiley-002:


Thanks bluesmostly. Sorry I'm giving you GAS pains. ;o)


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

Okay, here's an update. I finally installed the Roland GK-3 pickup on the PRS SE. I wanted to wait until I had more time to do this and as I have some time off I figured I'd do it today. I still have to adjust the pickup settings for the proper height with the newly mounted screws and adjust the string pickup volume levels with the GR-55 and my VG-99. I know I've said it before but I still can't get over how light this guitar is and it's also quite loud (for an electric) acoustically.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Hey Ken....congrats on that purchase. A wise and well thought out decision. I've had a couple of these and they are flat-out good guitars. Quality way beyond their price.
I would love to check it out sometime.
BTW the factory in Korea that builds the PRS stuff is also doing the new Line 6 Variax guitars....and they are also very good guitars.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

faracaster said:


> Hey Ken....congrats on that purchase. A wise and well thought out decision. I've had a couple of these and they are flat-out good guitars. Quality way beyond their price.
> I would love to check it out sometime.
> BTW the factory in Korea that builds the PRS stuff is also doing the new Line 6 Variax guitars....and they are also very good guitars.


Thanks Pete. I came very very close to getting that Logical Les Paul but I'm glad that I got this instead. Just as a side note, back in 2001 I bought my Dillion PRS clone from the now defunct Encore Music Exchange and it was also Korean made. At the time, and i still can't believe I did this, I was briefly a forum member of Harmony Central. (I Know.) Anyway, I posted on their forum about my PRS clone and how nice it sounded and played plus the fact that it was made in Korea and to watch out for the Koreans. Now in the U.S., at that time there was still a feeling that, with the exception of Japanese made guitars, that guitars made overseas were lousy. Most of the forum members thought I was crazy and said there's no way they'd buy a Korean made guitar. Ah, how times change huh? ) Drop me a P.M. whenever you're ready to check this out Pete.


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