The reputation of the PRS SE acoustic line has been very good – lots of people going on and on about how great they are. The PRS SE Angelus acoustic is selling for around $650 at Guitar Center. How does it stack up against the competition? Is it worth $650? I spent some quality time with one. Let’s do the review thing.
The Good
The $650 price point is a little less than I’d expect from a SE acoustic. The materials are what you’d expect – sitka spruce top, mahogany body, Fishman electronics. So quality stuff. The neck is on the beefy side, which many feel helps sustain. It’s a good looking guitar. It has a nice, even sound. The Fishman system is higher quality than most built-in systems in this price range.
The Bad
I’m not convinced I would buy this guitar in this price range. You have to take every review with a grain of kosher salt, but the model I played had high action. I mean, I’m not exaggerating – it was high. It didn’t play very easily. Soooo I have to put that under “bad.” Long-suffering site readers know I’m a PRS SE fan. But I wouldn’t buy a model that needed the action set up as badly as this one. Your mileage may vary.
The Ugly
Regardless of the action, the guitar sounded about like a $500 guitar. All the hype for this instrument? I’m not sure why. I’m sure there are better sounding acoustics in the PRS SE lineup. I’m interested in playing one. This one didn’t play as well as other guitars in this price range, and sonically, it’s average for this price.
Conclusion
If you bought one of these and the action doesn’t suck, congrats. If you bought one with high action, take it to a guitar setup person to take it down some. I don’t hate this guitar. I just think it’s average for the money.
