Santana SE?

[Snow007]

My friend is looking to buy a new Santana SE, how would you guys rate them as a guitar?

I looked at it and for 780 Canadian, it was a neck thru guitar, well built, fairly low action with no buzz and seemed pretty good.

[hippietim]

Re: Santana SE?

Boxcar Willie has one and loves it. I've got a Santana III that's pretty sweet.

[dinkyjacksonman]

Re: Santana SE?

I want one with trem.
The early one I think.
If I had more money, probably I would buy a Custom 22 or a McCarty though.

[1trussell]

Re: Santana SE?

I'm the wrong person to ask because I haven't found a PRS I've liked (prefer Hamers). But they do look nice for the money.

[Snow007]

Re: Santana SE?

My friend is between a Jackson SL3 and PRS Santana SE. The deciding issues for him are sound and price since they're both well built. The PRS Santana SE is 770 Canadian, and the Jackson 1470 Canadian. We have tried that Jackson and my Jackson and he loves the sound, but the PRS he's very unsure of as he mainly plays punk and some metal.

Could you get a punk or metal sound out of the PRS Santana SE with stock (or even changed the pick ups)?

[MountainDog]

Re: Santana SE?

If the Santana SE is made anything like the Tremonti SE, then it should be a very nice guitar. I have the Tremonti SE and was very impressed with the quality and feel. The intonation was spot on perfect with the PRS wrap around bridge (like the Santana has). I just bought a 2003 PRS Custom 22 10-top for $1650, and its beautiful and plays great, but I would not say it's 4 times better than my $400 Tremonti.

The SE and the SL3 are completely different guitars other than the neck thru commonality. The SE has a 10" radius neck with a 25" scale and no trem vs. the SL3 with a flatter radius and 25.5" scale and a floyd. Neck shapes will for sure be different, and you add all that up and the two guitars should probably feel pretty different when playing. If your friend likes the SE feel better, but the tone of the SL3 he can always drop in a Seymour JB like the SL3 has. It might sound a little different due to wood and body shape, but probably not too much different.

You can always change pickups, so its best to go with a guitar that feels good, that you enjoy playing, that looks good to you, and makes you want to practice and play...

[Boxcar Willie 84]

Re: Santana SE?

I love my Santana SE!! I play punk and metal and I get by just fine with the stock pickups. I think that for $550, you cannot buy a better made guitar off the shelf. One thing you guys said, the neck is not neck-thru but a set-neck construction. That's not really a bad thing though. Awesome guitar!!