frontpageRicMason posted Mar 09, 2026 08:15 AM
Item 1 of 3
Item 1 of 3
frontpageRicMason posted Mar 09, 2026 08:15 AM
PRS SE Silver Sky Solidbody Maple Neck Electric Guitar (Overland Gray)
& More + Free S&H$599
$849
29% offSweetwater
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When the fretboards start to reach their equilibrium point in the dryer parts of the US, they shrink. Frets that were "right" when they left the factory are a bit too long. It's not about inspections or turning a blind eye to problems. It's about the nature of wood that isn't sufficiently dried before manufacturing. It's also about the manufacturing environment being different than where the guitars often end up.
Maple often expands and contracts more with moisture than rosewood or mahogany.
The talk about Sweetwater is funny. They don't spend any time doing setups on inexpensive guitars. Their 55-point "inspection" is marketing intended to make a person feel confident buying a guitar without having it in hand. It's one of the myths they've used to take business from local shops.
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a while back. Zero complaints on fret work. Plastic knobs/switch are meh but I don't care.
.
Now all my time is playing this JamStik in Sky Blue. Bought direct; crazy value and capability.
It seems to me that all guitars in this range, with maple bolt on necks, may arrive with sharp fret ends.
I now own a Stew Mac fret end dressing file to deal with all my guitars. $20 and now they are all sweet to play. And in the future if I get a guitar with sharp ends that sounds good, I will fix them myself.
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If I was in the market for a strat-style guitar around $600, I would wait for one of the new gen S7 Sires to go on sale (they already did couple of times, gold is on sale right now for the same price as this PRS SE) or check open box options. They come with stainless steel frets, locking tuners, compound radius fretboard and generally highly praised by reviewers.
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When the fretboards start to reach their equilibrium point in the dryer parts of the US, they shrink. Frets that were "right" when they left the factory are a bit too long. It's not about inspections or turning a blind eye to problems. It's about the nature of wood that isn't sufficiently dried before manufacturing. It's also about the manufacturing environment being different than where the guitars often end up.
Maple often expands and contracts more with moisture than rosewood or mahogany.
The talk about Sweetwater is funny. They don't spend any time doing setups on inexpensive guitars. Their 55-point "inspection" is marketing intended to make a person feel confident buying a guitar without having it in hand. It's one of the myths they've used to take business from local shops.
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