# PRS SE vs Chapman guitars?



## pfizer (Apr 5, 2015)

Hi there dudes, just wanted to ask your opinion on some gear I'm thinking of getting for my sister.

She's mostly a bass player but wanted to get a nice workhorse type guitar for hard rock and blues.

Now, I wanted to get her something different from her usual; she's already owned Ibanez and ESP guitars, so I'm thinking of getting her either a *PRS SE Custom 24* or a *Chapman ML-1 Pro*. Any advice on which one I should get her? She's got small hands and she does quite a bit of that Hendrix-style fretting where her thumb wraps around the fretboard so playability is quite a big deal here....


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## The Spanish Inquisition (Apr 5, 2015)

Talking about quality, they will be just about the same. They are made in the same factory. For features I'd go with the Chapman, it has so many switching options and is as versatile as it gets. 0.5 inch doesn't really affect playability that much so I'd go with the Chapman.


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## chassless (Apr 5, 2015)

The Spanish Inquisition said:


> 0.5 inch doesn't really affect playability



besides she's a bass player so she's probably used to longer scales


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## witeter (Apr 5, 2015)

PRS SE every single time!


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## Promit (Apr 5, 2015)

Resale will be better on the PRS, for whatever that's worth.


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## chewpac (Apr 5, 2015)

i'd really like to play a chapman.

my experience with the prs se models has been awesome. they are a whole lot of guitar for the prices that they sell for. used are even better. 

they are great out of the box, and easily upgraded to "whoa" status.


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## O00Coolzero00O (Apr 6, 2015)

I've owned alot of PRS se models and they're all great. Even better when you start swapping in new pickups and electronics.


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## skydizzle (Apr 6, 2015)

I have no experience with the Chapmans, but I am seriously considering buying one to try it out. That being said, I am a PRS fan and have owned several including some SEs and it's hard to beat the bang for the buck with an SE.


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## Thorerges (Apr 6, 2015)

I played both. Overall the playability seems to be about the same. But the PRS is just much better looking for me


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## pfizer (Apr 6, 2015)

Thanks for the awesome advice guys. We actually had the opportunity to try both PRS SEs and Chapmans, and she seems to be leaning towards the PRS more, a Custom 24 in particular. It really is just a nice solid instrument. 

Much appreciated as always people


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## MistaSnowman (Apr 6, 2015)

Both the PRS SE and Chapman guitars are both made from the same factory in South Korea (World Music)...



Part 2...


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## spilla (Apr 7, 2015)

Im not sure what QC Chapman has inplace but PRS have a QC department that looks after every SE model that goes through the US.


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## The Spanish Inquisition (Apr 7, 2015)

spilla said:


> Im not sure what QC Chapman has inplace but PRS have a QC department that looks after every SE model that goes through the US.



Only the S2 line, right?


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## spilla (Apr 7, 2015)

No, the SE range.


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## stevexc (Apr 7, 2015)

The Spanish Inquisition said:


> Only the S2 line, right?



To add on to what spilla says, most of the companies getting their import from World have the guitars shipped out to them for a final inspection before they go to the consumer. PRS (even the SEs - the S2s are actually MIA with imported hardware), LTD (Deluxes, sigs), and Schecter for sure do that. That's one of the reasons why Agile are so much cheaper - the QC step is largely skipped.


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## Riverrunsred (Apr 8, 2015)

The headstock on the Chapman's make me lean towards the PRS.


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## CaptainD00M (Apr 11, 2015)

stevexc said:


> To add on to what spilla says, most of the companies getting their import from World have the guitars shipped out to them for a final inspection before they go to the consumer. PRS (even the SEs - the S2s are actually MIA with imported hardware), LTD (Deluxes, sigs), and Schecter for sure do that. That's one of the reasons why Agile are so much cheaper - the QC step is largely skipped.



I do know that Chapper's guitars in the UK go through Andertons service department at their warehouse in Guilford to do a final QC and setup. They then weed out B stock from that.

There are a few video's of Lee Anderton and Rob Chapman unloading the containers on the inter webs 

I don't know about his other stockists in the US or Thomman in germany however.


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## Zado (Apr 12, 2015)

Like said they're made in the very same factory,so the instruments should be similar quality wise.That said,a friend of mine who has a chapman ML-1 (nice instrument all around),just got 2 PRS SE,one from Musicstore.de and one from Thomann.Why two? well the first was a total lemon (many finish issues and warped neck,he couldnt get a decent action no matter what) so he returned it,got a refound and bought the other one...decent,but many imperfections there too.Now,I've no idea if PRS has some kind of QC,by sending their MIK products to the US,or if this just happens for the US market and not the European one,but it was a 2 on 2,enought for me,so ime go with chapman.


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