PRS Guitars SE A40E Paul Reed Smith SE Angelus A40E Full Size Single Cutaway Acoustic/Electric Guitar with Hard-Shell Case, Natural

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The A40E has this bracing, and is made with a layered Ovangkol body. Ovangkol is similar to Rosewood but with slightly more in the mids and a brighter top end. As a result, this guitar really sparkles and cuts through a mix!

Soncially, we are in similar ground to the A50E and T50E, respectively: the Maple adds a layer of sparkle to the overall ‘production’ of sound, and this is well suited to the design and bracing. Judging from the two PRS SE models Ben has looked at so far, the company has certainly pulled out all the stops with its acoustics. Watch the video and hear for yourself what must be one of the best guitars you can currently get for this sort of money. These are the first two words we’d associate with PRS acoustic guitars, followed closely by ‘beauty’. Premium Features - Topped off with a sleek ebony fretboard and bridge, alongside a bone nut and bridge AND PRS trademark bird inlays, this guitar looks as good as it sounds! It’s obvious from the off that these are excellently made guitars. The design, construction and inlay work are all high-level, regardless of price, and the guitars all ship with hard shell cases, adding confidence to the integrity of the instrument.First off, the Angelus, which is a medium-sized Grand Concert model with a Venetian-style ‘Angelus’ cutaway. The mid-sized body should work perfectly for most players: it’s big enough to move some air and produce a mature tone, yet not so big that it’s a chore to get the right arm around. By contrast, the Tonare Grand has a larger, non-cutaway body tha tis designed for an altogether bigger sound. Singer-songwriters and fans of strumming will certainly enjoy the deep, loud, projecting voice of the Tonare Grand!

These are all highly satisfying instruments with firm, resonant voices and plenty of charm. Despite being broadly similar, they do all hold their own tonal surprises, so it is worth having a play on a few before totally making your mind up. The SE AE40E’s top features PRS’ hybrid X/classical bracing. According to the company, this design uses a traditional X at the soundhole “with classical fan bracing across the belly.” The goal is to let the top vibrate more freely for enhanced sound projection and a warmer tone.Anything that touches the string has the ability to subtract more sustain or tone from your guitar so they have made sure that these guitars are fitted with bone saddles and nuts for the best possible sound. You won’t find this on many instruments at this kind of price. PRS Acoustics Today we are going to have a little look at PRS’s wonderful SE acoustics, in particular, the Angelus and Tonare Grand models...

Under the hood, the A40E, like all PRS acoustics, deviates from traditional steel-string bracing. Instead of common X-bracing, the top is supported by hybrid pattern bracing which fuses X-bracing and classical-inspired fan-bracing concepts. It’s a system that PRS says was partly inspired by a particularly robust-sounding Torres guitar from the late 19 th century. The SE A20E is noticeably resonant, with a strong midrange and clear highs. And although the low end is slightly less audible, you can still sense its presence underneath the more impressive mid-to-high frequency ranges. As would be expected for an instrument of its size, the guitar has good projection and volume. It rings out enthusiastically when strummed; the notes are clear and pronounced, with good string separation in chords, giving way to satisfying overtones. In the early 1990s, Paul Reed Smith teamed up with luthier Dana Bourgeois to work on acoustic guitar designs. The effort resulted in a handful of new steel-strings, but these instruments apparently didn’t satisfy what Smith wanted from an acoustic guitar, and they never went into production. It might be relatively affordable, but the A40E is not dressed down in the slightest. The fretboard is decorated with PRS’ trademark bird inlays, and the purfling and rosette are made with an eye-catching copper-like acrylic, which contrasts nicely with the cream-colored body binding. The Angelus is PRS’s more modern style cutaway acoustic guitar body that has been part of the SE line for a few years now. Refined over years of making these guitars this is the best the Angelus has ever looked or sounded for this price.We love PRS' interpretation of the classic acoustic guitar and think this would make an excellent investment for a student guitarist or a reliable gigging guitar for a professional musician. Features We Love: Angelus Cutaway Body Of course, we ( and probably yourselves too) think of gorgeously finished electric guitars with spectacular exotic woods when we visualise PRS. This makes, sense, since it’s what they are world renowned for! But there’s more to it, and today we want to guide you down a slightly different path.

In interviews, Mr PRS speaks of putting 6.0 in with the goal of getting 5.8 out. To that end, PRS guitars are fitted with high-quality, tonally responsive materials for the best possible sound. We’d suggest that, even at this modest price point, the SE T40E adheres to that ethos, and is well worth a test drive soon. For those familiar with the way Paul Reed Smith approaches guitar making, you’ll be aware that his philosophy is all about the instrument being ‘subtractive’, meaning that everything on the guitar isn’t adding more tone, or sustain, it is just subtracting less. In essence, that means that anything that touches the strings has the ability to subtract more sustain or tone from your guitar.This may seem an odd statement about a guitar as nice looking as the SE A40E Angelus, especially from a brand with the bona fides of PRS Guitars, but it took me a week or so to realize that my generally favorable first impression of this Chinese-built acoustic-electric was actually giving it short shrift. Probably more than any instrument I’ve tested in years, the SE A40E revealed its true potential gradually. The PRS SE AX20E has a layered Mahogany body to go along with the solid Spruce top, as does the TX20E. The bracing inside is traditional ‘X’ style, designed to let the timber vibrate and resonate in a controlled way for great, punchy tone.