NAMM News: Paul Reed Smith SE Mike Åkerfeldt signature guitar
I know NAMM is now well and truly over, but another announcement that got me really excited was the long-awaited PRS SE Mike Åkerfeldt signature guitar. The Opeth frontman has been playing PRS guitars for quite some time now, and I think it is only appropriate that he gets his own signature model.
From the moment I first heard Opeth I was in love with the tone that Åkerfeldt has had. No over the top buzz-saw death metal tone, just beautiful, and at the same time deadly tone with great dynamics. I’m sure the PRS guitars he’s been playing over the years have contributed to that greatly.
The specifications of this guitar are pretty tasty (taken from PRS Guitars site):
| Body | |
| Body Wood | Mahogany |
| Top Wood | Maple with Flame Maple Veneer and Opeth “O” Logo |
| Neck | |
| Number of Frets | 24 Jumbo Frets |
| Scale Length | 25″ |
| Neck Wood | Maple |
| Fretboard Wood | Ebony |
| Neck Shape | Wide Fat |
| Fretboard Inlays | Original PRS Birds |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | PRS Designed Tremolo |
| Tuners | PRS Designed Tuners |
| Truss Rod Cover | PRS |
| Hardware Type | Gold |
| Treble Pickup | SE HFS Treble Humbucker |
| Bass Pickup | SE Vintage Bass Humbucker |
| Pickup Switching | Volume and Tone Control with 3-Way Toggle Pickup Selector |
I love the colour and the flame maple veneer, and the gold hardware looks very classy. Some might be turned off by the Opeth “O” logo on the body, but I think it sits quite nicely with the rest of the guitar.
I would have preferred the guitar come with the wide-thin neck shape, but that’s just me. The wide-fat is still a very nice neck to play on.
Now some may be concerned by the fact that these are not built in the US, but I’ve played a number of the SE series guitars, and the quality and tone has always impressed me. I’ll be curious to see how much they are when they arrive in Australia. I hope they will be not too much more expensive than the regular SE lines.
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