PRS SE Angelus A10E Review – Dark And Distinctive

Body And Neck:
Hardware:
Sound:
Value:

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Since the early eighties, Paul Reed Smith Guitars (better known as PRS) have been a big name in the electric guitar market, with hundreds of professional guitarists using their models, including Carlos Santana and Mark Tremonti. PRS also build a pretty awesome range of acoustic guitars including our featured model, the Korean-made Angelus A10E – an awesome electro-acoustic guitar, which is a key part of the Maryland brand’s affordable SE series. Let’s check it out!

Body And Neck

With a 25.25” scale length, this beautiful model’s main feature is its deep chocolate brown ‘tortoiseshell’ color, provided by the all-mahogany body. This comprises a solid mahogany top (which features exclusive PRS X-bracing) paired with laminated mahogany back and sides. The beautifully glossy body also features a soloist-friendly shallow single-cutaway, which offers good access to the high frets of the neck. No surprises to find out that the neck is also made of mahogany, with a classic rosewood fretboard and 20 frets. This neck is actually quite reminiscent of something you’d find on an electric guitar, with a mild C shape and narrow 1-21/32” nut width, so speed and comfort are present in abundance. The delightful and distinctive flying bird fretboard inlays add a delightful finishing touch to an overall great-looking guitar – no less than you’d expect from PRS.

Hardware

The Angelus A10E is ready to be plugged in, and features an undersaddle pickup with basic volume and tone controls that are hidden away in the soundhole. While this isn’t as convenient as being placed on the exterior of the guitar, it at least keeps the body free from clutter. Aside from electronics, the guitar shows off solid components, including a set of quality closed chrome tuners fixed to the distinctive PRS headstock, while you’ll also find a quality bone nut and a bone saddle fixed to the rosewood bridge. The guitar comes shipped with a set of light D’Addario phosphor bronze strings, as well as a convenient protective hardshell case.

Sound

Make no mistake about it, the Angelus A10E sounds fantastic, and gives guitars twice its price a run for their money. The all-mahogany construction naturally gives a very warm, woody tone, but it retains bright qualities and is actually very well-balanced. Projection is ample and the solid top, with its innovative bracing, makes it responsive across the registers, with a very pronounced mid-range. Plugged in, this electro-acoustic is just as sweet and amplifies the sound quite naturally, although the majority of tonal tweaking will have to be done via an amp due to the limited controls.

Conclusion

With a beautiful body, quality electronics, and a performance-worthy sound, the Angelus A10E is a fine example of what PRS can do with an acoustic guitar. Its even tones make this electro-acoustic a worthy companion for most genres of music and styles of play, although the narrow nut may not immediately appeal to dedicated fingerstyle players (even though it actually performs quite well in that area). At around $600, the Angelus A10E demonstrates very good value.

For more info about the PRS SE Angelus A10E, click here.
For more top acoustic-electric guitars, click here.