EL JEFE

[User 306]

Well, my pics weren't to detailed bad lighting and I suck at taking pics. But trust me gents, the play is very, very minimal. I'll put it this way. If anyone has a RazoRock Hawk in SS, the blade fits over those tabs precisely. The MR-SE fits almost as precise as that. When I get home later today I'll try to post some comparison pics. Hopefully when @Dragonsbeard receives his he can post some clearer pics with more details than mine. But again, it was much easier loading the blade and shaving with it was just a bit better. Oh, and I used a Schick Proline in the El Jefe II.....

Gus that makes me feel a little better I just felt that if they made a new version there shouldn't be any play in there since that was the problem people were complaining about with the older version. When I get it I'll take a day or two to give it a try and if it's not what I expect I may return it and look in other directions to like a ATT SE 1 or 2.

As far as photos goes your's are always good! Don't short change yourself my friend! Believe me I'm no pro! lol

 

[rabidus]

Shave is in. Got a 2 pass plus extended buffing that gave me an outstanding BBS shave with the MR-SE. Now, the original El Jefe gives me just as good a shave. BBS results almost everytime. The shave quality is nearly identical out of both razors. So, what's the difference? You don't have to fiddle with the MR-SE as you do with the El Jefe. Drop your blade in, just tilt it back to make sure the blade is against the blade tabs and place the bottom plate on, tighten up. Locks in place firmly and securely. I will say that I feel a bit more smoothness out of the MR-SE compared to the El Jefe, while still being efficient and maintaining a mid-aggressive feel. Once in a while I would have to stop mid shave with the El Jefe because it just felt I hadn't aligned it right. I assembled and disassembled the MR-SE at least 8-10 times and it pretty much was aligned every time. Much better fitment and closer tolerances on the MR-SE head. Still a tiny bit of play, but it is very, very small.

Overall I consider it an improvement over the original El Jefe. It shaves slightly smoother while still being efficient with decent blade feel. It is better finished and the fitment has been cleaned up very nicely. It's a better quality piece imo. Would I recommend it? Absolutely without any hesitation. Old El Jefe veterans will take to this new MR-SE and find it to be an excellent razor that finally eliminates for the most part the nervousness of setting up the razor properly as you have to do with the El Jefe. Those that were nervous or afraid of trying out the El Jefe, fear no more. The new and improved El Jefe II will give you a satisfying and close shave without any apprehension of carving your face up like a turkey on Thanksgiving Day. Thumbs up on the MR-SE from Ikon...

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Nice review!

I won't have mine until tomorrow, I think it's arriving by horseback...

 

[rabidus]

Oh, and I used a Schick Proline in the El Jefe II.....

 

[GlazedBoker]

Nice review!

I won't have mine until tomorrow, I think it's arriving by horseback...

LOL!!!!

 

[imcnok]

i got mine today and paired it with an above the tie kronos handle

 

[Fenwayfan77]

Mail delivery changed to Monday for me. Meh


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rabidus]

I'm at work but tracking shows mine delivered. I will give it a go in the morning.

 

[rabidus]

Soooo, I inspected/played with the Mr SE and here are my findings!

When the blade was placed on the El Jefe cap, the blade could be moved forward, back, or even diagonal and when you placed the baseplate on, it had the same movement. So you had to align the blade and the baseplate.

When you place the blade on the Mr SE cap, it will align perfectly every time and not move! The baseplate however, still moves back and forth. The amount of play could be about the same as the difference between the size of the Feather Pro and Pro Super.

I saw many reviews of people saying they hope it is still adjustable and it is, basically two settings. Not sure if it is by design or not.

With the El Jefe, I had to use my fingernail to push the blade back while holding cap and baseplate where I wanted. I no longer have to use my fingernail, the blade perfectly aligns with the cap no matter what. There's a lot less play on the Mr SE.

If you put the razor together without paying attention to it, it should be fine as the blade will always be straight with the cap and there's not much play between the cap and baseplate to be harmful but may be noticed by the initiated.

The Mr SE is not ATT SE1 and SE2 extremely tight perfect tolerances, but it's better than the El Jefe.

Shave coming in the morning.

 

[rabidus]

El Jefe...take II...aka Mr SE...

I want to start off by saying that you can't please everyone, it's impossible!

As mentioned earlier, there's still some play in the razor prior to tightening it. It's not complicated at all, if you had issues with the El Jefe, you will not have any issue aligning the Mr SE.

I loaded it up with a fresh Schick Proline, no surprise there! The blade stays aligned with the cap perfectly. With my thumb on top of the cap and two fingers under the baseplate, I slide the cap back while sliding the baseplate forward.

In this position, the razor was mild yet doing an excellent job. I noticed its mildness during my WTG pass.

After completing my WTG pass and ATG on my neck, I decided to compare it to my ATT SE1 above my jawline. The SE1 was more efficient BBSing the left with less strokes.

When I reached above my lip on the ATT SE1 side, I decided to use the Mr SE, after sliding the baseplate back to the more aggressive position. And it made a difference and upped the efficiency.

For my head shave I left the Mr SE in the more aggressive position and BBSed my head the same as I would with my MMOC, which is pretty much my official head shaver.

The Mr SE stands firm in the aggressive position with my ATT SE1, MMOC, and El Jefe in mild position. The MMOC being open comb gives it a small advantage.

My ATT SE2 V2 and 1912 are noticeable more efficient, but requires more focus.

I started off saying you can't please everyone, well the Mr SE will please two groups of people. The adjustment is not as drastic as the El Jefe. It's like going from a Feather Pro to the wider Pro Super.

I don't know if it was done by design, but it is still adjustable!


There is no alignment issue with the Mr SE!

If you drop a blade in without care or concern and tighten it down, the shave will be great, which is not the case with the El Jefe!

Whether by design or not, the Mr SE is outstanding and a big improvement over the El Jefe.

The El Jefe in its mild position is about the same as the Mr SE in its aggressive position.

 

[User 306]

Good review and info on the new MR SE. I'm about 10 min away from taking mine on its' maiden shave.

 

[kyproset]

Good review and info on the new MR SE. I'm about 10 min away from taking mine on its' maiden shave.

Give us a shout when you are done shaving.

 

[User 306]

Give us a shout when you are done shaving.

Just finished my shave an heres my report. I did a traditional 3 pass shave using normal medium to long strokes. When I loaded MR SE with the Proline blade I noticed very little play compared to the El Jefe. I did however tried to keep the blade more forward as I loaded it and I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make compared to just dropping it in but I thought I'd try. What I noticed immediately was it was a little bit smoother as it had better glide and I'm not sure if it is the metal or just the one I got but it was smoother than the El Jefe which I had right next to me as I wanted to take a few strokes with that to compare. After the first pass WTG I felt like it wasn't as efficient as the last razor I shaved with ( NEW Deluxe Big Boy ) as I had more stubble left after this pass. On the next XTG pass nose to ear I was getting a good amount of feedback still as I did on the 1st pass so I continued till the end and it took down more stubble but still wasn't as close as I'm used to getting with some of my other razors. So on the last XTG pass ear to nose I changed to a short stroke to see if I could bring down more stubble and it seemed to work better and finished the pass. I was at a DFS at that point and I'm sure if I would have done a ATG pass I could have gotten a BBS shave. So now I took one half of my face and used the El Jefe loaded in the more mild position and I had a OC #34 Aristocrat out so I pooped a once used Feather blade in there and did another WTG pass on the other side of my face with using a skin stretch short stroke technique with both razors and I picked up stubble on both sides and ended up with a nice BBS shave. Used my Alum block to get some feedback and it was there but not very strong. So all and all it was what I'd call good shave but not a great shave. I can get BBS smooth with several of my razors in my den on 2 to 2 1/2 passes so I'd give this MR SE and Good shaver tag but not a great shaver. Of course this is my opinion and again this is my first shave with it so I'll play around with it this week so see if I can get better results than today.

 

[kyproset]

Thank you Dragonsbeard for the great review, other users have also pronounced the MR-SE smoother than the El-Jefe and not as efficient. I've read somwhere that for the new razor to achieve the same efficiency as the V1, one has to put the blade forward as you did, but also retract the base plate as far back as it will go to achieve greater blade exposure. Please next time try this arrangement and tell us. I'm very curious about it because it's going to be at least another 12 days until my MR-SE reaches the shores of remote Cyprus.

 

[rabidus]

Shave 2 with the Mr SE/Schick Proline...

Face and head shave... Nothing to add, same as yesterday, definitely a keeper.

 

[GlazedBoker]

El Jefe...take II...aka Mr SE...

I want to start off by saying that you can't please everyone, it's impossible!

As mentioned earlier, there's still some play in the razor prior to tightening it. It's not complicated at all, if you had issues with the El Jefe, you will not have any issue aligning the Mr SE.

I loaded it up with a fresh Schick Proline, no surprise there! The blade stays aligned with the cap perfectly. With my thumb on top of the cap and two fingers under the baseplate, I slide the cap back while sliding the baseplate forward.

In this position, the razor was mild yet doing an excellent job. I noticed its mildness during my WTG pass.

After completing my WTG pass and ATG on my neck, I decided to compare it to my ATT SE1 above my jawline. The SE1 was more efficient BBSing the left with less strokes.

When I reached above my lip on the ATT SE1 side, I decided to use the Mr SE, after sliding the baseplate back to the more aggressive position. And it made a difference and upped the efficiency.

For my head shave I left the Mr SE in the more aggressive position and BBSed my head the same as I would with my MMOC, which is pretty much my official head shaver.

The Mr SE stands firm in the aggressive position with my ATT SE1, MMOC, and El Jefe in mild position. The MMOC being open comb gives it a small advantage.

My ATT SE2 V2 and 1912 are noticeable more efficient, but requires more focus.

I started off saying you can't please everyone, well the Mr SE will please two groups of people. The adjustment is not as drastic as the El Jefe. It's like going from a Feather Pro to the wider Pro Super.

I don't know if it was done by design, but it is still adjustable!


There is no alignment issue with the Mr SE!

If you drop a blade in without care or concern and tighten it down, the shave will be great, which is not the case with the El Jefe!

Whether by design or not, the Mr SE is outstanding and a big improvement over the El Jefe.

The El Jefe in its mild position is about the same as the Mr SE in its aggressive position.

Just finished my shave an heres my report. I did a traditional 3 pass shave using normal medium to long strokes. When I loaded MR SE with the Proline blade I noticed very little play compared to the El Jefe. I did however tried to keep the blade more forward as I loaded it and I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make compared to just dropping it in but I thought I'd try. What I noticed immediately was it was a little bit smoother as it had better glide and I'm not sure if it is the metal or just the one I got but it was smoother than the El Jefe which I had right next to me as I wanted to take a few strokes with that to compare. After the first pass WTG I felt like it wasn't as efficient as the last razor I shaved with ( NEW Deluxe Big Boy ) as I had more stubble left after this pass. On the next XTG pass nose to ear I was getting a good amount of feedback still as I did on the 1st pass so I continued till the end and it took down more stubble but still wasn't as close as I'm used to getting with some of my other razors. So on the last XTG pass ear to nose I changed to a short stroke to see if I could bring down more stubble and it seemed to work better and finished the pass. I was at a DFS at that point and I'm sure if I would have done a ATG pass I could have gotten a BBS shave. So now I took one half of my face and used the El Jefe loaded in the more mild position and I had a OC #34 Aristocrat out so I pooped a once used Feather blade in there and did another WTG pass on the other side of my face with using a skin stretch short stroke technique with both razors and I picked up stubble on both sides and ended up with a nice BBS shave. Used my Alum block to get some feedback and it was there but not very strong. So all and all it was what I'd call good shave but not a great shave. I can get BBS smooth with several of my razors in my den on 2 to 2 1/2 passes so I'd give this MR SE and Good shaver tag but not a great shaver. Of course this is my opinion and again this is my first shave with it so I'll play around with it this week so see if I can get better results than today.

Good stuff Gents....
I had my second shave in this morning with the El Jefe take 2 and it was a good one. My experience is closer to what @rabidus is experiencing. Not a world beater, just a good no fuss no muss shaver. It stays....

 

[User 306]

Thank you Dragonsbeard for the great review, other users have also pronounced the MR-SE smoother than the El-Jefe and not as efficient. I've read somwhere that for the new razor to achieve the same efficiency as the V1, one has to put the blade forward as you did, but also retract the base plate as far back as it will go to achieve greater blade exposure. Please next time try this arrangement and tell us. I'm very curious about it because it's going to be at least another 12 days until my MR-SE reaches the shores of remote Cyprus.

Will do and thanks for that info as I was not aware of retracting the baseplate as well. Maybe I'll be more impressed with it than in the first shave which was good just not as good as I expected compared to other razors in my den which do give me a great shave.

 

[kyproset]

Thank you, Dragonsbeard for putting up to my nagging requests.

 

[rabidus]

Looks like more Mr SE razors are available!

 

[Fenwayfan77]

MR-SE Shave report.

Blade: Proline
Alignment: I let the cap and base align properly and flush which ends up placing it in the "less aggressive" position, according to how it's being described. I assumed someone might eventually ask this, so figured i'd mention it early.
Soap: Grooming Dept. Credence. Not like this matters for the report but figured i'd add it in for a little SOTD touch. Incredible soap by the way!

I'm a huge fan of smooth and efficient along with not so much blade feel. My cheeks don't mind a little extra blade feel but my neck would say otherwise.

With that being said, I find the MR-SE a little more aggressive (read more blade feel here) along with being JUST AS EFFICIENT as the Brass General. It doesn't really kill me, but on the neck, I don't find it as comfortable as the Brass General. The blade feel is more evident on a few, specific areas of my neck, which, on certain XTG and ATG passes, is a little rough. The Brass General wins in the smoother category.

Not a bad shave at all, but if I had a choice, i'd reach for the Brass General instead....and soon to be SS General. Oh, about that. I'll be traveling to D.C. the day the SS General arrives, so the GF will have to stare at another shaving package until I return to give it a whirl

Focker Out!

 

[Bebe]

back in stock, if you missed the 1st run