PRS Guitars Question

[asimmd]

Hi All

Has anyone got a PRS and what do you think of them?

Thanks

Alan

[baz]

Hi Alan...I've got a PRS SE Santana model..the SE range are made in Korea (south not North!!!! and are extremely well made and competent guitars but not as budget price as many other makes around.

USA made guitars are superb (altho some of the colours area bit eye-watering) but pretty pricey.

Theres a new(ish) range of budget USA made PRS (the S range I think) which are more affordable.

Everyrhing about a PRS says class but not everyone likes the bird inlays.

Baz

[asimmd]

Thanks Baz

I hadn't considered an SE as I thought they were not very good.

I would be grateful for you opinion on the sound and playability
of yours.

Do you know what options are available,and do the SE models
benefit from a hardware update such as pickups?

Thanks

Alan

[Steve Reynolds]

Hi Alan

I have a prs spalted custom 24 se model, it's an absolute beauty, very nice range of tones and very well built. I play mostly shads so it doesn't get used to often sadly.

[gruntfuttock]

Hi Alan. I have a PRS CE22 made in America. It's a Cherry Red/Tobacco Burst colour, and is about twelve years old. This model has been discontinued. The p/ups are Dragon 1&2. It has bolt on neck, and was a lower priced model - although still expensive. It's very well made and all fittings are top quality. I love this guitar. It's very comfortable "to wear", and so good to play. The neck is great! It sounds good and produces different tones to either Fender or Gibson. If I lost it I would definitely buy another if it were possible.
Regards Gruntfuttock

[philmcg]

Hi Alan - I have a PRS 22 fret custom with tremolo Birds inlay, 10 top (which is the maple top I believe) -
wide neck - bought it in Nashville while on holiday in 1998.(Wish they would come up with a model that you could refer to !) Lol
The nicest guitar to play !! - But doesn't in any way sound like a Strat - all depend in what sound you want.
But payability just perfect.!
Several video's of it on my website.

Cheers Phil

[asimmd]

Hi Guys

Thanks for the replies,just makes me want to go and try one.

I am looking at a Custom 22,but am open to offers for something suitable.

Hi Phil

I found your videos on youtube,the tone of the PRS is certainly differentnd
more refined than a Strat,I like it as it makes a nice change.

Thanks

Alan

[Deleted]

Hi Alan,
I have a Custom 24 and it's a lovely guitar. The thing is if you only want to own two great guitars that will do practically every genre of sound then a Strat and a PRS Custom 24/22 will pretty much do it. If you do consider buying one I would recommend you look for the PRS's that have the 5 way switching system like the Strat as opposed to the knob switch. You can get it to sound like a Gretch, Gibson and close to a Les Paul but like Phil say's not a Strat. Sounds great under distortion.
Regars Tony

[asimmd]

Hi Tony

Thanks for the suggestion,i didn't know it made a difference.

I will decide over the weekend whether i am interested or not,then
i can go and try some next week.

I am lucky that there is a PRS Centre in my local music shop,he has
lots of stock so i should find something i like.

Alan

[timryland]

Alan,

Bought a PRS Custom 24 SE this year. Absolutely love it. I wanted the humbucker sound, but found Les Pauls to heavy.

As a bonus, when I looked on the internet I found it was a limited run of 200 made with a quilted top. It's lovely just to look at, let alone play.

Get one, you won't be disappointed.

Tim.

[murraysanders]

Hello Alan I have a 1996 custom 24 ten top with dot inlays in wine red it's a beautiful guitar to look at extremely easy to play very well built but I got sick of the sound very quickly it has 2 hum buckers which can be made into single coils with a pull of the tone pot it has a 3 way switch for bridge , bridge and neck , or neck in hum bucking or single coil mode , it's no where as versatile as a strat and not worth the money in my opinion , I play a Suhr Guthrie Govan signature as my main guitar and it absolutely kills the PRS for sound and playability and build quality , John Suhr was a master builder for Fender then worked for Rudy Penser , Mark Knopfler plays one of the Suhr - Penser guitars as his main guitar , my point being here it's about the same price as a PRS but with just about every range of tone you can think of including a strat , I have tried several times to sell my PRS at half the price that I paid for it with no luck , they don't hold there value , the inflated prices you see on the well known auction site is a good indication , the same guitars are there for sale month after month . Anyway you will probably buy one and it will be interesting to have your thoughts 6 months later , best regards murray.

[asimmd]

Hi Murray

Thank you for your comments and thoughts on the PRS.

I had heard of Suhr guitars but always thought they were very expensive.

I am going to try some PRS guitars next week,but it is by no means certain I will be buying one.

I still haven't ruled out an SE version.

I have a Gibson that I don't get along with very well,and this will need to be sold to
finance any purchase.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Alan

[peterbower]

As one reviewer said in Guitarist magazine a few years ago about PRS guitars. Superb quality, great neck, great looks and a bit pricey. Unfortunately, PRS should not have tried get a Fender Strat and Gibson Les Paul tone out of one guitar, it didn't quite work, but using the guitar's own signature sound was all you need to do, this is where it shines.

[grip]

Hi Alan,

I have a Fredrik Åkesson PRS SE and I really like it as an alternative sound. Very nice to play too. I changed the PU's to Bareknuckle "The Mules" calibrated set pickups (PAF clones). with push pull pots on the 2 vol controls and they give single coil and out of phase options. I also added a Bigsby Tremolo, I just feel naked without a trem bar to hang on to

Kind regards,


Chris

[asimmd]

Thanks Peter

The reason for considering a PRS is that I want to get away from the Fender sound.

Much as I appreciate Murray's comments,after watching demos on youtube of suhr guitars
It would be like buying another a fender.

I have played Shadows stuff for 52 years,but there are plenty of backing tracks that would sound really good played
on a guitar that is not a Fender.

Roger Paulsson produces some superb backing tracks of non Shads tunes,these would sound so different
If they were played on something other than Fender.

Hanks new album contains tracks that could be played on a different guitar,Taste of Honey - Waterloo Sunset to
name just 2.

Alan

[murraysanders]

Hello Alan You can get a Fender sound out of a Guthrie Govan Suhr but you can also get just about any sound you want out of it , I don't know about other types of Suhr , My guitar has 2 hum buckers plus 1 single coil and the Hum buckers can be split into single coils , It also has what they call a blower switch which bypasses all tone components the the guitar , here is a song we did a couple of years ago in the Cowwarr pub warts and all taken with an iPhone , and it's everything but a strat , my equipment is a Lovepedal Eternity into a Magicstomp into the PA , in this clip it's only a bit of echo and reverb through the Magicstomp , I wasn't suggesting you buy a Shur I was just pointing out that it is more versatile than a PRS and it's roughly the same price as a USA PRS . I hope you find the sound you are looking for , I have also been plying for over 50 years too and still trying to find a sound I am happy with . best regards Murray. www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=URW6GFxI7W4

[asimmd]

Hi Murray

Thanks for the reply.

I can't play the clip you sent me,Google is asking me to sign in.

I take your point about the Suhr,and I have listened to youtube demos.

There's no doubt they are excellent guitars,and if I get the chance,I will
take a look at them.
My local music shop had a couple in,let's hope he still has them.

Alan

[murraysanders]

Hello Alan thanks for alerting me to the fact that google was controlling my U tube account , I have tried to fix this by deleting google from all of my accounts , maybe the link might work now , best regards Murray.

[asimmd]

Hi Murray

When I click on the link it still asks me for my email address and password.

Alan

[murraysanders]

Oh sorry mate might take a while to delete my google account which I never signed up for in the first place , you could try again tomorrow , best regards Murray. P/S you could try my web page there's plenty of my suhr video's on there www.backchatcoverband.com

[somebodyelseuk]

Jun 1, 2014 8:55:37 GMT asimmd said:

Thanks Peter

The reason for considering a PRS is that I want to get away from the Fender sound.

Much as I appreciate Murray's comments,after watching demos on youtube of suhr guitars
It would be like buying another a fender.

I have played Shadows stuff for 52 years,but there are plenty of backing tracks that would sound really good played
on a guitar that is not a Fender.

Roger Paulsson produces some superb backing tracks of non Shads tunes,these would sound so different
If they were played on something other than Fender.

Hanks new album contains tracks that could be played on a different guitar,Taste of Honey - Waterloo Sunset to
name just 2.

Alan

Put a pair of humbuckers in a Fender, perhaps. You KNOW you get along with the feel, neck shapes etc, so why not just buy a twin humbucker Strat?

Cheers, Julian

[asimmd]

I went to my local shop yesterday an spent 2 hours playing on his extensive stock of PRS
guitars.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and how nice the necks were,problem is that i have
watched so many reviews on youtube but none of the guitars i tried were anywhere near
the sound i heard,if it had been i would have a new guitar right now.

Maybe it would benefit a set of D'Addario strings,but the amp i tried it through was a PRS
which i didn't like,and a small Fender.

If the shop would let me bring it home to try on my own setup i would know for sure
if it was what i wanted,but whats the chances of that happening?

Alan

[sandra]

I don't know if it was just because mine was only £200 but a few years back I went to a local shop to get a new lead and was asking about some of his guitars and I liked the look and feel of a Les Paul copy. I said I would go home and think about it and he said take it and try it for a few days and if you don't want it bring it back. I didn't take him up on his offer as I knew once I had it in my house it wouldn't be going back so I left it and thought about it over the weekend then went back and bought it.

That was a place called Uncle Neil's in Colne, Lancashire. Only a small place but a nice knowledgeable guy I thought. Maybe he just knew I was trustworthy as I don't know if that's the norm in other places or if he'd make the same offer with more expensive guitars

[pluckit65]

When I worked in Bristol, I used to frequent a music store in the arcade. I knew the young guy working there and, he would often let me try guitars at home. He knew if I liked it, I would not be bringing it back. The guy incidentally was(and still is) Angelo Bruschini, guitarist with Massive Attack and Blue Airplanes.

Regards
Roger

[somebodyelseuk]

Jun 3, 2014 9:02:38 GMT asimmd said:

I went to my local shop yesterday an spent 2 hours playing on his extensive stock of PRS
guitars.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and how nice the necks were,problem is that i have
watched so many reviews on youtube but none of the guitars i tried were anywhere near
the sound i heard,if it had been i would have a new guitar right now.

Maybe it would benefit a set of D'Addario strings,but the amp i tried it through was a PRS
which i didn't like,and a small Fender.

If the shop would let me bring it home to try on my own setup i would know for sure
if it was what i wanted,but whats the chances of that happening?

Alan

C'mon Alan. You know better than that.
99.9% of youtube clips have been mixed and tweeked after the event. What the guy in the clip is hearing will be miles away from what comes out of your computer speakers, and 100% of clips are compressed by youtube.

As a general guide, a two humbucker guitar is not going to sound dramatically different to your ES339. The wood, construction, chambers etc will make detail differences, but they aren't going to be night and day different in the way that a Strat is different to a Les Paul. If that kind of sound is too muddy/middly for you, try out a Cabronita Telecaster or a Gretsch Duo Jet (or Pro Jet). They are sort of 'halfway house' between a Fender and Gibson sound - fatter than a Fender, but not-so-muddy/brighter-than a Gibson. The Gretsch Duo Jet is not as heavy as you'd think, either, as it's more or less a semi-acoustic - chambered body with hollow top. Also, since Fender took them over, the necks are 'standard Fender' profile.
Cheers.

[asimmd]

Hi Julian

You are correct about the 2 hum buckler guitar sounding close to each other.

That was the first thing that struck me when I first plugged it in.

Style wise I think I would play the PRS more than I play the Gibson,but it has been
said that if you put a decent set of pickups in an SE,the tone is much the same
as a regular PRS,so as my Dad said if in doubt,do Nowt which is exactly what
I have done,nothing.

Alan

[pluckit65]

Hi Alan
If you want humbucker with strat comfort and playability, why not try the Fender Blacktop HH Strat? I bought one a few months ago and, up to now, it is proving to be a worthwhile purchase. It has a five way switch, giving you-----Bridge position=full humbucker. Next position=inside single coil. middle position=both full humbuckers. next position=inside single coil of neck pickup. top position=full humbucker. A good range of tones and, Strat playability.

Regards
Roger

[somebodyelseuk]

What Roger says.

...and I said a couple of days ago.

PRSs don't sound unique... Fender Strats don't sound unique... etc. There's always an alternative that can do exactly the same thing.

Cheers, Julian