Why do so few 'big name' bands/artists use PRS?

spark240

not_the_dj said:

Rick Beato did a discussion video on this the other week...

I would think the very fact that they are sat inbetween those 2 iconic brands says they are a player ?

fftc

Remember 'cool' is a relative concept.

axisus

Some cool bands play them ....

grungebob

I couldn’t care less if their thought of as cool or not, I like the way they play and the way they sound to me so I play them. Granted don’t have any at the moment but that’s a funds issue not a design issue. 

Daniel Johns from silverchair and page Hamilton from helmet played PRS for a time for all that matters. 

Hattigol

grungebob said:

I couldn’t care less if their thought of as cool or not, I like the way they play and the way they sound to me so I play them. Granted don’t have any at the moment but that’s a funds issue not a design issue. 

Daniel Johns from silverchair and page Hamilton from helmet played PRS for a time for all that matters. 

I'm not sure that somebody from a band called 'Helmet' playing them is the best evidence in support of an argument that they are cool.

guitarfishbay

Guitar isn't cool these days anyway, not even the stuff that sounds like all these 'cool' 70s and 80s musicians people are mentioning...  who generally haven't released a song with mainstream impact in years if not decades for some of them.

Jonathanthomas83

skullfunkerry said:

I've sort of been fancying a PRS for a while; nothing concrete, just thought I'd like to get hold of one... the first band I saw last week though were so bad that they instantly cured me of that!

What an indictment on this forum that this gets 2 votes of wisdom from voters having no knowledge of who the band was. Furthermore, and perhaps more annoyingly, are willing to dismiss a brand of guitars based on the poor quality of a band that uses them. Christ on a bike.

Winny_Pooh

Y'know, no one Has to play a 10 top model.

If you don't think this looks rock n roll then please check your pants to check that your testicles are still intact.

fatherchewielewie

I had PRS SE Soapbar II. Really great wee guitar....... sold it. No logical reason it. I hated the vibe of it and I especially hated the headstock. And although, my SB didn't have them, I really hate those 'birds'.

mikem8634

If the Tory party conference had an official guitar it would be a stripey birdy blingy PRS

Skipped

The guitars are designed and built by the world's greatest Gibson (Golden Era) Fanboy.

When the DGT was being conceived, Dave Grissom wanted a practical alternative to a truly inspiring guitar that he owns. His 1959 Gibson ES-335. His aim was to try and capture the feel, sound and vibe of that guitar.

"I have a sunburst 1959 ES-335 that has some really incredible sounding PAFs. In my experience PAFs all sound different but this was the one, really smoking, the benchmark. We found what you potted the pickup with makes a difference, between paraffin and beeswax, how much you pot the pickup, every little thing makes a difference."    Dave Grissom.

When I read these words, my reaction was:

"Oh Wow!

That is so inspiring!

I wan't one of those!"

But I was not talking about the PRS.

Obviously.

Haych

PRS fall into the form over function camp to me.  I like that they're well built and the attention to detail is good, but there's too much importance on how good it looks as to how good it sounds or plays.

Personally I much prefer the plainer instruments to the blingy ones.  A plain black CE3 with faux binding and dot inlays is pure sex, and I also lust after a Mira Anniversary too - not bling by PRS standards at all and that Mira ^ is really good looking IMHO.

The sound has been an issue for PRS in the past and is documented in the book by whats-his-face, Burluck, is it? The Artist grade guitars were an attempt to beef the sound up IIRC.  They play 'ok' to me but they are nothing extraordinary.  The 25" scale feels weird to me, while the Gibson scale feels good and the Fender scale feels good the PRS scale feels odd.  The 245 guitars feel way better than the Customs and McCartys.

They also do some weird things.  Why does the Custom 22/McCarty, which already has a shorter and stiffer neck have that ugly massive heel when logically the 24 fret instruments, which have a longer neck, would benefit from the same, but they have a much shorter heel?

Anyway, I think I may have drifted off topic a bit, soz.

I think there're plenty of big names out there who use PRS guitars, I can think of quite a few off the top of my head; Santana, of course, Shinedown, Nickelback, Pat Travers, Peter Frampton, Alex Lifeson, Ted Nugent, Massive Attack, that Tremonit bloke, Dave Grissom and that's just to name a few, there must be many, many more.

However, there are many more who don't use PRS than do, but you can probably say that about any brand of guitar, even the big two.

gearaddict

Quite apart from the coolness, for me it all comes down to which guitar feels the best to play and I get on much better with the PRS design than I do with either Gibson or Fender. If we're talking 'coolness' or preconceptions, when I was a youngster I always saw Les Pauls as old man guitars - they just didn't interest me at all. When I became an old man myself I started to like them and over the years I've tried to get on with them but I just don't like the geometry of the design, with the strings being so far off the body. It just feels awkward to me.

Similarly, with Fender I don't like the trem systems or the flat headstock that necessitates those little trees to hold the strings down.

So, for me...PRS is just a better design that I prefer to play. Plus they are so much more value for money, quality-wise. I only have one and it's a very plain all-mahogany CE24 without birds, so not at all bling.

The players I really like do tend to play PRS more often than not too - so for me, they are cool. But then, I'm not cool so who am I to say?

I don't understand when people say PRS is 'boring'. What does that even mean? Guitars are planks of wood with strings on. It's what people do with them that makes them interesting or boring surely.

deano

gearaddict said:

Quite apart from the coolness, for me it all comes down to which guitar feels the best to play and I get on much better with the PRS design than I do with either Gibson or Fender. If we're talking 'coolness' or preconceptions, when I was a youngster I always saw Les Pauls as old man guitars - they just didn't interest me at all. When I became an old man myself I started to like them and over the years I've tried to get on with them but I just don't like the geometry of the design, with the strings being so far off the body. It just feels awkward to me.

Similarly, with Fender I don't like the trem systems or the flat headstock that necessitates those little trees to hold the strings down.

So, for me...PRS is just a better design that I prefer to play. Plus they are so much more value for money, quality-wise. I only have one and it's a very plain all-mahogany CE24 without birds, so not at all bling.

The players I really like do tend to play PRS more often than not too - so for me, they are cool. But then, I'm not cool so who am I to say?

I don't understand when people say PRS is 'boring'. What does that even mean? Guitars are planks of wood with strings on. It's what people do with them that makes them interesting or boring surely.

This!

I think I am catching a faint smell of class envy on this thread. In case you can't smell it, it is an odour that some people experience when they realise someone earns a pound more than they do; that's the smell. Once you know what you are smelling, you can't miss it.

deano

mikem8634 said:

If the Tory party conference had an official guitar it would be a stripey birdy blingy PRS

Oooh! Are we playing that game?

Great!

If the Labour Party had an official guitar, it would be something sold in collusion with the Harrisons!

stickyfiddle

deano said:

 

I think I am catching a faint smell of class envy on this thread. In case you can't smell it, it is an odour that some people experience when they realise someone earns a pound more than they do; that's the smell. Once you know what you are smelling, you can't miss it.

Not remotely. At least not from me. I'm also happy to admit that if I had to pick a single guitar to be the most versatile and comfortable, it would probably be a DGT. 

RandallFlagg

grungebob

Hattigol said:

grungebob said:

I couldn’t care less if their thought of as cool or not, I like the way they play and the way they sound to me so I play them. Granted don’t have any at the moment but that’s a funds issue not a design issue. 

Daniel Johns from silverchair and page Hamilton from helmet played PRS for a time for all that matters. 

I'm not sure that somebody from a band called 'Helmet' playing them is the best evidence in support of an argument that they are cool.

You and I move in different musical circles especially if you DONT think Helmet is cool

guitarfishbay

crunchman

CountryDave said:

I go to quite a few country gigs and many of the guitarists tend to flip between telecasters and the PRS DGT.
I’ve also seen a couple of the NF models and a Brent Mason sig too.

I've watched things like the CMA awards on Sky Arts a few times.  There are a good number of PRS on there.  Obviously Fenders are dominant, especially Teles, but I'd guess that PRS outnumber solid body Gibsons.