OK... PRS Guitars - School Me

dannyboy82

I recently picked up an S2 standard 22 satin from peach and to say I’m impressed is a massive understatement. I’ve buggered around with various Fender’s and Gibson’s in the past but this thing just feels so right. It’s my first PRS so not sure if I’ve been lucky but it’s the best electric I’ve ever owned, literally cannot fault it!

Lawriejones1

I owned a 1989 10 Top and it was an incredible guitar.

grungebob

I’ve owned lots of PRS over the years mostly core’s. 

I like the S2’s more.

 Most of the SE’s are fantastic guitars. 

You can pick up the older SE’s for silly cheap money. 

I got these two below for £700 for both. 

Both are fantastic guitars, very in tune all over the neck and with a great range of sounds. 

tone1

I’ve owned 3….1st was an EG-3 or 4 I seem to remember…sort of walnut finished Strat kinda thing…

2nd was a 513 which was very bland and I kept falling of the fretboard on the high E string….Last up was the DGT Standard which was the absolute best of the bunch….but the arrival of a Nash Thinline and impending arrival of an acoustic meant its days were numbered…

normula1

I've a 2013 Custom 22 and it plays miles better than anything else I've got custom shop Gibsons included. It has literally nothing to quibble about construction and playability wise. I did change the pickups, but that's par for the course with me and was more about preferring covered pickups than the sound per se.

My Les Paul is nowhere near as "perfect" but it just has something intangible that the PRS doesn't have that would make it a very tough choice if I was forced to let one go.

I'd say go try a few and see if they're right for you.

PAL

PRS guitars don't have to bling to be good. I think you should check out the PRS SE DGT  !

roberty

dannyboy82 said:

I recently picked up an S2 standard 22 satin from peach and to say I’m impressed is a massive understatement. I’ve buggered around with various Fender’s and Gibson’s in the past but this thing just feels so right. It’s my first PRS so not sure if I’ve been lucky but it’s the best electric I’ve ever owned, literally cannot fault it!

As well as being superb they are also very consistent

HandwrittenHero

normula1 said:

I've a 2013 Custom 22 and it plays miles better than anything else I've got custom shop Gibsons included. It has literally nothing to quibble about construction and playability wise. I did change the pickups, but that's par for the course with me and was more about preferring covered pickups than the sound per se.

My Les Paul is nowhere near as "perfect" but it just has something intangible that the PRS doesn't have that would make it a very tough choice if I was forced to let one go.

I'd say go try a few and see if they're right for you.

Funnily enough I was just watching Justin Hawkins talking about John Mayer on YouTube and he says something similar - it’s the fight with a Les Paul that makes it fun, unpredictable etc.

A PRS is a serious tool for serious professionals doing serious work. A Les Paul is a hammer. Still capable of a more agricultural form of dentistry.

roberty

I find Les Pauls a bit more comfortable with the shorter scale and flatter radius. The neck doesn't poke out quite as far either which is good if you're a shortarse. Also the neck angle is steeper which I find ergonomic. On the other hand they tend to weigh a ton, the upper frets are more of a stretch and Gibson quality is hit and miss. You can pretty much guarantee that the strings will bind on the nut from the factory as well 

Tall_martin

I've got a Dallas show  McCarthy, where PRS deemed these back to back against a 1959 gibson, and decided I wanted a ephiphone or a Gibson.

The Gibsons I tried all had working issues. They just weren't finished correctly.

When I said this to the salesman he gave me a gibson 3x my budget. That still had basic woodworking issues. The fretboard and neck didn't smoothly meet each other.

He described me as the perfect PRS customer. I guess I value the finishing on the guitar at any price. The sound between my Gibson aping guitar and the actual Gibson's was very slight.

He said if I didn't lust after the expensive Gibson's, there was no point in going for an ephiphone, as I wouldn't be prepared to put up with their idiosyncrasys on route to owning something that looked like a Gibson.

So I ended up with a silver sky se and couldn't be happier!

I also have a Mira x, which was a budget USA guitar. Different wood and simpler carve to hit a price point. It's also beautifully made.

DefaultM

Fishboy7 said:

RandallFlagg said:

I've had a love/hate relationship with PRS over the years but I'm still enjoying my current 594, if you can afford it go core model, they can be superb. I like the Customs but not a big fan of the current pickups in them, I think they sound a little thin compared to the older pickups. The 58/15s work well in the 594 though, quite a hollow PAF tone that works with the thicker body wood. Neck pickup sounds a bit more 335 than Les Paul to my ears. This one is light too at 7.5lb

That is nice.  What colour do they call that ?  

Old Yeller.

CountryDave

I had an ‘89 Custom 10 top for many years. Superb guitar, but I found I was playing my telecaster almost exclusively, so after a year or so of it sitting in it’s case I let it go.
Over the years I also owned a couple of other Customs, 2x 24 frets and one 22 frets stop tail which I really should have held onto.
Through all of them, the quality was consistently superb.
I have also owned a few SE models including a Bernie Marsden, a Hollowbody and a Zach Myers. The Myers and the Hollowbody are up there with the best guitars I’ve ever owned. Only sold because I struggle to get on with neck humbucker. What I should have done is drop a HB sized P90 in there and enjoyed it.
I’ve played a few S2’s too. Superb guitars. The Vela is a little left field compared to the usual PRS style, but is great. The S2 594 I played nearly came home with me (if I’d had a couple hundred quid more it would have done).

Quality, consistency, playability and used, exceptional value.

My mate has an SE Silver Sky and it’s fab.  I’m looking forward to the SE DGT.

chris78

Fishboy7 said:

RandallFlagg said:

I've had a love/hate relationship with PRS over the years but I'm still enjoying my current 594, if you can afford it go core model, they can be superb. I like the Customs but not a big fan of the current pickups in them, I think they sound a little thin compared to the older pickups. The 58/15s work well in the 594 though, quite a hollow PAF tone that works with the thicker body wood. Neck pickup sounds a bit more 335 than Les Paul to my ears. This one is light too at 7.5lb

That is nice.  What colour do they call that ?  

McCarty Burst

normula1

Whatever the colour, it's gorgeous. I really want to try a 594, my credit card disagrees.

RandallFlagg

Fishboy7 said:

RandallFlagg said:

I've had a love/hate relationship with PRS over the years but I'm still enjoying my current 594, if you can afford it go core model, they can be superb. I like the Customs but not a big fan of the current pickups in them, I think they sound a little thin compared to the older pickups. The 58/15s work well in the 594 though, quite a hollow PAF tone that works with the thicker body wood. Neck pickup sounds a bit more 335 than Les Paul to my ears. This one is light too at 7.5lb

That is nice.  What colour do they call that ?  

It's Mccarty Sunburst but is a more yellow hue compared to some, it's a bit like Gibsons dirty lemon.

Aornic

RandallFlagg said:

I've had a love/hate relationship with PRS over the years but I'm still enjoying my current 594, if you can afford it go core model, they can be superb. I like the Customs but not a big fan of the current pickups in them, I think they sound a little thin compared to the older pickups. The 58/15s work well in the 594 though, quite a hollow PAF tone that works with the thicker body wood. Neck pickup sounds a bit more 335 than Les Paul to my ears. This one is light too at 7.5lb

That's the only 594 I'd part with mine for. It's fantastic.

guitars4you

@Wazmeister - I'm a big PRS fan - sold, played, owned many for nigh on 30 years or more - Build quality then little to touch them - Go back in time and they set the bench mark that others had to compete with - Compare an SE with other Far Eastern produced guitars, with a similar price tag and they will always figure in the top section of any shoot out comparison - Ditto S2 models against similar priced competition 

I have less knowledge on the SE and 2 models regarding specifics of spec, as I tend to have owned, sold, played the USA Core series models - So hard for me to say A is more suitable than B - As others have implied/asked is it a case of finding a PRS to complement what you already have, so as to bring something different to the table, or to replace existing guitars with a PRS

Ultimately feel, playability and tonal character is a matter of taste and only you can answer that - But for me, feel and playability is where it all started for me - I still own other makes/models, but for ease of feel, playability and one guitar that appears to suit me for many styles of playing then a PRS is always my preferred option - For me, feel, playability tales priority over tonal character as IMO you can't get a great tone out of a guitar that you struggle to play - If it plays well I can get a good/acceptable tone out of it/anything - But there again we all have different ideas of what we want and how we play be it metal or jazz, folk or blues

Even now within the PRS range there are vast options as to what might suit you - Saying all PRS Guitars will suit you, or not, is like saying all Fender or Gibson Guitars will suit you and we know that isn't true - So a 594 might suit an LP based player, where as a Mira might suit an SG fan 

The Starla is a bit 'Gretchy' regarding tonal character - I own a USA version - I like Setzer and co, but can play a 6120 style Gretsch - They don't feel right for me - So the Starla is my Gretsch

The Vela is more cool, retro, surf, grunge, indie - Not for me but will suit some - It would probably be my Artic Monkey's Guitar

The Hollowbody with Piezo is my most played PRS - For many a piezo is not a #1 option on any shop list - And subject to your playing style it might remain that way - To get the best out of it you need to plug the piezo option into an electro acoustic amp, keyboard amp, studio monitors etc (something that suits clean sounds with a good full range response) - then you can use it on its own or blend with the humbuckers as required - It won't turn your guitar into a pre-war D28 and as an overview works similar to many APX/Takamine etc electro acoustics - Works great on Who style 'Substitute' Pin Ball Wizard style chords/songs - Sting/Fragile - Arpeggio style Stairway to Heaven/Hotel California songs etc - The Hollowbody on its own is not a 335 - It is rockier and blusier than a traditional arch top f hole guitar, so more modern, but more 'jazzy' than a 335 - I know he doesn't't play one but IMO it is a Robben Ford style guitar 

As for those who say Sterile - I can see where they are coming from - Maybe as the consistency of build quality and tone is a fairly level playing field if you play/try 10 of the same guitar - Try 10 Gibson LP's and you might find a good one but you'll find many that are just not what many of us would approve of

Let me know if I can help further - But a hands on test will always answer many questions

tone1

I’ve currently got GAS for a stripped 58 for some unknown reason 

mrleon83

I’ve had cores in the past (custom 22, singlecut) currently have two s2’s (vela and a single cut) and an se hollowbody piezo and can confirm they’re all amazing guitars. My personal fav’s are the s2’s they’re both satin finishes in my case , picked both up for less than £600 each. They’re just awesomely put together guitars, the se had slightly rough frets but a couple of minutes with a fret rubber sorted it .. I don’t think you can really go wrong with any level of PRS 

markj

tone1 said:

I’ve currently got GAS for a stripped 58 for some unknown reason 

Had one a superb guitar.