OK... PRS Guitars - School Me

swiller

I owned a ce 24 bought 2011. Bought because its was pretty much a custom spec, but with bolt on neck which i liked, without the bird inlays at the time, but same guitar on paper with bolt on neck. It had some wonderful tones, but zero mojo and didnt play that great. Ended up with an eastman sb59 and a 1989 korean squier strat for all of the purposes that ticked those boxes way better than the prs did.

dazzajl

A thought to expand your possible option paralysis here. If you hanker for a guitar from a smaller company that are dedicated to engineering perfection, use only their own hardware and produce consistently excellent guitars but don’t rely on quite so much bling for their look, check out some Duesenbergs. 

I did have a quick play on a silver sky se the other day and it was a really nice Strat but I’ve never felt connected to a HH PRS. They are amazing but don’t give me what I look for. The Dueseys have a very similar vibe of absolute perfection about them but the pickups have far more of a recognisable sound and individuality to them. It does help that I prefer deco styling to all out bling too I guess 

Badnotes

https://imgur.com/a/e8gOaD5

Only an SE, but I love this guitar. Came absolutely flawless out of the case.

Wazmeister

andy1839 said:

I think they're consistently decent. From the SE to PS.

Andy, what's the standouts and why ?

Gorgeous collection mate

DrJazzTap

I had a DGT for nearly 10 years. It was kind of a grail guitar for me. Supremely put together and stunning to look at. Stayed in tune like nothing else. 
And I won a ce24 semi hollow in a raffle. Again well made etc.
I sold both of them this year. The DGT was far too expensive for me to justify and I never bonded with the ce24. Didn't really gel with the 24 fret layout or pickups.
I would recommend a PRS in a heart beat to anyone. Ignore the silly dentist comments and nonsense about having no soul etc.
I would go for a custom 22 if the right one came around. Sadly I think the market for sub £1000 core models secondhand is long gone. I also cannot justify one, I'm not lacking a humbucker guitar.

andy1839

Wazmeister said:

andy1839 said:

I think they're consistently decent. From the SE to PS.

Andy, what's the standouts and why ?

Gorgeous collection mate

Ta mate!

The Wood Library singlecut 594 is one of my favourites. Its got a rosewood neck that I really like.
Sounds very different to the two doublecut 594s, despite having the same electronics and pickups.

Of course the PS Graveyard II, Violin II and 513 are art in an instrument.  They're all nitro finished so feel a bit different from the core models.

Ive had a couple of S2s which are brilliant guitars.

Had i not just bought a car i would have definitely gone for one of the S2 594s on sale.

The hollowbody SE is a cracking guitar.
Immaculately built and plays very well.
I noodle on that one a fair bit unplugged.

I know some people say sterile, but ive never really noticed it.
I just like that they're consistent, and i like the neck shapes and the body contours.
I've never had one with a dead spot.

Ungulate

My first ever electric was a singlecut satin S2 - regret selling it...

So today I dug out my cheapest guitar - SE II soapbar P90 - just had a blast with it....

PRS sterile? F*ck off...

TTBZ

Those S2 singlecuts looked great in satin black. I never really loved the look of them without a pickguard but I think it really works on the singlecut to help it look less like a melted blob of a Les Paul 

Wazmeister

TTBZ said:

Those S2 singlecuts looked great in satin black. I never really loved the look of them without a pickguard but I think it really works on the singlecut to help it look less like a melted blob of a Les Paul 

I agree, as I prefer the pick up models too.

Wazmeister

guitars4you said:

@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

Mark, as always, superb ! Many thanks for this, and to everyone who has contributed so far. 

Its quite a challenge for me, as I love relics - the look, the feel, the practicality. I also want to play my guitars, not keep them as museum pieces.

Ive had Covid over Christmas, so Im hoping to actually play some today. I can see it is a gateway drug; already ive moved from SE to core to the amazing looking Special Semi Hollow…



https://youtu.be/lHMhoSvAIu4

roberty

Sorry to hear about your covid @Wazmeister. Hope you find a PRS you like. It shouldn't be hard

SteveF

I have a US SC250 that I got from this forum.  Fantastic guitar.  I have played around with the pickups a bit - it came with Tremonti pickups in and for a while I had Oil City humbucker sized P90s in but it currently has Full Montys. Toying with the idea of putting the Montys in my Charvel as I am not a huge fan of the SD super distortions that are in it at the moment and then I would replace the Tremontis in the PRS. 

I also have a SE Silver Sky on the way.  Looking forward to trying it. 

TTony

Wazmeister said:

I can see it is a gateway drug; already ive moved from SE to core to the amazing looking Special Semi Hollow…

That's a bit of a jump up the price scale - from what I can see, those Special Semi-Hollows are >£4k, whereas a decent SE model is probably <£750!

It *is* easy to get tempted up the PRS price scale though.  The upper models look properly WOW (if that's your sort of thing).