any Paul Reed Smith guitar fans?

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drphoto

any Paul Reed Smith guitar fans?
« on: 18 Jan 2018, 02:33 am »
As some of you know I have done pro FoH sound mixing. At last gig, the lead player who normally uses an American Strat broke a string and switched to an American PRS. I honestly don't think I've ever heard a hum bucking guitar sound so clean and clear, while still being warm and fat. Pretty amazing. Even commented to him on it after show.

After that, I've been reading up on and watching videos about PRS. I love his philosophy. The absolute drive to deliver the best instrument possible at any given price point. Ok, sure, the guy is a business man and needs to move product but I really get the sense he is trying to do things right.

I've always been a Fender guy, but I've got to try the new SE Custom 24. I can't begin to afford the American versions, but Korean guitars are very good these days. I'll just have to see if I like the 25" scale and the wide/thin neck after playing vintage style Fenders. (I have a US 57 Strat reissue and an old Squire 51, both of which have 9.5" radius and pretty chunky necks)

Anyone here tried a PRS?


Delacroix

Re: any Paul Reed Smith guitar fans?
« Reply #1 on: 18 Jan 2018, 02:06 pm »
Yep -- Scored a deal on McCarty DC245 that met my specs and seller was keen to offload. Love it. Super light, lovely resonance, you can tell from playing it unplugged that it is well made.  I had the neck adjusted to handle the higher gauge strings I prefer and it's become my main player for last six months. As you note, if you read about the man, PRS, he had a passion for making guitars as a young man and just pursued it relentlessly. Many others tried to break the Gibson/Fender stranglehold on the market without much success but he's built a strong brand by targeting a certain market and producing high quality guitars more consistently than most. While I still love a good strat and a decent Gibson archtop, I think the PRS models compete with anything out there.  Keep an eye on the Reverb site -- you can find plenty of US PRS guitars sometimes at very attractive prices!

drphoto

Re: any Paul Reed Smith guitar fans?
« Reply #2 on: 18 Jan 2018, 11:06 pm »
Man, after watching some of the vids on the build process, I can see  why these sell for $4K and up. Just an extraordinary amount of effort and attention to detail. But as a hobby player who might barely be able to be called 'intermediate' level, I'll have to start w/ the SE version.

And yes, I am fully aware that most of the sound is from the players hands and not the gear. But nice stuff makes it more fun.

FullRangeMan

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Re: any Paul Reed Smith guitar fans?
« Reply #3 on: 18 Jan 2018, 11:41 pm »
A nice guitar to be see only, the mid size scale made its sound pasteurized and homogenized in recordings and sound the same always, there are no variations, as demonstrated by Carlos Santana, since he started using this guitar in the 90's, his sound is the same, his solo always seems to be the same, his clothes are always the same, black pants and black shirt.

I do not recommend this guitar if you want to be seen with good eyes by the public, maybe in the hands of Stanley Jordan PRS can sound nice, but for rock its a failure imo.

neekomax

Re: any Paul Reed Smith guitar fans?
« Reply #4 on: 19 Jan 2018, 02:23 am »
I play semi-professionally nowadays, and I have both a 1976 Strat with heavy mods, my main guitar, and a PRS semi-hollow body that is indeed beautiful and so so so easy to play.

For playability, the PRS wins, albeit at a huge price premium. But I find myself choosing the Strat almost every time for the sound. That's just me, though, YMMV.

And obviously, it's the KIND of tone you're after that matters... and it's mostly in your fingers, in the end*.

*Re-reading the thread, I want to say that it's good that you already acknowledge this, and I hate being 'that guy'. So, yeah.  :wink:

YoungDave

Re: any Paul Reed Smith guitar fans?
« Reply #5 on: 19 Jan 2018, 02:55 am »
I have had a dozen or so PRS guitars over the years, all premium models (not SE).  One model in particular, I thought, reflected great originality in design; that was the PRS Archtop model of 20 years or so ago.  Although all my PRS guitars were highly playable, I found that the quality varied significantly among the guitars.  For example, I had a "double-10" (selected wood top & back) 24-fret "Custom 24" solidbody that was really beautiful - except the fretboard wood was truly second-rate, with many deep grain lines that made it always look thirsty.  By contrast, I also had at that time a pair of truly fine guitars made by German luthier Nik Huber.  The Huber ebony fretboards were as smooth and hard as slate blackboards from back in the day.  Even my semi-standard Gibson Custom Shop Tal Farlow had better fretboard wood than that PRS, and this has largely put me off the brand ever since.

That said, I have always seemed to go for my old Strat all the time.  It won't "play itself" by any means, but it just fits - it is automotive in construction, and so practically indestructible, which is actually a good thing on guitars, unlike other types of precision instruments.  The old Fenders are just not the deluxe instruments to point to with pride as they hang on the wall, but they are great tools.

Bottom line:  I do not have any real problem with PRS, but they must be evaluated individually, and they do not compare favorably with many truly limited products like Nik Huber or other "luthiery" guitars - but they may or may not compare favorably to mass-production guitars like Fender, Gibson, or Rickenbacker, depending...

drphoto

Re: any Paul Reed Smith guitar fans?
« Reply #6 on: 19 Jan 2018, 11:40 pm »
Interesting. It's starting to sound like I fell for marketing B/S again......sorta like I did w/ that damn Blackstar amp. But, when I did that FoH mix gig......I did really like the sound of that guy's PRS.

Again, I've aways been a Fender guy and thought if I bought another guitar it would be a Tele. But always open to new options.

I am perfectly happy w/ my Strat. I think it looks great (though the seafoam green may not be everyone's cup of tea.) Set up nicely with low action but no fret outs,  stays in tune (but haven't used trem system) and I like sound of vintage copy pickups. With pedals, output is not an issue. Love the neck shape and feel. And those vintage style slotted tuners make string changes almost as easy as locking tuners.

But boys love their toys, so always looking at something. But with the cold snap we've had I just got my monster utility bill and their ain't gonna be toys anytime soon!   :evil:

Delacroix

Re: any Paul Reed Smith guitar fans?
« Reply #7 on: 20 Jan 2018, 06:27 pm »
I don't think there's marketing BS particularly behind this. A guitar is a very personal instrument. PRS make great guitars...but different people like different things, end of story.  As noted, each guitar has its own qualities -- the variation in quality of Strats seems quite high to me (I have 3 of them, and have played more than few over the years), and I always felt Les Pauls are overpriced, of mixed quality and have a samey-sound, but that's in my hands...other players love them and can make them sing.

I think if you want the classic sounds of rock and blues recordings, then yes, Fender and Gibson are the sounds of music history..they predate PRS by decades and were used by pros accordingly on the records you probably love. There are superb PRS players out there  -- yes Santana has a signature sound and I think he'd sound the same whatever he played...but having recently seen McLaughlin and Herring live, both playing PRS models, rockin' out is totally possible. At the end of the day,  a PRS sounds like PRS, not Gibson or Fender, and within that, Strats don't sound like Teles....enjoy the differences :)

Now if only I could sound more like Santana, or Mclaughlin....but then, as they say, that's not anything you can buy in a guitar store....

FullRangeMan

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Re: any Paul Reed Smith guitar fans?
« Reply #8 on: 20 Jan 2018, 06:46 pm »
If I played well the next guitar I would buy would be one with the fanned fret, or only the neck with a Firebird inverter body.
This seems perfect:http://www.novaxguitars.com/sales/25th-anniversary.html

Demo:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J336zLmc4Sc

SteveFord

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Re: any Paul Reed Smith guitar fans?
« Reply #9 on: 20 Jan 2018, 08:42 pm »
I recall a conversation I had with a guitar salesman many years ago and he said "for consistency it's PRS but I'll take a good Gibson over one any day".

Delacroix

Re: any Paul Reed Smith guitar fans?
« Reply #10 on: 20 Jan 2018, 08:56 pm »
Well, it was a salesman....

SteveFord

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Re: any Paul Reed Smith guitar fans?
« Reply #11 on: 20 Jan 2018, 10:21 pm »
Yeah, could be, maybe the mark up was higher on the Gibsons.
Guitars are such a personal thing, you have to try them and see which one floats your boat.
For me it's the ES-335 family and Firebirds.

bunky

Re: any Paul Reed Smith guitar fans?
« Reply #12 on: 7 Nov 2022, 03:21 pm »


My 2015 35th anniversary custom 24 SE in antique orange.