PRS - Fashionable again?

TINMAN82

Gassing for a PRS after seeing John Mayer on Monday night. That was very cool.

menamestom

Electric guitars are no longer cool or fashionable outside the uncool guitar playing community, so choose what feels / sounds right.

I haven't ever bought a PRS.  The thing that puts me off is they never seem to sound quite as good as the equivalent Gibson, there’s often a weird thing going on in the clips I hear.  I think it is compounded by the fact the clips are often done in PRS amps, which don't sound great IMO.

What I do instead, buy a Gibson, or similar (eg tokai), then end up changing the pickups anyway, then don’t play it much because it is heavy, awkward and goes out of tune.  I stick to my strat and tele because they stay in tune reasonably, are light and can be thrown around and gigged without worry.

Now I’m looking at the new SE range, I prefer master V and T, they look quality and probably on a par or better than my unused midtown.  I can change the pickups if they don't work with my amps and will be easy to gig.   I’m thinking a guitar that sounds okay will sound infinitely better than one that sounds better but doesn’t come out if the case! 

I’m mulling over the new Starla or Hollowbody standard.  In the clips they sound actually pretty good. The SE’s I’ve tried lately seem so close to the core’s they are definitely worth a go, so planning to give them a go when they come out.

dindude

menamestom said:

Electric guitars are no longer cool or fashionable outside the uncool guitar playing community, so choose what feels / sounds right.

I haven't ever bought a PRS.  The thing that puts me off is they never seem to sound quite as good as the equivalent Gibson, there’s often a weird thing going on in the clips I hear.  I think it is compounded by the fact the clips are often done in PRS amps, which don't sound great IMO.

What I do instead, buy a Gibson, or similar (eg tokai), then end up changing the pickups anyway, then don’t play it much because it is heavy, awkward and goes out of tune.  I stick to my strat and tele because they stay in tune reasonably, are light and can be thrown around and gigged without worry.

Now I’m looking at the new SE range, I prefer master V and T, they look quality and probably on a par or better than my unused midtown.  I can change the pickups if they don't work with my amps and will be easy to gig.   I’m thinking a guitar that sounds okay will sound infinitely better than one that sounds better but doesn’t come out if the case! 

I’m mulling over the new Starla or Hollowbody standard.  In the clips they sound actually pretty good. The SE’s I’ve tried lately seem so close to the core’s they are definitely worth a go, so planning to give them a go when they come out.

I’m with you on most of this. I’ve had a Maccarty and more recently a Vela (both now gone) and they just don’t sound right - I can’t put my finger on it, the Vela superficially sounds great, but I just couldn’t actually dial it in and spent my life tweeting with my pedals. If I’m being brutal, and just my opinion and won’t be popular, they are great guitars, love the shape, the build, and the necks, but they inherently have poor tone and it seems Paul’s been on a 35 year mission to work with the basics and make them sound better, mostly by going more along the vintage Gibson route with pickups, hardware, and some build elements.

Also agree on Gibson’s and tuning! 

Still keep looking though! I like the new SE hollow body and the One. 

Twinfan

Inherently have poor tone? Tone is subjective, so maybe for you they don't sound like Gibsons. Which they don't, they're different.

Some people, like me, like different

TTBZ

Fenders have inherently bad tone. Thin, plinky, noisy etc etc  

meltedbuzzbox

Twinfan said:

Inherently have poor tone? Tone is subjective, so maybe for you they don't sound like Gibsons. Which they don't, they're different.

Some people, like me, like different

They tend to have a mid heavy sound to me.
I'm not a particularly big fan of it. Easily fixed with new pickups though

Twinfan

Old ones did, the newer pickups over the last 10 years or so have really changed that stereotype.

It's also depends exactly which models you're comparing from different brands, and their spec etc.

Twinfan

TTBZ said:

Fenders have inherently bad tone. Thin, plinky, noisy etc etc  

My thoughts exactly...

TTBZ

meltedbuzzbox said:

Twinfan said:

Inherently have poor tone? Tone is subjective, so maybe for you they don't sound like Gibsons. Which they don't, they're different.

Some people, like me, like different

They tend to have a mid heavy sound to me.
I'm not a particularly big fan of it. Easily fixed with new pickups though

I seem to go for quite a middy full tone so maybe that’s why I tend to favour PRS/Gibson through a Marshall and not traditional Fender singlecoil tones or Fender amps. Fender with a very middy humbucker can work too though!

Philly_Q

dindude said:
I just couldn’t actually dial it in and spent my life tweeting with my pedals. 

Did they have any useful suggestions?  Or do they, like their germanium-free human overlords, struggle with only 280 characters?

impmann

Twinfan said:

Old ones did, the newer pickups over the last 10 years or so have really changed that stereotype.

It's also depends exactly which models you're comparing from different brands, and their spec etc.

Well, their humbuckers are more mid focussed than I’d like - even the latest ones. They also seem to lack sparkle and before anyone says anything - yes you can have humbuckers with sparkle.

Ive recently picked up a Zach Meyers SE. The wood, finish, frets etc are first rate - in fact I’ve played guitars that cost five figures that don’t feel as nice. But the pickups really let it down - they don’t convey the rounded grand piano like acoustic quality of the guitar. They are mid and low end focussed, and lack treble clarity (whilst somehow still seeming to have top end). It’s just not a very sophisticated tone. Wind up da gainz and it works well but not for cleaner or effected sounds.

That said, the pickups in my 305 (SSS) are exceptional. That guitar is magnificent straight out the box.

I never had the original pickups in my CE22. Ive played one that’s all original... and any thoughts of restoring it to original evaporated pretty quickly. 

But as with all these things, it’s so personal - and there is no right or wrong about someone’s opinion. What works for one etc...

meltedbuzzbox

Actually one small defence of the prs pickup... I remember being impressed with the neck pickup on a dgt last year. Not so much the case with the bridge. 

mikeyrob73

@impmann ;
i tend to agree I recently bought a Zach Myers and swapped them pickups out and it really brought the guitar to life. 

impmann

meltedbuzzbox said:

Actually one small defence of the prs pickup... I remember being impressed with the neck pickup on a dgt last year. Not so much the case with the bridge. 

Oh yes, I forgot that one.
Bloody nice guitar, that.

Jez6345789

Having read this today just got the old 89 out today and gave the old girl a good thrashing. As great as ever gets me playing way above my pay grade always has.

My mate and I did a recent back to back in Andertons posh room Silver Sky v a relic custom shop Michael Landau Strat, Both of us went back and forth in most positions the Silver Sky was better at the Strat tones and when over driven it simply shined against the Landau.

As for cool not sure anyone here can define that as nothing much cool goes on these days with guitarists. 

Anyway I love most guitars but most days PRS get my love.

Dan_Halen

I love PRS guitars and the commitment of Paul to making the best guitars he can across the whole price range is admirable. Many companies claim to do it but PRS actually deliver
IMO.

However, I agree that some of the fancy pants top end blingy ones are pretty ghastly. Not that all the big boys don’t produce their own equivalents. 

However, I’ve almost never seen one of these in the wild. I do see a lot of PRS player but they often seem to go with plain or very simple tops, just moons, S2s, SEs, the odd Vela or Mira etc. 

They have this dentist perception (all the yawns) but it’s just not what I see people actually using... However, they must be selling these fancy quilted, carved, £5k ones as they keep making them.

Maybe they’re missing a trick by not going at the market who want the guitar that plays like a PRS but looks a bit more old school.

Not really sure if I’ve made my point very well or what my point really is. Hey ho. 

Grumpyrocker

Dan_Halen said:

Maybe they’re missing a trick by not going at the market who want the guitar that plays like a PRS but looks a bit more old school.

I guess that's what the McCarty models are for. They have quite a vintage vibe.

guitargeek62

Grumpyrocker said:

Dan_Halen said:

Maybe they’re missing a trick by not going at the market who want the guitar that plays like a PRS but looks a bit more old school.

I guess that's what the McCarty models are for. They have quite a vintage vibe.

Yep, the McCarty 594 variants are amazing too - I played a couple last weekend (DC and SC) finally and now genuinely wouldn’t be looking anywhere else for those LP tones of yester-year. To be fair, I’ve been a fanboi of PRS for years now, but even so I was bloody impressed by them!

@Dan_Halen - what is it you’d change about PRS designs to make them more “vintage” looking?

TTBZ

I never got the “dentist guitar” thing, most of the bands I associate with PRS are younger metal, prog and pop punk/punk rock styles. Fender and Gibson are for the dad rock blues lawyer dentist types.

meltedbuzzbox

TTBZ said:

I never got the “dentist guitar” thing, most of the bands I associate with PRS are younger metal, prog and pop punk/punk rock styles. Fender and Gibson are for the dad rock blues lawyer dentist types.

but now its just funny watching people start 6+ page threads about PRS guitars not being for dentist and they are actually cool etc. 

If you care what other people think about your guitar of choice you are doing it wrong.