Paul Reed Smith is actually a cool guy!

Boromedic

octatonic said:

Boromedic said:

I think compared to Suhr, Tom Anderson et al, there's a difference because they dont claim to be reinventing anything, unlike Paul. They're less travelling snake oil salesmen and just great guitar makers who have done very well. 

Tom Anderson has actually innovated.
Blower switch, Switcheroo, and the two screw neck join are some examples.
The latter is a genius idea.

Yeah he has innovated, but he's not out there claiming he's a genius and guitars were shit before he came along. Paraphrasing Paul a bit there, but in some interviews he acts like the second coming and it's irritating. The Anderson neck join is amazing.

I kinda hope he sells up and there's a CBS style buy out and the QC drops off, just for shits and giggles. I say that like having owned two core PRS guitars, both of which have minor gripes that I never saw on any Suhr or Anderson. Both of them were great guitars but some minor niggles none the less.

simonhpieman

Rob1742 said:

Yeah but is this 45 seconds for a guitar to sustain correct? 

Not sure the environment to check mine was good last night, but I’ve got some pretty fine guitars and I weren’t getting anywhere near that 45 seconds he mentioned. 

I was thinking that if anyone watched this video, this point about how long a good guitar can be heard would have been picked up 

If I heard right, you just take them off the wall and strum them unplugged? Most of mine struggle to get much beyond 10 seconds so I guess I should throw them all in the bin and buy a PRS? Note that includes my Variax which has no big magnetic pickups pulling on the strings.

I know humidity makes a difference to acoustics etc so maybe mine'll fare better come the Summer when I can get things closer to 40/50% in here.

Funkfingers

guitars4you said:

RandallFlagg said:

Paul is 68 now, I wonder what his succession plans are? Will he sell up like Randall Smith did?

I've thought the same - My gut feeling is he will become 'the president' and face of PRS but back down on the day to day work - Similar to how Jim Marshall and Leo Fender became  - But then who ends up owning it, years later, and who runs it - ie what legacy does he leave to whom and how to preserve continuity and value of the brand/company - Not sure if there are junior PRS's in his family. to come in and take it over  

Perhaps, Smith should follow the Seymour Duncan example? Get divorced, then, leave the day-to-day running of the business to his ex-wife and her new partner.

Derek Duncan takes an active part in pickup winding for the company. He seems set to inherit in much the same way that Dan Armstrong handed on to Kent and, thence, to Aaron.

Kittyfrisk

Funkfingers said:

guitars4you said:

RandallFlagg said:

Paul is 68 now, I wonder what his succession plans are? Will he sell up like Randall Smith did?

I've thought the same - My gut feeling is he will become 'the president' and face of PRS but back down on the day to day work - Similar to how Jim Marshall and Leo Fender became  - But then who ends up owning it, years later, and who runs it - ie what legacy does he leave to whom and how to preserve continuity and value of the brand/company - Not sure if there are junior PRS's in his family. to come in and take it over  

Perhaps, Smith should follow the Seymour Duncan example? Get divorced, then, leave the day-to-day running of the business to his ex-wife and her new partner.

Derek Duncan takes an active part in pickup winding for the company. He seems set to inherit in much the same way that Dan Armstrong handed on to Kent and, thence, to Aaron.

Why does that sound so Old Testament? 

WezV

I liked him when I met him.   He briefly played a bass I made and was polite and complimentary, also suggested a slight truss rod tweak  

He likes all guitars, not just his own.   I can cope with his sales approach as I think it comes from a genuine passion to make guitars as good as they can be.

kentuckyklira

Many years ago, when we still had the Musik Messe in Frankfurt (Germany´s NAMM), a friend and I walked into a little bar and there he was, jamming on a tiny stage with Bernie Marsden. He went on to have a few drinks and chat with the crowd. I remember talking to him for about 30 seconds but can´t remember what about other than "cheers"! Definitely came across as a very nice guy.

guitars4you

Funkfingers said:

guitars4you said:

RandallFlagg said:

Paul is 68 now, I wonder what his succession plans are? Will he sell up like Randall Smith did?

I've thought the same - My gut feeling is he will become 'the president' and face of PRS but back down on the day to day work - Similar to how Jim Marshall and Leo Fender became  - But then who ends up owning it, years later, and who runs it - ie what legacy does he leave to whom and how to preserve continuity and value of the brand/company - Not sure if there are junior PRS's in his family. to come in and take it over  

Perhaps, Smith should follow the Seymour Duncan example? Get divorced, then, leave the day-to-day running of the business to his ex-wife and her new partner.

Derek Duncan takes an active part in pickup winding for the company. He seems set to inherit in much the same way that Dan Armstrong handed on to Kent and, thence, to Aaron.

Think he is already divorced, once

Haych

I want to one of his clinics once, I thought he was a little bit full of his own self importance and not just a little bit disingenuous.

He compared one of his own guitars (a private stock, no less) to a custom shop Fender and was waxing lyrical about how clean his guitar played compared to the Fender, which he claimed choked on the upper frets.

He passed both guitars round for comparison and he was somewhat right, the PRS did play much cleaner in the high registers, but the Fender had a reasonably low action whereas the PRS had an action high enough to drive a Pantechnicon under. 

He also compared one of his acoustics to a well known brand, I forget if it was Martin or Taylor, and was claiming his sounded much fuller, but his was also tuned down a full step with heavier strings where the other was at concert pitch so naturally had a completely different voice.

He also talks in riddles and pinning him down to a straight answer is harder work than a Newsnight interview with a politician.

I can't dispute he makes very good guitars and as mass produced instruments go his are probably the best and most consistent among well known makers.  But as an individual, certainly the persona I saw that night, he doesn't come over as a very likeable character.

Kittyfrisk

Haych said:

I want to one of his clinics once, I thought he was a little bit full of his own self importance and not just a little bit disingenuous.

He compared one of his own guitars (a private stock, no less) to a custom shop Fender and was waxing lyrical about how clean his guitar played compared to the Fender, which he claimed choked on the upper frets.

He passed both guitars round for comparison and he was somewhat right, the PRS did play much cleaner in the high registers, but the Fender had a reasonably low action whereas the PRS had an action high enough to drive a Pantechnicon under. 

He also compared one of his acoustics to a well known brand, I forget if it was Martin or Taylor, and was claiming his sounded much fuller, but his was also tuned down a full step with heavier strings where the other was at concert pitch so naturally had a completely different voice.

He also talks in riddles and pinning him down to a straight answer is harder work than a Newsnight interview with a politician.

I can't dispute he makes very good guitars and as mass produced instruments go his are probably the best and most consistent among well known makers.  But as an individual, certainly the persona I saw that night, he doesn't come over as a very likeable character.

Burn the Heretic!!




Seriously, thanks for the personal viewpoint, as experienced.  

Philly_Q

Last night I (very briefly) tried the "sustain test" he talks about in the video.  I think he says a vintage Les Paul and Strat sustained for about 45 seconds each, and a new PRS sustained for a similar time - 48 seconds - but new Fenders and Gibsons only sustained for about 17 seconds.

I've no idea how they did the test, plugged or unplugged, one string or multiple strings.  And I wasn't going to sit there for an hour comparing different guitars.  But the one PRS I tried managed about 20 seconds, unplugged, with my ear right to the body.  It's an S2 so maybe it's shite compared to a core model...

I'm not saying that proves anything or even means anything.  Just something I tried out of interest.

dindude

Doesn’t the sustain test assume that everyone wants to sound like Santana - chime and character often comes from short sustaining guitars. 

Kittyfrisk

Philly_Q said:

Last night I (very briefly) tried the "sustain test" he talks about in the video.  I think he says a vintage Les Paul and Strat sustained for about 45 seconds each, and a new PRS sustained for a similar time - 48 seconds - but new Fenders and Gibsons only sustained for about 17 seconds.

I've no idea how they did the test, plugged or unplugged, one string or multiple strings.  And I wasn't going to sit there for an hour comparing different guitars.  But the one PRS I tried managed about 20 seconds, unplugged, with my ear right to the body.  It's an S2 so maybe it's shite compared to a core model...

I'm not saying that proves anything or even means anything.  Just something I tried out of interest.

Which ear did you use, what pressure did you apply, was it at a known resonant node point on the guitar & when did you last have your ear serviced & calibrated?

We need to know :-D

Philly_Q

Kittyfrisk said:

Philly_Q said:

Last night I (very briefly) tried the "sustain test" he talks about in the video.  I think he says a vintage Les Paul and Strat sustained for about 45 seconds each, and a new PRS sustained for a similar time - 48 seconds - but new Fenders and Gibsons only sustained for about 17 seconds.

I've no idea how they did the test, plugged or unplugged, one string or multiple strings.  And I wasn't going to sit there for an hour comparing different guitars.  But the one PRS I tried managed about 20 seconds, unplugged, with my ear right to the body.  It's an S2 so maybe it's shite compared to a core model...

I'm not saying that proves anything or even means anything.  Just something I tried out of interest.

Which ear did you use, what pressure did you apply, was it at a known resonant node point on the guitar & when did you last have your ear serviced & calibrated?

We need to know :-D

Right ear, I had a hearing test at a medical last year but the results were inconclusive - I don't think their push-button for responding to the test sounds worked properly.  No idea on the rest of it....

Philly_Q

dindude said:

Doesn’t the sustain test assume that everyone wants to sound like Santana - chime and character often comes from short sustaining guitars. 

Me personally, although I wouldn't want to sound specifically like Santana - as he sounds nowadays - I do favour that kind of sustained guitar tone.  I don't like plinky, spanky, chimey, wiry, twangy, whatever you want to call it guitar sounds.

Haych

Kittyfrisk said:

Haych said:

I want to one of his clinics once, I thought he was a little bit full of his own self importance and not just a little bit disingenuous.

He compared one of his own guitars (a private stock, no less) to a custom shop Fender and was waxing lyrical about how clean his guitar played compared to the Fender, which he claimed choked on the upper frets.

He passed both guitars round for comparison and he was somewhat right, the PRS did play much cleaner in the high registers, but the Fender had a reasonably low action whereas the PRS had an action high enough to drive a Pantechnicon under. 

He also compared one of his acoustics to a well known brand, I forget if it was Martin or Taylor, and was claiming his sounded much fuller, but his was also tuned down a full step with heavier strings where the other was at concert pitch so naturally had a completely different voice.

He also talks in riddles and pinning him down to a straight answer is harder work than a Newsnight interview with a politician.

I can't dispute he makes very good guitars and as mass produced instruments go his are probably the best and most consistent among well known makers.  But as an individual, certainly the persona I saw that night, he doesn't come over as a very likeable character.

Burn the Heretic!!




Seriously, thanks for the personal viewpoint, as experienced.  

Honestly, I did expect to be burned at the stake for writing that.  On reflection, though, I think it was a bit mean spirited of me to describe him as not a very likeable character.  I'm sure in a different setting and under different circumstances there would be different qualities in his personality that would come out and shine.

I think a better description would be to have stated that he seemed like he could be a bit difficult, possibly prickly, if he wanted to be.

Apologies if I did a character assassination without much need.

mudslide73

He's only being passionate and seems to have limitless energy when he's talking about their products. It's a shame that the brand will always suffer for it's late arrival compared to F&G - we're traditionalists, sadly.

PhilKing

I met him back in the 90's at NAMM and saked him about fitting a 5-way slider, rather than the knob.  He told me that he would never do that to one of his guitars, as he would have to cut away too much wood.  That doesn't seem to be bothering him any more!

Majorscale

I’ve met and spoken with him three times. Twice at PRS events and another time a chance encounter in Germany. On those occasions he’s ranged from a prick to a full-on sales man to a nice bloke. I think he’s done great things for the guitar industry but he’s not somebody I’d find easy to hang out with as he’s a bit full on.

Fingers657

I like Paul and some of his guitars.
I own four of them.
I would love to hang out at his studio for a week or two.
Its always looked like a nice space and place.

guitarjack66

Does it really matter if an electric guitar sustains acoustically for more than a few seconds? It's electric and relies on magnets and amps and effects anyhow. That's the whole point isn't it? Acoustics though,that's surely a whole different debate?