It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Subscribe to our Patreon, and get image uploads with no ads on the site!
Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
Forgot when I posted that - I did have a 2011 that developed a bit of an issue on the neck, but that was 2 years ago now. It was *super* minor but it was there - ended up selling it anyway.
It seems like if there is going to be a problem most will have already shown it...
I really wanted the one in Antique White, or whatever the hell it was called, but after playing the satin I just couldn't do it. The difference was too pronounced.
I haven't tried any of the satin finished S2 models, but I have owned a couple of satin nitro "core" models - a Standard 22 and a Standard Singlecut Satin. I liked the feel of the thin satin finishes, but I was surprised to find both guitars were actually relatively dull/dead sounding (I'm talking acoustically, not amplified). They were less "lively" than gloss-finished PRS guitars I've owned.
Of course, the fact they were all mahogany, without maple tops, may have contributed (although as well all now know, wood makes no difference...). Or maybe I just had a couple of duds.
*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
@Philly_Q PRS Standards definitely have a different sound to the maple topped versions of the same guitar.
I think I actually prefer the sound of a Standard to a Custom. With the depth of the top carve, I think the maple is too thick on the maple topped PRS line. It may be the 25" scale as well, but they don't sound as good to me as a good Gibson. Given how different the Standard sounds though I think it's predominantly the wood rather than the scale length.
I really like the look of the new(ish) McCarty 594. Apparently it's a bit deeper with more mahogany, and a lower maple to mahogany ratio. I had a play on one a few weeks back. To my mind the best sounding PRS of that style that I've played - by a distance. I know it's got different pickups to the ones I've played previously, and that's probably a factor as well. Whatever the reason, it's a great guitar.
Getting back on topic, the reason I was asking about the V12 finish is that I am thinking that a 594 might an option at some point in time.
That Satin Vela is a brilliant guitar. I bought one a few months back. My first PRS for several years.
Seems you are entirely right and it would probably be fair to say the whole world of guitars and guitar playing is infused with magical thinking of one sort or another. I have read previously how many players assign magical properties to guitars that were once owned by celebrity players, but the belief in magic or 'mojo' is much broader than this. And there I was thinking that this sort of thing was more or less confined to religious fundamentalists, new-age healers and believers in astrology. Seems human being really haven't changed all that much since the days the worshiped tree spirits. Hey, they probably even thought a different type of spirit inhabited each different species of tree!
Edit. Of course, rationally speaking there is no such thing as magic, but this doesn't take into account the workings of the human mind. For example, isn't it supposed to be true that in many primitive tribes if someone thinks they have been 'cursed' by a witch-doctor, they will often just lay down and die within a couple of days?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/science/09guitar.html?mcubz=0
https://www.business.uq.edu.au/sites/default/files/events/files/karen-fernandez-paper.pdf
Your point about exceeding expectations is a thing though. It's called positive disconfirmation.
Now I want a satin PRS Vela.
Why buy an original oil or water colour painting when you can buy a poster of it?
I'm guessing you're more of a poster man.
If you want stain though they have to go the full process with the V12 topcoat.
My beloved 1961 burst (the one in my avatar) has so many scars, dings, holes and scrapes and so on that I often look at it and think wonder what stories it could tell if it could speak?
I wonder when it played Stairway or Freebird for the first time, the first time beer was spilled on it, who did the cig burn on its headstock, if it's ever played Wembley and so on. It's music, it's all about the heritage that drives us.
I feel a fraud when I play it as I am nowhere near good enough to own that instrument, but without being a snob, you can get equal inspiration from other sources too, whether it be a Squier CV (excellent guitars) or whatever.
I hope that makes sense.
*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
I'm not going to disagree about the effect of wood on the tone! Totally agreed about all-mahogany versus maple/mahogany, I've owned loads of all-mahogany guitars and I actually expected to prefer the PRS Standards to the maple-topped ones, but they defied my expectations and sounded really dull. Maybe it was the finish, maybe it was the wood, maybe they were indeed just a couple of duds.
I like the look of the 594 too, it's the slightly bigger neck which is the most appealing factor for me. But they're just too expensive.
Going back to the V12 finish, I've got a couple of 2011 limited-run McCartys which - I think - were among the earliest models with the V12 finish (although something is nagging away at the back of my mind saying that may be wrong - was there a V11 finish?). Anyway, I've had no problems with the finish, touch wood, although they haven't been played very much.