PRS GAS - Help me turn away

[squank]

PRS's are very hit or miss. I've had a lot of them. The best are McCarty's from the late 90's that have Brazilian rosewood necks. I had a Custom 22 I bought at GC brand new for $1850 in the '90's that was magical. Most all the rest I've owned were duds.... but they looked pretty at doing so!

Sorry, but from my experience, this is just wrong. I've owned more than 100 PRS guitars - no exaggeration - 100 of them. None of them were misses. Some of their earlier pickups weren't great, but average pickups (or even bad ones) don't make a guitar bad.

Now, I'm not saying all PRS are great - certainly even the best builders make lesser guitars. But saying they are very hit or miss gives a very wrong impression.

 

[Fox77]

I do not agree that the guitars are hit and miss, but depending on your taste, the pickups can be.

The 594 might be good for you considering you like big necks. Otherwise, the DGT neck is really comfortable and it has Jumbo frets and comes with 11-49s as standard. Also has 2 volume knobs and is just a terrific guitar.

Generally speaking: their newer guitars are even better made than the old ones (which were already awesome). My nearly 10 years old SC250 is way ahead of my new Gibson Custom Shop LP from a quality perspective.

Good luck with the hunting!

EDIT: by the way: the PRS is not the reason for the big sale, right? still curious what you were after

 

[4406cuda]

DGT!!! Awesome gigging guitar...most prs pickups are meh but the DGT bridge is fantastic.

This ^^^

 

[zoom club]

Mid 2000s mccarty are where it's at.

Handle high gain like a boss, no mud.

First guitar I could sing with and not have to look down at all.

 

[mudf00t]

Mid 2000s mccarty are where it's at.

Handle high gain like a boss, no mud.

First guitar I could sing with and not have to look down at all.

This is a characteristic of PRS not really just in McCarty's IMHO. I was first exposed to Paul Reed Smith in the mid 90s when the guitar player in a band that I was singing in got one (Custom 24) along with a Mesa combo (not sure which model) that he still uses to this day. I was struck by how clear that guitar sounded... how it rang. I always wanted one but couldn't afford it. It wasn't until 2008 when I finally could afford to buy a CE24. Since then my career and businesses have really taken off... and I have gone nuts buying gear. I have 10 PRS guitars now and I love them all. I am a little bit of a hoarder lol.

 

[Viper]

For years I played the PRS maple neck wide-thin CE24s, but I just don't like "spring mounted" pups. I truly believe the direct coupled to the body is key to the overall tone and natural presence of the instrument.

I have four of these: http://romanguitars.com/shop/guitars/qu ... rs/A32-174.

I know, it's the late Ed Roman and everybody hated him, but in reality he's a cool guy if you know what you want. Ed would get 100s of calls every day asking about this and that and he kind of developed a rightly so a gregarious attitude.

Either way, Ed worked designing and building PRS guitars for over 20 years back in the day before he broke off and developed his own company many years ago. The "Quick Silver" is my baby - it's like a PRS on steroids and other performance enhancers.

On your free time, browse his website, there's a lot of interesting stuff on there.

http://romanguitars.com/index

Bullshit. He was hacking PRS guitars without permission and swapping necks. He was dropped as a PRS dealer. Good riddance.

 

[spguitar]

Can't beat it for $1050 used shipped. Custom 22 with birds.

 

[squank]

Bullshit. He was hacking PRS guitars without permission and swapping necks. He was dropped as a PRS dealer. Good riddance.

Not to mention his Quicksilver is a complete PRS knockoff.

 

[peterc52]

I dont care too much about PRS but I have a Mira and a Starla and those er really cool. And more in the vein of a gibson but made better. Mines the old US made ones.

 

[RockyStar]

For years I played the PRS maple neck wide-thin CE24s, but I just don't like "spring mounted" pups. I truly believe the direct coupled to the body is key to the overall tone and natural presence of the instrument.

I have four of these: http://romanguitars.com/shop/guitars/qu ... rs/A32-174.

I know, it's the late Ed Roman and everybody hated him, but in reality he's a cool guy if you know what you want. Ed would get 100s of calls every day asking about this and that and he kind of developed a rightly so a gregarious attitude.

Either way, Ed worked designing and building PRS guitars for over 20 years back in the day before he broke off and developed his own company many years ago. The "Quick Silver" is my baby - it's like a PRS on steroids and other performance enhancers.

On your free time, browse his website, there's a lot of interesting stuff on there.

http://romanguitars.com/index

Bullshit. He was hacking PRS guitars without permission and swapping necks. He was dropped as a PRS dealer. Good riddance.

Ed Roman is a joke. I can't believe anybody would buy anything from him. He is the knock off king. PRS, Baker, etc.

 

[RockyStar]

PRS's are very hit or miss. I've had a lot of them. The best are McCarty's from the late 90's that have Brazilian rosewood necks. I had a Custom 22 I bought at GC brand new for $1850 in the '90's that was magical. Most all the rest I've owned were duds.... but they looked pretty at doing so!

Bullshit

 

[spguitar]

PRS's are very hit or miss. I've had a lot of them. The best are McCarty's from the late 90's that have Brazilian rosewood necks. I had a Custom 22 I bought at GC brand new for $1850 in the '90's that was magical. Most all the rest I've owned were duds.... but they looked pretty at doing so!

Bullshit

I dunno man i kinda agree to an extent. I currently have 3 but i've owned 3 others that i just couldn't gel with for various reasons.
1995 CE24 - Wouldn't stay in tune for crap. Definitely rare for a PRS to not stay in tune. I didn't want to bother changing tuners and messing with the bridge so i traded it.
Standard 22 - Just sounded and felt weird. Not sure what was up there. I tried getting it setup and it just didn't ever feel right. Almost like a toy.
Custom 22 - Same as above but it actually had weight to it. Weird tone even with various pickup swaps. (not like my current CU22)

 

[RockyStar]

PRS's are very hit or miss. I've had a lot of them. The best are McCarty's from the late 90's that have Brazilian rosewood necks. I had a Custom 22 I bought at GC brand new for $1850 in the '90's that was magical. Most all the rest I've owned were duds.... but they looked pretty at doing so!

Bullshit

I dunno man i kinda agree to an extent. I currently have 3 but i've owned 3 others that i just couldn't gel with for various reasons.
1995 CE24 - Wouldn't stay in tune for crap. Definitely rare for a PRS to not stay in tune. I didn't want to bother changing tuners and messing with the bridge so i traded it.
Standard 22 - Just sounded and felt weird. Not sure what was up there. I tried getting it setup and it just didn't ever feel right. Almost like a toy.
Custom 22 - Same as above but it actually had weight to it. Weird tone even with various pickup swaps. (not like my current CU22)

You "kinda" agree to an "extent"?

I have many and have worked on literally 100's of them and they are one of the most stable guitars out there. I can admit that maybe people dislike ergonomics, neck carve, things like that but to say they are not made well, are not consistent from one to the other is simply not true. I don't know of another manufacturer that builds as many guitars per year as PRS that has the quality and consistency of PRS. I bought one, it wouldn't stay in tune either if I grabbed the trem aggressively, once it was set up right it is one of the most stable guitars I own fixed bridge or trem in any brand I have.

 

[sg guy]

-over rated & over priced, great looking wall hangers thou-

 

[vchizzle]

PRS's are very hit or miss. I've had a lot of them. The best are McCarty's from the late 90's that have Brazilian rosewood necks. I had a Custom 22 I bought at GC brand new for $1850 in the '90's that was magical. Most all the rest I've owned were duds.... but they looked pretty at doing so!

Yea. I really want a solid color. Im not really into the 10 tops and wood library stuff that much. They look cool, but I don't want to play them live. Ever.

If you end up not going the 594 route, McCarty korina is a sleeper guitar. They kick ass and have Brazilian boards. Lots of places were blowing them out NOS $1700-2000. Lots of solid colors for that model too.

 

[vchizzle]

RockyStar is on point in all those posts.

 

[vchizzle]

Reza- what do you want to get out of the PRS? You started thinking CU24 and migrated to 594 which are worlds apart obviously. I know, it's easy to do. I think focus a little on what you're after outta this guitar and it'll be easier to point you in the right direction. Not sure how close you are to Wild West Guitars but they usually have a bunch(though they usually have a lot of high end). Doug Diamond is the shit though.

 

[vchizzle]

The binding option should narrow the selection quite a bit since PRS doesn't use it on many guitars.

 

[spguitar]

PRS's are very hit or miss. I've had a lot of them. The best are McCarty's from the late 90's that have Brazilian rosewood necks. I had a Custom 22 I bought at GC brand new for $1850 in the '90's that was magical. Most all the rest I've owned were duds.... but they looked pretty at doing so!

Bullshit

I dunno man i kinda agree to an extent. I currently have 3 but i've owned 3 others that i just couldn't gel with for various reasons.
1995 CE24 - Wouldn't stay in tune for crap. Definitely rare for a PRS to not stay in tune. I didn't want to bother changing tuners and messing with the bridge so i traded it.
Standard 22 - Just sounded and felt weird. Not sure what was up there. I tried getting it setup and it just didn't ever feel right. Almost like a toy.
Custom 22 - Same as above but it actually had weight to it. Weird tone even with various pickup swaps. (not like my current CU22)

You "kinda" agree to an "extent"?

I have many and have worked on literally 100's of them and they are one of the most stable guitars out there. I can admit that maybe people dislike ergonomics, neck carve, things like that but to say they are not made well, are not consistent from one to the other is simply not true. I don't know of another manufacturer that builds as many guitars per year as PRS that has the quality and consistency of PRS. I bought one, it wouldn't stay in tune either if I grabbed the trem aggressively, once it was set up right it is one of the most stable guitars I own fixed bridge or trem in any brand I have.

I love PRS more than any other brand but just from my experience i've had a few bad ones that i bought or traded for online. Just like i've had some even worse junk Gibsons. My Standard 24 is an amazing player. Perfect tuning no matter what. Even with divebombs. My Singlecut is the best tone guitar i've ever owned. The 2006 CU22 i recently got is creeping up on the Singlecut for my #1 out of 20 guitars that i own. Those others i had were just not near the caliber of these 3. It happens with all of the big boys. Keep in mind these were older PRS. (1995-2003) I haven't even tried the new core series.

 

[vchizzle]

Every brand has some duds, to think otherwise is foolish. BUT, PRS is one of the most consistent out there. Especially out of the big guitar makers.