How consistent are PRS guitars?

astrozombie

astrozombie

KatyPerryologist
There's a custom 24 at my local shop that blew my mind, problem is it's in a finish I don't like and either way I can't afford it at the moment. I joined the National Guard and will be in the US mainland training for approximately 6 months, theres a bonus involved with my military job and I'll be able to afford a guitar such as the custom 24 easily then.

This is the model I tried:

Screen Shot 2014-11-03 at 1.43.25 PM.jpg

really really killer guitar that did everything i wanted it to do! I love the trem.

I'd like it in this colour:

PRS_aquableux.jpg

Are the HFS and vintage bass pickups good? these come with those 58/08s or whatever the current version is but they can be ordered with the HFS/VB.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

PRS's QC and consistency is fantastic. I've bought two PRS, a CU24 and Tremonti, without playing them and they are great. Make sure you know the neck profile you want and also know the model you want. Once you have that nailed down, you should be fine ordering the same one in a different color.

I don't have any experience with the HFS/VB pick ups. My CU24 came stock with 57/08s and they are wonderful. However, they are low output and perform like a low output/vintage pup. I had to replace my bridge 57/08 with a 59/09 (again, a great pick up I just needed more....) and then again with a PRS Tremonti pick up as I needed more "umph". (Kept the 57/08 neck and its great) So it really depends on what styles you play and what you like out of your pups.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

Jeff5 said:
PRS's QC and consistency is fantastic. I've bought two PRS without playing them and they are great. Make sure you know the neck profile you want and also have tried the model you want. (CU24, Tremonti, Mira, whatever) Once you have that nailed down, you should be fine ordering the same one in a different color.

The 57/08 pick ups are wonderful. However, they are low output and perform like a low output/vintage pup. I had to replace my bridge 57/08 with a 59/09 and then again with a PRS Tremonti pick up as I needed more "umph". So it really depends on what styles you play and what you like out of your pups.
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No, I didn't like the low output humbuckers in my old Jaguar, I think I'd have to opt for those HFS and vintage bass pickups. the HFS seems to be pretty hot but I can just lower the pickups if need be I guess. Or put some duncans in. :)

I tried the custom 24 at my local dealer but it's the only model they had, if It had been in that blue I would have put it on layway or something... they asked me if i wanted to buy it and i stared at them thinking "this guitar is 3k..." but it's going to be in the cards in the near future.

what a fantastic guitar! the 5 way switching gave me some nice thinner fender type sounds so I'd be able to play every song in my catalogue. (im keeping my strat).
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

Agreed, they are great guitars! I want more lol. (Maybe a CU22 and a CE24)

One thing to consider is that you can buy a HFS/VB set for the price of one 57/08. (57/08 and 59/09 are way more than older PRS pups) If you are so inclined, you may want to order your guitar with the 57/08 and sell them. You'd have more than enough for a HFS/VB set and some left over. Heck, you might have enough for the HFS/VB set AND a 59/09 bridge. If you don't want super high output but something in between, the 59/09 is great.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

Jeff5 said:
Agreed, they are great guitars! I want more lol. (Maybe a CU22 and a CE24)

One thing to consider is that you can buy a HFS/VB set for the price of one 57/08. (57/08 and 59/09 are way more than older PRS pups) If you are so inclined, you may want to order your guitar with the 57/08 and sell them. You'd have more than enough for a HFS/VB set and some left over. Heck, you might have enough for the HFS/VB set AND a 59/09 bridge. If you don't want super high output but something in between, the 59/09 is great.
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thats a great idea! Thank you!

edit:

I honestly LOVED it. I fell in love with that guitar. It just did every single thing I've wanted guitars to do, thick sounds, thin sounds, nice vibrato arm with tunining stability. It's beautiful and feels great. I can't ask for more. I went from the cleanest Little Wing type sounds to the heaviest Pantera riffs I could remember and it did it all. It even got some music out of me, I wrote some interesting melodies on the guitar on the spot.

who wouldn't want to take that home?
 
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Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

astrozombie said:
Are the HFS and vintage bass pickups good?
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Short answer, yes. I think the HFS sounds a bit like an SH-5 Duncan Custom.

In this <------ guitar, I changed out the PRS HFS/VB pickups to a TB-11 Custom Custom Trembucker and SHPG-1n Pearly Gates, neck. With all that maple, the alnico 2 works great at getting a balanced and warm tone.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

Evan Skopp said:
Short answer, yes. I think the HFS sounds a bit like an SH-5 Duncan Custom.

In this <------ guitar, I changed out the PRS HFS/VB pickups to a TB-11 Custom Custom Trembucker and SHPG-1n Pearly Gates, neck. With all that maple, the alnico 2 works great at getting a balanced and warm tone.
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Thank you for your input, always great to hear from someone who's got experience with the actual products, thanks to the both of you.

I ask about that particular set because I tried a 90s "foil" finish model and loved the way that it sounded but I don't have two different Custom 24 models to compare them.

I just searched what the 59/09s go for and what the HFS/VB set goes of, Jeff is right, I can even make a profit by selling both and buying the HFS set.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

I have a 1993 Custom (24) still sporting its stock HFS/VB humbuckers but with a Freeway 3x3-03 six-way toggle selector switch rather than the wafer rotary. This loses two useless selections, adds the obvious one lacking from the five-way rotary and gains the "Power-Out-Of-Phase" selection from the earliest production PRS guitars.

My modus operandi is to run through a valve amplifier set for overdrive then get "clean" sounds by rolling back the guitar's volume control.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

They have good workmanship and consistency thereof. Like any other guitar buying blind can be problematic. Their set-neck double cutaway designs are a bit more prone to dead notes IMHO, compared to single-cut or bolt-on guitars. I don't think this is a widespread concern, though.

Also nagging is that there is no way to get long-legged humbuckers into the neck position.

On the bright side they have wider necks and 6-point trems, all good for consistency.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

I don't own a PRS, but I would have to say that PRS is one of the very few brands that I would be comfortable with buying new, sight unseen.

Good luck. And thanks for your national service.

Bill
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

Astro you probably have this covered, but make sure you're tried or at least know what neck profile you want. They usually offer pattern thin or wide fat in the newer models but some also come with pattern regular. Do you know which you tried and liked? If not and if the music store doesn't know, get the serial and shoot it PRS in e-mail. They're pretty good about responding.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

uOpt said:
They have good workmanship and consistency thereof. Like any other guitar buying blind can be problematic. Their set-neck double cutaway designs are a bit more prone to dead notes IMHO, compared to single-cut or bolt-on guitars. I don't think this is a widespread concern, though.

Also nagging is that there is no way to get long-legged humbuckers into the neck position.

On the bright side they have wider necks and 6-point trems, all good for consistency.
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I picked up a Custom 24 in a trade not long ago and it's quickly becoming my go-to guitar. Incredible instrument.

I haven't experienced any dead notes on mine, yet, not by a long shot. I also never realized how good the upper fret access is on these guitars, Kind of like an SG but more solid feeling.

Also, I've been playing hardtails only for about 8 years and the trem on the Cu24 is tripping me out. It's so smooth and stable and returns to pitch amazingly well. Almost no forward dive when I bend, either. It's a great system.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

The quality, fit and finish are all very consistent and extremely high quality.

What isn't too consistent is the figure of their maple, but that's fixed by upgrading to their artist grade package- if you're concerned about getting a cosmetically high grade maple top. It's steer away from 10 tops, as there have been many "standard" maple tops of theirs that are close in figure to a 10 top, and many 10 tops that are close in figure to a standard top. But if you solely were concerned about cosmetics, I'd go for a Carvin or a PRS Artist grade top.

I have a plain Korina bodied PRS, no maple, and it's killer. Playing it is like driving a Mercedes compare to an old clunker.

Any PRS you get sight unseen is going to be very high quality- but as I said, you might take a chance if you're looking for a killer maple top
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

I'm not a huge fan of the sound that PRS's have, but as far as the playability and quality, I think they are fantastic.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

Jeff5 said:
Astro you probably have this covered, but make sure you're tried or at least know what neck profile you want. They usually offer pattern thin or wide fat in the newer models but some also come with pattern regular. Do you know which you tried and liked? If not and if the music store doesn't know, get the serial and shoot it PRS in e-mail. They're pretty good about responding.
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If im not mistaken the new custom 24s only come with the pattern thin and pattern regular necks. I have no idea which one I tried, but I loved it. I would just order the pattern regular model. I love the thicker D shaped neck on my stratocaster and loved the big chunky neck on my firebird studio.

B2D said:
I picked up a Custom 24 in a trade not long ago and it's quickly becoming my go-to guitar. Incredible instrument.

I haven't experienced any dead notes on mine, yet, not by a long shot. I also never realized how good the upper fret access is on these guitars, Kind of like an SG but more solid feeling.

Also, I've been playing hardtails only for about 8 years and the trem on the Cu24 is tripping me out. It's so smooth and stable and returns to pitch amazingly well. Almost no forward dive when I bend, either. It's a great system.
Click to expand...

I had never really "gotten" PRS.

Mainly because of advertisements like these:

4b693998a9055_147484n.jpg

4ca0f748c7290_147484n.jpg

4ca0fa927e3ef_147484n.jpg

Yeah, I identify with the guitar players for Nickelback, Linkin Park and Avril Lavigne.



it was this player that got me into them, I figured a screenshot would explain everything quickly:

Screen Shot 2014-11-05 at 7.59.43 AM.jpg

I walked into the dealer and they were playing this DVD, where that photo is from and I thought how come he sounds so great and when I play a PRS it sounds like crap? Then I realized he was playing a custom 24 and not the crappy Mira or SE models I had tried.

I plugged it in and here I am: it's not a guitar heavily associated with anything so I feel like it's blank canvas and I can use it to write my story, specially here in Puerto Rico where the most "high end" a guitar can get at a local club is an SG standard or Les Paul Studio.

In other words: instant association. I'm the PRS guy. The custom 24 guy.

and no, I didn't join the Guard to fund a PRS :lmao:

I just realized I should treat myself, I'm not about to spend 6 months in training to get back and not have at least a tiny bit of fun. :)
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

I'll have you know that, with some modification, PRS SE guitars can be fabulous.

I have three, two sport American-made P90s. The third has P-Rails. Is there a pattern emerging yet? :scratchch
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

Regarding choosing a PRS (or, for that matter, any make/model of guitar), if you find one that does the necessary for your requirements, snap it up. Never mind the colour.

For the most part, I hate white Stratocasters. Unfortunately, the two best ones that I ever chanced upon were in that finish. The third best one is/was '54 translucent Blonde. This is what I believe Aceman likes to call a first world problem.
 
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