How consistent are PRS guitars?

Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

I love both of those finishes! Esp the black one!! As said, the PRS quality is very consistent! Even in the Se lines. my only problem with them is I dont understand the neck shape descriptions and Ive never been able to compare several diff models back to back to see what I like. I played a used one at GC once that just blew my socks off and unfortunately, I have no idea what model it was to be able to look it up again. None of the others Ive played have made that much of an impression on me..
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

Funkfingers said:
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
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I tried the santana model, it was a great guitar but the CU24 was just ridiculous. It sustained well and was very very resonant.

when the time comes I'll consider all my options.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

astrozombie said:
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.
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You are probably right. It's worth a call to the music store and/or to check with PRS to find out what profile you tried. May as well be sure of the guitar when your putting down that much money.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

I have a friend who's a manager at PRS and saw this thread and wrote:

It’s always nice to hear that our consistent quality is recognized – we put huge effort into it!

The National Guard story is pretty amazing.
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Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

Jeff5 said:
You are probably right. It's worth a call to the music store and/or to check with PRS to find out what profile you tried. May as well be sure of the guitar when your putting down that much money.
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Having tried a Custom 22 this week, I think it's safe to say that PRS is a company I can trust with my money as well as my energies. People don't think about this much, but when you decide to buy a guitar or bass etc., you end up basically meditating. I think I've been thinking more about the PRS company as a whole instead of the Custom 24 as a guitar.

When I tried the guitars, I realized that any one of them could do the job. When I played the Mira s2 and the custom 24, I realized that they got the sounds that all my previous guitars had, but it was one model.

My Jaguar, Flying V, Firebird, Stratocaster, ES-333 and LTD were all there, in that Custom 24.


I also realized that PRS is a company who's story is based on quality. There's no photos of Jimi Hendrix playing a McCarty. There's no cut of "Dig A Pony" on a singlecut. And you know what? That's fine.

I've explored the limits of the "classic" guitar companies and never felt the connection I did with that Custom 24. I picked it up and guitar was just me. I could shred on it as well as play things more based on harmony and melody.

For a while I toyed with the idea of owning a very "stylish" guitar for a songwriter vibe and a "performance" based guitar for faster and more intricate pieces. When I picked up the Custom 24, I found both!

It's funny, I played those PRS guitars at the shop and fell and love, came home and just stare at my strats because they're being repaired and aren't even fully assembled. Interesting right? Kind of like There's a message I'm supposed to be getting...

Jeff5 said:
It is obvious they put a lot of effort into it, even with the SE models.
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The Santana SE is fabulous. I was considering getting one as a backup.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

Having owned a half a dozen various USA PRS I can tell you they've all been very well built. Having gone from Gibson Custom Shop pieces with finish flaws and dead spots, this was a welcome find. If you want a great playing guitar, it's hard to argue with any of PRS' USA stuff. If I were to criticize anything, I'd say tonally they varied quite a bit (even with models with identical woods) and that would be my only hesitation with buying sight unseen.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

I agree Astro. What does it for me is that I don't have to "think" about the guitar if that makes sense. Everything on it and about it is so easy to play that I can focus on my playing and being creative. It's kind of hard to explain.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

Jeff5 said:
I agree Astro. What does it for me is that I don't have to "think" about the guitar if that makes sense. Everything on it and about it is so easy to play that I can focus on my playing and being creative. It's kind of hard to explain.
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It felt like a worn in baseball glove I'd been using for the last ten years. I wasn't self conscious of the shape of the guitar at all, it just kind of fit. It's the kind of guitar that leaves no excuses available to you. If you suck: it's not the action, it's not the intonation, it's not the tone.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

I've had a McCarty Standard and SC245 with 10 top..... both killer guitars and I got the SC245 used online.... I am thinking about getting my hands on a semi hollow CU22 or something like the 408... really good deals if you can get them used
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

Jeff5 said:
I agree Astro. What does it for me is that I don't have to "think" about the guitar if that makes sense. Everything on it and about it is so easy to play that I can focus on my playing and being creative. It's kind of hard to explain.
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I agree - if a guitar is built just right for you the way you like it, you don't have to spend any energy on "getting around" or fighting the instrument and you can just PLAY.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

B2D said:
I agree - if a guitar is built just right for you the way you like it, you don't have to spend any energy on "getting around" or fighting the instrument and you can just PLAY.
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Yeah. I was asking about the HFS pickup but in all honesty I could probably just plug a stock custom 24 into any decent amp and have good sounds for the rest of my life.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

I've purchased five PRS guitars sight-unseen (2 CEs, 2 Singlecuts, and a Cu24). Only one of them had any consistency issues and that was the '89 CE, a guitar built back when they were still figuring things out.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

When I think of PRS players I typically think of Steve from Porcupine Tree, Tim from 311, Al DiMeola, Dave Navarro, Dave Grissom, Pete from Chevelle, Mikael from Opeth - stuff like that.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

astrozombie said:
It's the kind of guitar that leaves no excuses available to you.
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In my opinion, the epitome of the "nowhere to hide" electric guitar is the Fender Esquire and/or the Gibson Les Paul Junior. (Grudging acknowledgement here to the SG Junior and Firebird I.)

PRS guitars are consistent and comfortable but this is not the point. Sure, Carlos gets superb sounds from his PRS guitars. He can - and has - extracted equally good sounds from Yamaha and Gibson guitars - not least, the all-maple Gibson L6. Carlos sounds like Carlos.
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

When I think of PRS guitars I think of me owning and playing more of them =).
 
Re: How consistent are PRS guitars?

I have an SC-58 and a McCarty. They are both fantastic guitars. The SC-58 is my main guitar and I bought it online and it plays like a dream. As some of the others have mentioned, I am thinking about swapping out the 57/08 pickups for something with a little more power, like the WLH set or a set of 59/09's.
 
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