Is that a PRS you're holding?

[Hot _Grits]

So, I was visiting one of the few solely-owned guitar stores in my country whilst on my band's short tour over the new year period, and I came across something very interesting...

Whilst I was checking out a minty brownface vibrosonic and a very nice Heritage 335, the local shop owner handed me a PRS. Only, it wasn't. It certainly made me double-take. I swear, this thing was as close to a real Custom 24 as you could imagine: weight, dimensions, incredible flame top in emerald green, bird inlays (maybe a little fat if I was picky), trem bridge... -in fact, the only things that gave it away were non-prs tuners, some small logo on each of the zebra pickups, the absence of the PRS logo and a glossier, rounded nut. Much closer than the various Asian PRS-alikes I've encountered before, and some minor work away from being a complete counterfeit (I could imagine Ed Roman going to town with a containerload of these guitars). They even hand wrote the serial number in the PRS style.

Apparently the brand is called Atlas, and they are made somewhere in Thailand. He was retailing them for under half the price of a base level PRS down here. I believe they are already getting legal letters from PRS, and will be stopping the birds.

And the guitar itself knocked me out. It was cosmetically and tonally everything you could expect from a PRS. Everything was beautifully executed, the playablity was flawless, and even the hot-ish pickups sounded good (I'm not a great fan of non-McCarty PRS pickups, to be fair). I swear, if someone had blindfolded me and handed me this guitar, I would have told them it was one of the best PRSi I've ever played out of the 40 or so that I have encountered. I swear it was better than my old CU22, and it was defintely as good or better than any new one I've played over the last year.

So, why is all of this interesting to me? -well, for me, that guitar represents something of a tipping point. Asian manufactured guitars have been great for years, but have generally suffered when compared to US counterparts. Usually, they fall into the category of 'nice, but lacking in a few small areas', like finish or overall resonance.

But this guitar was different. I'm talking about a guitar that takes on one of the highest quality production manufacturers out there at their own game and equals/tops them. Honestly, I can't imagine any hardened PRS-ite picking any holes in this guitar as far as tone, finish and playability go.

They've broken through. A half price PRS in all but name. We're in for some interesting times ahead...

 

[theboatcandream]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

My dad has an Atlas from the 70's. At one point, he bought a bunch of demo guitars for cheep from a trade show. The Atlas is the only one which hasn't been sold or stolen. Bolt on maple neck on a plywood body. Two humbuckers, les paul junior body. Everything about the electronics and hardware is bad.

It's not a given that it's the same company, but it's possible. I know from researching the history of my 68 Aria that companies like that tend to change hands with dramatic changes. When I researched my mom's 70's Norman, the guys at the godin plant couldn't give me any info because when the company changed hands, all information on previous models was lost. So it seems like once they change hands, these companies can basically become brand new companies in all but name.



Here's the important part: You're playing one guitar out of a production run of hundreds. With PRS, you're basically guaranteed that all the guitars are going to be of a very high quality. Some will be amazing, some will be above average, but they're all going to be close to a certain average. With many import brands, a very few will be absolutely amazing but most will be mediocre and many will be "bad". So don't discount the possibility that you simply got your hands on the best of the bunch, and it's probably not representative of the rest of the production run.

 

[34029324079]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

:bowdown: :bowdown: good thing, just in the nick of the time...

I was looking for a trade in for my japanese epi lp and my japanese toyota corrolla...

yes, I too welcome the new overlord named China :bowdown::bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

Better snag it before they have to stop producing the birds. Sounds like a great deal. Got any pics, or links to pics that you can throw up?

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

My dad has an Atlas from the 70's. At one point, he bought a bunch of demo guitars for cheep from a trade show. The Atlas is the only one which hasn't been sold or stolen. Bolt on maple neck on a plywood body. Two humbuckers, les paul junior body. Everything about the electronics and hardware is bad.

It's not a given that it's the same company, but it's possible. I know from researching the history of my 68 Aria that companies like that tend to change hands with dramatic changes. When I researched my mom's 70's Norman, the guys at the godin plant couldn't give me any info because when the company changed hands, all information on previous models was lost. So it seems like once they change hands, these companies can basically become brand new companies in all but name.



Here's the important part: You're playing one guitar out of a production run of hundreds. With PRS, you're basically guaranteed that all the guitars are going to be of a very high quality. Some will be amazing, some will be above average, but they're all going to be close to a certain average. With many import brands, a very few will be absolutely amazing but most will be mediocre and many will be "bad". So don't discount the possibility that you simply got your hands on the best of the bunch, and it's probably not representative of the rest of the production run.

There were three at the shop. All were of similar quality. One was a 'singlecut' that suffered only from a slightly less pretty hue of burst than I've seen on PRSi. All of them were equivalent to the average PRS in quality overall. The green 'cu24' was seriously good, though. The others were just very, very good. Now I won't rule out the buyer handpicking his stock personally, but overall quality was sky-high for a non-US, non boutique manufacturer.

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

Better snag it before they have to stop producing the birds. Sounds like a great deal. Got any pics, or links to pics that you can throw up?

I probably would have if he'd had a McSoap copy, though I'm all done with shopping for a while after buying a macbook, pro tools and a reverend flatroc. That's the only PRS that interests me at the minute. The shop's website doesn't list these guitars as in stock, which makes me think he's trying to fly under the radar of the large nationwide chain that has sole rights to sell PRS, and just so happens to not have a retail outlet in his town...

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

Found the website. looks like it's a small handmade/CNC operation (looking at the fit of the guitars -that 'better than handmade' CNC feel) that'll do pretty much anything:

-this is the only 'PRS' on the site, and a bit less accurate than the ones I saw:

http://www.guitarhandmade.com/

-So obviously not really the same thing as the various large factories, but the quality is all there for much lower labour costs...

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

Is the headstock the same? I've been noticing private sellers unloading the Chinese Gibson replicas on the LA market, and some of them look exactly like Les Paul Customs, complete with logo for $575. It gets tempting. I'd rather buy one of those than most other guitars in that price point.

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

Is the headstock the same? I've been noticing private sellers unloading the Chinese Gibson replicas on the LA market, and some of them look exactly like Les Paul Customs, complete with logo for $575. It gets tempting. I'd rather buy one of those than most other guitars in that price point.

The ones on the website are a bit different, but the ones I saw had exact-spec PRS headstocks missing the gold signature logo. One had the modern eagle inlay.

These guitars aren't going to fool an experienced PRS user, but they aren't much work away from being able to: new nut, tuners, pickup covers, and a logo...

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

If you just spent a lot of money, and don't really need it.....oh well.

But if you can afford it, cherry pick the best one out of the bunch. Like you said, a few upgrades later the thing will just about pass for the real thing.
I wonder if they'd custom make one to your specs.....like a 3 P-90 McCarty or Singlecut?

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

The guy said they'd do anything you want. A full depth singlecut with trem and two p90s...

...hell of a lot cheaper than private stock. But another PRS isn't on the list of immediate priorities at the moment. I have a mind to pick up a McSoap sometime in future, hopefully before PRS swing back into fashion, but it's nothing I need to do right now...

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

Is the headstock the same? I've been noticing private sellers unloading the Chinese Gibson replicas on the LA market, and some of them look exactly like Les Paul Customs, complete with logo for $575. It gets tempting. I'd rather buy one of those than most other guitars in that price point.

I've noticed a few of them appearing on eBay UK lately.

 

[fingerace]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

Do you know if you can email them your custom requests so that they can give you a quote?

Edit: http://www.guitarandpickup.com/ I think they are the same people

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

Don't know. give it a whack and let us know...

 

[fingerace]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

I asked the UK dealer and he said:

Both the Elegant and Adventure models can be made for the same price.

grade 3a flame maple top;-£699 inc hardshell case +postage

grade 4a flame maple top;-£815 inc hardshell case +postage

grade 5a flame maple top;-£1030 inc hardshell case +postage.




I think its the same price as a warmoth guitar would go for... I have to ask them if they take totally custom orders....

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Is that a PRS you're holding?

...interesting. The three guitars I played would have worked out to be about UKP 600 tops...