Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

[Lewguitar]

What bridge design do you prefer? Which do you think results in the best tone?

Do you prefer the vibrato? Or the wrap around tailpiece?

Or have you changed it to something you like better?

And if you've changed it, what did you change it to and why?

There's a real nice PRS USA Custom 22 I have my eyes on and which I can work out a trade on for one of my amps. It has the wrap around tailpiece.

One reason I used to play Hamers and not PRS is that my right hand prefers the feel (and intonation) of a tunomatic bridge and stop tailpiece.

Also, I've been thinking of a Single cut...but I've always wanted a nice Custom 22 too.

I owned a gorgeous CE24 about 10 years ago but I didn't like the sound of the neck pickup because it was mounted closer to the bridge to allow for the 23rd and 24th frets.

This trade for a Custom 22 was offered to me and I'm thinking seriously of doing it...except I don't know if I'll love the wrap around tailpiece. Didn't keep me from loving the Single Cuts I played at NAMM a few years ago though!

 

[uOpt]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

I prefer the trem in my wife's CE-22 over the wrap around in the McCarty I had. Obviously there are other differences such as the maple neck. But my general impression was that the hardtail McC was too close to a Les Paul with it's boomy neck pickup sound without truly offering the roar and depth of a real Les Paul.

I have long thought that a single cut with trem might be an ideal guitar for me but I wasn't willing to fork out the money for the experiment.

 

[jmh151]

Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

I have a KL-1812, which is essentially a solid Korina Custom 24 with the wraparound tailpiece and Mira/ 245 pickups. I like it, after adding Tonepros locking studs it brings out the resonance, depth and sustain even further.

I haven't played a similar PRS with a trem, so it's hard to compare

 

[aleclee]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

I own guitars with both. I like the trem but if I wasn't going to use it, I'd go for the stop tailpiece. I was a wiggle stick guy for a long time but I'm coming to appreciate the direct feel of a stoptail, particularly when bending or doing vibrato.

FWIW, unless you use mixed-gauge strings, intonation with the stop tailpiece shouldn't be a problem. While the individual strings' offset is fixed, the bridge on the whole is adjustable for intonation and gets fine results with anything from 8's to 10's. If that doesn't work, there are aftermarket adjustable bridges out there, both from PRS and others.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

Tonally and ergonomically, I prefer the wrap around McCarty tail piece. It's got nothing but smooth surface area to lay your palm, and resonates just right with the maple/mahogany construction. At one point, I put a Tonepros Adjustable wrap around bridge on it, and didn't really care for the added sustain and brightness. I felt the guitar sounded right when it had the stock bridge.

This past year, I put my 50th Ann A2 Seth Lovers into a McCarty, and instantly realized everything about the guitar just came together.

Another thing you may want to pay attention to, when looking to buy a PRS is the tuners. The McCarty/Kluson type remain my favorite. I'm sure that was a big requirement from Ted McCarty.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

As a general rule I dislike PRS guitars...they don't have the clarity of a Strat or Tele but they lack the punch or a Les Paul and the big open quality of an ES-335 so for me they have little to no real use.

However, if I were going to have a PRS that was mine I'd have a McCarty with a wraparound and a RW neck and I'd pull the PRS pickups in favor of a nice set of PAF's...

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

Thanks guys! The guitar I'm considering does have the wrap around tailpiece. Don't know if I'll go for it or not. From my stand point, it would be a good trade though since I don't use the amp and I'd like another guitar besides my ES-335 with humbuckers. I actually liked everything about the PRS CE24 I had except for the location of the neck pickup.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

Tonally and ergonomically, I prefer the wrap around McCarty tail piece. It's got nothing but smooth surface area to lay your palm, and resonates just right with the maple/mahogany construction. At one point, I put a Tonepros Adjustable wrap around bridge on it, and didn't really care for the added sustain and brightness. I felt the guitar sounded right when it had the stock bridge.

This past year, I put my 50th Ann A2 Seth Lovers into a McCarty, and instantly realized everything about the guitar just came together.

Another thing you may want to pay attention to, when looking to buy a PRS is the tuners. The McCarty/Kluson type remain my favorite. I'm sure that was a big requirement from Ted McCarty.

Joe, I'm a fan of the Klusons as well. I think lighter heads give the guitar more of the "vintage" sound I'm looking for. I also like aluminum tailpieces on a Gibson better than the heavier zinc (or pot metal) stop tailpieces that are more common. I just prefer the tone and response. I have a set of Tom Holmes humbuckers that I've had for quite a few years and I've been saving them for the right guitar. If I swap pickups, those are what I'll use. They're alnico 2 and Tom's paf wind.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

I am content with all of the standard PRS bridges EXCEPT for the Korean made version of their fulcrum vibrato. I find it imprecise and, hence, unstable. Somewhere, I have one of those Wilkinson wrap over bridges with the adjustable B string section. I have not yet felt the need to deploy this. The stock item is, as the phrase has it, close enough for rock 'n' roll.

 

[dr. ad]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

^ i agree with stinkfinger
i have no issues with the (presumedly cheap) one on my SE, and it's a very comfortable bridge to play on

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

Well, I didn't go for it. My ES-335 just blew the PRS away.

The Custom 22 I was considering trading an amp for is a gorgeous guitar but after going back and forth between the two I knew I wouldn't really play it as long as I have my ES-335 around.

That ES-335 just feels like a part of me, and it beats any other guitar I've compared it to.

And I prefer the way my right hand rests on the area between the stop tailpiece and the bridge of my ES-335 and there is no such area to rest my hand on with the Custom 22.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

And I prefer the way my right hand rests on the area between the stop tailpiece and the bridge of my ES-335 and there is no such area to rest my hand on with the Custom 22.

If that's your technique, I can totally understand how that would be a deal-breaker.

You must pluck the strings a lot closer to the bridge than I do. I couldn't possibly do my thing with my hand so far down. The farthest I go is having the meaty part on the side of my picking hand on top of the saddles.

 

[sixstringsamurai333]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

Well, I didn't go for it. My ES-335 just blew the PRS away.

The Custom 22 I was considering trading an amp for is a gorgeous guitar but after going back and forth between the two I knew I wouldn't really play it as long as I have my ES-335 around.

That ES-335 just feels like a part of me, and it beats any other guitar I've compared it to.

And I prefer the way my right hand rests on the area between the stop tailpiece and the bridge of my ES-335 and there is no such area to rest my hand on with the Custom 22.

Think you made the right choice! I love PRS guitars, they're just great quality... but some, especially the Custom series imo have something "lacking" compared to the classic guitars like LP, Tele, Strat, 335 etc.

A guy on another forum was asking why people seemed to love PRS guitars, but they never stuck around in the collection for long... Here was my slightly longwinded 2c...

Here's the problem with PRS. My personal opinion, 2c, YMMV, bla bla.

It's "in the middle". It shows neither complete commitment to the Strat or LP heritage, in terms of construction or tone. And as we know, guitar players are quite traditional (read: cavemen) in terms of guitars and tone.

Take the PRS Custom, for example. Mahogany + maple, with a set neck. Sounds suspiciously LP-ish when you put it that way - but it's a Strat-evolved shape, has a thinner body than a LP, a different mahogany to maple ratio, and a longer scale length.

You get a guitar that is great for versatile, chameleon guitarists - people who need a lot of tones at any one time, and something that'll get "most of the way there" is going to be easier/cheaper than buying a Strat, LP, Tele, 335 etc to take on the road. But the rest of the time... if you need LP grunt, you still need an LP.

This is of course just a generalization - there are many in the PRS range which commit a bit more one way or the other to "compensate" for any perceived shortcomings. McCarty has a thicker body (great for someone like me who wants it to sound closer to a LP, but with the fret access of a Strat-thing), Singlecuts are full thickness (and are basically a LP, especially the shorter scale ones) and so on.

If what you're looking for is a high quality Swiss-army knife instrument that looks and plays great, PRS is it. PRS and ESP have consistently got the best QC out of most mainstream manufacture guitars that I've seen. Most are good to great instruments, off the shelf - you just have to find the one that you think is AMAZING, and keep that one.

 

[Ascension]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

If the guitar didn't "speak" to you you made the right choice.
I am now playing a 07 Custom 24 and could not disagree with those who say a PRS is lacking in tone more.
I never cared for a PRS and bought this one not to play but to flip and make some $$ on. However the first night I took it to practice it floored me and did things no other guitar I have ever owned has done. Been well over a year now and I have yet to play a single gig without the PRS on stage.
The response across the neck is the most consistent of any guitar I have ever played the variety of tones I can get with just touch the 5 way rotary and the volume control amazing.
I'm hooked and there is absolutely no way on EARTH I would give it up for any Gibson if I actually had to play it on stage!!

 

[jmh151]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

IMO the solid Mahogany or solid Korina ones sound best.... The longer scale than a Gibson gives it some brightness.

Though the maple topped Custom 24 is pretty, you're taking a guitar with a Les Paul wood combination... making it brighter by increasing scale length an little, then adding a maple top, which, from what I read, is thicker than a Gibson les Paul's top, and adding a thinner mahogany back... Of course it wont sound like a Gibson, but it has a great tome all its own

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

Thanks guys.

And it's not like I rest my hand behind the bridge all the time or pick close to the bridge either. I don't.

It's hard to explain except to say that the emptiness behind the bridge just felt unusual to me.

But what it came down to is that I knew I wouldn't play it enough. My ES-335 just sounds so good and feels so right.

That PRS sure was beautiful though!

 

[oliverwade]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

I typically prefer the wraparound, mainly because the innotation etc fits my playing style..

 

[AudioWonderland]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

Either is fine but the PRS trem is usually the preference. Its the best trem out there for my money along with the top end Wilkinson trem

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

I just got back from a gig, took my Gibson LP JP and PRS ME1, both great guitars and both set up to my liking. Feel wise, although that LP has been "home" to me for a few years now, the PRS feels amazing, the wrap around is just so comfortable and easy to play. The only thing I have to do is fine tune the bridge pick up, it's nearly there but I think the E and B poles need lowering a little to make it sing a little sweeter. Other than that it's a great gigging guitar and I like it for what it is, another quality sounding instrument with it's own voice.... I don't want it to be a LP, already got those.

 

[sixstringsamurai333]

Re: Question for Paul Reed Smith players:

Either is fine but the PRS trem is usually the preference. Its the best trem out there for my money along with the top end Wilkinson trem

PRS trem is great. Well engineered and once it's setup right, it can handle some abuse - check out what Mark Tremonti does with his!