What's with the Love or Hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars?.....

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: What's with the Love or Hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars?.....

Seriously? Back when I was just learning to play guitar in university I used to keep my guitar (an Epi Dot) leaning up against the wall in the corner of my room (no cash for a stand). I often times wouldn't take the guitar cable out of it when I was done practicing . . . It got tripped over and sent the guitar crashing down to the thinly carpeted floor many times before I ended up getting a stand. (Makes me wince to think that I could have been so careless with my guitar.) That jazzbox never developed any kind of break in the headstock. Unless Gibson makes their cheaper Epiphone guitars stronger than their good instruments I bet you would have to REALLY crack a headstock off of a mic stand to do much damage . . .

The real difference in construction is that Epiphone headstocks are (from what I've seen) grafted on with a scarf joint located about underneath the nut. It's pretty strong and is often used in guitar-making.

On the other hand, most Gibsons have one-piece mahogany necks where the entire neck is… wait for it… one piece of wood from where it joins onto the body up to the tip of the headstock. The headstock is usually augmented with glued-on "wings" to make up enough width for the desired shape.

Now, the controversy comes in where the angle in the neck happens. In a Gibson, it kind of cuts across the grain of the wood and exposes the so-called "short grain" in the crucial area from about the nut to where the headstock flares out and begins to take on its full width. That's where they break if they take a bad fall, hit, etc.

Gibson does this because it was their old way of doing it, and because many players insist that it yields a desirable sound and feel. It is certainly a trade-off in durability, but whether it is an issue of quality is really a matter of opinion and priorities.

If durability is paramount for you, you'd do best to avoid the Gibson design. If you can accept having to be really careful with the guitar and possibly shelling out for a repair at some point, and you feel that it adds something in the playing experience, it might be worth living with.

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: What's with the Love or Hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars?.....

The real problem with Les Pauls these days is that they don't sound like Les Pauls which is why so many people are disappointed. Once you start chambering you are cutting away tone so people try and compensate with heavy strings which compounds the design flaw. It's just a shame that the input of Les Paul has been ignored by Gibson.

If they don't like it, they can buy a non-chambered historic model, or a copy form some other company. You know that innovation that people say Gibson never does? They're doing it. And I like it. I've liked the chambered Les Pauls so far. Do they sound like a '59? I don't know. But I like them. As much as I love Les Paul, I can't say I'm sorry that the Gibson Les Paul became what it was, is, will be.

String tension. 10's do it for me when I'm playing a 24-3/4" scale in standard tuning. It feels about the same as a set of 9's on a 25-1/2" scale. Again, the notion that the neck is a "design flaw" is coming from a different set of priorities that I can't identify with. Opinion does not equal fact, and your perceptions are no more universal than the next guy's.

 

[b3john]

Re: What's with the Love or Hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars?.....

I don't really dislike PRS so much as I dislike PRS owners who sh*t on everything that isn't PRS.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This.

 

[some_dude]

Re: What's with the Love or Hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars?.....

If they don't like it, they can buy a non-chambered historic model, or a copy form some other company. You know that innovation that people say Gibson never does? They're doing it. And I like it. I've liked the chambered Les Pauls so far. Do they sound like a '59? I don't know. But I like them. As much as I love Les Paul, I can't say I'm sorry that the Gibson Les Paul became what it was, is, will be.

Kind of funny that someone is complaining about Gibson changing the design of the Les Paul in the same breath as they complain about Gibson not changing the design of a Les Paul.

But alas... I thought this was a PRS thread? How come people can't simply admire a PRS for what it is instead of having to boast about what it isn't?


MY DOG IS NOT A CAT!

ROCK AND ROLL AIN'T NO NOISE POLUTION!

MY PRS SOUNDS NOTHING LIKE A LES PAUL, LOOKS NOTHING LIKE A LES PAUL, HAS ALMOST NO SPECS IN COMMON WITH A LES PAUL, AND IS OBVIOUSLY NOT A LES PAUL, YET I WILL ONLY SPEAK ABOUT HOW GOOD MY PRS IS BASED ON WHAT I SEE AS FLAWS IN THE LES PAUL DESIGN AND OR MANUFACTURING PROCESS....

Anyway, long story short... if you want to learn a lot about Les Pauls, click on any thread about PRSi....

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: What's with the Love or Hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars?.....

Kind of funny that someone is complaining about Gibson changing the design of the Les Paul in the same breath as they complain about Gibson not changing the design of a Les Paul.

But alas... I thought this was a PRS thread? How come people can't simply admire a PRS for what it is instead of having to boast about what it isn't?


MY DOG IS NOT A CAT.

It's like it's not enough that the guitar a guy plays is good; someone else's guitar has to be crap. The arrogance of thinking that it's a zero-sum game is really wearing thin.

 

[dr. ad]

Re: What's with the Love or Hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars?.....

interesting thread...
gearjoneser's and lew's comments ring true, for me.

all this is making me want to spend more time with my SE so i can really bond with a PRS and be special; the crappy nut is the only reason it's not my no1
EDIT - i know it's a korean one and not completely relevant to the argument here

personally i love the PRS scale length and i find them very comfortable to play; mine seems to like clean, fingerstyle and teh metals most.

PRS are now about equal, or even less expensive than the equivalent gibsons here; might be why i see so many of them around

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: What's with the Love or Hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars?.....

interesting thread...
gearjoneser's and lew's comments ring true, for me.

They are right, come to think of it. Wise men, those two.

all this is making me want to spend more time with my SE so i can really bond with a PRS and be special;

You should. More important than what you play, is that you play something that looks, feels, sounds good to you, and that you really get comfortable with it. I took the poly off my Epi Les Paul so that I could be closer to it, set it free to resonate the way it really wanted to.

the crappy nut is the only reason it's not my no1
EDIT - i know it's a korean one and not completely relevant to the argument here

If it says PRS on the headstock, it counts. A small thing like a nut is worth fixing so that it no longer holds the guitar back. I've done that on half a dozen guitars and bases, and it invariably transforms the instrument for the better. Whatever isn't working about the nut can almost certainly be fixed by a good tech.

 

[b3john]

Re: What's with the Love or Hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars?.....

If it says PRS on the headstock, it counts. A small thing like a nut is worth fixing so that it no longer holds the guitar back. I've done that on half a dozen guitars and bases, and it invariably transforms the instrument for the better. Whatever isn't working about the nut can almost certainly be fixed by a good tech.

Wait, I thought PRS was supposed to be the paragon of quality?

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: What's with the Love or Hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars?.....

Wait, I thought PRS was supposed to be the paragon of quality?

Now, now, he never said what he didn't like about the nut. Maybe it's a preference thing. I've never had a guitar with a regular nut that didn't need to be tweaked or replaced, to make me happy -- including the Gibson Faded V, the USA Jackson, and the American Lone Star Strat.

 

[dr. ad]

Re: What's with the Love or Hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars?.....

You should. More important than what you play, is that you play something that looks, feels, sounds good to you, and that you really get comfortable with it. I took the poly off my Epi Les Paul so that I could be closer to it, set it free to resonate the way it really wanted to.

your posts re de-finishing that epi of yours got me thinking about doing the same to this beast once i get some time (and patience, i'll have to do it by hand, i'm one of those guys)

I've done that on half a dozen guitars and bases, and it invariably transforms the instrument for the better. Whatever isn't working about the nut can almost certainly be fixed by a good tech.

that's kinda what's been holding me back; admitting i'm not a good tech heh heh

Wait, I thought PRS was supposed to be the paragon of quality?

 

[b3john]

Re: What's with the Love or Hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars?.....

:lmao:

 

[uOpt]

Re: What's with the Love or Hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars?.....

If they don't like it, they can buy a non-chambered historic model, or a copy form some other company. You know that innovation that people say Gibson never does? They're doing it. And I like it. I've liked the chambered Les Pauls so far. Do they sound like a '59? I don't know. But I like them. As much as I love Les Paul, I can't say I'm sorry that the Gibson Les Paul became what it was, is, will be.

I had my McCarty at the same time as my LP Studio (swiss-cheesed). With the same pickups (APH1b and JazzN) they sounded so close you wouldn't be able to tell them apart reliably.

Neither could reach my vintage MIJ LPs, of course.

 

[fusion101]

Re: What's with the Love or Hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars?.....

There seems to be a love or hate thing in regards to PRS Guitars. Whats the deal here? Some say they are nothing but pretty guitars and aren't anything special. Perhaps their experience with PRS was ruined by some dog guitar(s)? I can't imagine PRS guitars generally being piles of crap tonewise/feelwise. I would think they would have their special guitars and dog guitars just like any other guitar company. Discuss your take on PRS Guitars. Positive and negative stories welcome.

I have a carvin CT6- basically a prs shaped guitar- with flame maple top, mahogany body, and an ebony fretboard with a long neck tenon, and locking tuners. It has gold hardware, and push pullpots. I spent 1,300 dollars on it.
I would have had to had payed 3,500 bucks to get that with a PRS.

On top of this, I hate PRS necks, their super round finger boards, their overly thick guitar finishes, and the fact that they use cheap 11 cent rosewood fretboards.