Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Simon D on May 09, 2008, 12:13:35 AM
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I really should ban myself from going to guitar shops to try things. I've had GAS for a PRS Tremonti for months, but was holding off buying one because I couldn't get to the dealer to try it out (I'm in South Wales, only dealer who had one was in Derbyshire). Then World Guitars, in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, which is only about an hour and a half's drive away, listed one in stock. Went up there today, tried it out for about an hour, and bought it.
It's a brand new one, built in March, with the new-type PRS birds on the neck, which I was unsure about from photos. However, IMO, they really suit this guitar, particularly in the gray black finish. The top is quite a tight flame, nicely bookmatched with vertical grain lines running at a right angle to the flames in some places.
I demo'd it through a Mesa Express 5:25, and the tone was astonishing. On the drive channel, it had thick, fat bass, clear mids and screaming highs from the bridge pickup, and smooth, chunky but still very clear tone from the neck pickup. On the clean channel, the definition on both pickups was astounding. It certainly doesn't seem to be a one-trick pony though. On a crunchy setting, there was a nice Angus-style snap and punch from the bridge, and a very satisfying bluesy tone from the neck. It doesn't sound like a trem-equipped guitar - it sounds almost as fat as the '77 LP Custom I was fortunate enough to play a few months back (not quite, but almost!).
Playability and setup was fantastic. Action, intonation etc were spot-on, and the neck profile (wide-thin) is a good compromise between a wide-fat, which is too chunky for me (I have relatively small hands) and very thin, Ibanez-style neck. I was also pleased to find it was strung with 10s, so I felt completely at home straightaway.
Given how good it was, it really was impossible for me to leave it in the shop. Here's a couple of quick pics (sorry about the quality, they're phone cam pics - didn't have time to break out the camera tonight)
(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q50/sld5150/Tremonti1.jpg) (http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q50/sld5150/Tremonti2.jpg)
On a related note, World Guitars is a really cool operation. It's run by the guy who owned Machinehead Music for years, and he's got some really interesting stock - Paul Reed Smiths, ESPs, Collings guitars and Mesa Cornell and Engl amps.
Apologies for the lengthy post, but it needed to be raved about!
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That's a damn nice guitar mate!
Liking the finish alot.
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Woo! You finally got it! Awesome.
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Thats REALLY nice, good catch mate, I hope it plays as good as it looks!
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Nice buy there.
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Gorgeous!
I've seen the new birds on quite a few guitars now and I wouldn't pay extra to have them on one :(
However, as birds are standard (i.e. no upcharge) on the Tremonti then all is good :D
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Excellent purchase! I really dig the new birds look.
I picked up a 2004 black/grey singlecut trem a few weeks back, and am liking it alot. What pickups are in that guitar? I have the #6s, which have the weird feeling of the neck being a bit too dark and the bridge being a bit too bright! Oh well, might just have to buy some Cold Sweats ;-)
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Yay, another member of the PRS posse! :D
I've never used World Guitars (personally imported instead!) but their stock has always looked top class.
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That is one gorgeous guitar, I bet it sounds beastly as well :twisted: .
I personally really like the new bird inlays I always think inlays are for your own personal enjoyment rather than for the audience (I don't really care if they cant see them from a distance). Thats a really nice buy.
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All this PRS buying is making me jealous :(
Nice guitar mate!
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Very nice, welcome to the PRS club :D
Just for interest's sake, while you were at World Guitars (I've never been there), did you notice whether they had much Engl gear in stock?
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Cheers for all the replies guys. I'll try to update with some better pics over the weekend.
Excellent purchase! I really dig the new birds look.
I picked up a 2004 black/grey singlecut trem a few weeks back, and am liking it alot. What pickups are in that guitar? I have the #6s, which have the weird feeling of the neck being a bit too dark and the bridge being a bit too bright! Oh well, might just have to buy some Cold Sweats ;-)
The pickups in this one are the Tremonti Treble and Bass. Apparenty the ones being fitted to the SC250 are quite similar, so it might be worth giving one of those a try - the Tremonti pickups are available as retrofits. Or, you could as you say buy some Cold Sweats, which we know will sound awesome!
Very nice, welcome to the PRS club :D
Just for interest's sake, while you were at World Guitars (I've never been there), did you notice whether they had much Engl gear in stock?
They had a fair bit of Engl stuff - certainly more than I'd ever seen in one room before. They had three heads - an Invader, Fireball and a Screamer, a 2x12 and 4x12 cab, and a Screamer combo. They also had a lot of Mesa gear - Roadking head and cab, Roadster combo, Lonestar and Lonestar Special combos, Dual Rec head and cab plus assorted Expresses. It really is a dream place if you like high-end gear.
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very nice!
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Here's some better pics - still not my finest work, but I at least used a real camera this time! :wink:
(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q50/sld5150/3.jpg) (http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q50/sld5150/7.jpg)
(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q50/sld5150/9.jpg) (http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q50/sld5150/6.jpg)
Been playing it this afternoon. Sounds so awesome, but really needs a better amp than I currently have to do it justice.
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Been playing it this afternoon. Sounds so awesome, but really needs a better amp than I currently have to do it justice.
The sad affliction which is gas.
It reproduces like an organism, but it can't die, thus population increases logarithmically.
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That is a beautiful guitar; if it plays half as good as it looks then I might have to start GAS-ing for a PRS, forunately I haven't played one yet so i can just sit back and say to myself "yes it looks nice but you have no ideaq how they play". I'm dreading playing one because I'll probably want one and they're so damn expensive... :(
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Nice one, Simon, glad you got your PRS at last! :D
I think the new-style birds look really good with the subdued gray-black finish. I'm still not sure they'd look right with the warmer sunburst colours.
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That is a beautiful guitar; if it plays half as good as it looks then I might have to start GAS-ing for a PRS, forunately I haven't played one yet so i can just sit back and say to myself "yes it looks nice but you have no ideaq how they play". I'm dreading playing one because I'll probably want one and they're so damn expensive... :(
That's the thing - they play great. I've tried a load of different models, including the one i bought, and they were all set up perfectly - some of the best playing guitars I've ever picked up. For this reason, don't ever. ever pick one up unless you know you can afford it. If you like the look of them, playing one will make the GAS impossible to live with!
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Very nice Simon! :D
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Hey Simon, I saw that guitar recently ;P It looks awesome.
Jeff's shop is a 15 minute drive from me, unfortunatley nothing there apart from the Collings acoustics and Cornell amps that float my boat.
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Been playing it this afternoon. Sounds so awesome, but really needs a better amp than I currently have to do it justice.
The sad affliction which is gas.
It reproduces like an organism, but it can't die, thus population increases logarithmically.
you just described the textbook definition of a virus :wink: