Paul Reed Smith TEDx talk

[Philly Q]

Despite his reputation as a luthier & the prs brand i'm surprised how few well known players use them.
Disclosure, i own a nice piece of prs 'furniture', beautifully made but no better sounding than my  standard fenders or tokai's.(oh but it's nicer to play )

There do seem to be a reasonable number of well known PRS users, especially in the US, but I agree, no absolute household name guitar icon that I can think of.

PRS will always have that hurdle - which I don't think they'll ever overcome - that most people think "electric guitar = Gibson or Fender" (of course there's a whole different school of players who use Ibanez or whatever, but PRS isn't competing in that market either).

I've owned probably 10 or 12 PRS guitars now.  All have been well made, some have been excellent (but certainly not all of them).  A couple were definitely too "furniture" for my tastes!  The ones I still have are cheaper, less blingy models, apart from my McCarty which I think is a really good one - but I don't love it like I love my Gibsons.

Plus at the moment I'm very much in a phase of only being into slightly battered, relic guitars - I don't really want anything shiny and perfect.  So probably no more upscale PRS purchases in my immediate future. 

[bucketshred]

Despite his reputation as a luthier & the prs brand i'm surprised how few well known players use them.
Disclosure, i own a nice piece of prs 'furniture', beautifully made but no better sounding than my  standard fenders or tokai's.(oh but it's nicer to play )

There do seem to be a reasonable number of well known PRS users, especially in the US, but I agree, no absolute household name guitar icon that I can think of.

PRS will always have that hurdle - which I don't think they'll ever overcome - that most people think "electric guitar = Gibson or Fender" (of course there's a whole different school of players who use Ibanez or whatever, but PRS isn't competing in that market either).

I've owned probably 10 or 12 PRS guitars now.  All have been well made, some have been excellent (but certainly not all of them).  A couple were definitely too "furniture" for my tastes!  The ones I still have are cheaper, less blingy models, apart from my McCarty which I think is a really good one - but I don't love it like I love my Gibsons.

Plus at the moment I'm very much in a phase of only being into slightly battered, relic guitars - I don't really want anything shiny and perfect.  So probably no more upscale PRS purchases in my immediate future. 

Santana?

[Philly Q]

Santana?

D'oh! 

I feel a proper fool now.

I'm even a bit of a Santana fan, although every time he brings out a new album it drives me further back to his/their early stuff.  At this point I just wish he'd retire.

[dvorak]

Plus at the moment I'm very much in a phase of only being into slightly battered, relic guitars - I don't really want anything shiny and perfect.  So probably no more upscale PRS purchases in my immediate future. 

Here you go Philly:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Paul-Reed-Smith-PRS-Aged-408-Standard-in-Antique-White-with-Pattern-Neck-/111428964965?pt=Guitar&hash=item19f1af1265

http://www.peachguitars.com/guitars/electric-guitars/prs-peach-guitars-5th-anniversary-aged-gold-top-dgt-model-5-5.htm


I'm a PRS nut. I think the guitars gets too compared to a Gibson or a Strat. I feel that PRS have their own thing going, they sound very unique to me. I think you either are going to like the PRS sound or you don't. If you judge a PRS against a Les Paul or try to make a Custom sound like one you should get a Gibson instead.

A Custom 24 sounds like a spankier Les Paul, brighter and more separated. It's got a very different feel to it and I love how it reacts with the volume pot. PRS guitars just have that "thing" for me. Both my US built ones (Custom 24 and Mira) have several spots on the neck where the harmonic overtones just pop out.

And I also want to add that I not a PRS exclusive guy. I love all guitars and have several different kinds. If I need a Tele sound, I'm going to play a Tele. If I need a Les Paul sound I'm going to play a Les Paul. Same goes with the PRS sound, I need a PRS for that.

[Philly Q]

Plus at the moment I'm very much in a phase of only being into slightly battered, relic guitars - I don't really want anything shiny and perfect.  So probably no more upscale PRS purchases in my immediate future. 

Here you go Philly:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Paul-Reed-Smith-PRS-Aged-408-Standard-in-Antique-White-with-Pattern-Neck-/111428964965?pt=Guitar&hash=item19f1af1265

http://www.peachguitars.com/guitars/electric-guitars/prs-peach-guitars-5th-anniversary-aged-gold-top-dgt-model-5-5.htm

   Thanks for those!  Very interesting. 

But it does demonstrate another thing about PRS guitars - that I'm not at all sure the relic look actually suits them!  It might work on the plainest or most vintage-looking models like the McCarty, Starla or Mira.

Thinking about it, I guess that's because there are no 50- or 60-year old PRS guitars around to give us a preconceived notion of what a "vintage PRS" would actually look like.

[MrBump]

Hah!  Priced to clear @ £4k...

[MrBump]

Don't know if there was ever an endorsement, but this is one of my favourite Gary pics.

[dvorak]

Plus at the moment I'm very much in a phase of only being into slightly battered, relic guitars - I don't really want anything shiny and perfect.  So probably no more upscale PRS purchases in my immediate future. 

Here you go Philly:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Paul-Reed-Smith-PRS-Aged-408-Standard-in-Antique-White-with-Pattern-Neck-/111428964965?pt=Guitar&hash=item19f1af1265

http://www.peachguitars.com/guitars/electric-guitars/prs-peach-guitars-5th-anniversary-aged-gold-top-dgt-model-5-5.htm

   Thanks for those!  Very interesting. 

But it does demonstrate another thing about PRS guitars - that I'm not at all sure the relic look actually suits them!  It might work on the plainest or most vintage-looking models like the McCarty, Starla or Mira.

Thinking about it, I guess that's because there are no 50- or 60-year old PRS guitars around to give us a preconceived notion of what a "vintage PRS" would actually look like.

Good point. Some old CEs and CUs are getting there though. Hopefully time will be kind to the pristine PRS and hopefully they will age well. I hope my CU24 will look great in the future after it will aquired its share of battle scars.

The Mira will look great with dings! I'm working on them 

[Andrew W]

   Thanks for those!  Very interesting. 

But it does demonstrate another thing about PRS guitars - that I'm not at all sure the relic look actually suits them!  It might work on the plainest or most vintage-looking models like the McCarty, Starla or Mira.

Thinking about it, I guess that's because there are no 50- or 60-year old PRS guitars around to give us a preconceived notion of what a "vintage PRS" would actually look like.

The gold-top DGT works well I think, but that's because it has enough of a Gibson look that it ticks the subconscious familiarity boxes. The DGT is one of the more vintage looking PRSs anyway, especially with dot markers. That said, much as I like a relic, I'm not about to take a screwdriver and sand paper to my DGT.

[Philly Q]

Hah!  Priced to clear @ £4k...

Peach is right near you isn't it Mark?  Get round there quick! 

Thinking about it, I guess that's because there are no 50- or 60-year old PRS guitars around to give us a preconceived notion of what a "vintage PRS" would actually look like.

Good point. Some old CEs and CUs are getting there though. Hopefully time will be kind to the pristine PRS and hopefully they will age well. I hope my CU24 will look great in the future after it will aquired its share of battle scars.

The Mira will look great with dings! I'm working on them 

The most "naturally" beaten up PRS I've seen was many years ago, when I bought a PRS EG from a guy in North London.  He had a Cu24 with a big patch of worn-off paint in the "pickguard area".  It didn't look good.  The guitar can't have been more than about 10 years old at that point, he must've had acid sweat like Rory Gallagher.....

[dvorak]

Hah!  Priced to clear @ £4k...

Peach is right near you isn't it Mark?  Get round there quick! 

Thinking about it, I guess that's because there are no 50- or 60-year old PRS guitars around to give us a preconceived notion of what a "vintage PRS" would actually look like.

Good point. Some old CEs and CUs are getting there though. Hopefully time will be kind to the pristine PRS and hopefully they will age well. I hope my CU24 will look great in the future after it will aquired its share of battle scars.

The Mira will look great with dings! I'm working on them 

The most "naturally" beaten up PRS I've seen was many years ago, when I bought a PRS EG from a guy in North London.  He had a Cu24 with a big patch of worn-off paint in the "pickguard area".  It didn't look good.  The guitar can't have been more than about 10 years old at that point, he must've had acid sweat like Rory Gallagher.....

Here is a CE from a PRS forum. It's naturally reliced: