NGD!!

[Stevepage]

Well. I sold my Jim Root Telecaster on saturday and my Martamp cab on friday. With the money I had I was going to buy either Japanese Les Paul or an 8 string. I kept my money safe and just browsed online at local websites and came across a Fender American Deluxe Strat, which looked great but I've already got a Strat and I wanted something different. Scrolled down and came across this!




PRS Ce22 in royal blue.

I whizzed over to Coda music in Luton this morning and tried it out through a JVM combo and was smitten with it. Wide Fat neck, nice royal blue colour, sounded fantastic and I forgot just how versatile PRS' are.

I did message 'viking' to buy my old PRS back but he never got back to me so I thought I had to get this.

[Philly Q]

Cool, I like the colour!  Can't understand why they discontinued the CE models.

Was it a good price?

[Stevepage]

£750 Phil. didn't come with it's hardcase though, the original owner apparently 'lost' it. But I reckon he sold it.

[Philly Q]

Bargain!  :)

I'd say the lack of case is almost a blessing, PRS cases are so bloody heavy.  My Mira X is the lightest guitar ever, it only weighs 5 pounds, but I still almost killed myself carrying it home in the case!!

[Stevepage]

I was also looking at getting a Mira X in cherry red from Ebay, they look quite classy and the price is just right. But I knew sods law would bite me in the arse if I waited to see how the auction went.

[Philly Q]

The Mira X is great.  I was put off at first because they said they were made of "African basswood" (I'm not a fan of basswood), but it's actually obeche which, it turns out, is fantastically resonant.

I'd like to get a Starla X too, but apparently they aren't being imported into the UK.

[Stevepage]

Do you know why at all? I'd have thought they'd sell pretty well over here.

[bucketshred]

PRS aren't my thing but that looks very nice. Have fun :)

Paddy

[Philly Q]

Do you know why at all? I'd have thought they'd sell pretty well over here.

The guy at Guitars4you told me about it - I may have this wrong, but think they're having trouble selling them in the US and they're not sure if it's worth their while to make US guitars at that price point. 

There were (apparently) rumours that they're rethinking the Mira and Starla lines, maybe making them more blingy to fit in better (pricewise) with the other models.  But they haven't announced any new Mira or Starla models at PRS Experience 2010.

If they're still making them next year I might ask Guitars4you to order me one with P-90s.

[dave_mc]

The guy at Guitars4you told me about it - I may have this wrong, but think they're having trouble selling them in the US and they're not sure if it's worth their while to make US guitars at that price point.  

I may be way off here, philly, but that sounds suspiciously like exactly what I was saying in the other thread and you said you didn't believe it was happening... :lol:

i thought obeche was african basswood? Or maybe it's just like basswood... off to wiki for me :lol: EDIT: seems to be the same family but a different genus... i'm not botanist, so... :?

[Philly Q]

The guy at Guitars4you told me about it - I may have this wrong, but think they're having trouble selling them in the US and they're not sure if it's worth their while to make US guitars at that price point. 

I may be way off here, philly, but that sounds suspiciously like exactly what I was saying in the other thread and you said you didn't believe it was happening... :lol:

I think it sounds exactly like what I was saying!  :P

They're building to a target price, using cheaper materials (just the timber, in this case) and finding it hard to make a profit at that price point. And the proposed remedy is to use slightly more expensive materials to make a "better" guitar (and take a bigger profit margin). No "artificial handicapping" involved!   :lol:

(As it happens, I like my "cheap" PRS better than an expensive PRS.  But I was never into flame maple, as you know.)

[dave_mc]

I didn't mean so much the handicapping, I meant more stopping building something cheaper which was almost as good in case it was cannibalizing its more expensive products.

And "using cheaper materials" is the exact same as "artificially handicapping" (regardless of how good the cheaper wood is- as you said, it sounds pretty good- all that matters is what value the punter puts on it), depending on what way you look at it- is the glass half-full or half-empty? It's entirely possible that we're saying the exact same thing, and are in complete agreement, apart from how to actually phrase what's going on. :lol:

I'd be interested to know if, when they say it's not worth their while, they mean that they're not making enough profit on the cheaper model, if they're just plain not selling, or if they're scared they're taking sales away from their more expensive models and/or diluting the brand.

[Philly Q]

And "using cheaper materials" is the exact same as "artificially handicapping" (regardless of how good the cheaper wood is- as you said, it sounds pretty good- all that matters is what value the punter puts on it), depending on what way you look at it- is the glass half-full or half-empty? It's entirely possible that we're saying the exact same thing, and are in complete agreement, apart from how to actually phrase what's going on. :lol:

I had been starting to think that my "building to a price" and your "artificial handicapping" might amount to the same thing, seen from different angles!  :lol:

I'd be interested to know if, when they say it's not worth their while, they mean that they're not making enough profit on the cheaper model, if they're just plain not selling, or if they're scared they're taking sales away from their more expensive models and/or diluting the brand.

My impression - and it's only an impression - is that they're just not selling very well.  If you go on eBay and search for Mira X or Starla X there are very few of them.

On the other hand, it might not be consumers but dealers, saying their PRS customers want flame maple and birds (and worrying about their own profit margins).  Then again, if customers really wanted the cheap models you could argue they'd be asking their dealers to order them (although I'm not sure this is true - I don't ask shops to order stuff, in case I end up saddled with a dud!)

I suppose there even could be different factions within the company, some supporting the cheaper models and others saying they are taking sales away from more expensive models and/or diluting the brand.  I'm not convinced by the latter argument because I think the Mira/Starla models appeal to a different group of customers.  Taking myself as an example, my PRS purchases have been an EG, Mira, McCarty Korina and Mira X* - I got them because I like plain, simple guitars.  If they didn't make those guitars I wouldn't be buying Private Stock.... or even a Custom 22.  

(* and a Singlecut Standard Satin, but the less said about that the better. :( )

[Philly Q]

Sorry Steve, this is going way off topic.  :oops:.


Tell us more about your CE.  :)

[38thBeatle]

Great colour and a great looking guitar. Congrats.