Author Topic: The new PRS Satin models... (Read 5172 times)

Twinfan · « **on:** April 22, 2007, 12:56:23 AM »

...are damn expensive for what they are! The new PRS Satin Soapbar is £1700:

One peice mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, bird inlays, P-90s etc - all very nice and I quite like it. Then I compare it to one of my guitars, a 1999 Gibson Les Paul Junior Special:

Mine is different to the one above as it's translucent cherry with mini trapezoid inlays. But it still has a one piece rear contoured mahogany body like the PRS, a mahogany neck, a rosewood fingerboard and P-100 pickups. I got it on Denmark Street a few years ago for £725 brand new with a Gibson gig bag,

Can PRS really justify charging £1000 more for bird inlays, a hard case and a higher level of QC? In isolation, £1700 for their basic mass produced guitar seems excessive? Is the mahogany that much better quality than that used in a regular Gibson Les Paul or SG which costs around £1200? (plus the Les Paul has maple too!)

noodleplugerine · « **Reply #1 on:** April 22, 2007, 02:20:27 AM »

For a start the PRS has a curved top - Pricey.

Then the recesses around the knobs, aswell as what are surely better woods, and electronics.

The soldering and general building is bound to be better, as will the tone in the end.

But that's just possibilities - Whether that makes up to £1200 or whether any of the above is true is speculation.

CUBE · « **Reply #2 on:** April 22, 2007, 02:57:19 AM »

i just tried out a PRS SC trem satin 10 top in mateo blue.
played great , stayed in tune pretty well.
not a bad guitar but expensive.

dave_mc · « **Reply #3 on:** April 22, 2007, 12:58:09 PM »

PRS are extremely nice guitars, and to make them consistently so good when producing so many deserves a lot of credit, IMO.

However, much like mesa, there's no way I'd pay what they're asking when I see what they go for in the states.

I'd say gibson are over-priced too.

Problem when anything gets popular is that the people who know a little (what I call a "dangerous" amount of knowledge, where you know just enough to get the wrong end of the stick) push the prices way up.

EDIT: just to add, the only PRS I've tried where I was like "wow, that's awesome" was a £3000 artist model. By my reckoning, any guitar over about £1000 should be like that.

Simon D · « **Reply #4 on:** April 22, 2007, 10:11:08 PM »

^+1 on not paying the kind of prices they charge for US gear over here. Dave.
We get fleeced in the UK buying USA built guitars, whatever the make. The price UK price can be as much as double the USA price, and having the dollar at 2 to the pound make the maths easy.
For example, a Fender Jeff Beck Strat:

UK price: Roughly £1100 or so, maybe slightly less if you hunt hard.

US price: Roughly $1500

Same guitar, almost half the cost. Gotta love it.

sgmypod · « **Reply #5 on:** April 22, 2007, 10:48:42 PM »

like prs's always wanted one....but tried my bluesbird(guild LP) and a 1500 prs..bluesbird won even with original pickups.....(although bluesbird was supposed to be 1500, got for half price)..sorry think point was making wouldn't pay 1500 or more for one

HTH AMPS · « **Reply #6 on:** April 22, 2007, 11:14:34 PM »

theres a new satin PRS model for £349 - played one and it was a cracking guitar. bang some BKPs in it and you'd be ready to go.

:twisted:

noodleplugerine · « **Reply #7 on:** April 22, 2007, 11:20:13 PM »

Quote from: HEAVIER THAN HELL

theres a new satin PRS model for £349 - played one and it was a cracking guitar. bang some BKPs in it and you'd be ready to go.

:twisted:

The pre-lawsuit Soapbar SE (purple one with black soapbars - same shape as the singlecut) was just AMAZING.

Does this compare?

Twinfan · « **Reply #8 on:** April 23, 2007, 08:20:08 AM »

If you like the necks, the PRS SE (Korean) guitars are great. I played a really nice Singlecut a while back and I know Hunter has one that he loves.

I guess my point is that the stripped down PRS should be a lot cheaper than their "bling" models but it isn't. Will they sell? I don't think so...

Simon D · « **Reply #9 on:** April 23, 2007, 12:45:40 PM »

Quote from: Twinfan

If you like the necks, the PRS SE (Korean) guitars are great. I played a really nice Singlecut a while back and I know Hunter has one that he loves.

I guess my point is that the stripped down PRS should be a lot cheaper than their "bling" models but it isn't. Will they sell? I don't think so...

The SE range is, IMO, one of the best value guitar ranges out there at the moment. The build quality is excellent - fretwork is good, electronics don't need replacing the second it comes out of the box, finish is tidy, the pickups (dare I say it

) are pretty good. The only thing which I've found to be slightly less than great on my Singlecut are the tuners, which do slip a bit under really big bends. Great value guitars though.

Unlike the Satin models. I agree completely with Twinfan on this. One of the major selling points of a guitar like a PRS is the visual appeal - figured maple tops, see-through finishes which make the thing look like it's been dipped in glass. If that's taken away, you still doubtless have a quality instrument, but the price tag should drop accordingly.

I'm not sure they'll sell too well either.

dave_mc · « **Reply #10 on:** April 23, 2007, 03:40:17 PM »

I dunno, i mean if you have enough people with more money than sense...

Twinfan · « **Reply #11 on:** April 23, 2007, 03:47:31 PM »

True. Gives me an idea for another thread...

dave_mc · « **Reply #12 on:** April 23, 2007, 03:48:22 PM »

*checks watch*

Twinfan · « **Reply #13 on:** April 23, 2007, 04:06:04 PM »

Thread started ;)

dave_mc · « **Reply #14 on:** April 23, 2007, 04:12:51 PM »

^ yeah, seems pretty good.