How will "classic" tone change over time and how could that impact PRS?

xxxadixxx

xxxadixxx

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Feb 13, 2022
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For me PRS Guitars originally represented "modern" guitars rather than minor incremental improvements on classics. In recent years, it seems there is more of a shift back to classic designs which made me think about what happens when the idea of classic changes. This is not intended to be a shot across the Boomer bow, but rather a contemplation of how tastes change over time.

I am intrigued by how different people define "classic" tone and then how that influences their playing over time. As someone who grew up in the late 80's and 90's, my reference point is very different from many people. For example, I could not pick-out a single Zeppelin, Beatles, Skynard, Stones, etc. song if my life depended on it... Okay, maybe I could pick out "Paint it Black" by The Rolling Stones, but not because of the original... Earth Crisis did an awesome cover it, which is my reference for the song.

My reference "good tones" are Megadeth's Rust in Peace, Metallica ...And Justice for All, Pantera Vulgar Display of Power, and Bad Religion Stranger than Fiction or Recipe for Hate. With the exception of Bad Religion, none of the others come close to the general consensus of classic tone, i.e. a Les Paul through a Marshall (let alone the Clapton Strat sound).

All of that brings me to my thought experiment, as we get further away from the 60's and 70's different generations of music and listeners become more numerically significant. What would that do to our concept of classic tone? Is there a world where we start to see a shift to a new classic or is it more of a fragmented view of classic tone, similar to how there is no longer a truly "popular" music, i.e. the "top 40's" in the 80's was rather consistent while today there is extreme differences in the "top 10", for example.

After the reIf these changes come about, what could that mean for PRS?
 
In my world, my tone is my own. However, many of the singer/songwriters I work with want "classic" tones. Honestly, it takes me a ton of work, sometimes, to get those tones because they don't resonate with me. I began in the mid 1980s, so I played Super Strats with hi-gain amps. That was the pinnacle of tone for me.
 
I am fortunate enough to be at an age where I have lived through a lot of guitar tones and have played a lot of them. I have been in the middle of everything from the late 60's to today. I have a very wide listening range when it comes to music. I have heard and played tones from many generas of music. I find as I get older, I am gravitating towards less gain in my tone than what I used to play. I tend to go in and out of different tones. It is usually about what resonates with me at the time. I love everything from snappy clean country to high gain metal. I still near music that covers the gambit of tone. I don't think any tone will ever go out of fashion. Someone will rediscover a tone and use it for something new. There is still a lot of variation out there of people who are diehard tube amp players and modeler players. This will continue to provide a wide variety of tones and could possibly change people's idea of what classic tone is.

I think PRS is moving with the times. i think the early guitars were geared towards the 80's tones. Today, they offer a variety of guitars that are capable of a wide range of tones. I think that is a great plan for staying relevant in modern music.
 
@JasonE great points. I have not played any of the earlier PRS though when I first discovered PRS in the 90's they were seen as a modern alternative. I understand your point to be that their recent additions are more of expanding the PRS capabilities rather than sitting back on a single (Big G) or maybe two (Big F) ideas. They allow PRS to compete very well in many more applications. That is a good point. PRSh does not seem to rest on an idea and keeps pushing the boundaries, which is in itself an innovation in this market.
 
We Have More Options Today Than Ever Before. If Those Options Were All Available During The "Classic Era" We May Have More Classic Era Sounds...Or Not. Who Knows But It Is Possible That Would Be The Case. I Don't Think PRS Will Be Effected At All. Guitars Play A Role In Tone For Sure But So Do Amps, Speakers, Effects, Etc. We Are All Chasing Something And That Something Can Vary Widely With Each Of Us. PRS Makes Versatile Guitars (As Do Many Other Companies) So I Think They Will Be Perfectly Fine. Everything Comes Back Around Anyway So What Was Once Old Will All Of A Sudden Become New Again.
 
I suspect we're on the verge of patterns being disrupted and change being less frequent. Music consumption has changed due to streaming services. Previous generations had certain musical movements tied to them. Kids today listen to very, very diverse collections of music from a wide variety of eras. That's unlikely to change, I think.
 
Bogner said:
We Have More Options Today Than Ever Before. If Those Options Were All Available During The "Classic Era" We May Have More Classic Era Sounds...Or Not. Who Knows But It Is Possible That Would Be The Case. I Don't Think PRS Will Be Effected At All. Guitars Play A Role In Tone For Sure But So Do Amps, Speakers, Effects, Etc. We Are All Chasing Something And That Something Can Vary Widely With Each Of Us. PRS Makes Versatile Guitars (As Do Many Other Companies) So I Think They Will Be Perfectly Fine. Everything Comes Back Around Anyway So What Was Once Old Will All Of A Sudden Become New Again.
Click to expand...
Why is everything title case?
 
I think the future of tone will not be in the guitar but will instead be for the most part in the modelers. I believe you will eventually be able to get nearly any tone you want from nearly any guitar 10 years from now with a precision no human will be able to differentiate from the originals. That will leave us with the tone that is put into the strings by the fingers and minds that touch them, which has always been and will always be a huge part of any tone being generated. As for PRS, because of the feel and look of their guitars, they will still be at the top of the game!!!
 
I’ll oversimplify and say never got the description (such as with pickups) as modern/ vintage voiced. Just like a good song or good guitar. Great tone doesn’t know the platform (pickup, guitar, player). It’s subjective and there’s been times in my long playing experience that I’ve got killer tones at least to me.
 
I don't think you can predict where things are going until some genius actually shows up with something new that lights up everyone's ears and they start copying and being inspired by it...but you'll know something fresh and new is happening when you hear it.

I couldn't have predicted Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell (and her open tunings), Mark Knopfler, Jaco Pastorius, Pat Metheny, Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan or Eric Johnson, but I was sure glad when they showed up unexpectedly and brought in some fresh sounds and new ideas.
 
Last edited:
xxxadixxx said:
For me PRS Guitars originally represented "modern" guitars rather than minor incremental improvements on classics. In recent years, it seems there is more of a shift back to classic designs which made me think about what happens when the idea of classic changes. This is not intended to be a shot across the Boomer bow, but rather a contemplation of how tastes change over time.

I am intrigued by how different people define "classic" tone and then how that influences their playing over time. As someone who grew up in the late 80's and 90's, my reference point is very different from many people. For example, I could not pick-out a single Zeppelin, Beatles, Skynard, Stones, etc. song if my life depended on it... Okay, maybe I could pick out "Paint it Black" by The Rolling Stones, but not because of the original... Earth Crisis did an awesome cover it, which is my reference for the song.

My reference "good tones" are Megadeth's Rust in Peace, Metallica ...And Justice for All, Pantera Vulgar Display of Power, and Bad Religion Stranger than Fiction or Recipe for Hate. With the exception of Bad Religion, none of the others come close to the general consensus of classic tone, i.e. a Les Paul through a Marshall (let alone the Clapton Strat sound).

All of that brings me to my thought experiment, as we get further away from the 60's and 70's different generations of music and listeners become more numerically significant. What would that do to our concept of classic tone? Is there a world where we start to see a shift to a new classic or is it more of a fragmented view of classic tone, similar to how there is no longer a truly "popular" music, i.e. the "top 40's" in the 80's was rather consistent while today there is extreme differences in the "top 10", for example.

After the reIf these changes come about, what could that mean for PRS?
Click to expand...
Ya know...there's a younger generation than you, who listened to different music, and go for the tones of what you might call the old classic guitars.

I'm familiar with this, partially because my son is a member of that later generation of players, is a touring artist who's playing stadium gigs, etc., is a Fender endorser, and the bands he's toured with use the guitars of the '50s and '60s - to this day!

And I'm partially aware of it because I'm in the commercial music business, and players who come in to do sessions, regardless of age, are still using the classic gear or variations of it. Quite a few play PRS from all generations these days.

While this forum has a lot of older and middle age players - I'm one - I think that's more of a reflection of who's into guitar forums than what current players are into playing.

Then, too, the players who created the classic sounds of the '60s and '70s used the same guitars as those in the '50s to do it, and the sound was completely different from the rockabilly and pop stuff of the earlier era because the amps and effects were different, or at least used in a different way.

The reason companies like PRS are leaning classic is that classic stuff sells to all generations of players, regardless of style of music.

Why the continuing popularity of classic guitars?

I think it's because the electric guitar was a mature technology by the 1950s, and the changes have been incremental, not revolutionary. The concept of what makes a good sounding electric guitar hasn't really changed very much. And if you look at the collections of even players like Hetfield, you see a LOT of the earlier guitars - classic models that cost an arm and a leg.

There's very little you can do on a pointy '80s guitar that can't be done on an older style instrument. If you need to do heavy dive bombing, well, PRS makes a Floyd model that can get you there.

I'm not about to argue that this situation is permanent - heck, many will say the world may have moved on from guitar based music altogether, though I think that isn't the case - but where you are isn't necessarily where everyone else will be down the road.

The world changes minute by minute. Tastes change. That's a given. But when you have a fairly mature technology that the music is based on - even metal is still based on tube amps and wooden guitars - I don't see all that much changing.
 
László said:
Ya know...there's a younger generation than you, who listened to different music, and go for the tones of what you might call the old classic guitars.

I'm familiar with this, partially because my son is a member of that later generation of players, is a touring artist who's playing stadium gigs, etc., is a Fender endorser, and the bands he's toured with use the guitars of the '50s and '60s - to this day!

And I'm partially aware of it because I'm in the commercial music business, and players who come in to do sessions, regardless of age, are still using the classic gear or variations of it. Quite a few play PRS from all generations these days.

While this forum has a lot of older and middle age players - I'm one - I think that's more of a reflection of who's into guitar forums than what current players are into playing.

Then, too, the players who created the classic sounds of the '60s and '70s used the same guitars as those in the '50s to do it, and the sound was completely different from the rockabilly and pop stuff of the earlier era because the amps and effects were different, or at least used in a different way.

The reason companies like PRS are leaning classic is that classic stuff sells to all generations of players, regardless of style of music.

Why the continuing popularity of classic guitars?

I think it's because the electric guitar was a mature technology by the 1950s, and the changes have been incremental, not revolutionary. The concept of what makes a good sounding electric guitar hasn't really changed very much. And if you look at the collections of even players like Hetfield, you see a LOT of the earlier guitars - classic models that cost an arm and a leg.

There's very little you can do on a pointy '80s guitar that can't be done on an older style instrument. If you need to do heavy dive bombing, well, PRS makes a Floyd model that can get you there.

I'm not about to argue that this situation is permanent - heck, many will say the world may have moved on from guitar based music altogether, though I think that isn't the case - but where you are isn't necessarily where everyone else will be down the road.

The world changes minute by minute. Tastes change. That's a given. But when you have a fairly mature technology that the music is based on - even metal is still based on tube amps and wooden guitars - I don't see all that much changing.
Click to expand...
always great perspective. I really enjoy your comments and insights. Thank you.
 
László said:
Ya know...there's a younger generation than you, who listened to different music, and go for the tones of what you might call the old classic guitars.

I'm familiar with this, partially because my son is a member of that later generation of players, is a touring artist who's playing stadium gigs, etc., is a Fender endorser, and the bands he's toured with use the guitars of the '50s and '60s - to this day!

And I'm partially aware of it because I'm in the commercial music business, and players who come in to do sessions, regardless of age, are still using the classic gear or variations of it. Quite a few play PRS from all generations these days.

While this forum has a lot of older and middle age players - I'm one - I think that's more of a reflection of who's into guitar forums than what current players are into playing.

Then, too, the players who created the classic sounds of the '60s and '70s used the same guitars as those in the '50s to do it, and the sound was completely different from the rockabilly and pop stuff of the earlier era because the amps and effects were different, or at least used in a different way.

The reason companies like PRS are leaning classic is that classic stuff sells to all generations of players, regardless of style of music.

Why the continuing popularity of classic guitars?

I think it's because the electric guitar was a mature technology by the 1950s, and the changes have been incremental, not revolutionary. The concept of what makes a good sounding electric guitar hasn't really changed very much. And if you look at the collections of even players like Hetfield, you see a LOT of the earlier guitars - classic models that cost an arm and a leg.

There's very little you can do on a pointy '80s guitar that can't be done on an older style instrument. If you need to do heavy dive bombing, well, PRS makes a Floyd model that can get you there.

I'm not about to argue that this situation is permanent - heck, many will say the world may have moved on from guitar based music altogether, though I think that isn't the case - but where you are isn't necessarily where everyone else will be down the road.

The world changes minute by minute. Tastes change. That's a given. But when you have a fairly mature technology that the music is based on - even metal is still based on tube amps and wooden guitars - I don't see all that much changing.
Click to expand...

Fender even made one in the ‘80s, and now it’s even been reissued.

reverb.com

Fender US HM Strat HSS 1989 - 1990 | Reverb

Reverb is a marketplace bringing together a wide-spanning community to buy, sell, and discuss all things music gear.
reverb.com reverb.com

reverb.com

Fender Limited Edition HM Strat Reissue | Reverb

Reverb is a marketplace bringing together a wide-spanning community to buy, sell, and discuss all things music gear.
reverb.com reverb.com
 
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