I have made a few posts on here already, but....please allow me to introduce myself....
My name is Mark and I have been playing guitar for 33 years. I grew up playing in the shred-era of the late 80s. My HUGE influences when I was younger were bands more than players - Scorpions, Iron Maiden, and of course Metallica. Regarding players, I was blown away by Paul Gilbert and Steve Vai. I was also MASSIVELY influenced by Dweezil Zappa - the "Confessions" album changed my playing forever....
I began playing in early Death Metal bands in the Tampa-area. My first band was more influenced by Venom and Hellhammer than anything mentioned above. We had a lot of fun terrorizing the neighborhood with our open-garage rehearsals and skateboard parties. While we DID gig, is often for TASCO teen dance events (go figure) than "proper" gigs at clubs. We were young - I was MAYBE 15-16 at the time....
My earliest "quality" guitar was a Yamaha RGX shredder. My dream at the time (88-90) was to play and endorse Ibanez!! My first GOOD guitar was a 2nd hand (barely used) Ibanez 540S in Desert Sun Yellow. I still have it:
This Ibanez is still pretty close to mint, even though I have had it for 29 years!!! It even still has the original "back-stop" tremsetter still in the cavity.
As I began to creep toward my late teens/early 20s my musical tastes changed. I formed a band with a friend of mine that we called "8 days after" (no relation to the Christian band of the same name). We went through many line-ups, but played MANY shows and released MANY DIY singles/CDs between 1992 and 2005. During this period I first discovered PRS. I loved the look, but the tone never gelled - which was ok, but I couldn't afford one!!! I continued to play Ibanez until 1996, when I switched over to playing Jackson guitars. I used to purchase and mod Ibanez guitars I would buy at pawn shops. One day I realized I could buy a USA Jackson (this was the AKAI-era) EXACTLY as I wanted for around $1400. While still more expensive than a used, then modified Ibanez the bigger truth was that the Wizard necks were starting to get too thin for me.
It was also around this time I purchased my first PRS - a Tortoise Shell CE24. It was BEAUTIFUL. It played great. It sounded terrible to me. I was sad and gladly sold it when the A/C went out on my car. Maybe a year or so later, I found MY guitar - a Solar Jackson PC-1. This was my main stage guitar from 1997 until 2014-15. It was AWESOME!!!! FAT neck, nice tone woods, great tuning stability. I DID modify it though. I pulled out the sustainer circuit because it sucked tone. I removed the middle pickup and tone control. I installed an SD Custom in the bridge and a DiMarzio HS3 in the neck. I put a dummy pickup in the middle, lowered all the way down. I changed the 5-way blade to a 3-way. Here she is:
Eventually I wanted to try PRS again because I have always WANTED to play and LOVE PRS. The big push came after my mom died this past September. Having been born in Maryland, and my mom being from Maryland - and most of her side of the family still residing in Maryland, I felt a geographical pull toward the Maryland-made instrument for different reasons.
I had always had bad luck with the PRS' I had purchased in the past, so I decided to try a different "formula". I order an S2 Standard Singlecut. At the time I had just joined my current band - Demented Truth. I was playing a Gibson Les Paul Standard, but wasn't digging the scale length, knob placement, weight, etc. I liked the overall tone, but loathed the instrument. I figured by trying the Singlecut S2 I might have some luck. Well, I did!!!! Here she is:
Everything about this guitar is KILLER. I was so inspired I sold ALL of my other guitars (except the Yellow Ibanez) and used the profits to purchase PRS guitars. I have flipped my stock around a little, but I am currently pleased with what I own. My band plays out 2-3 times a month doing original music, and I have had a PRS onstage with me every show since making the switch!!
Here are a couple of live shots: