RaySachs
New Member
Hi,
I’ve never owned a PRS. Have played guitar for 40 years, starting when I was 18, but it was ten years totally ON and then 30 years mostly off, with just brief periods back into it. But over the past year or so I’ve gotten waaaay back into it again. I’m not a terrible player but I’m really limited. Basically a blues and blues rock guy. I’ve been a strat guy all my life but this go around I seem to have lost most of my rock inclinations and have found myself playing more straight blues, jazzy blues, spacey blues, etc. And I’ve barely been playing the strat, having fallen for an Ibanez semi-hollow with humbuckers and an ebony fretboard. Just seems a better fit for what and how I’m playing these days. Also loving the shorter 24.7 scale.
With a big birthday coming up, I’m kind of thinking of selling off some dormant bicycling and camera gear and going for a real splurge. And for some reason I’ve gotten fixated on a 594 double cut. But I have to play one to see if this is real or just an idea without legs. I’m more of a feel guy with guitars than a sound guy - if I like the feel playing it and like how it resonates unplugged, I can usually find a sound or three I like once I plug in, but if the feel doesn’t really grab me, the best sound in the world isn’t enough to sway me.
So, first question, where’s a good place to demo one for a guy living in the Philly / Wilmington area? I could make a day trip down to the factory or to a shop in the Baltimore or NYC area. In terms of the factory store, do they have various models out for folks to play or is just more of a place to pick up PRS swag?. I haven’t seen anything in stock in the local places that sell them lately. Any idea who’s likely to have a few in stock that are reasonably well setup? If I decide I want to buy one, I could do a couple day trip out to Sweetwater or CME and play what they have in stock to pick the one that feels the best to me. But I’m not gonna take a trip like that just to see if I’m even really interested...
Second, I tend to like smooth, fast feeling fretboards. I almost always like maple and ebony, but rosewood can be a real crapshoot. I’ve played some that I really like, but a lot are really gritty / grippy and those I just never bond with - makes me feel like I’m playing in quicksand. I know the 594 can be had with an ebony board, but those artist models are out of even my splurge range, so it’s only likely to work if the rosewood boards on the base model are pretty slick and fast. So, any opinions on what those boards are like? Pretty slick and easy to move around on or more grippy?
Thanks for any help. I’m really in the early stages of thinking about this. And just tying to gather some information to see if I’m really gonna be serious about this model.
-Ray
I’ve never owned a PRS. Have played guitar for 40 years, starting when I was 18, but it was ten years totally ON and then 30 years mostly off, with just brief periods back into it. But over the past year or so I’ve gotten waaaay back into it again. I’m not a terrible player but I’m really limited. Basically a blues and blues rock guy. I’ve been a strat guy all my life but this go around I seem to have lost most of my rock inclinations and have found myself playing more straight blues, jazzy blues, spacey blues, etc. And I’ve barely been playing the strat, having fallen for an Ibanez semi-hollow with humbuckers and an ebony fretboard. Just seems a better fit for what and how I’m playing these days. Also loving the shorter 24.7 scale.
With a big birthday coming up, I’m kind of thinking of selling off some dormant bicycling and camera gear and going for a real splurge. And for some reason I’ve gotten fixated on a 594 double cut. But I have to play one to see if this is real or just an idea without legs. I’m more of a feel guy with guitars than a sound guy - if I like the feel playing it and like how it resonates unplugged, I can usually find a sound or three I like once I plug in, but if the feel doesn’t really grab me, the best sound in the world isn’t enough to sway me.
So, first question, where’s a good place to demo one for a guy living in the Philly / Wilmington area? I could make a day trip down to the factory or to a shop in the Baltimore or NYC area. In terms of the factory store, do they have various models out for folks to play or is just more of a place to pick up PRS swag?. I haven’t seen anything in stock in the local places that sell them lately. Any idea who’s likely to have a few in stock that are reasonably well setup? If I decide I want to buy one, I could do a couple day trip out to Sweetwater or CME and play what they have in stock to pick the one that feels the best to me. But I’m not gonna take a trip like that just to see if I’m even really interested...
Second, I tend to like smooth, fast feeling fretboards. I almost always like maple and ebony, but rosewood can be a real crapshoot. I’ve played some that I really like, but a lot are really gritty / grippy and those I just never bond with - makes me feel like I’m playing in quicksand. I know the 594 can be had with an ebony board, but those artist models are out of even my splurge range, so it’s only likely to work if the rosewood boards on the base model are pretty slick and fast. So, any opinions on what those boards are like? Pretty slick and easy to move around on or more grippy?
Thanks for any help. I’m really in the early stages of thinking about this. And just tying to gather some information to see if I’m really gonna be serious about this model.
-Ray