andy474x
Knows the Drill
Well, at least the case is white.
A few years ago I had a line on a 25th Anniversary Mira, I believe it was in Scarlet Smokeburst, stunning guitar, but it just didn't work out. The seller was in Canada, supposedly a small shop but the whole thing just looked suspicious to me. I chickened out because they didn't seem confident on their shipping, especially getting wood through US Customs without creating an import tax and/or CITES PITA. Still, I was very enamored with the idea of a soapbar Mira. They don't look half bad with the shadow birds and headstock eagle veneer! I looked on VR for a while as well, saw one or two but it just never worked out. Time marched on.
For a while now, my buddy has been telling me for a while about this shop, Elderly Instruments in Lansing, MI (about 90 minutes from home), telling me how great their PRS selection is, and just how cool of a shop it is in general. I got to looking at their website a few weekends ago, and lo and behold, they had a used 25th Mira. I let it sit for a few weeks, waiting for someone to snag it and put me out of my misery, but to no avail. Yesterday my wife wanted to get out of the house, so I had no choice.
First of all, this shop IS really freaking cool! They had an outstanding selection of guitars, amps, and other instruments as well. I mean, a display full of 40+ USA Telecasters, including several Custom Shop guitars, a wall of Strats, Guilds, Heritage, Martins, Gibsons, G&L's... and, PRS. My oh my, the PRS guitars they had in that place. A slew of S2's, plenty of SE's and core guitars too. And not a "please ask first" tag in sight! Just a big @$$ amp room full of instrument cables and desire. So I plugged in a Vela, played an S2 Singlecut and S2 Custom 24. The Vela played superbly, and the flavor of the single coil fit the guitar very well - it was clear and defined, but fat enough sounding to be at home with the humbucker. I played it through the clean channel of a Fender Supersonic 22, which was meh... I probably would've liked it even more through a different amp. The other S2's were nice too, but redundant for me. I also browsed some core axes, a Custom 22, Custom 24, McCarty, DGT, and P22, for kicks. Didn't really play any of the core, just gave them a once over, checking out the woods and neck carves - trying to be courteous, since I had no intention of buying one. Don't get me wrong, they were great, but to be honest, an S2 gets me just as excited. I guess I'm a cheap date. But the whole time, I had my eye on the corner of the amp room - that 25th Mira. When we first got there, I was still browsing and this guy came in the room and was telling someone how his friend has been keeping an eye on this guitar for a few weeks, and will probably buy it soon, and he was playing it for a good while and kept going on about it. Then when he finally put it down, someone else picked it up right away - yikes. I'm getting a little nervous here. Finally caught a break in the action, and plugged in to a 68 Custom Vibrolux (one of Fender's Vintage Modified amps I believe)... wow. This guitar purrs, and it appears to be a total case queen. The Standard neck carve makes my smallish hands very happy, and the guitar sounded clear as a bell, fat, and bright, but not too much so. I was secretly hoping to not be that impressed, and just go home with relieved GAS and having had a fun time. No luck there.
This whole time, my wife is egging me on to grab hold of the thing and not put it down (win), and then asking if I want her to take it up and have it put on hold while we keep looking. "It's ok honey, you've been killing it at work lately!" Right about then, I decided step 1 was to stay cool in the pants despite my wife's highly erotic behavior, and step 2, behave myself before I put some serious thought into how much I was enjoying the Mira WITH that Vibrolux. So, off to swipe the card we went. Luckily for me, I think the fellow with the friend had left. Felt kind of bad, but I figure if he wanted it that bad he would've put it on layaway. The guys at the desk said he had even called his friend to see if he wanted to come pick it up, but it was a no go. So, friend, if you're out there... sorry!
Anyways, on to the good stuff. I know what you're all waiting for.
Love that headstock. The only blems on the guitar are a small wear spot on the lower corner of the headstock, as seen above, and a small chip of the finish on the treble side of the neck, and a scratch near it (below). Not a problem for me, nothing I feel while playing and no one else will notice it.
Got a grand deal (ahem), which was awesome considering the excellent condition of the guitar. The fellow that rung me up even commented on how the guitar had zero fret wear and hardly even any hazing on the pickguard - and what there was, probably was there from me playing it earlier! Plus, the super sexy Anniversary hard case, not part of my decision making process but a nice cherry on top. Might need to move my Mira X now, just because I don't need 2. Compared them both side by side lastnight, and I have to admit the lesser adorned Mira X still compares well with the 25th Anniversary, but with everything else in my collection I don't need it, and I can pass on the good deal I got on it to someone else that will enjoy it more.
Clips to come... it's Sunday!
A few years ago I had a line on a 25th Anniversary Mira, I believe it was in Scarlet Smokeburst, stunning guitar, but it just didn't work out. The seller was in Canada, supposedly a small shop but the whole thing just looked suspicious to me. I chickened out because they didn't seem confident on their shipping, especially getting wood through US Customs without creating an import tax and/or CITES PITA. Still, I was very enamored with the idea of a soapbar Mira. They don't look half bad with the shadow birds and headstock eagle veneer! I looked on VR for a while as well, saw one or two but it just never worked out. Time marched on.
For a while now, my buddy has been telling me for a while about this shop, Elderly Instruments in Lansing, MI (about 90 minutes from home), telling me how great their PRS selection is, and just how cool of a shop it is in general. I got to looking at their website a few weekends ago, and lo and behold, they had a used 25th Mira. I let it sit for a few weeks, waiting for someone to snag it and put me out of my misery, but to no avail. Yesterday my wife wanted to get out of the house, so I had no choice.
First of all, this shop IS really freaking cool! They had an outstanding selection of guitars, amps, and other instruments as well. I mean, a display full of 40+ USA Telecasters, including several Custom Shop guitars, a wall of Strats, Guilds, Heritage, Martins, Gibsons, G&L's... and, PRS. My oh my, the PRS guitars they had in that place. A slew of S2's, plenty of SE's and core guitars too. And not a "please ask first" tag in sight! Just a big @$$ amp room full of instrument cables and desire. So I plugged in a Vela, played an S2 Singlecut and S2 Custom 24. The Vela played superbly, and the flavor of the single coil fit the guitar very well - it was clear and defined, but fat enough sounding to be at home with the humbucker. I played it through the clean channel of a Fender Supersonic 22, which was meh... I probably would've liked it even more through a different amp. The other S2's were nice too, but redundant for me. I also browsed some core axes, a Custom 22, Custom 24, McCarty, DGT, and P22, for kicks. Didn't really play any of the core, just gave them a once over, checking out the woods and neck carves - trying to be courteous, since I had no intention of buying one. Don't get me wrong, they were great, but to be honest, an S2 gets me just as excited. I guess I'm a cheap date. But the whole time, I had my eye on the corner of the amp room - that 25th Mira. When we first got there, I was still browsing and this guy came in the room and was telling someone how his friend has been keeping an eye on this guitar for a few weeks, and will probably buy it soon, and he was playing it for a good while and kept going on about it. Then when he finally put it down, someone else picked it up right away - yikes. I'm getting a little nervous here. Finally caught a break in the action, and plugged in to a 68 Custom Vibrolux (one of Fender's Vintage Modified amps I believe)... wow. This guitar purrs, and it appears to be a total case queen. The Standard neck carve makes my smallish hands very happy, and the guitar sounded clear as a bell, fat, and bright, but not too much so. I was secretly hoping to not be that impressed, and just go home with relieved GAS and having had a fun time. No luck there.
This whole time, my wife is egging me on to grab hold of the thing and not put it down (win), and then asking if I want her to take it up and have it put on hold while we keep looking. "It's ok honey, you've been killing it at work lately!" Right about then, I decided step 1 was to stay cool in the pants despite my wife's highly erotic behavior, and step 2, behave myself before I put some serious thought into how much I was enjoying the Mira WITH that Vibrolux. So, off to swipe the card we went. Luckily for me, I think the fellow with the friend had left. Felt kind of bad, but I figure if he wanted it that bad he would've put it on layaway. The guys at the desk said he had even called his friend to see if he wanted to come pick it up, but it was a no go. So, friend, if you're out there... sorry!
Anyways, on to the good stuff. I know what you're all waiting for.
Love that headstock. The only blems on the guitar are a small wear spot on the lower corner of the headstock, as seen above, and a small chip of the finish on the treble side of the neck, and a scratch near it (below). Not a problem for me, nothing I feel while playing and no one else will notice it.
Got a grand deal (ahem), which was awesome considering the excellent condition of the guitar. The fellow that rung me up even commented on how the guitar had zero fret wear and hardly even any hazing on the pickguard - and what there was, probably was there from me playing it earlier! Plus, the super sexy Anniversary hard case, not part of my decision making process but a nice cherry on top. Might need to move my Mira X now, just because I don't need 2. Compared them both side by side lastnight, and I have to admit the lesser adorned Mira X still compares well with the 25th Anniversary, but with everything else in my collection I don't need it, and I can pass on the good deal I got on it to someone else that will enjoy it more.
Clips to come... it's Sunday!
