PRS - Please Stop...

Prs Mods too said:
In your opinion but not IMO. :)

I like the old control layout, winged tuners, one piece bridge, and old CEs more than todays offerings.

Pickups are probably better today but that's about it IMO.
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Perfectly legit for both of us to have and express different preferences. I respect your opinion, I just don't agree with it. Here are a few reasons I prefer the more recent models, and they're all due to tone and functionality.

1. The pickups on the newer ones are, indeed, better. That's not a minor thing; pickups are a significant contributor to tone, and I dislike the idea of buying a new guitar and having to buy aftermarket pickups.

2. The two piece bridge sounds more vintage - a definite preference for me. It's certainly reasonable to disagree, but PRS still makes the wrap bridge for the McCarty.

3. The 594 neck is brilliant. It's a great scale length and the carve feels great.

4. The Phase III tuners are lighter and easier to use than my old winged tuners - that's important if strings need to be changed during a session or show. The winged ones look cool, but even though I played PRS' with them for at least a decade and knew how to work them very well, they could be finicky. The Phase IIIs also have less "lash" than the winged ones.

5. The Singlecuts are wonderful guitars, and the first year for them arriving in stores was 2000.

6. The DGT is one of the greatest models PRS has ever made - 2008 was the start. If you haven't tried one, they're pretty darn interesting.

7. The 408 pickups are terrific, another innovation.

8. The Rotary switch looks beautiful, but isn't the most functional in the heat of battle during a session or show. A blade or toggle is faster.

9. I like nitro, mostly for its sound quality. For whatever reason - one can only guess - nitro finished guitars have a different sound from poly finished ones. Again, this is probably my preference for a more vintage tone (I still have my SG Special from 1965 and was a long time Gibson player because they sounded really good to me - I had several before getting into PRS).

I gradually sold off the poly PRS models I previously had and replaced them with nitro versions. I also like the subtler sheen and feel of nitro over the more plastic look, feel, and thickness of poly. A bonus is that the PRS nitro isn't sticky like the stuff that comes on Gibsons. Nitro finishes are easier to repair than poly, too.

The only 'older PRS' preference I have is for the older Artist leather cases. However, the company that made them is out of business. Oh well.
 
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JasonE said:
I can get behind all of these. The only PRS I have that doesn't have the standard PRS nut is my 594. It doesn't really look like bone but it is white. It is shaped just like the black standard PRS nut. I haven't had any tuning issues with it but if I remember correctly, I put some graphite in the nut slots a long time ago.


Or put it in a better place. I am not a fan of where they put it on the new Studio I bought. I like it much better where they put it on my P22 and P22 Trem. It is lower on the body and farther forward. It is much easier to get to on those guitars than it is on the Studio.
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This is how the original 53/54 prototype was envisioned. I dislike the location of the 3 way switch, I'd be getting caught on it all the time, but love the look and convenience of the metal control plate cover.

https://imgur.com/K4zdGwN
 
I’m personally not a fan of the new nitro. I like the old poly. I have one of each. I spend all my time worrying about the nitro on a stand. I could probably pound fenceposts with my ‘03 poly Santana, and it would still look good. I know, I’m too precious about the nitro. Suck it it up and worry about the important stuff, like the end of the world as we know it. Or when the McRib will come back again.
 
aamefford said:
I’m personally not a fan of the new nitro. I like the old poly. I have one of each. I spend all my time worrying about the nitro on a stand. I could probably pound fenceposts with my ‘03 poly Santana, and it would still look good. I know, I’m too precious about the nitro. Suck it it up and worry about the important stuff, like the end of the world as we know it. Or when the McRib will come back again.
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I wouldn't worry too much about the nitro. It's easy to do invisible repairs with nitro, not so much with poly.

@helmi, that's actually probably around where I lost interest too. 2000 was a bit of an exaggeration, probably because that's around the time they stopped the winged tuners that I love so much.
 
helmi said:
I’ll take the guitars up to 2012. cant say I’m a fan of much after that.
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I really liked the creativity and risk-taking that PRS had from about 2004 when the 513 was introduced to about 2012/13. So much diversity in design and purpose. I'm starting to get a liking of the amps from that time, too.

I wasn't playing guitar then, so I have no idea about how much the recession and its aftermath affected PRS. It seems like since that era, there's been a slow and constant movement towards a focus on revenue. That's not a bad thing--it's a business and that's its purpose. I own a Silver Sky and an SC 594, so I've done my bit of feeding that.

I'd like to see that creativity return before Paul distances himself further from the business. I think the writing is on the wall, though. Continued focus on derivatives of other companies' designs, moving Core models downmarket to chase the contract-manufacturing money, and a Core marketing plan that focuses on refinement rather than actual innovation.
 
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