claythomas
Nothing but the best!
ROTARY!!!!! I have even replaced the 5 way blade with a rotary. It just feels heavy-duty and I can get the tones I want. Plus, it looks better than an ugly-ass toggle switch. Just my opinion, though.
PRS Switching: Blade vs Toggle vs Rotary
- Thread starter frankencat
- Start date
Lewguitar
Old Know It All
I miss the tones but I don't miss that damned knob.
Same thing happened to me.
At home, that rotary switch is fine. Nobody's watching.
Onstage it takes too long to find the setting i want.
When I play out I'd love to bring my '97 CE22, but it stays home in favor of a Bernie, Strat or Silver Sky.
gush
Where is that speedo pic
I've never really had that happen. If it did then it was probably only a couple times and I don't remember.
I got pretty comfortable switching the rotary on the fly.
Oddly, I found the ce22 with D1s and rotary the most fun to play live. I have my D1s set pretty low in the rings so it cleans up well and still has good string definition.
D1s are amazing pickups.
Whether it's as functional as toggles and blades or not, the rotary is certainly an elegant design; it doesn't break up the lines of the guitar as much as the more traditional switches PRS now uses.
I loved the look of the rotary, even though I eventually came to think the blade and toggle were more practical for my needs.
If PRS had simply incised a line on it so you could know where you were by feeling the line's angle relative to the guitar, It would have been a better solution, and being on the side of the knob, wouldn't have caught the eye.
dogrocketp
I drank the PRS kool aid, and it was tasty!
The rotary is my favorite, although I hVE nd like the other ones. I think my least favorite is the toggle. I do agree that the old knobs were a pain sometimes. The solution for me was to change to the newer style knobs. My favorite stop tail is a CU22 with 57/08's and a rotary. What does our man Sergio say?
Mozzi
https://imgur.com/user/BAMozzy/posts
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I'm sure I could have become far more accustomed to a Rotary switch and it may well of become my favourite option. However, when I started playing Electrics, I couldn't afford a PRS - the only guitar I knew of with the Rotary. My first Electric was a MiJ Epiphone Les Paul Custom, so the toggle on the upper horn was what I became most familiar with and still feels more like 'home' to me.
Going from my 594 to a Cu24 for example, the thing that I struggle with the most is the different layout, not the blade or its position really, it's the fact that I reach to the Upper horn automatically to switch Pups. Its easier for me going from Cu24 to 594 for that reason. The difference in neck for example barely registers after a second or two, but I'll still keep reaching for a Toggle on the top horn because I spent so many years doing that.
I still prefer a Blade though because even without visually checking, I can tell what position its in by feel and where I can move that blade/toggle to a different position. I couldn't tell if I had to go clockwise or anti-clockwise by touch for example.
I saw an interview with Orianthi who likes the Rotary too but she had the Rotary at a young age and it was her main guitar for years. It was something she grew up with so it was more natural for her than it was for me. I'm sure that if I spent half as much time with a Rotary equipped guitar as I did my Les Paul, I would no doubt have the muscle memory to make it 'work' for me.
I wouldn't modify a Vintage PRS with a Rotary today, but I know it would throw me more than the different Blade and/or mini toggle positions of my other guitars and still wouldn't feel like 'home' as the 594 layout does for me. I don't necessarily think the Rotary or Blades are 'worse' than a 3-way toggle for example, I don't really like the McCarty toggle position that far behind the bridge to reach for but that the toggle on the top horn is what feels the most comfortable to me because that is what I spent many, many years using before I had any guitar with Blades or Rotary switches.
Going from my 594 to a Cu24 for example, the thing that I struggle with the most is the different layout, not the blade or its position really, it's the fact that I reach to the Upper horn automatically to switch Pups. Its easier for me going from Cu24 to 594 for that reason. The difference in neck for example barely registers after a second or two, but I'll still keep reaching for a Toggle on the top horn because I spent so many years doing that.
I still prefer a Blade though because even without visually checking, I can tell what position its in by feel and where I can move that blade/toggle to a different position. I couldn't tell if I had to go clockwise or anti-clockwise by touch for example.
I saw an interview with Orianthi who likes the Rotary too but she had the Rotary at a young age and it was her main guitar for years. It was something she grew up with so it was more natural for her than it was for me. I'm sure that if I spent half as much time with a Rotary equipped guitar as I did my Les Paul, I would no doubt have the muscle memory to make it 'work' for me.
I wouldn't modify a Vintage PRS with a Rotary today, but I know it would throw me more than the different Blade and/or mini toggle positions of my other guitars and still wouldn't feel like 'home' as the 594 layout does for me. I don't necessarily think the Rotary or Blades are 'worse' than a 3-way toggle for example, I don't really like the McCarty toggle position that far behind the bridge to reach for but that the toggle on the top horn is what feels the most comfortable to me because that is what I spent many, many years using before I had any guitar with Blades or Rotary switches.
DISTORT6
NJ Devil
Single bridge pickup, no switch, one volume.
Didn't PRS already do that in SE and discontinue it?
Alnus Rubra
Loving nature’s wonders
Thatsssss…….
DISTORT6
NJ Devil
I prefer core guitars.
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
The CE-22 that I got a few months ago had the rotary replace with a toggle, and push/pull. The rotary is in the case. If I decide to put it back in I’d put a chicken head knob on it.
Jo-
f-hole lover
I like the rotary. It’s not hard to use and you are always only 2 clicks away from the tone you want.
It’s not hard to use, once you know how.
It’s not hard to use, once you know how.
Lewguitar
Old Know It All
Everybody knows how to use it.
But it's a PITA for some of us to use.
"Oops...went passed that click"
"Oops...didn't click far enough"
"OK...all the way to the neck pickup and then back one"
For me switching that switch delays me and gets in the way of making music on the fly..but 4 out of the 5 sounds are great and the middle setting can't be found on any guitar I know of without that rotary switch.
Also requires that the pickups be magnetically out of phase. Which the Dragon 1 and 2 pickups are.
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claythomas
Nothing but the best!
It seems a few of you guys play by sight instead of sound. With the rotary, you just listen to the tone. Then you know which position you're in. As with music, you play by hearing. And, also, in my experience, the rotary is,by far, the most sturdy of switches. I have never had one fail and I have been playing PRS since 1988. On the other hand, I have replaced many toggles and blades that died during a performance or session.
Granted, the rotary has undergone a few changes since the first ones, but they're still my"go to" given that option.
Granted, the rotary has undergone a few changes since the first ones, but they're still my"go to" given that option.
frankencat
Guitarded
Wow 74% prefer the toggle switch. I wonder what made them change and will they ever go back?
Mozzi
https://imgur.com/user/BAMozzy/posts
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Not necessarily - sometimes it can be by 'feel' for reassurance - a quick touch and you know exactly what position the toggle/blade is. It can be nothing more than a reassuring touch whilst talking to the Audience or band mate before you start playing, knowing that the 'first' sound you'll hear when you do start playing is exactly the sound you want to hear. Its like side-dots or fret markers - they may not be necessary when you are in the moment, playing music, but they can be reassuring for some players - even if they don't rely on them all the time. I don't rely on Fret Markers when playing, but without any markers, it does throw me so I must use some visual cues - even if its only a quick glance.
I'm sure I could get used to a Rotary over time but I personally prefer Blades/toggles - maybe because that is 'standard' and so its what I am most accustomed to using. Much like using a Guitar with no fret inlays/markers throws me as well, using a Rotary throws me but with enough time/practice, retraining the way I play, I am sure I could appreciate its strengths more...
RickP
Established 1960, Still Not Dead
Toggle or blade are fine for me. A blade just feels like a wide range toggle… if you‘re not looking for the 2 or 4 spots, it’s like a Tele-toggle.
I do, too.
I suspect that the single pickup guitar isn't something that a lot of people would shell out Core money for, however.
Maxime Bousquet
--broken but under repair--
Never tried the rotary..
I like the blade for the simplicity of action, years with fender, I'm used to it.
I loved the first PRS I had, McCarty the toggle and the push pull works great for me too.
I like the blade for the simplicity of action, years with fender, I'm used to it.
I loved the first PRS I had, McCarty the toggle and the push pull works great for me too.
Not really. I play using my hands and ears. Your ears aren't happy if you make a quick switch during a performance and land on a setting you don't want.
It isn't difficult to use the rotary, but it's slower.
Sure, you can click through it and listen, but why would you want to when other switching types are easier and faster to use by feel - and work just as well by ear?
Like you, I'm a long time PRS player. Got my first in 1991, and have had lots and lots of PRS' since. The rotary was never a deal-breaker, but its ergonomics don't suit every player -- hands, eyes, ears, whatever.
It certainly looks prettier than the other types of switches, though. And you're right, it doesn't have the fragility of the more old fashioned switches. I suspect that Paul Smith could design a more robust switch if he was so inclined - hint hint.
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