PS 20

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Too Many Notes
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Apr 26, 2012
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Location
Michigan
I’ve got one of the 20th Anniversary of Private Stock Ltd. guitars; this is a three-pickup model with some interesting details. First, the pickups are two of the Paul’s guitar narrow 408s, and a 57/08 Narrowfield in the middle. It preceded the 594 by a few months, but has the 594 scale length (though not the asymmetrical neck carve). It’s got a Gen III locking trem (the one with the little screws that hold the string more tightly in the saddle, PS-only), and a 5-way blade. Also, it’s a bit thicker than a McCarty, and the ratio of mahogany to maple is different; the mahogany is thicker.

It’s a wonderful guitar. Plenty of pics of it, it’s my “Northern Lights” one.

But I also have several other PRSes.

Anyway, a few months ago I got a Pettyjohn EQ pedal called the Filter. It’s got sweepable mids, high and low boost/cut, a few different switchable turnover points on the high and low EQ, etc. Sounds really nice.

Basically, I’ve been leaving it on nearly all the time. What I didn’t realize, and found out the other day simply by switching the pedal off and on with my guitars, is that unconsciously, and slowly and subtly, I’ve been tweaking the EQ to make all of my guitars sound a little more like PS20. I was kind of surprised, to say the least!

True, they don’t sound precisely the same; after all, they’re different models. But the character I seem to have been tweaking the pedal to achieve is that rich midrange, brighter treble, PS20 tone.

As I said, it’s subtle, but it made me realize how close to “the sound I hear in my head” PS20 actually is. If you had asked me before I came to this realization, I’d have probably said that The Hammer Of The Gods (McCarty SC) or 594 Soapbar were closer to the types of tones I was after.

It’s a strange feeling to realize that what I thought I was after, and what I was actually after, aren’t the same thing at all! :eek:
 
So true for so many of us. I've fought the tone wars for years. Turns out I had the tone I wanted at the beginning.

As Wesley Snipes quips in Blade, "Some (expletives) are always trying to ice skate uphill."
 
I’ve got one of the 20th Anniversary of Private Stock Ltd. guitars; this is a three-pickup model with some interesting details. First, the pickups are two of the Paul’s guitar narrow 408s, and a 57/08 Narrowfield in the middle. It preceded the 594 by a few months, but has the 594 scale length (though not the asymmetrical neck carve). It’s got a Gen III locking trem (the one with the little screws that hold the string more tightly in the saddle, PS-only), and a 5-way blade. Also, it’s a bit thicker than a McCarty, and the ratio of mahogany to maple is different; the mahogany is thicker.

It’s a wonderful guitar. Plenty of pics of it, it’s my “Northern Lights” one.

But I also have several other PRSes.

Anyway, a few months ago I got a Pettyjohn EQ pedal called the Filter. It’s got sweepable mids, high and low boost/cut, a few different switchable turnover points on the high and low EQ, etc. Sounds really nice.

Basically, I’ve been leaving it on nearly all the time. What I didn’t realize, and found out the other day simply by switching the pedal off and on with my guitars, is that unconsciously, and slowly and subtly, I’ve been tweaking the EQ to make all of my guitars sound a little more like PS20. I was kind of surprised, to say the least!

True, they don’t sound precisely the same; after all, they’re different models. But the character I seem to have been tweaking the pedal to achieve is that rich midrange, brighter treble, PS20 tone.

As I said, it’s subtle, but it made me realize how close to “the sound I hear in my head” PS20 actually is. If you had asked me before I came to this realization, I’d have probably said that The Hammer Of The Gods (McCarty SC) or 594 Soapbar were closer to the types of tones I was after.

It’s a strange feeling to realize that what I thought I was after, and what I was actually after, aren’t the same thing at all! :eek:
I’ve definitely have had moments like this! Then one of the other voices in my head takes over and I have to relearn everything! :rolleyes:
 
Hi Les, now going by your standards it must be a wonderful wonderful guitar!

How much of that magic tone would you attribute to the guitar itself and to the narrow 408s? Like 80-20 etc?
 
I suspect this may be the reason I couldnt bond with the prs amps I had. I've played my 5150 so long that I was trying to make them sound like 5150 amp.

Could be???
 
That happened with me and my amps as well. It helped me to pick a few different tones to try to emulate with my amps to finally figure out how to dial them in. In the end I figured out that the archon has incredible range. And accidentally dialed it to sound like my shiva 20th. So the shiva went...
 
Hi Les, now going by your standards it must be a wonderful wonderful guitar!

How much of that magic tone would you attribute to the guitar itself and to the narrow 408s? Like 80-20 etc?

It sounded like a finished studio track (needed no EQ, etc.) right out of the case, first time I played it!

I’d guess that the pickups and hardware contribute a lot to the difference between it and my other guitars. But the proportions, I have no idea.
 
I suspect this may be the reason I couldnt bond with the prs amps I had. I've played my 5150 so long that I was trying to make them sound like 5150 amp.

Could be???

Yeah, that’d be a real possibility! I wasted a lot of dough trying to replicate my ‘67 Bassman after selling it.

Took ten years, until I found the Tremoverb in the mid-90s.
 
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