Scarf joint & two piece bodies

[RevBillyG]

I've seen several PRS guitars with opaque finishes on the back of the guitar body or neck. It's not the "normal" way it's done, but it isn't rare.

I guess some people like it, prefer it.

But if you owned one of these guitars & after some time decided to strip the opaque finish off the guitar & apply a more "traditional" see through finish, would you be surprised to find a two piece, or even three piece back?

I believe most people believe PRS use 1 piece of wood to build their guitar backs. But do they specify a one piece body anywhere?

I know the S2 necks are built with a scarf joint & adding a block of wood for the heel. But would you be surprised to find this method used on a Core, or Private Stock guitar?

 

[JMintzer]

The scarf joint neck is not used on a Core, or PS guitar... Only the S2s...

They used both a 1 and 2 piece body on the Korina McCarty runs...

 

[sergiodeblanc]

My KL33 has a three piece body, and it's arguably the best sounding guitar I own. My Alder CE has a two piece body, and it's arguably the best sounding guitar I own. My SE Orianthi probably has a 4 piece body, and it's arguably the best sounding guitar I own...

Maybe glue sounds good?

 

[garrett]

Agree with the first two posts. PRS isn't a company that tries to slip things past unwitting customers.

What you may find under those solid finishes is ugly wood.

They've used multi piece bodies with woods other than mahogany when needed, like korina, ash, and alder. They've even used three piece maple tops on the CE and EG.

SE guitars are a different story. 3-4 pieces is normal. The maple necks are 3 piece from what I've seen.

What does all this matter? Not a darn thing. I would be surprised to see a multi piece body on a mahogany USA model. Not because it's bad, but just because it's out of the norm.

 

[AP515]

...But would you be surprised to find this method used on a Core, or Private Stock guitar?

PRS would happily put a multi-piece body on a PS guitar...if the customer asked for it. A multi-piece neck is more likely to be requested. More to the point, the opaque back was a declared combination with certain colors. It wasn't a haphazard thing or a cover up. Some colors had it, some did not.

 

[rugerpc]

If your worry is that PRS might be trying to hide something, that worry is baseless.

At any price point, PRS delivers superior quality and build compared to any other manufacturer.

Taylor famously made guitars out of pallet wood to prove a point - a good manufacturer can make even questionable materials sing. They succeeded.

PRS just did the same thing with the reclaimed wood limited editions this Spring. They succeeded.

At some point, you need to stop worrying about the materials or manufacturing techniques and listen to the result.

PRS delivers. Of all the PRS guitars I have ever picked up (hundreds?), I've never picked up a dog. Not all of them were right for me obviously, but none of them were even just average guitars.

 

[RevBillyG]

I appreciate all your replies.

Agree with the first two posts. PRS isn't a company that tries to slip things past unwitting customers.
.

Yeah... this is pretty much what I'm getting at. Not that they're trying to dupe the customer, but maybe they don't think it's an issue.

Like most who replied here don't think there's a difference. A great guitar is a great guitar. PRS may feel the same way. They're not trying to pull a fast one, but they're not going to deliver a two or three piece body with a finish to "show off" beauty of the wood, if the two/three piece body doesn't look good.

So... I'm hearing from all of you, that you while you'd be surprised, because it's not "normal" you wouldn't think there's anything wrong with it, especially if you had the guitar for years & always thought of it as a great guitar.

 

[garrett]

Exactly. Paul has said a bunch of times that the guitar has to look good to the buyer. We do a lot of judging of guitars with our eyes, which is funny because when you get down to it a guitar's looks is the thing that should matter least.

 

[Herr Squid]

Exactly. Paul has said a bunch of times that the guitar has to look good to the buyer. We do a lot of judging of guitars with our eyes, which is funny because when you get down to it a guitar's looks is the thing that should matter least.

The pretty one is the one that we pick up and try out. We're visual creatures first and foremost.

 

[owickerman]

My charcoal purpleburst 509 has an opaque backm or, more accurately, a so dark back and neck that it looks opaque ^^
Since its a core model, I'm pretty sure the body is one piece because its the way PRS build the core models.
The only thing I really wanted to be one piece of woo is the neck, for solidity reasons.
But, truth be told, I dont care, my guitar is beautiful and sounds awesome.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I kinda hope my latest opaque guitar has two pieces of wood for the body under the finish. It would enhance my enjoyment of it to know there's a nice piece (or two) of figured sapele that is subversively being covered up by white paint.

 

[markd21]

I have an Artist package guitar with a black back and neck....weird because it has a gorgeous (but not flawless) top and a killer Madagascar ebony fretboard and head overlay. A part of me wishes it had a natural back/neck, but in the end it sounds so killer that the black is a non-issue.

 

[dogrocketp]

I wouldn`t care if the guitar was made out of surplus Army barracks shingles. I really, really care if the guitar sounds well to me. I had an extremely high end Archtop years ago, the most beautiful guitar ever made, in my humble opinion. Sounded like canine defecation, and strained the tendons in my thumb because of the finger board radius. Paul and company put both hands on the table when they make guitars. You wanna know what the wood story is? Just ask them. This ain`t Trump, bro. You`ll get the truth...

 

[László]

I've had several PRS limited runs and Artist guitars with opaque finishes on the back. Charcoal burst is one, there have been others. It's just a color/finish combination and doesn't imply a thing about the construction of the guitar.

PRS Core models with mahogany backs have a single slab of 'hog in back.

If you're at all worried about it, you can always take the pickups off, and look at the wood underneath them (there'd be a line in the middle if the back was two piece) and satisfy your curiosity.

 

[RevBillyG]

Paul and company put both hands on the table when they make guitars. You wanna know what the wood story is? Just ask them. This ain`t Trump, bro. You`ll get the truth...

Again... it's not about I think the company is trying to pull a fast one. Just like in the case of Alder or Korina... there may not be a piece of wood big enough to make the guitar. But maybe he found two pieces that he thought would make an excellent guitar, so he built it. Then when deciding what finish to apply, it just made sense to us an opaque finish.

Take the Fender Strat for an example. Some people believe there was a time when the Fender Strat body was made from two pieces of wood, then they started seeing strat bodies made with three pieces of wood. Some people got upset, some people didn't see an issue. I don't think Fender was trying to pull a fast one (if that's even the case, I really don't know). I do remember when people started finding out about the swimming pool routes. That didn't go over well. Still, I don't believe Fender was trying to deceive anyone. It was an idea they had that didn't go over well. Some people still love those swimming pool routed guitars for the exact reason Fender thought to do it.... versatility.

 

[Elliot]

Nothing bad on PRS but if I were giving Billy a straight answer, I would say "yeah". I would be surprised. And I think it makes sense to specify how many pieces of wood are in the guitar body, or at least have that info available if you were to call PRS customer support and ask. (Not sure if they do. I've never tried. Also, if they do provide that info and you started sanding before you called to ask, it's your fault for not knowing.)

Although, I'm relatively certain I wouldn't be upset enough for it to change my opinion of my guitar.

 

[JMintzer]

One correction to my earlier post. When PRS did the limited run of BRW neck McCartys, they did a "few" with a small scarf joint on the headstock (it was sometimes visible between the A & B tuners) and a small piece on the back of the neck blank heel. It was only done due to the fact that a few of the available BRW blanks weren't quite thick enough...

 

[G-Man]

Actually one of the coolest guitars I have seen was a CE 22 with a three piece maple top in forest green. The two wings were made of curly maple and the middle was a super tight flame maple. Looked strange at first but very nice.

 

[Boogie]

I kinda hope my latest opaque guitar has two pieces of wood for the body under the finish. It would enhance my enjoyment of it to know there's a nice piece (or two) of figured sapele that is subversively being covered up by white paint.

I have no idea how many pieces make up Mr. Clean's body, but frankly, Scarlet, I don't give a damn. It's covered in liquid vanilla ice cream...err...vintage white, which is a tone finish.

 

[bodia]

It's covered in liquid vanilla ice cream...err...vintage white, which is a tone finish.

FACT!!!!