The Forum Guitar

Oh, No! Everyone here wants exactly the same specs right from the get go, don't they?

I’m feelin’ kinda relieved that I ordered that WL from Jack last week; since there isn’t a prayer in hell I can participate in this, I can just grab a cold one and watch the action from the cheap seats.

This is gonna be like herding cats.

You’re a far better man than I, Bill. ;)
 
I’m feelin’ kinda relieved that I ordered that WL from Jack last week; since there isn’t a prayer in hell I can participate in this, I can just grab a cold one and watch the action from the cheap seats.

This is gonna be like herding cats.

You’re a far better man than I, Bill. ;)
Well, that explains it! I’m a dog person :D
 
Hearding cats did come to mind...
Now back to being serious...

How big of a WL run are you targeting? 20? 40?

Could offer different neck and top options like you see Brian G often do on his runs.
 
Wood library runs are done 10 at a time. But they can be repeated.

As for offering lots of options, the idea of a ‘forum guitar’ is that there would be very few differences from one to the next.

It needs to be a very small selection of colors and almost no variation in other specs or it is meaningless. Getting a meaningful segment of the forum to agree on the specs will be the hard part.
 
Wood library runs are done 10 at a time. But they can be repeated.

As for offering lots of options, the idea of a ‘forum guitar’ is that there would be very few differences from one to the next.

It needs to be a very small selection of colors and almost no variation in other specs or it is meaningless. Getting a meaningful segment of the forum to agree on the specs will be the hard part.
Thanks Ruger. I wanted to prompt ideas, not cause you any grief. Apologies if my posts came off that way.

I still want my 594 trem though :)
 
To get a 594 trem, you will have to go PS. That option is NOT on the WL menu.
Understood! That second time typing it was meant to be a joke. Sorry, my humor doesn’t always translate well outside of my head.

To make amends, I’ll propose this...

All hog Santana (ala the KL run, but not in Korina)
Blackwood board
Bird inlays
P90 neck, 57/08 bridge
Trem
The twist - stained maple binding on the body in the original jewel colors from the 1980s.
Satin nitro finish
 
Hans went down that road (with good intention). It didn't work.
Kindly remember that we did everything you are doing now. We started with an open book -- no limits -- lots of discussions -- lots of polls -- we broke down every possible detail and discussed it until we were blue in the face. The FG22 Rev 4 is where we landed. Ultimately, it was the limited nature of that guitar that created the stir we needed to get at least 35 people to commit to one particular spec (that was the target number). No other attempt with an unlimited quantity even came close to 35 guitars - even after the many months of trying and many polls. I think the previous max was just shy of 20 people.

Also, none of this happened in a vacuum. Shawn and I collaborated throughout the discussion - trying to make this something PRS leadership could get behind. I was in frequent contact with Paul due to other forum activities which included occasional discussions with Jack Higginbotham. The possibility of a forum guitar was causally discussed with Jack while I was going through the polling process with the membership but he never committed. It was always an 'I'll give it some thought' situation. In the end, I presented him with a final spec and the names of 35 guys lined-up with wallets in hand. Remember, the limited number was never about exclusion. In the end, it was a 'no' from PRS brass.

Not one to admit defeat so easily, I made an appeal to the dealers to try and get this guitar made as a Wood Library run. If you really want to pick up the ball, call Brian Meader and Jack Gretz. Ask them where their attempts to get the guitar made fell apart. As I recall, it was a structural consideration (weight or routing). It wasn't because it was too close too PS spec. The FG22 Rev 4 was based on a DC22 with Paul's guitar pups. The DC22 was not Private Stock.

As an interesting aside, the neck wood selection was my way of trying to help Paul prove to the world that Chaltecoco (which is often used as firewood) was a remarkable tone wood, despite its humble price tag. I advocated for PRS to embrace the name Firewood and spin it in the tonal sense of the word (as in, that guitar is on fire). Clearly that never went anywhere.

Anyway... I hope you and the currently active membership are successful in getting a real Forum Guitar made, Bill. Not a lip-service guitar that any old person could get in a WL run - but something truly special that represents the hard-core PRS fans. Abandon the goal to build a collector's instrument. Build a bad-ass player's guitar. Everything else will fall into place.
 
I understand that anything that requires tweaks to the CNC programs, like mixing pickup sizes on models that normally don’t, are also a no go.

WL runs allow for using some different (and hand-picked by the dealer) woods with access to a few more (same profile) pup options and different inlay materials.
 
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Guys,

I didn’t realize all that history and what the WL constraints were. Sorry for causing any trouble or stirring up old wounds. This is my favorite place on the internet and the last thing I want to do is cause trouble.

Cheers
 
If it is only a WL run that anyone can copy, I’m out. There needs to be one thing, however small, that isn’t offered to people in future builds.

Even with really divergent interests, I’m still willing to try to get a good player’s guitar specced out. That WILL be heralding cats, but that really isn’t the hard part.

The hard part is finding the unique ‘secret sauce’ that will make it ‘The Forum Guitar’ and not just another WL run that a lot of forum members bought. What would be the point?
 
If it is only a WL run that anyone can copy, I’m out. There needs to be one thing, however small, that isn’t offered to people in future builds.

Even with really divergent interests, I’m still willing to try to get a good player’s guitar specced out. That WILL be heralding cats, but that really isn’t the hard part.

The hard part is finding the unique ‘secret sauce’ that will make it ‘The Forum Guitar’ and not just another WL run that a lot of forum members bought. What would be the point?

594 trem with dgt layout
doghair finish back and neck
 
For me of I was going purely for tone with good looks

Model: dc 22 or Santana retro (24 fret)
Body: WL African mahogany
Optional top: WL east coast curly maple , white as possible
Neck: select Peruvian mahogany
Frets: Santana hidden tangs 6100s
Pickups: 85/15 mt
Fretboard radius: 11.5"
Fretboard: Select east Indian rosewood
Electronics: signature
Bridge: prs tremolo
Tuners: phase III
Inlays: mop
Hardware: hybrid
Tuner buttons: ebony

Colors: vintage yellow, salmon, Santana orange, faded fire red, copperhead
 
Ok, since it is clear that people are not reading or purposely ignoring my admonishments that the build has to be WL specs, I’m going to just work on the REAL problem getting this done in the background.

You guys can continue to spitball impossible builds here if you like. When, and if, I get the actual stumbling block fixed, I’ll start some polls.
 
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