Why are the Brent Mason's no longer made?

Willie's Guitars in St. Paul, MN has had two in the store in the past two years. One was absolutely delicious - great tone and tonal versatility, played great, looked great. I waived and didn't buy it, then it was gone. The one they recently had sold quickly (at $2,495, it was more than I would have paid so I wasn't in the running). Anyway, next time they get one, if it's as excellent as that first one I tried, and under $2K, I'm nabbin' it and getting rid of the two guitars I need to do what the Brent Mason does!
 
I was actually shopping for one when I bought my NF3. It was either NF3, SAS Studio, or BM. Couldn’t find a BM in the color I wanted (it was actually my first choice even though I hadn’t played one because someone I know played one once and couldn’t stop talking about how great it sounded and how many different tones it had). I couldn’t find an SAS in either of my color choices, then the plain Jane NF3 came in cheaper than any of them so I jumped, and have never and WILL never look back.
Similar experience. Just played it today at practice & it still gives me goosebumps. No looking back here....
 
I have no idea why the BM wasn’t a success. I absolutely love mine. Maybe it’d go over now that the JM sig is a success.

I posed a similar comment at The Gear Page. (For reference, this was probably 2-3 years ago. S-2s may have changed this somewhat, but..) It seems that people think PRS guitar should either be really fancy, or cheaper than the BM, NF3 and other “painted” PRS models. Several people commented that if both were $1999 they would have sold like crazy, but in the mid to upper $2K range, they expected more bling. I was surprised at how many people said similar things. The only other objection with any numbers behind it, was non-standard pickups sized guitars not being something guys felt were buyer friendly. I can’t tell you how many guys said they played and loved the NF3, Studio, DC3 or others, but said something crazy like “but if I ever tire of this pickups, it would be a pain to try to replace them." And I replied every time “you get NF pickups and you will NEVER replace them!” Still a concern that seemed to doom the DC3, NF3 etc. There were even two different guys going on about how much they loved the 513 that friends of theirs owned, but would never buy one because they couldn’t put “their” pickups in them.

It’s unfortunate for PRS, (for the sale of those models) but Paul seems more concerned now about making great pickups, than he does about making pickups that are easily replaced. I applaud that strongly, but some guys wont buy anything they can’t easily swap their favorite pickups into.
 
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I’m glad I grabbed one when I did. They are very tonal, do all guitars. I wanted something different than I was used to like a telecaster or something and then I came across this model.
The narrow 408’s are awesome pickups. I think they sound better too adjusted lower than higher... better single coil character like that.
 
Is it possible the Brett Mason is no longer a PRS endorser ?
There was a Beautiful one on Vintage Rocker the other day but I was preoccupied with other guitars :) ( Special Semi Hollow )
 
Is it possible the Brett Mason is no longer a PRS endorser ?
There was a Beautiful one on Vintage Rocker the other day but I was preoccupied with other guitars :) ( Special Semi Hollow )
He's still listed on the artist list on the PRS web site.
 
I'm new to the world of PRS. Sweetwater had a sell on some Custom 24 SE's 3 months ago, so I picked one up. I had them my preferred setup, with my preferred strings as well. When I got it out of the case, it was without question the best feeling guitar I'd ever held. Next, the sound was absolutely phenomenal for a $600 guitar. Two weeks later, I decided to step up and get a real deal. I called a dear friend who is an endorsee for PRS. His name is Seth Morrison. Given the wide variety of styles I play, he recommended a PRS Brent Mason Model. That was quite a task. I looked every day for a month, before finding the right one. I got it. I immediately took it to my set up guy, and had him do my preferred set up / strings. WITHOUT QUESTION, It is the most incredible guitar I've ever held. Fat Tele Tone. Fat Strat Tone. Les Paul on Steroids tone. It literally does it all. Now, I just got my second Brent Mason, and found a 3rd that a band member of mine just bought. I basically want to know why on earth this guitar is no longer in production. This is probably a noob question, but I'd really like to know. It doesn't make much sense to me. Thanks!!!!!

-Josh
I guess I'm extremely blessed because when I moved to Nashville I met drummer Randy Mason Brent's brother and I got to know both of them and their family who had me over every Thanksgiving!! Brent is a great guy and one year we got to play together with the Mason family and he had me meet him downtown Music Row where he was doing a session!! Then he brought me to his car and presented me with a PRS Brent Mason model!! It's a very special guitar because this one had a neck that was sanded down behind the nut so he could do behind the nut bends! He used it at a CMA show! It's black with a black pick guard and has no serial number which makes me think PRS made the neck special for him!! It's a sweet sounding guitar and treasure it as it has become my number one!! All I've had done to it is have it wired what they call extension wiring which has a push pull tone pot that turns on the front pickup in any configuration and the guitar just sings and one day I want to find another!!! I hope you can share this story with everyone here and hope you enjoyed it!! I no longer live in Nashville but Brent, Randy, the Mason family and I keep in touch!!! Glad I could join the forum!!!! Happy New Year!!!!
 
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