513 vs BM

[g.wizz]

Hello guys
for those of you who own a 513 and tried the Brent Mason or vice versa
i know there is a many different factors in terms of woods,scale length and construction
but I'm curious about the sc sounds (when 408 in split mode) is it more authentic than the 513's?
and how many sounds in total available under your fingers?
thanks for any input.

 

[jfine]

I have a Brent Mason, and I've tried a couple of 513's, not in a while, though. Considering it's been years since I tried a 513, I'll try to remember what I didn't like about it. As I recall, it had a solid rosewood neck, which from my experience with rosewood Teles--I had one for a while--tends to darken the tone a bit, and that was my recollection of the 513. A later one that I tried (maple neck, maybe?) seemed like it was a little brighter than the rosewood-necked one, but still not where I needed it (I'm a Tele player for the most part). My take on PRS's for years was "Nice, but not really my thing...", until they came up with, first, the DC3, which I loved; almost bought one--but by that time I knew the Brent Mason was coming out. Paul actually showed me a pic on his phone of Brent playing a prototype, so I decided to wait until the production model was available. I got the Brent Mason, and it's very cool. Does it sound like a Strat or a Tele? Not exactly, but it'll come close, and the humbucker sounds are more to my taste than the ones on the 513. The neck pickup on the Brent Mason in particular gets the best jazz tone I've ever gotten out of a solidbody. I still wouldn't mind having a nice 513, though!
Another thing you might consider is trying to find a 305; that's the closest I've seen in a PRS to sounding like a really good Strat (and plays better than most Strats). But those won't do the humbucker sounds, and they've been discontinued anyway.

 

[CVS]

I am a recent owner of a 513 with a rosewood neck. It is a very well constructed, playable, and versatile guitar and I plan to use it at gigs. I can second the opinion of jfine - the tone is a bit darker in all 3 pick up configurations. On my amp, I have boosted the treble and has helped take some of the "darkness" out of the tone . Unfortunately I have never played a Brent Mason, so I cannot comment. What I can say is that you can get some beautiful tones (both single coil & humbucker - clean and with distortion) out of the 513 and it covers a lot of musical territory.

I should add that I was not looking for a Strat or a Tele when I purchased the 513 (I have a Strat already). If a Strat or a Tele tone is what you really want, then you should buy one of those - IMHO

 

[g.wizz]

I should add that I was not looking for a Strat or a Tele when I purchased the 513 (I have a Strat already). If a Strat or a Tele tone is what you really want, then you should buy one of those - IMHO

Well, I'm well aware of that and I actually decided on he 513 AP with IRW neck because I knew it was close (to a Strat tone) but not that authentic, but I needed
a guitar that covers many styles since i'm a bedroom player mostly, so I imagine the BM is naturally brighter being a bolt on and a Korina body.

Thanks Jfine and CVS

 

[gush]

Being the only guitar in our band the 513 interests me more than ever. I really like the idea of multiple modes to choose from, the two humbucker modes in particular.

Also having 25.5 scale would be nice. I think if I found a maple neck version I would jump on it.

 

[drbob1]

The 513, to me, sounds like a more modern take on a flexible guitar. The single coil sounds are very good, and humbucker modes give you the increased volume you'd expect, but all of them have a more modern, "clean-ness" to the sound. Not a problem for what I bought mine for, but something you should be aware of if vintage tones are your goal. For that, the DGT is a much better animal!

 

[watelessness]

i had a BM and dug the sound but not the slipperiness of the unfinished maple neck. 513's are more versatile, imho.

 

[Boogie]

i had a BM and dug the sound but not the slipperiness

:spitcoffee:
My inner 12 year old (aka, normal me) can't stop giggling. :biggrin:

 

[Egads]

:spitcoffee:
My inner 12 year old (aka, normal me) can't stop giggling. :biggrin:

Ha!

Get both! The 513 is incredibly flexible, and looks and feels like a PRS. The BM is different. And cool.

 

[g.wizz]

I must simplify my query here:
If we to compare the split HB sounds on the BM with the SC sounds on the 513
which one would edge more closely to the traditional Strat, and another question:
what number could we give to the BM similar to 513? 3...?

 

[Maertl513]

Thinking about some figures we should count the facts: A BM has got 408N Treble and Bass, and a 305 pickup. Counting 3.
It has got a 5 way blade switch. And, not to forget, 2 coil tap switches.

The 5 way blade switch selects - I hope I´m right - bridge, brigde/middle, middle, middle/neck, and neck.
The 2 coil tap switches are only the coil tap the certain 408.

My suggestion would be 309 (because the middle pickup is ever a singlecoil likewise the 513 circuit).

Alternative proposal if position 3 selects brigde and neck together:
No coil tap: Humbucker - humbucker/singlecoil - humbucker/humbucker - singlecoil/humbucker - humbucker.
Coil tap: Singlecoil - singlecoil/singlecoil (middle) - singlecoil (bridge)/singlecoil (neck) - singlecoil (middle)/singlecoil - singlecoil.
Position 3, variation 3: Singlecoil (bridge)/humbucker (neck).
Position 3, variation 4: Humbucker (bridge)/singlecoil (neck).

This would make the BM a 312.

 

[The Viking Gangster]

I have not played a 513. I do have a Brent Mason and I love the 305 middle pickup with the single coil split 408 bridge pickup. Shimmering bell like tones.

I would think that the 513 would be a little darker because of the wood regardless of the pickups. If the 513 has the same middle pickup as the Brent Mason, i can believe it sounds great then. The 305 middle pickup is very nice on the Brent Mason

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I would call the 513 the 513 and the Brent Mason the Brent Mason, why otherwise?

 

[Maertl513]

Party killer ;-)
Nobody was about to rename a BM.
But what is the actual number of possible sounds?

 

[Maertl513]

Alright, I called a friend of mine, who purchased a BM last year.
In his opinion and ears a BM delivers 9 sounds.
He is little displeased that the differences between humbucker and coiltapped mode isn´t that much as he expected.
He compared it to the Sidekick pickup of Dean Zelinsky. This pickup won the "competition".

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Party killer ;-)
...
But what is the actual number of possible sounds?

Ah, well, that's a legitimate question, sorry, didn't realize that's what you were really asking. So, anyway, I'm a party necromancer as well:

And also, very infrequently, a party exorcist.

 

[watelessness]

I must simplify my query here:
If we to compare the split HB sounds on the BM with the SC sounds on the 513
which one would edge more closely to the traditional Strat, and another question:
what number could we give to the BM similar to 513? 3...?

in my experience, comparing my maple top 513's to the BM, the BM has more grit to it, more sonic anger. and by "anger", i dont mean "rage" as much as the tone has a "sonic aggrevation". the BM its own beast and i'd still have mine were it not for the slippery neck <insert more giggles>. the 513 will be closer to the politeness of the traditional strat, but if you played a 513 and strat side by side you'd be able to tell the difference.

 

[Maertl513]

@Dusty Chalk: I see smoke of a pipe of peace at the horizon :cheers:

I listened to/watched a few demonstrations of both guitars, unfortunately I didn´t play it on my own so far. Brent Mason himself makes it sound awesome.
I´m a friend of the hypothesis: you (want to) hear what you see (and you´re biased). Jimmy Page played a lot of his early work with a Tele or Danelectro and everybody believes he used to play a Les Paul...

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Lollers -- that is literally me on the right in several minutes. (raises G&T in 'cheers')

you (want to) hear what you see (and you´re biased)

I say that all the time "you see what you want to see", or "you hear what you want to hear".

 

[Maertl513]

g.wizz and Dusty Chalk have been harassed with something I would like to share.
The tune "Locked out of heaven" by Bruno Mars is to my personal point of view a song in which a singlecoil guitar has been featured (Strat or Tele). There are a lot of guys out there who stress everytime only a Strat sounds like a Strat or a Tele sounds like a Tele (because of the selected wood, the construction a.s.o.). Bolt on maple neck, alder or basswood body, lots of cavities in the body, a top which is covered with a pickguard to a certain part, a weight of ca. 6,5 lbs (around 3 kg) (and the 25,5 scale length).

You might know that I purchased 7 different electrics. Taken "Locked out of heaven" as a basetrack I jammed a long with one of my guitars. The copyright of the song still remains at Bruno Mars and/or the composer(s).