513 vs BM

[mcbprs]

I have both guitars a brw neck 513 and a maple neck/board Brent Mason. They are both very much their own thing, my 513 has been modded with a push push tone to add the bridge pickup to any others selected by the 5 way, I will do a similar mod to the BM next timeI change the strings. The 513 has a darker tone than the BM probably due to the different timbers and it is much heavier, with the amp set correctly it can give a huge range of tones single coil mode is like a very powerful strat more SRV than H M ;-) I t can get more stratty if you lower the pickup (being an early one mine ar pcb mounted so you have to be careful when adjusting heights not to cause bad joints). There is a noticable volume difference between the single coil and hb modes on the 513 muchmuch less so on the BM. The BM is much more Fender like in terms of feel but wind it in hb mode and it can do a fair impression of a Lester, the slippery neck was one of my main reasons for getting the BM after enjoying my NF3s easy playing. Overall the 513 is probably more versatile but the BM has got to more gigs recently mainly due to is weight and hss options, 513 is either sss or hsh (2 modes) where as the BM can do sss,hss,hsh or ssh guess it all comes down to which feels best in 'your" hands in the end ;-)

 

[Maertl513]

Brief hint: Even the 513 as of production line 2014 come along with PCB unter each pair of singlecoils and the single singlecoil in the middle.
PCB or handwiring is limited to that, what is in the electrical compartment.

 

[P90s]

I have both guitars a brw neck 513 and a maple neck/board Brent Mason. They are both very much their own thing, my 513 has been modded with a push push tone to add the bridge pickup to any others selected by the 5 way, I will do a similar mod to the BM next timeI change the strings. The 513 has a darker tone than the BM probably due to the different timbers and it is much heavier, with the amp set correctly it can give a huge range of tones single coil mode is like a very powerful strat more SRV than H M ;-) I t can get more stratty if you lower the pickup (being an early one mine ar pcb mounted so you have to be careful when adjusting heights not to cause bad joints). There is a noticable volume difference between the single coil and hb modes on the 513 muchmuch less so on the BM. The BM is much more Fender like in terms of feel but wind it in hb mode and it can do a fair impression of a Lester, the slippery neck was one of my main reasons for getting the BM after enjoying my NF3s easy playing. Overall the 513 is probably more versatile but the BM has got to more gigs recently mainly due to is weight and hss options, 513 is either sss or hsh (2 modes) where as the BM can do sss,hss,hsh or ssh guess it all comes down to which feels best in 'your" hands in the end ;-)

I have a 513 with a BrazRosewood neck. Love the mid range tones but the upper registers are piercing....not in a good way. It's interesting how often the rules-of-thumb on woods and pickups end up as "your mileage may vary."

 

[jchix]

I tried to spec out a "stratty" 513 with a maple neck, swamp ash and steel trem block, but it is a different animal from a strat. 513/BM will always sound a little different/darker than a strat and I think this is why:

1) Neck is glued in on the 513. Bolt-on necks tend to have more snap/chime.
2) Scale is 24.25 on BM and 513. Strats are 25.5 and that extra 1/4 inch adds to chime depending on who you ask.
3) PRS pickup are proprietary. The 513/509/408 pickup are PRS's own thing. They'll never sound like a set of texas specials.

If you want a strat sound, get a strat or the John Mayer version if and when that comes out. A used 305 with an alder body or a DC3 might be the closest you could get today. The 305 has a 25.5" scale length and the DC3 obviously has the bolt on neck.

 

[Straighteight2003]

Scale on 513 (509) is 25.25 not 24.25. So, it's pretty close to the Strat Scale.

 

[jchix]

Scale on 513 (509) is 25.25 not 24.25. So, it's pretty close to the Strat Scale.

Thanks for catching the typo! Yes it is only a 1/4 inch shorter than a strat some people will say that it makes a noticeable difference.

 

[Michael_DK]

Thanks for catching the typo! Yes it is only a 1/4 inch shorter than a strat some people will say that it makes a noticeable difference.

Those same people should say it makes a noticeable difference in relation to the standard PRS length of 25 inches

 

[jchix]

I should mention that I can get my 513 to sound exactly like a Strat with an EQ pedal. I'll try to record and post some clips this weekend. Maybe i'll create a little "Strat or 513" guessing game

 

[Michael_DK]

I should mention that I can get my 513 to sound exactly like a Strat with an EQ pedal. I'll try to record and post some clips this weekend. Maybe i'll create a little "Strat or 513" guessing game

Oooh, that would be cool!!!