An interesting, but disturbing trend

[Simon Says]

Great minds think alike Simon! I acquired my 35th Anniversary CU24 from the nice people at Peach, and - er, some people may not like this bit, be warned - have just ordered an SE Hollowbody ii piezo from them!

I do like watching their unboxing videos as well, though appreciate its pretty sad.....

This is exactly my latest score from them - a 35th Anniversary here's Jack playing my boy on Peach demo

I just couldn't say no

Enjoy your HB bud. Kinda considering this too as I have a itch for piezo I just shake off

 

[RickP]

But what’s worse? The dude who feels the need to think his SE is a “real” PRS, or the dude who has to point out it’s actually a budget model of a luxury brand?

Bingo. Each one is what it is. Play what you like.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

But what’s worse? The dude who feels the need to think his SE is a “real” PRS, or the dude who has to point out it’s actually a budget model of a luxury brand?

Agree. They serve a purpose and are commissioned by PRS. That's why I don't care for the "not a real PRS remarks" when they are made with a certain tone... Someone saying that in a snob-ish way is pretty different than someone who owns a bunch of them saying it, IMO. If I were not able to afford cores, and had a couple SE's that I loved, and came here and read "they aren't real PRS guitars" from someone who doesn't own them, I'm pretty sure I'd take that as a snobby comment, and an insult to my guitar.

I mean, we could tend to be a little jaded here. Many of us have multiple core PRS guitars. To many people, that is a luxury they will never have. And, if a person feels they need say 3 different core tones and they buy an Epi Les Paul, a Dot 335 and a Mexi strat, they might be happy forever with them. And that's all that matters in the grand scheme. IMHO

 

[RC Mike]

One thing I’d like to share my experience with is the part about multiple scale lengths. I started playing in 2019. By mid-2020 I had three different scale lengths, ranging from 24.594 to 25.5. Never bothered me a bit. I’m likely the least capable player on this forum, but of my challenges, having different scale lengths isn’t one of them.

My challenge is that I spend more time reading about and shopping for guitars than I do playing. I’m unfocused in my practice, don’t have an instructor, and play for about three hours a week.

I‘d love for one of my buddies to take up guitar so that I’d have someone to make noise with. I wouldn’t care what they played or where it was made.

 

[Moondog Wily]

Being fairly new to the PRS world, I am going to divert to the opinion of the individual who, as far as I know, owns more PRS than anybody on this forum, and possibly in the world! Here is a link from @11top talking about his new PRS SE SS!! Check mate on anyone who thinks SE's are not worthy or in any way inferior!!! You may have to look around (if you are new here) the forum to understand just what this guy owns and has played, but once you do, hearing his praise for the new SE SS is like a manna from the most experienced individual I am aware of in the world of PRS (other than perhaps, Paul himself)!!!!

 

[Gurdybloke]

Simon that's very nice Mine is one of the two aquamarines with pattern regular necks they had left. I'd post the you tube clip fromPeach here if I was more technically competent.......

 

[Simon Says]

Simon that's very nice Mine is one of the two aquamarines with pattern regular necks they had left. I'd post the you tube clip fromPeach here if I was more technically competent.......

Just copy the link and paste it I love my 35th Anniversary. This is the one PRS that made me to get back to the brand after 15 years. I have two now and plotting the 3rd one

 

[dogrocketp]

I’m going to ask you all to refocus on what Mark (Em7) is saying, NOT THE WAY HE IS SAYING IT. We have been taught that consuming more is the way to go. It breaks? Throw it away. Buy more, always shop the lowest price, and damn the quality. We don’t even think twice about it anymore., and we’re all guilty of it. Because we’ve been brainwashed into it, it’s second nature, I learned a long time ago, buy wisely, buy once and keep it until it’s unrepairable.
I’ve been poorer than many of you. I’m not now, but I’m not rich. I have SE, S2, and Core. I buy for sound. I buy what my budget allows. If I could only have one guitar, it would sure as hell be my Custom 22 triple soapie. If my budget didn’t allow, I’d get an SE. That’s where I started after a brutal divorce. There is a difference between buying what the budget allows, and just buying as many as possible. If I had the money, I’d have one of each, and I don’t think Mark is bourgeois.
His point is more about buying the best you can so that Matteo Eriza and all the other employees can feed their families. Yes, PRS makes money on imports, but there are fewer American jobs if we buy IRRESPONSIBLY. That’s the starting point. So, if all you want or need are SE’s, God bless you. I have a magic SE Singlecut Trem that stays till the end. Think big picture when you buy whatever you buy. Your finances, our jobs, our happiness. Don’t think “I got mine, so I‘m not going to think about you.” That’s the end point. Don’t get hung up in an SE fixation, and let’s not degenerate to name calling when we disagree. That stinks of the current state of American politics. Listen, learn, and come to an agreement, even if it’s to disagree.

 

[Simon Says]

I’m going to ask you all to refocus on what Mark (Em7) is saying, NOT THE WAY HE IS SAYING IT. We have been taught that consuming more is the way to go. It breaks? Throw it away. Buy more, always shop the lowest price, and damn the quality. We don’t even think twice about it anymore., and we’re all guilty of it. Because we’ve been brainwashed into it, it’s second nature, I learned a long time ago, buy wisely, buy once and keep it until it’s unrepairable.
I’ve been poorer than many of you. I’m not now, but I’m not rich. I have SE, S2, and Core. I buy for sound. I buy what my budget allows. If I could only have one guitar, it would sure as hell be my Custom 22 triple soapie. If my budget didn’t allow, I’d get an SE. That’s where I started after a brutal divorce. There is a difference between buying what the budget allows, and just buying as many as possible. If I had the money, I’d have one of each, and I don’t think Mark is bourgeois.
His point is more about buying the best you can so that Matteo Eriza and all the other employees can feed their families. Yes, PRS makes money on imports, but there are fewer American jobs if we buy IRRESPONSIBLY. That’s the starting point. So, if all you want or need are SE’s, God bless you. I have a magic SE Singlecut Trem that stays till the end. Think big picture when you buy whatever you buy. Your finances, our jobs, our happiness. Don’t think “I got mine, so I‘m not going to think about you.” That’s the end point. Don’t get hung up in an SE fixation.

You guys really have to start PRS For USA People Only forum.

If there is a market for cheaper or build to the point guitars - PRS will deliver. If PRS is not building SE range in USA the reason is obvious. Cort factory employes families too, they need to eat and as a foreigner I can guarantee they will take pride and focus on this task to sustain the job. I'm damn good on doing mine but I was patronised left and right (especially right) since I came to the UK (or Israel)

Not all students can afford £3700 guitar and surly I wouldn't offload that much if my son or future grandkids asked for a first instrument. I could afford it but I don't want to see it as an ornament just in case they get bored. I can ensure you or Em7 that the day will come when they get American made guitar and expensive rig.

SE is amazing value for money, same comes to Mexican Fenders or any moder production factory made guitars. It makes no difference in what country CNC machine "on" button is being pressed

 

[Gnarmageddon]

Cort takes a bit of ribbing, due in no small part to their numerous offerings in the budget range. My first and second electrics were Cort! I got the first around age 8 - a strat copy that literally emblazoned the model name "Electric Guitar" on the headstock. But two things here, Cort actually do make higher end instruments as well and they are quite decent. I owned a Curbow bass for a long time (my main bass is now a Warwick Taranis) and it was a quite innovative design and very playable bass.

Ethical purchasing habits are difficult to do full stop. I do try and buy US-made whenever feasible, just as I do from companies who are invested in sustainability, corporate responsibility, and have a strong ESG.

Frankly, there are a lot of foreign-built guitars that play as good, if not sometimes-better-than the more expensive or "higher end" US counterpart. End of the day, it comes down to materials, components, and workmanship. Take your average off-the-shelf SE and upgrade the pickups, tuners, and bridge, and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference blindfolded.

I got a bit of good-humored shade from my musician and producer friends when I switched to PRS. One told me that I needed a martini glass to start sniffing my own farts from and, well... that PRS owner stereotype didn't happen out of thin air. But y'all seem okay - I'm sure the lifers had more than a few snarky things to say when the metal / hardcore / etc. crowd started using them!

TL;DR - Cort actually have some decent instruments in their portfolio. "US good, not US bad" is a very broad brush.

 

[pdq]

For most of my playing career, I owned one electric guitar and maybe a backup along with an acoustic guitar and one amplifier. Today, there is a preference to purchase a bunch of lesser quality guitars to owning one really good guitar and maybe a lesser quality backup. I do not know when or where this mindset originated, but there is an advantage to owning only one good guitar over a bunch of inferior guitars, especially if that is all one can afford. It is like owning and practicing with only one firearm. One gets to know it intimately. That is why one Stevensville PRS guitar beats a stable of SEs. A Stevensville PRS guitar will continue to please long after the sting of the price is forgotten, buy once, cry once.

I know others have mentioned this fact, but chops and tone cannot be purchased. All but the most gifted guitarists built their chops through extensive practice (a.k.a. woodshedding). No amount of guitars, amps, or pedals are going to change that equation. It is much easier to become proficient with guitar when one is not swapping between guitars on a regular basis. If one cannot play with one's eyes closed (or at least without continuously looking at one's hands), one has not reached the level of familiarity to play more than one guitar, especially when we are talking about guitars with different scale lengths, which can take a period of adjustment for even experienced guitarists.

E:

I've read your post and then scanned a number of responses and -- Holy Christmas -- you've apparently struck a lot of raw nerves and egos. I'm not judgmental, i.e. people should do what they want. I know people who are very happen with walls covered guitars. Good for them -- that's what they can afford, that's how they choose to spend their money, and that's what gives them pleasure. Go for it.

I take an approach similar to yours, i.e. I prefer quality over quantity, and that's how I choose to spend my money. Different than above, but just as legitimate, I have just 3 guitars: 12 string Martin acoustic; a 1992 Gibson Les Paul Classic Plus; a 2021 PRS Private Stock Custom 24. Now admittedly, these are 3 expensive guitars, with the PRS far and away the most expensive, but here's the deal. I play all 3 regularly versus someone with walls covered with guitars that never get taken down. And I greatly enjoy playing all 3. And between the Gibson and the PRS, I can play an incredibly wide range of music. And every time I pick up the PRS I revel in the incredible workmanship and how easy it is to play. It makes me smile as I play.

And, I only have 1 amp, with it being a 100 watt Boss Katana Artist series which is capable of producing an incredibly wide range of sounds for not a lot of money with more headroom that I'll ever use.

But, at the end of the day, the most important instrument when it comes to making music is your hands. You can play the same notes as BB King, but if you don't mimic how he uses his hands, you'll sound like Lawrence Welk.

Hang in there and don't pay attention to all the barbs being thrown your way (or at other people who responded). I'm dismayed at all the attacks voiced here. Do what you can afford and what makes you happy. It's hard to go wrong with any PRS of any model or series.

Good luck in your search.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I'm sure the lifers had more than a few snarky things to say when the metal / hardcore / etc. crowd started using them

Not even. There have always been hardcore and metal players playing PRS. Hell, most of the people here are hessians.

 

[HANGAR18]

* SE series guitars ARE REAL PRS guitars, but only because of the incredibly detailed quality control oversight that the USA factory employs over the Indonesian factory operation., which includes inspecting every SE again at the Maryland factory before it gets shipped out to the dealers. No one else is nit-picky to that degree.

* The warrior cannot explain the ways of the warrior to the sheep for they will not understand. However, the concept of having only one (fill in the blank) when striving for an expert level of proficiency is applicable to any one of a number of disciplines. Anytime where one struggles against their own human consistencies in order to achieve perfection, you see this in marksmanship, bowling, playing an instrument, throwing a baseball at the very edge of the strike zone etc.

* There are a number of VERY subtle differences between the PRS core line (and up) and the other PRS lines which are more affordable that are not only noticeable to me, but they are such that I personally would not be happy with a guitar which didn't have those particular features. Therefore, I am willing to pay more in order to get those subtle features on my PRS guitar. I have nothing bad to say about anyone who can find happiness in the SE, CE, S2 line offerings. I'm happy that you are happy.

 

[DISTORT6]

SE

Not even. There have always been hardcore and metal players playing PRS. Hell, most of the people here are hessians.

 

[gush]

Macho, macho, MAN, I want to be, a MACHO MAN.

Truly, I just hope my commas are placed appropriately.

You know what you call really strong cheese???



MACHO CHEESE!!!!

HAHAHAHAHSHAHA

 

[gush]

A Mellencamp reference in a PRS forum with no mention of David Grissom.

I weep at what this world has become.

Same ole storyville

 

[Mike Duncan]

There are a lot of words in that first post.

I like guitar.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

There are a lot of words in that first post.

I like guitar.

+1

 

[Simon Says]

Not even. There have always been hardcore and metal players playing PRS. Hell, most of the people here are hessians.

High gain since 1992. Before that I had old acoustic guitar quality of which shall remain unspoken

 

[Uncle Bob]

Not this BS again...

Seriously, I found this kind of nonsense shortly after joining this forum and, quite honestly, had I seen it before I would definitely not have joined.

Manufacturing origin snobbery thinly disguised as wisdom or knowledge is just so pathetic and entirely unnecessary.