Anyone Here Owned Their PRS between 10 to 20 years ?

Macmutt

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I was wondering how they hold up over the years, finish, sound, tuning and so on.

If anyone can let me know or better yet show pics and personal stories with their pride and joy, I would appreciate it.
 
My '99 BRW McCarty still looks and plays great!

As does my '00 PS #234...

No recent pics, though...
 
I know Gibson uses a nitrocellulose clear coat, so it actually helps the aging process of the wood and prevents paint fade and cracking, but PRS doesn't use that process, does the finish hold up regardless?
 
Double post - don't know how I did it, but if anybody can, I can!
 
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I bought my first PRS in 2006 so I've had it going on 9 years. If you leave them in sunlight the finish will fade, but in cases they will fade much more slowly if at all. Mine is just starting to fade in one spot. It still sounds and plays like the day I got it.

I also have a 95 and a 88. They still play great too. IMO PRSi keep their quality features as long as you take care of them - except the finish. They do fade but most love the faded look so it isn't really a negative.

What if it's kept in the case when not being played, wiped down after every play session,, and rubbed with polish once a month ? finish should hold up better right?
 
I've had my 94 McCarty for almost 20 years and it is still a champ. I bought it off of eBay back in 96. I gigged with it solid for 8 years until I retired it but it still looks and plays like it was 1997.
 
I bought my first PRS in 2006 so I've had it going on 9 years. If you leave them in sunlight the finish will fade, but in cases they will fade much more slowly if at all. Mine is just starting to fade in one spot. It still sounds and plays like the day I got it.

I also have a 95 and a 88. They still play great too. IMO PRSi keep their quality features as long as you take care of them - except the finish. They do fade but most love the faded look so it isn't really a negative.
Here's the 2006
IRWPuprings.jpg

The 95
Ce222.jpg

And the 88
99CE2.jpg
 
I've noticed no fading on mine, but I'm not taking pictures and comparing them regularly. As for playability, tuning, and the like, I've not noticed any degradation.
 
I know Gibson uses a nitrocellulose clear coat, so it actually helps the aging process of the wood and prevents paint fade and cracking, but PRS doesn't use that process, does the finish hold up regardless?

Actually, that's incomplete information, and some of it is urban myth.

PRS uses mostly nitro on its Private Stocks unless a customer requests otherwise. It has done so for a long time. Unlike Gibson's formulation, the PRS nitro used on their PS guitars doesn't tend to get sticky. Nitro is a far more delicate finish than what PRS uses on its production guitars, called V12, which as I understand it is kind of a blend of nitro resins and poly type binder.

Though I've owned PRS since 1991, and I should be drawn and quartered for not keeping them longer, in 1999 I bought my son a CU22 Soapbar that he played until two years ago, and toured with. I bought it back from him, and the guitar still looked near-new in 2012. That's pretty typical for a PRS in terms of how it holds up. So, thirteen years, daily use, looked new, and my son doesn't baby his instruments. Oh, and we bought it second-hand, the guitar was a 1998.

The urban myth is that nitro somehow enhances the process of the guitar's aging.

Nitro often begins to crack and check as a guitar ages, and it has been theorized that this somehow helps the wood age, but frankly that's apologia and nonsense. PRS ages its woods and then puts them in a slow kiln, and takes the water out of them before the guitars are built and finished, about the only thing a cracked finish might change is that the wood might rot faster. But in terms of tone...no.

I have a vintage '65 Gibson that was of course finished in nitro, and it's cracked all over the place. Doesn't sound any different than when my brother first got it in 1965, except I put a tune-o-matic bridge on it in 1970. So there's that one difference.

I'm absolutely 100% sure the choice of nitro or poly or some blend like V12 doesn't prevent paint fade and cracking. It can't without some kind of UV additive.

In fact, nitro is far more susceptible to cracking and checking than other, more modern finishes. And colors underneath the clear coat of any guitar, PRS or Gibson are only stains, not paint (unless you're talking about an opaque finish), many of which are equally susceptible to fading in strong light because they use organic dyes (something that can't be helped as inorganic dyes are not as transparent and would hide the features of the wood).

That said, I prefer nitro because it might, maybe, produce a guitar that sounds a little different. I can't prove that, and it certainly wouldn't be due to a cracking finish since my PStocks aren't cracked and are still great though of recent vintage.

I think you'll find that PRSes hold up very well indeed, perhaps better than most new guitars.

What really is important: they start out sounding gorgeous, being finished with great attention to detail, and playability that is second to none. They don't need to be babied. They're fully professional instruments.

In other words, get one and don't worry about it.
 
What if it's kept in the case when not being played, wiped down after every play session,, and rubbed with polish once a month ? finish should hold up better right?

I have a Whale Blue Custom that I bought new in 1990 and it hasn't faded at all.

It's been played a lot but I've always stored it in a case.

-Dana

DCP_0560prs01.jpg
 
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What if it's kept in the case when not being played, wiped down after every play session,, and rubbed with polish once a month ? finish should hold up better right?

Yes, except for the part about being polished once a month. Most polishes contain abrasives. They make a guitar shiny by removing old finish. I find that wiping a guitar down with a clean damp cloth and drying with a clean cloth, preferably thick microfiber (not the thin kind you wipe a computer screen with) creates fewer surface swirls than cotton, and is all that's necessary unless the guitar is either very dirty, or you want to remove scratches.

After many years of caring for guitars and for many years being involved in the car restoration hobby, I'm convinced that the less you do to a finish, the better.

We tend to want to polish our guitars to the nines, but in most cases we're actually doing more harm than good. Less is more when it comes to using guitar polish. If the guitar doesn't need it, don't do it.

PRS does make a very nice cleaner that doesn't contain abrasives if you feel the need to shine things up, and it's not harmful to nitro finishes. but I use it very infrequently.

It is, of course, safest to case the guitar when not in use. Not only does this preserve the color and finish, it also keeps dust out of the guitar's controls, and it buffers the changes in temperature and humidity that come to every room at various times of the day and season, and minimizes the effect of these changes on the instrument.
 
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We tend to want to polish our guitars to the nines, but in most cases we're actually doing more harm than good. Less is more when it comes to using guitar polish. If the guitar doesn't need it, don't do it.

I agree.

I've never used "polish" on my '90 Custom, but I've waxed it many, many times with Gerlitz Number One and I use a 3M microfiber cloth to wipe it down before casing it.

Cheers,

-Dana
 
I have 5 from the 90s, all bought new. They have been kept mostly in their cases so the colour hasn't really faded. The finish is still great. One of them is highly prone to corrosion on the pickup covers and bridge - probably not a coincidence that it is the guitar I travelled with for about 10 years.
 
This 86 has faded quite a bit. It certainly doesn't look like Royal Blue anymore. If you look around the pickup rings you can see more of the original color. It's got a lot of dings. Outside of some pretty sloppy tuners, it's held up pretty well.

WinterShots001.jpg
 
This one hasn't faded at all. Sounds better than the blue one above but the tuning is a little less stable.

DSCN2728.jpg


This one was my favorite for a while as it has a pretty chunky neck for a CU24.

DSCN2964_zps41cb45b5.jpg



I guess the bottom line for me is the early PRS guitars have held up very well. I have a love/hate thing going on with the winged tuners but everything else has been great.
 
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1987PRSCU24_zps84b702cf.jpg
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My 28 year old 1987 Custom 24, bought used in 1996, still looks and plays like it's brand new. Still the best electric guitar I have ever owned.
 
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Not all colors fade, and from what I've seen it's just the dyes in the tops. The two core guitars I've owned have actually darkened on the mahogany parts.

Here's the "tan line" on the CU24 I owned from 1998-2011. My turquoise HBII is similar.




Got to have a headstock ding or two:




I have more pics of dings on that one, but it's pretty uneventful, really. Before I sold it, I documented it in detail here: http://smg.photobucket.com/user/lgbclp/Custom 24/story.


I've had my HBII since 2002 and it still looks very clean. A few minor finish issues. The toggle gave me fits off and on for years, so I finally replaced it late last year. I don't gig it a lot, but I also don't coddle it.

You can see the finish chip at the 19th fret, and if you look hard, you can see the lone ding in the top towards the bottom.

 
I have a 19 year old(1996 Custom 22) in whale blue. It's largely been uncased and hanging on the wall. I'd love for it to fade, but I haven't gone through the trouble of putting it direct sunlight or trying to get it to fade. I don't think it's changed much over the years besides the chips, dings, etc. -maybe a tiny bit, but not noticeable.

7029498983_f6fa02885f_b.jpg
 
I was wondering how they hold up over the years, finish, sound, tuning and so on.

If anyone can let me know or better yet show pics and personal stories with their pride and joy, I would appreciate it.

I've had my gray-black Singlecut since 2003. The nickel finish on the pickup covers has gone a bit dull and I replaced the bridge with an adjustable one a couple years ago, but otherwise it's had no problems or issues.
 
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