Best value PRS for 1000-1500

J

johnnymansions

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Jan 20, 2019
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Hi All

I am looking at getting my first Paul Reed Smith. There are so many options now with he S2 series ,the CE 22, CE 24 and the custom which is a bit pricey for me. Some of my favourite players/ tones would be Billy Duffy, Alex Lifeson, Neil Schon, Johnny Marr, etc. The guitar would mainly be used for recording using Guitar Rig plugins and the occasional live show. Some of my other fav guitars are a Godin LGXT and a Parker Fly as they have have a 12" and 16" radius respectively.. let me know what you think, if there are any particular years that you like, etc.

Thanks!

Johnny
 
$1500 can buy a lot of used PRS. Old CE’s, SAS’s, EG’s, DC3’s, 305’s,Standard’s, Customs, McCarty’s....

I’d probably nail down what guitar I wanted first, and then start shopping for one in your price range. Now’s the time to buy!
 
I think the S2 line is one of the best value for money product lines to ever come out of a US factory.

But of course, if you could find a nice 2nd hand core guitar then that would be another way to go.

But you have to be ready to hunt and haggle, whereas with S2, you can walk out the door with a brand new PRS and be done with it.
 
Thanks for the responses - I saw a 1993 CE 22 for $1500 and an S2 standard for $700 in the local Craigslist . I would think the older guitar in this case would be the better value, but the S2 is tempting
 
Always pick for features first - do you want a bolt on maple vs set hog neck, which pickups, bridge, etc. Obviously if you want maple, a used CE is the ticket.

If you want a mahogany neck, or some other feature, look at used core models, but don’t totally ignore the S2’s - I’ve played some side by side with used cores, and the S2’s won, no joke. That’s just my opinion though.
 
Both my 305 25th anniversary I bought for right at 1500. Lately though it looks like some people are trying to up pricing on the rarer models (i.e. odd color, limited run,etc)
 
Those S2 Standards go for cheap all the time.

Sergio nailed it. Figure out what you want first, then go for something a little older. Can't miss with a McCarty or CE depending on what kind of tones you want.
 
johnnymansions said:
yes, that is the one.It seems that the S2 models compare favorably to their more expensive PRS brethen. If I am mainly using it for recording( mostly plugins at this time) I wonder how much better a core model will sound....
Click to expand...


A Core model will sound shinier.

It also might have a one-piece trem design vs two, but they function the same. Some guys claim to hear a difference.

If I were recording, I’d trust my S2 standard right alongside my Cores. It is a mahogany guitar. Most of my Core PRSi have maple caps. That’s a hearable difference.
 
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