Concerns about my incoming Private Stock

MrSuperstar

Blues Lawyer
Joined
Feb 25, 2021
Messages
118
Location
Napoli, Italy
Hi guys, I'm writing to you because I would like to have your opinion regarding a small "problem" that has arisen regarding my order for a Private Stock.

In April I sent to PRS the sheet through the dealer, so the order was placed.
After a while the PS department asked me (via dealer) if it would be okay "to make the neck in the same finish as the body, since we think the guitar would look more beautiful" (verbatim).
I agreed and they turned over the final sheet (which I'm attaching here below).
https://i.ibb.co/RbnpqZ5/Schermata-2021-11-27-alle-23-56-48.png

As you can see it says "Tone sides & Neck to match top/back color".
The doubt that has arisen is whether this mod concerns only the neck (therefore the back of the guitar, where the palm of the hand rests on) or this mod also concerns the fretboard and the headstock.
Since I literally hate colored fretboards/headstocks, I would like to avoid having the it painted in black-gold finish.

What I mean is that I love this:
https://forums.prsguitars.com/attachments/psf-15-jpg.9752/

but I hate this:
https://forums.prsguitars.com/attachments/psf-18-jpg.9755/

I've already requested info at the Customer Service for over a month but I never received an answer. Also, the dealer has not received any responses from the PS department.

So, I'm here asking you:
1) Based on your interpretation of the sheet, can I exclude that the fretboard is colored?

2) Who can I contact inside the private stock for info? I read from the sheet that the responsible is Tina Sears, does anyone have an email?
 
Last edited:
Ehhh… letting them decide what’s “more beautiful” defeats the purpose of a Private Stock.


I mean, some of these people are responsible for red burst over blue and happy foil for godsakes. I wouldn’t have complete faith in Marylanders and aesthetic decisions.
 
What wood is on the fretboard and headstock? Knowing that would impact my level of confidence.
I choose the "birds of a feather" pattern on the fretboard/headstock: is an inlay work, made of ebony and maple, that you can see here: https://d159anurvk4929.cloudfront.net/blog-legacy/AprilGOMNeck.jpg

I don’t see what is specified for the fretboard wood? Obviously if it’s something like rosewood or ebony it won’t be painted anyway.
Unfortunately this is not true at all. As you can see on this private stock, they painted the maple on fretboard and headstock, despite being part of an inlay:
https://scontent.fnap5-1.fna.fbcdn....=edd48aa61331d397fa25a31c6f4bbe61&oe=61C8A202
 
Ehhh… letting them decide what’s “more beautiful” defeats the purpose of a Private Stock.


I mean, some of these people are responsible for red burst over blue and happy foil for godsakes. I wouldn’t have complete faith in Marylanders and aesthetic decisions.
Dude, watch yourself. You already lost 10 points for not liking blue guitars. We people in Murrilin take ourselves very seriously. That’s why we have the only Hard Rock Cafe in the world with a neon PRS!
 
Ehhh… letting them decide what’s “more beautiful” defeats the purpose of a Private Stock.

I guess it depends on how set on a certain thing you are. When I ordered a natural maple acoustic, they suggested a blonde stain with a very slight edge burst, based on their feeling that the guitar would look better.

They were right. It's much better than what I originally ordered. You just never know with this stuff.
 
The only problem with PSs is the horrific dealer/PRS communication. It is dreadful, and the sole cause of mistakes on all 4 of my PSs.
This problem should be rectified in 48 hours max.

I had instant communication with the PS team and Jack Gretz. Jack takes care of business FAST.

I think problems are on some dealers more than on PRS; Jack gets the questions answered right away. Just my two cents.
 
I had instant communication with the PS team and Jack Gretz. Jack takes care of business FAST.

I think problems are on some dealers more than on PRS; Jack gets the questions answered right away. Just my two cents.

Hey Les,

You gave PRS a free reign. That makes it a no brainer. I had identical problems with 4 PSs over 2 different reputable PRS dealers. Willcutts and Alto music. Wrong pups, wrong hardware, wrong inlays, wrong colors. These were written on the order sheets and were not the only problems.
All could have been rectified by communication.
15 emails and phone calls not returned, and then the guitar shows up wrong.
I run a business with 17 employees. There is simply no excuse for this, and not you, or anyone loves PRS guitars any more than I do.
The PS department has a serious communication problem between customer, dealer and them, and it continues to this day. Go to the TGP to see a few recent tries.
 
You should always reach out to the dealer, they are the ones communicating with the PS team.
If they can not get you an answer you should run away with your money and find a dealer w/ a closer relationship with the PS team (Paul Miles).
That said, stained fretboard is a substantial upcharge and it's unlikely they would stain it for you for free.

I did 3 builds so far and I've never had real communication issues with the PS team through my dealer (Moore Guitars).
The answers have always been prompt, typically within a day or less.
I've been a lot less successful with another dealer recently when I was planning a new build but that was that dealer's fault (too busy).

Out of those 3 builds only one had an error: satin headstock instead of gloss headstock.
They can do it but do not recommend it; they just didn't catch that on the spec sheet and when they painted the guitar.
However when we noticed it we got a reply from Paul Miles, within 30min max, explaining it was their mistake and they offered to respray either the headstock in gloss or the entire neck.
Decided to first receive the guitar to see if the satin headstock would bother me; it didn't and I kept it that way to save a good 4+ weeks of transit + finish work.

I wouldn't say the communication/process always goes smoothly, but if you have a honest dealer they'll work with PRS to make mistakes right.
 
Last edited:
I wouldn’t have complete faith in Marylanders and aesthetic decisions.
Pictured below, typical Marylander:

morphsuit_1024x1024.png
 
First of all, finally my dealer got a response from the Private Stock department, who assured him that there will be no misunderstanding about painting my guitar and that everything will be as I asked, also the fretboard will not be painted.
However, I'm very skeptical as I'm reading several messages (in this thread and elsewhere) explaining how the PS made several mistakes on several orders.

Start from the assumption that my Private Stock costs 16.660 dollars, for this amount of money I expect and demand (attention: not "I would like", mine is an imperative) maximum attention.

Good luck reaching someone in the private stock division. In my experience it won’t happen.
All could have been rectified by communication.
15 emails and phone calls not returned, and then the guitar shows up wrong.
There is simply no excuse for this.
The PS department has a serious communication problem between customer, dealer and them, and it continues to this day. Go to the TGP to see a few recent tries.

For this fretboard issue:
- I sent an email to the Customer Service;
- I sent an email to the Tecnical Service;
- I even contacted via instagram every single person who works in the PS department, literally begging them to answer me.
All without ever receiving a response from any of them.

I don't like to make comparisons, but while all of this is happening with PRS after I given a down payment of 4000 dollars; for simple informations on a Fender Stratocaster Custom Shop (attention: not a Masterbuilt, but a regular CS) that I would like to order (attention: I haven't paid a single euro yet), I received answers in less than 30 minutes via TGP from Ron Thorn (director of Fender CS) and in less than 1 hour via Instagram from Jay Nelson (painter for Fender CS).
[Specifically, I asked Ron if to have an inlay of the Fender logo in mother of pearl on the headstock it's necessary to order a CS or a MB and I asked Jay what paint to require to ensure that the white doesn't turn yellow over the years].

The problem, as many have already said, lies in the kindness and attentions towards the customer.

As I am (and after all this), if the guitar will have one single insignificant defect I will pay absolutely nothing and it will be sent back to USA in 30 seconds.
We will see.
 
Hey Les,

You gave PRS a free reign. That makes it a no brainer. I had identical problems with 4 PSs over 2 different reputable PRS dealers. Willcutts and Alto music. Wrong pups, wrong hardware, wrong inlays, wrong colors. These were written on the order sheets and were not the only problems.
All could have been rectified by communication.
15 emails and phone calls not returned, and then the guitar shows up wrong.
I run a business with 17 employees. There is simply no excuse for this, and not you, or anyone loves PRS guitars any more than I do.
The PS department has a serious communication problem between customer, dealer and them, and it continues to this day. Go to the TGP to see a few recent tries.

No communication issues here, and we did in fact have discussions. And my guitars are perfection.

The only conclusion that can be drawn is that the PS team likes me much, much more than they like you. :p

 
Back
Top