Difference between Private Stock Signature and production Signature Limited model?

[Milchschnitte]

Hello PRS Experts,

I recently, one week ago actually, bought a used Private Stock Sig from the 2011 run and I really love it. It has a trem and although I used to have only stoptail guitars, I really love how it plays and sounds. The trem seems to add a little something to the sound, don´t really know.

Problem ist however, that on some gigs, I change between standard and drop tuning quite often and a stoptail guitar seems to take that a bit better, meaning I have to spend less time with tuning the other strings.

So I thought about buying a used Signature Limited with a stoptail and use that for the gigs with the tuning changes.

Can you please tell me if there have been any changes made to the pickup system on the production guitar in general when compared to the Private Stock run? I really love the sound and would not really want something dramatically different.

Thanks for your help and input.
Kind reagrds,

Olli

 

[JMintzer]

You should be in the ballpark. There is a difference between trems and stoptails (as you have already noticed), but it'll be close...


Jamie

 

[markie]

4K

 

[jfb]

4K

:biggrin:

 

[Tim]

Have you considered putting a Tremol-no on the guitar? You can then set it as fixed or even down only.... then the trem wont move if go to drop tuning etc.

I think as well as the slight difference in tone and feel of teh bridge, I think the neck angle is slightly different of the fixed bridge version.

 

[jfb]

Have you considered putting a Tremol-no on the guitar? You can then set it as fixed or even down only.... then the trem wont move if go to drop tuning etc.

I think as well as the slight difference in tone and feel of teh bridge, I think the neck angle is slightly different of the fixed bridge version.

I'd rock a Tremol-No. I've played a number of guitars that came equipped with them. Nice stuff.

 

[geese_com]

I had a Tremol-No on a PRSi once. It works great.

 

[Milchschnitte]

4K

I´m not getting that joke Markie???



The Tremolno seems like a good suggestion. Thanks. I guess I´ll look into that. Does it change the sound?

 

[justmund]

4K as in $4000US

The main differences IIRC is basically wood, Private Stock quality/attention to detail, inlays, and there might have been a small wiring difference (something about a PS emulating having lots of guitar cable, and using it with a buffered input for best results...?)

http://www.prsguitars.com/signatureltd/specs.php
http://www.prsguitars.com/2012/signaturelimited/specs.php

Also, +1 on the tremol-no, they work great!

 

[Milchschnitte]

Ahh, must have been a little absent-minded to not get that 4K remark :goodnight:

Thanks for clearing that up and for the links. I see that it says "signature switching" for the PS and something else (which I believed to be the same actually) for the production version in the tech specs.

I´ll look into that Tremolno thingie. Man I love this guitar. Best one I ever had period!

 

[justmund]

Same switching, I think PRS didn't know at the time what to call it! Now the 408 is out you can't really call it siggy switching!

So, if the tremol-no works, that means you don't need another guitar, which means you'll have spare cash, which means... PRS amp?

 

[Twinfan]

I own a Collection Sig, a PS trem Sig (with a Tremol-no), a PS stoptail Sig and I used to have a Sig Ltd stoptail, so I may be able to help

The similarities/differences between the PS and the Ltd are:

* Nitro finish versus V12 finish
* Both have "sinker" mahogany necks
* Same switching
* Same pickups
* If an early-in-the-run PS, it will have one less capacitor in the wiring (the one between the selector switch and the volume pot may be missing)
* PS has higher spec maple/mahogany body
* PS has had more personal attention in build and is a little softer-edged in feel (more played-in)

The differences between my PS stoptail and PS trem are:

* Stoptail guitar has one less capacitor in the wiring (the one between the selector switch and the volume pot is missing)
* Trem guitar has a shallower neck angle so the neck pickup sits closer to the strings

The Sig Ltd I had was a backup to my PS trem which is my #1 gigging guitar. The Ltd was very light, in fact I found it too light so I sold it. I found it lacked some body, girth and power when compared to the PS guitars - it was thinner in tone. This may be desireable for some folk, but for me it was a negative.

So from my experience, I would fit a Tremol-no to your PS guitar and use that for all gigs. The Tremol-no is a superb system, and I actually use mine locked all the time as I'm not really a trem guy. I've used it in all ways (floating/dive only/fully locked) and it's never caused me any problems. I even think the guitar sounds better with it fitted, the extra mass on the bridge helping in some way with the resonance. The PS guitar is a arguably 'better' than a Ltd, so why not use the instrument you have and like? It's what I should have done in the first place instead of losing money on a Ltd.

I hope that helps, let me know if you need any more info!

 

[rugerpc]

* Trem guitar has a shallower neck angle so the neck pickup sits closer to the strings

I'm having a hard time picturing this....

Are you saying that the neck/body angle is shallower or that the headstock angle is shallower? I'm also wondering why either would affect the height of the neck pup - if the pups are the same in both guitars, it would seem that they would both be set at the same (optimal) height relative to the strings.

You have both guitars, maybe you could measure at the neck pup for us. if they are different, how can we be sure it isn't just a difference in setup and that they are supposed to be the same height?

Thanks for looking at this for me.

 

[Twinfan]

Sorry I wasn't clear. The neck/body angle is shallower on the trem guitar, on the stoptail it tips back further. It's a bit like comparing a Tele (flat neck/body) to a Les Paul (angled neck/body) but less extreme, obviously!

The 408 neck pickup is quite deep, and on my trem guitar at least I cannot drop the pickup below a certain point - the pickup base is touching the bottom of the pickup cavity. As a result I have to run the pickups closer to the strings on that guitar than my stoptails, which I can get a little lower due to the different cavity dimensions/neck angle. This is combined with the string saddles on the trem sitting closer to the body than the wrapover stoptail.

As the pickups sit parallel to the body, and not the strings, they're also more 'level' with the strings on the trem than the stop tail. This means the magnetic field has a stronger and more uniform influence on the trem guitar, and combined with the closer pickup proximity the trem guitar feels hotter to play into a amp.

Both guitars' pickups read 500k ohms (!) at the end of a short guitar cable, which is something to do with the wiring scheme. As a result, I find a buffer really improves the tone of 408s and I always play them through one before going into my amp.

 

[rugerpc]

Thanks, TF - exactly the kind of detailed explanation I was hoping for! :beer:

 

[Twinfan]

Not a problem - your President is here to serve

By the way, there's nothing wrong with running 408s really close to the strings. I have them closer on the PS trem than I thought I would ever like, but the guitar sounds fantastic just as it is. It was certainly rocking at rehersal last night!

 

[Milchschnitte]

Thank you so much for the explaination Twinfan.
This is some much valued insight.
Now I know why the guitar feels so dramatically different from my previous stoptails (ok its my first Private Stock and the other ones were production runs, but I don´t count that right now)
It´s the neck angle. The shallower neck angle seems to be much better for me than my previous Customshop R9s or the Artist V stoptail I gave to the dealer in a part exchange for the PS Sig.

You´re right absolutely right about the gigging. I mainly bought it to play it all the time, and not to leave it in the case when I´m playing out. What´s the point in having a guitar that you love and not using it, right?

I have one more question as you seem to be pretty knowledgeable regarding the Signature runs.
What do you mean by "early in the run" ? Up to what serial number is it considered an early Sig? Mine is #30, and I know someone here will probably know the guitar or have owned it previously.

Another thing, that I could not really figure out yet, is the tuners. Mine has the locking tuners with the open gears - which are great, awesome really. However, when I read th tech specs of the Signature Private Stock, it says something about "Robson Tuners"?


I got it from Jeff at worldguitars. Could not be any happier with the whole deal. Excellent setup, very nice to talk to and really a pleasure to do business with.

Man, I just love this guitar!

 

[Twinfan]

You got a great deal on that guitar, it's in a great colour too :top:

The guitars weren't built in sequence, and yours will probably not have the 'extra' cap. From memory it arrived in the UK around summer time, along with all (7?) of Jeff's PS Sigs, and based on the dates of my guitars the wiring change happened in August/early September 2011.

Re. the tuners, your guitar has the Robson locking open-gear tuners as fitted to all trem PS Sigs. My stoptail has non-locking closed back Robsons.

I hope that helps!

 

[Milchschnitte]

Thanks a lot for the info.

I´ve seen different pics of different sigs with the non locking tuners but I didn´t realize that they only came on stoptails....

 

[Milchschnitte]

I didn't know the color Electric Tiger before I saw the guitar on the website. Does not seem to be very common with the typical PS guitars, although there have been a few Sigs in that color.
Anyway, I really like it.