Thanks for the input guys. Yes, I was also considering an SE. But I thought the kit would be more fun, color choices and such.
That said, I need to clear something up. I was not aware that these kits were illegal or in violation of trademarks. They are sold openly on the market, even Amazon carries a full compliment. If they are in fact illegal in any way why have they not been shut down ? I always had thought they were designed with enough variance and or payed for the ability to use a similar design. However if they are in fact illegal I would then not condone or support such practices.
Some asked why I don't just take out the '93 CE. Actually I do, however that depends on the gig. It's just a very rare occasion. I see my PRS as a work of art and prefer to not to expose it to certain situations.
Amazon doesn't vet the products for trademark compliance. Selling openly on the market has nothing to do with whether a trademark is violated, since police authorities don't get involved unless there's a court seizure order following filing suit, and that is the province of the US Marshal.
It's a matter for private litigation.
The trademark owner must file civil suits to enforce its trademarks.
A good example is Lorillard, the tobacco company, who have legal teams that go around the country 24/7 to chase down counterfeit cigarettes, (counterfeit cigarettes are a very large scam), and the shady stores that buy and sell them wind up paying quite a lot - the minimum statutory penalty under federal law was $25,000 at the time I was still doing that kind of work.
I don't know if anyone has tried to make a claim against Amazon for selling counterfeit goods, or how that would work out. I've been out of the game for a very long time, but I believe that the trademark laws haven't materially changed.
Chasing down counterfeits is literally a full-time job, and it's expensive. Unfortunately, it's a game of whack-a-mole - get one, another pops up!
As I understand it, a vendor of counterfeit products can put their goods on Amazon, and ship from outside the US. It they're in China, for example, our trademarks will never be enforced. We'll continue to see these goods on the market.
Anyway, I figure I should play my own role in honoring a trademark, and that means I don't buy the counterfeit goods.
I can understand why you don't want to expose your high end PRS' to damage. Weird things happen to gear at gigs. Since all I want to play is my nice gear, I took it out for gigs. I figured if I had it, I would treat myself, and if something got damaged, well, it could be fixed. And I'm very picky about how it stays in mint condition, so was super-careful. I was lucky, only one guitar was ever dinged, and I had a great luthier fix it.
But I don't criticize folks who want to protect their best stuff.
