I own EVERY PRS I have ever bought and have NO desire to ever get rid of any of them too. I would rather 'add' to my collection than replace any. I have seen a beautiful double cut 594 with a Solid Rosewood neck that I would consider trading in my first ever PRS (also a Double Cut 594) if I really had to in order to obtain the Solid Rosewood Neck - its in the 'perfect' colour for me - Fire Red Burst...
I know I have shared images of this guitar on other threads but this was my first PRS. I always thought that a Custom 24 would of been my first as that was the first guitar I ever saw from PRS. It was the guitar that also changed my 'dream' guitar aspiration. Before I had ever seen a PRS, I wanted a Gibson Les Paul Custom in Wine Red - that was the 'dream' guitar as my biggest hero and most of the artists I admired were or had played Gibson. Wine Red was just my favourite colour and so this was the 'ideal' for me - until I saw my first PRS - a Red Custom 24 with these amazing and intricate bird inlays. The 'Dragons' which I only ever saw in Guitarist Magazine were my 'money no object' dream guitar but I always thought that one day, I would get to own a 'proper' PRS Custom 24.
I made do with my First guitar (a Black Epiphone Les Paul Custom - with the same 'headstock' as a Gibson that had Gibson on the TRC - it was an old, used guitar - now classified as 'Vintage') for years, did a few gigs with it - not for money and had upgraded my beginner Amp for a Marshall TSL602 and so my 'dream' guitar was a 'one day, she will be mine, oh yes , one day she will be mine...' guitar. However, I had a girlfriend with Kids, was playing Football (soccer for the US readers) every weekend for at least 2 teams, training at least twice during the week evenings and 'something' had to go when the relationship became more serious, after we got engaged. It made more sense to drop out of the band as football was the cheaper option and I was supporting a family with kids which also impacted on my playing time etc. I married, added a kid of my own into the family - all of which made my 'dream' guitar drop further and further away. I eventually sold my Epiphone and Amp out of financial necessity and the fact that I never had the chance to play and I still had my Acoustic (A Washburn EA20) to strum on.
My health and my relationship gradually deteriorated. Old injuries became problematic from the years I played sports and was 'reckless' with healing - like cutting a plaster cast off my ankle after just 2weeks to play a cup final match and at least a few matches before the season ended. Now those old injuries play havoc with day to day health (among other issues). Anyway, the marriage broke down and so I had to move out of the family home into my own, much smaller, but my own place. It took a few years to get that up together - I couldn't exactly take a lot of furniture or kitchen goods so gradually got my house up together and that then enabled me to start saving. Because of my 'poor' health and lack of mobility, I am limited as to what 'hobbies' I can actually do. One of those being the ability to return to playing guitar.
Due to my mobility issues, its incredibly difficult to get out to an actual decent Guitar shop and actually inspect or play the instruments first hand. I couldn't go out to every shop in my local vicinity to try and find the 'one' Gibson, the perfect guitar under £1k, that unicorn guitar. I also didn't want to go out and think I may have found the one but still have doubt until I had checked every store and tried their similar spec/similar price guitars to see if I could find better. Obviously I knew that PRS quality and consistency would negate travelling and trying every Fire Red Burst PRS to see if one was better. Its difficult to assess tonal quality in a shop anyway because you rarely get to play the guitars in the exact same environment and exact same amps to be able to compare - its not as if many shops stock a variety of the same PRS model in the same colour and its not as if they have the same rig as you either so when you get it home, it sounds different.
Therefore, I had no hesitation in buying a PRS online. The likelihood that my guitar is of the same 'quality' as any other Core model was extremely high - even if they did have some different tonal quality variation. PRS have exceptionally great Customer Service, I bought from reputable dealers and therefore had little to worry about. The big choice came from which model to buy first. Despite my 'dream' guitar being a Custom 24, the 594 just seemed more desirable to get me back playing. As I said, before PRS, I had been a Les Paul fan and my Dream was a Les Paul custom in Wine Red, I had also been playing an Epiphone Les Paul so the neck, the two piece bridge, the electronic layout, 22 frets etc were all very familiar to me - never owned a 24 fret or skinny neck, nor a trem bridge either. The 594 sounded epic too - much more in keeping with the blues/rock I loved growing up - everything about it just made it the perfect PRS to jump in on.
Obviously not a new pic...
I opted to go Double Cut because that is the typical 'PRS' shape and I wanted it to look more PRS than a Gibson Les Paul. That was a 'conscious' decision and whether you can hear much (if any) difference didn't matter. It had to have the PRS body shape. This was the equivalent of spending over $4400 and the Gibson HP's were not much less - Standards maybe more off but they only had a 3-way option - no split for versatility - at the time. However a 58 re-issue would of been at least £1500 more - again though couldn't get out and about to go looking for the 'one' Gibson and the 594 was getting rave reviews, sounding great and very articulate and certainly no (or at least a lot less risk of) quality issues. I couldn't go to Guildford or Liverpool myself to try a Fire Red Burst 594 so I took the option to order online.
Its an amazing instrument and one I certainly have no desire to trade in or even replace. I know I said I would seriously consider trading it in to get a wood library Fire Burst Red with Solid Rosewood neck or even a Graveyard 2 594 but the chance to do this is extremely remote - partly because of my health and where the WL one is and partly because I am extremely happy with my current 594. The flame pattern isn't necessarily the best I have seen but its got its own character and I like it. I wouldn't trade it in just for a better looking top - it would have to have something more - like a solid Rosewood neck and IF I could afford to buy the WL version without needing to trade in anything, that would be my preferred option. In other words, I can't see me selling this or trading it in against another 594. I certainly wouldn't trade it in for any other model - inc the Hollowbody 594 which I am looking to add to my collection.
Soon after I did add the PRS 509 to my collection. My reasoning at the time was that I had the 'vintage' Les Paul type guitar. Whether people consider it differently, especially as its a DC, or not I don't care - it had the Humbuckers, 22 fret, similar bridge and layout so was 'good enough' for me. I didn't have any Single Coil Strat/Tele which are often considered the polar opposite and guitar that any versatile musician should have alongside a LP type. I have never been a 'Fender' Fan and so the 509 made 'perfect' sense to me - offered me something that could be 'stratty' or tele like but still a PRS. I don't like Bolt-ons either by choice and PRS hadn't released the Silver Sky yet anyway (at least I don't think so) - not in shops yet anyway. From my perspective it made more sense to buy a 509 rather than another double Humbucker guitar - also the scale length is closer to a Strat too. It was after buying this that allowed me to indulge in purchasing my 'Dream' guitar - the Guitar I had longed for over many many years - even if that dream had all but disappeared with my situation....
As soon as I saw this Custom 24, I had to have it. I could justify it because it was 'different' enough from what I owned. It was more modern, 24 frets and that neck PU position offered offered me the traditional PRS sound. You can argue that my first 2 are more PRS than comparable to other types - and I would agree but they were also my LP/Strat/Tele without having to buy Gibson or Fender to get that - this was bought because its a traditional PRS model! Besides that, just look at the Chevron top...
As all my PRS Guitars, from my first, this 594, the second (my 509), the third (my Cu24) and my last (my HBii), they all have something different and something that no other guitar of mine can offer. As such, I have absolutely no desire to get rid of or likely to trade up. I have already mentioned the 594 trade I would consider but unlikely to occur but I wouldn't trade my Cu24 for a Cu24-08 but I would consider adding a 24-08 to the collection. I would prefer to add the WL Rosewood neck 594 to my collection - even if it would become my 3rd (or more if I have my 594 HBii by then) PRS with the 58/15 LT's.
Anyway, that's my story and how I eventually was able to buy my first PRS and go on to get my 'dream' guitar...
