Experience ?s and advice

Greg eM

New Member
Joined
May 22, 2018
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17
Hello all,

Headed to the Experience for the first time this year and am interested in purchasing my first prs guitar while there. Looking for some answers from PRS players/owners and people who have attended:

• Any tips/advice you can give me to keep in mind on shopping in this environment?

• Do they have deals at this sort of thing or should I be looking to spend 3500+ regardless?

• Are all guitars for sale new/2018, or do they have older models available?

• And Finally: Custom 24 or Mccarty 594? My 2 main guitars right now are a California Stratocaster and a Les Paul Studio. I understand McCartys are semi similar to Les Pauls (which isn't a negative imo as its a sound I love and I'm guessing it should play and sound better than the studio), and that the Custom 24 is more modern. I play blues, some country, classic rock, punk and some metal. Amps I will be running through are Fender Blues Junior Tweed and Marshall JVM 410.

Any help and/or feedback is appreciated, THANKS!
 
- comfortable shoes. Unless you are going early and standing in line, well...you'll still need comfortable shoes

-deals vary by vendor. I'm assuming you are a Signature Member and will be strolling the sales floor on Friday. Check out what everyone has, talk to any dealers that have something you like. If you already have a dealer that will be there, you can talk ahead of time about what you are looking for. There is a "secret room" the vendors have access to for floor stock...Brian found me a tight 10-top flame McCarty last time..."there's something in the back you might like" so if you don't see what you are looking for...ask!

-I believe all are new, and we are all anxiously awaiting to hear what the Experience only models will be

- I have a McCarty, and am Jonesin' for a 594, so I'm no help with this one!
 
Thanks! Unfortunately I am not a Signature member so will probably be getting there early on Saturday to look at the scraps (really hoping theres some experience only guitars left over). Will have to find a decent vendor there, the closest local vendor we have was kind of rude last time went to their shop so probably won't be working with them.
 
The vendors won’t be rude, they’re in Paul’s House, at his invitation.

All the guitars and amps will be new, some just hours old.

Deals can be had if you are as nice to the dealers as they are to you.

Some guitars will be sold Friday night, but there will still be lots to choose from. Each dealer gets access prior to Friday and they select first for their booths. Then PRS puts the rest out on many long tables. Lots of them. If you see something on a table that is not in front of a dealer, pick it up and carry it to a dealer you like for a price quote.

There will also be a stack of amps that no dealer has ‘dibsed’.

But please resist the urge to take the same guitar or amp to multiple dealers or play one against another. That’s just not cool. If the dealers figure out you are doing that, you won’t get good deals.
 
You might want to go down to the dealer threads (http://forums.prsguitars.com/forums/authorized-prs-dealers.64/) and check out some of the nice guitars that folks have recently gotten. If you fall in love with the look of one of those fine offerings, start a dialog now with that dealer and then you can go see them in person on Saturday. The guys who post on here are incredibly nice and I'm sure you would have a great experience with any of them. Take a look, there are some beautiful custom 24s as well as McCartys I just saw when perusing there.
 
You might want to go down to the dealer threads (http://forums.prsguitars.com/forums/authorized-prs-dealers.64/) and check out some of the nice guitars that folks have recently gotten. If you fall in love with the look of one of those fine offerings, start a dialog now with that dealer and then you can go see them in person on Saturday. The guys who post on here are incredibly nice and I'm sure you would have a great experience with any of them. Take a look, there are some beautiful custom 24s as well as McCartys I just saw when perusing there.

Oh man, some of those links.....I don't know if I should have exposed myself to that so soon.
 
Yea, wow! Some really breathtaking tops, and there was a Green Charcoal burst with p90s that looked out of this world. Gonna have to staple my wallet shut if I keep looking
 
On the CU24 or 594 question - I have both. Here’s my take: There aren’t any limitations as to what styles can be played on either guitar. It’s really more a matter of what kinds of tones you relate best to, and of course, the feel, how many frets you need, etc.

The CU24 has a more focused midrange, and perhaps a bit more piano-like lower midrange (some might say “twang”). It’ll also come with hotter pickups. Some folks prefer having only one volume and one tone control to deal with. The CU24 will have a very worthy tremolo.

The 594 is a sonic cousin to the vintage LP sound, but it has its own thing going also. There’s a ton of clarity in the midrange and upper midrange, but the character of the midrange is different from the CU24’s voice. The 594’s bottom end might be a touch meatier. It’s nice to be able to blend the pickups with the volume and tone controls, and they split also. The 594 will have something similar to a Tune-O-Matic two piece bridge, only it has an ingenious set of slots that make string changes pretty fast and easy.

The CU24 will have either a Pattern Thin or a Pattern Regular neck carve. The 594 will have the Pattern Vintage (I think that’s what it’s called, I forget), that’s a bit thicker. Mythology says bends are easier on the 594, but I don’t have any issues with bends on the CU24, and probably couldn’t tell the difference. PRSes are uniformly easy to play.

I’d reserve judgment on what to buy until you get to Experience and have the opportunity to play both models back-to-back. No doubt one of them will feel like it belongs in your hands, and you’ll feel like a million bucks playing it.

Have fun!
 
On Cu 24 vs 594...to me, substantial neck difference. I prefer baseball bats, So 594 all day, but les is right with the 24 fretter's tones...play them both, and go home happy!
 
sounds and looks like the ‘quik change’ tailpiece on a 70s ibanez. which was better than the gibson stop for the same reason.

The 594 will have something similar to a Tune-O-Matic two piece bridge, only it has an ingenious set of slots that make string changes pretty fast and easy.
 
Just an FYI folks. If you are coming to the factory on Friday or Saturday, allow yourself PLENTY of time in traffic. We are on the direct route to Maryland and Delaware beaches and beach traffic can be a PITA. Leave early, stay late!

And nobody park in my space!!!
 
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