Help me build a great PS Paul’s Guitar.

If it were me, and no one's asking. I dislike rosewood neck tones. It does change the mid character and to me sticks out funny, but it's personal preference.

Were I ordering:
Maple top, Mahogany back and sides. MAYBE go Korina/Limba instead as it's a bit more articulate.
Ebony or African blackwood fingerboard. (Feels soo good).
Paul's electronics, but agree on a second volume control.
I'd also go DGT neckshape, but standard PRS frets
I don't care for piezo sound so I'd never do that myself.

Now I know you don't care for cosmetic as much..but since i'm ordering..(not, but dreaming).
boatwake flame maple top. the old Scarlet red. Natural binding and natural back.
Old bird inlays, or 20th if they'd do it.
Maybe one cool odd colored at the 12th fret...like a red stone or some such.
Dunlop straplock ready
When you mention the mid character of RW necks, that’s one reason I don’t like 57/08s with RW necks, but prefer the hotter 59/09s with them. YMMV though :)
 
Pauls Guitar with a Trem ( a NOS Mann Bridge )
Pickups layout like a Brent Mason sig ( or a JM pickup center if possible )
let the PS team pick the best tone wood that's on the shelf
 
You don't need to convince me! I am aware of 'everything affecting everything'

I love discussions like the ones you have here where others are aware of the way wood choice affecting the tone without some idiot jumping in and claiming its all BS and its all just Pick-ups. These same people then going on to mention those guitars made of 'solid' but not wood guitars and failing to realise that basically ALL solid objects can resonate which causes air to move and 'sound'. What they fail to understand though is that 'tone wood' is used to shape the tone and the characteristics of the guitar in a predictable manner. Even the idiots who say Tone Wood has no affect will know that a Solid Mahogany LP is darker sounding than a Maple capped LP with the same PU's, scale length, bridge and nut.

its just nice to see people describing their experience and preference or woods and their characteristics and tone shaping qualities without people arguing about whether tone wood is a real or made up thing - especially with Electric Guitars
The predominant argument out there is that pickups are magnetic and do not sense air vibration. Therefore they say, it’s a totally different ballgame from acoustics, vibrations in the air do not matter, and wood does not matter.

My thinking is that a guitar affects how the string itself vibrates, and that’s true regardless if it’s an electric or acoustic. And I’m not referring to sustain; I mean the tonal character of the string vibration. I drew that conclusion experiencing different guitars, listening to similarities / trends between their unplugged and amplified tone.

Anchoring a string to a good guitar as opposed to a mediocre one, can drastically change how the string behaves. And, a good sensitive pickup will sense the difference. Of course it will. Why else do electric guitars sound like a guitar and not a horse? If they sounded like horses electric guitars would never have been invented.

Also pickups can sense vibrations in the guitar body. That explains how physically rapping the guitar is heard through the amplifier. The guitar body vibrates the pickups, and when the pickup vibrates a small amount of current is “self induced” carrying the vibration signature of the wooden body. That contributes some.

So I agree everything matters. It’s just that I value the guitar part of the equation a lot more than the electronics. More wonder in it, more rare, more precious.
 
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The predominant argument out there is that pickups are magnetic and do not sense air vibration. Therefore they say, it’s a totally different ballgame from acoustics, vibrations in the air do not matter, and wood does not matter.

My thinking is that a guitar affects how the string itself vibrates, and that’s true regardless if it’s an electric or acoustic. And I’m not referring to sustain; I mean the tonal character of the string vibration. I drew that conclusion experiencing different guitars, listening to similarities / trends between their unplugged and amplified tone.

Anchoring a string to a good guitar as opposed to a mediocre one, can drastically change how the string behaves. A good sensitive pickup will sense the difference. Why else do electric guitars sound like a guitar and not a horse? If they sounded like horses electric guitars would never have been invented.

Also pickups can sense vibrations in the guitar body. That explains how physically rapping the guitar is heard through the amplifier. The guitar body vibrates the pickups, and when the pickup vibrates a small amount of current is “self induced” carrying the vibration signature of the wooden body. That contributes some.

So I agree everything matters. It’s just that I value the guitar part of the equation a lot more than the electronics. More wonder in it, more rare, more precious.

I don't care what their argument is - its irrelevant and not based on fact. Using examples such as a Fibreglass, Acrylic or even Cardboard guitars as 'examples' to dispel the tone wood argument, yet we all know that if 'knock' on the bodies of these guitars, they will still make a note - whether that note rings or disappears very quickly, more a 'thud' than a chime, does still make a difference to the 'sound' of a guitar.

Steve Vai, someone with an incredible ear and vast array of experience and guitars, is a firm believer in tone wood. There is a video of him holding up Flo or Evo 3 (two Jems he keeps coming back to despite ALL the guitars he has) and hitting the body and the neck to illustrate how in tune both parts of the guitar was - just like Paul holding up a neck blank and hitting that to hear it ring. Steve then proceeds to demonstrate that 'note' underlying every note he plays and the reason those two guitars are ALWAYS used is because both have body and necks that match tonally.

Allegedly, Gibson covered their Maple topped Les Paul's in Gold to hide the fact it had a Maple Cap so other builders, thinking it was all Mahogany, couldn't capture the Les Pail sound, that something that changed the Sound of the guitar. We know that without it, as solid Mahogany LP's exist, the guitar is darker - its the same with PRS and their Standard vs Custom versions. I find it incredible that people can accept that a Solid Mahogany guitar sounds darker than a Maple capped guitar but still can't accept that the 'woods' have made a difference.

Wood Library guitars are another example - my regular 509 with the typical woods of a PRS build is different from the WL Swamp Ash and Maple neck builds despite having all the same hardware. I know that people here are aware of the differences - especially those that are picking PS woods for Tonal properties and characteristics.

If its purely the Pick-ups and the strings, then Guitars should sound the same coming off a production line. If you want to say that PU's could vary slightly, then those PU's should sound the same when removed from one guitar and put in a different but still the 'same' guitar but they don't - even if you swapped the bridge too so something else is changing the tone - albeit very slightly in the case of virtually identical guitars but more pronounced if the wood(s) used are different.
 
Just to add another option, roasted flame maple neck would be amazing.

I think that's smart. I have a Paul's Guitar - nothing exotic...just a plain old regular production model - but it is a KILLER guitar. Mine has a trem, which probably affects the tone a little, but I still think it is one of the best sounding guitars I have - and have ever played. The "stock" wood recipe really seems to be thought out to result in a guitar that is pretty near perfect in balance, weight, tone and playability.

This Paul's guitar is absolutely breathtaking!!!
 
Wherever I hear Paul play, his tone is very, very processed. I don't actually hear the organic woods in his tone at all, just this overdriven sound. It raises the question that if Paul is personally chasing a guitar tone that's very different from what some of us would like, should we follow his recipe for woods, etc. He builds wonderful instruments, but I personally would not want to replicate the sound he creates with his personal guitar. Not a knock on Paul as a player. Lots of folks dislike MY favorite guitarists. Lots of room in the tent.
 
Any tone recipe composed from the wood selection can be augmented by the electronics and pickup selection. So, if your swamp ash body/back guitar with maple neck and fb are too bright, put in darker pickups. The wood selection, to me, is more about the specific pieces resulting in a superior resonance and acoustic character. It’s the sum of the parts. I’d argue that there are few people on the planet that have Paul’s skill in matching pieces and would trust him to pick my guitar woods any day of the week. We don’t always share end tone goals, but that’s what makes the guitar mine. That includes his amps, too. But that’s why pickups can be changed and knobs can be turned.

No knob turning or parts swapping will fix resonately dead guitar.
 
Any tone recipe composed from the wood selection can be augmented by the electronics and pickup selection. So, if your swamp ash body/back guitar with maple neck and fb are too bright, put in darker pickups. The wood selection, to me, is more about the specific pieces resulting in a superior resonance and acoustic character. It’s the sum of the parts. I’d argue that there are few people on the planet that have Paul’s skill in matching pieces and would trust him to pick my guitar woods any day of the week. We don’t always share end tone goals, but that’s what makes the guitar mine. That includes his amps, too. But that’s why pickups can be changed and knobs can be turned.

No knob turning or parts swapping will fix resonately dead guitar.
Great points. Thanks for this perspective
 
Wherever I hear Paul play, his tone is very, very processed. I don't actually hear the organic woods in his tone at all, just this overdriven sound. It raises the question that if Paul is personally chasing a guitar tone that's very different from what some of us would like, should we follow his recipe for woods, etc. He builds wonderful instruments, but I personally would not want to replicate the sound he creates with his personal guitar. Not a knock on Paul as a player. Lots of folks dislike MY favorite guitarists. Lots of room in the tent.

For what it’s worth, Phil McKnight, who has a lot of experience with guitar gear, said that he was even more impressed with Paul’s guitar than the 594. He praised the guitar a lot.
 
For what it’s worth, Phil McKnight, who has a lot of experience with guitar gear, said that he was even more impressed with Paul’s guitar than the 594. He praised the guitar a lot.

I wouldn't read anything into that at all. Phil McKnight's favourite PRS is an S2 - nothing wrong with that either. His 594 was a favourite, whenever he opted to pick it up and many of his friends said how great a guitar it was but it lived in its case for much of the time. Again nothing to read into that.

Guitars are quite varied and the people who play them have different tastes and preferences. Having a preference for a 'Paul's' is no more an endorsement than someone else preferring the 594 with its adjustable tune-o-matic type bridge. That's not saying the Paul's is better, just that Phil preferred it. As we all have our own preferences, I wouldn't be surprised if we polled everyone here on their favourite PRS, we would have numerous votes for each.

I think that the 594 and Paul's are quite different despite having a lot in common - both having a fixed bridge, both offering individual coil splits on a double 'humbucker' (although Paul's are a different shape), and both have a similar construction/shape - at least on the Cores but Private Stock can see differing wood types. They are different enough that you could own both for their differences - tone, scale length etc.

As far as I can see from numerous PS photo's and posts, I don't see many Paul's PS guitars compared to the various 594 models. I am not drawing any conclusion from that about which is the best or most popular. People have preferences and fortunately, there is a LOT of diversity - even within PRS models. Private Stock will allow the person's preferences be realised in their 'dream' PRS guitar
 
I have a PG that I bought used. The Reverb listing called the color Quilted Cherry. The PRS database lookup says the color is “custom.” The top is, of course, quilted maple and is a 10 top. The back and neck are mahogany. The fretboard is rosewood. Don’t know where the tree grew up, but it is a very pretty specimen of rosewood. It looks pretty uniform in color when looking at it from the front. But, from the side, when playing, it has color variations that almost make it look like a kind of tortoise shell binding. It’s hard to describe, and I promise to post pics when I get past my new member minimum number of posts. I hope that I will be able to do justice to how pretty the quilt is too. The professionally done pics from the Reverb posting are very good, but it is remarkably prettier in person.

It can sound as bright or dark as I want it to sound through a Tungsten Crema Wheat or PRRI. So, I guess I’m in the traditional woods camp. Not saying that there are no other combinations that could sound better. I just know that what I have does not leave me wanting.

That’s as far a woods go. I played a Strat or Strat copy for most of my playing life. I always used the middle pickup, usually either alone or with bridge pup. I missed having a middle pup. I had looked longingly at some of the 3 pup models that PRS has released over the last several years, as well as discontinued models. But I really didn’t want to add a new guitar, and I couldn’t see myself selling the PG. So, about the end of June, I emailed the PTC and asked if they could add a narrowfield middle pup with the ability to run middle only as well as in combination with the bridge and neck. The fantastic Matt King promptly replied that it could be done, with an added 3-way toggle (off-on-middle only), for a very reasonable price in 6-8 weeks. I pondered it for about a week, then pulled the trigger and sent it in. I live about an hour from Stevensville, so decided to drive over to pick it up last week when Matt called and told me it was done.

I am over the moon with how it turned out. I think the narrowfield sounds great and looks great too. Adding that pup is, I think, the best guitar-related decision that I have made. I have the circa 2015 PG pups that I can use with original switching for the standard 8 sounds, add the middle for 8 more combinations, or the middle alone for the ninth new sound. They are all useable and sound just different enough to justify the combination.

So, including a narrowfield middle pup would be my recommendation. Unless you are going to be bothered by the pup being where you want just guitar top or will never, ever want any of the S-style quack under any conditions, I think that you will like it. I think it is a pretty riskless addition to a great platform.

Good luck with your build!

Dan
 
I have a PG that I bought used. The Reverb listing called the color Quilted Cherry. The PRS database lookup says the color is “custom.” The top is, of course, quilted maple and is a 10 top. The back and neck are mahogany. The fretboard is rosewood. Don’t know where the tree grew up, but it is a very pretty specimen of rosewood. It looks pretty uniform in color when looking at it from the front. But, from the side, when playing, it has color variations that almost make it look like a kind of tortoise shell binding. It’s hard to describe, and I promise to post pics when I get past my new member minimum number of posts. I hope that I will be able to do justice to how pretty the quilt is too. The professionally done pics from the Reverb posting are very good, but it is remarkably prettier in person.

It can sound as bright or dark as I want it to sound through a Tungsten Crema Wheat or PRRI. So, I guess I’m in the traditional woods camp. Not saying that there are no other combinations that could sound better. I just know that what I have does not leave me wanting.

That’s as far a woods go. I played a Strat or Strat copy for most of my playing life. I always used the middle pickup, usually either alone or with bridge pup. I missed having a middle pup. I had looked longingly at some of the 3 pup models that PRS has released over the last several years, as well as discontinued models. But I really didn’t want to add a new guitar, and I couldn’t see myself selling the PG. So, about the end of June, I emailed the PTC and asked if they could add a narrowfield middle pup with the ability to run middle only as well as in combination with the bridge and neck. The fantastic Matt King promptly replied that it could be done, with an added 3-way toggle (off-on-middle only), for a very reasonable price in 6-8 weeks. I pondered it for about a week, then pulled the trigger and sent it in. I live about an hour from Stevensville, so decided to drive over to pick it up last week when Matt called and told me it was done.

I am over the moon with how it turned out. I think the narrowfield sounds great and looks great too. Adding that pup is, I think, the best guitar-related decision that I have made. I have the circa 2015 PG pups that I can use with original switching for the standard 8 sounds, add the middle for 8 more combinations, or the middle alone for the ninth new sound. They are all useable and sound just different enough to justify the combination.

So, including a narrowfield middle pup would be my recommendation. Unless you are going to be bothered by the pup being where you want just guitar top or will never, ever want any of the S-style quack under any conditions, I think that you will like it. I think it is a pretty riskless addition to a great platform.

Good luck with your build!

Dan

Owner! Way to go, Dan!
 
It is a beautiful color, but I don’t think you can see it either Alan. Sorry. I figured out my pasted URLs didn’t work. Thanks for the encouragement in the face of this frustration. It really helps motivate me to sign up for some photo sharing service that I have no other use for.
 
It is a beautiful color, but I don’t think you can see it either Alan. Sorry. I figured out my pasted URLs didn’t work. Thanks for the encouragement in the face of this frustration. It really helps motivate me to sign up for some photo sharing service that I have no other use for.

Looks like your drop box links timed out.

Imgur.com is a great site for posting photos. Check it out.
 
Hey Les, might I ask you what is the wood combo on your favorite guitar? The one you mentioned in the holy grail thread. Your comments on it definitively piqued my interest!

Hi Isaac! The interesting trick to the one I referenced is that the mahogany back is a little bit thicker than usual, and the maple cap is a little bit thinner, but is still what they describe as “deep,” whatever that means. Anyway, the ratio of maple to mahogany is slightly different.

I have 3 PS models with the Madagascar RW fretboard; I think it lends a certain tone to the guitar that’s a little different from IRW or BRW. Maybe I’d call it ‘creamy’.

The rest of the 20th PS Anniversary model specs are here; they explain it better than I can!

https://www.prsguitars.com/index.ph...0th_anniversary_private_stock_limited_edition
 
Here is my suggestion.

Don't order any custom guitar unless YOU KNOW what you like. Unless this guitar is just going to be wall candy.

If this is supposed to be a performance instrument, you need to know what you prefer.

Let me give you an example. I like the way full rosewood necks feel. I'm not crazy about how they sound and respond. However, I LOVE the feel, sound and response of an Indian rosewood neck with an ebony board. So much so I have 2 PRS like that now. It was a discovery that cost me nothing---I learned by playing a bunch. If you are going to invest in a Private Stock, do your own homework if you can----hands on.

I have ordered 6 custom instruments. Never been disappointed when they showed up, never sold one. I know what I like/need in terms of wood choices, finish, bridges, radius, tuners, pickups and neck shape. Scale length is not a big deal to me---each has its merits.

Being experienced and picky is the only path to being satisfied with your build, unless you just get really lucky.
 
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