If you went away, what brought you back?

[ECWEagles]

So, I went away for a bit. Needed some cash for some building work overruns and it was a choice between selling the SE or breaking up my Partscaster which has some good parts.

I was sentimental about the Partscaster so I moved the SE on.

But the Strat just didn’t play as well. For me it was the neck. I just could not get the same feel and playability from the strat (which was a decent USA neck) than the PRS. It just wasn’t the same anymore and I couldn’t enjoy playing it.

So now the Parts are on eBay and I have a great deal on a CE24 arriving tomorrow!

If you went away from PRS for a while and came back, what brought you back?

 

[veinbuster]

My first PRS was too good to ever look back.

 

[leokula]

I'm actually away now! I came upon one of my dream guitars and working out a deal I ended up giving my PRS Santana 2012. I'm yet to get back, hope I do by the end of 2019 at least!

 

[dcm_guitar]

I've not gone away, but I was relatively late to the party.

I started out playing almost exclusively acoustic guitar. While the PRS acoustics are nice guitars, they don't really catch my ear. I've had three acoustic guitars built for me by individual luthiers. I just couldn't imagine paying that kind of money for an electric guitar.

I acquired some decent electric guitars. I eventually landed on two nice Fenders (American Elite) and two nice Gibsons (LP Standard and 339 Custom Shop). I liked the Fenders more than the Gibsons. The Gibsons were pretty and sounded nice, but they didn't have as solid a feel and weren't finished as nice as the Fenders. Given the price differential, I was always a little irritated by my Gibsons.

I came into some unexpected money, and decided to treat myself to a nice PRS. I acquired an Artist Package HBII and was really impressed by the quality. It's the first electric guitar I've owned that approached my acoustics in fit and finish. After playing the PRS for a while, I realized it has much more to offer than the Gibsons. So, I sold both the LP Standard and the CS339. I'm taking the proceeds from both of those and ordering a 24-08 Artist Package.

As I'm waiting for the 24-08 I bought a Vela for fun. It's a magnificent guitar. It's quirky in all the right ways and plays fantastic.

 

[Standard24]

I was part of the original PRS Forum, then I somehow got lost in the Birds and Moons changeover. Anyway, I'm back.

 

[markd21]

57/08s. I tried PRS SOOOOOOO many times when they heavily used HFS/VB pickups. I hated the tone. I had a thing about NOT changing the pickups since the guitars cost so much - on principle, the PRS needed to 100% speak to me from the factory. That happened with the introduction of the 57/08. I have never looked back!

 

[Rider1260]

I got my first PRS around 2005 and they have steadily replace all my non PRS guitar.
I have dipped my toe back into non PRS guitars from time to time but nothing I have tried does it for me !!!

 

[veinbuster]

I was part of the original PRS Forum, then I somehow got lost in the Birds and Moons changeover. Anyway, I'm back.

Good work finding your way out of the dead forum society.
Welcome.

 

[Boogie]

57/08s. I tried PRS SOOOOOOO many times when they heavily used HFS/VB pickups. I hated the tone. I had a thing about NOT changing the pickups since the guitars cost so much - on principle, the PRS needed to 100% speak to me from the factory. That happened with the introduction of the 57/08. I have never looked back!

Totally get the sentiment toward the HFS but when I played MY own CU24 for the first time, that insanely awesome playability hooked me for good. Almost 17 years to the day.

 

[Buildermike]

Phenrock, Markie, Hans, Paintguy, Zilmo, Frankie PRS, Duncan, Mitzner, Finnster, Grapeshot, Doc Bennett, Tag, Les....guitars and forum friends, that's what keeps me coming back.

 

[11top]

Phenrock, Markie, Hans, Paintguy, Zilmo, Frankie PRS, Duncan, Mitzner, Finnster, Grapeshot, Doc Bennett, Tag, Les....guitars and forum friends, that's what keeps me coming back.

Isn’t it awesome, Mike, how many great people we’ve met through guitars and PRS? Who would have thought way back when? Some of the finest people I know. That’s why I get so excited about NAMM, The Experience, and GearFest.

In the last 24 hours I’ve spoken with Hans, Zilmo, Boogie, Jizzy, and Markie. And all of you guitar guys have been and are a big part of my life, and I’m a better person for having met you.

 

[Glide-bpm]

Never left once it began in 1998 with my first Custom 24...

 

[elvis]

I seem to keep a few PRS in my rack, but I use other brands as well. I tend to fixate on one for a while, then move to another. I'm not playing the PRSi at the moment. Will get back to one of them sooner or later. Getting back into 7-string this week.

I play PRS SC variants and tele variants, though none from Fender. Plus two pointy guitars.

What always brings me back (and keeps me shopping) is that the PRS feel great, sound great, work great, and look great.

 

[garrett]

I've had at least one PRS in my possession since 1998, but I played a Telecaster the vast majority of the time from '07 to '14. It was the versatility of the PRS models from the last several years and the S2 series that won me back over.

 

[nobozos]

I've had a few PRS Core models in the past. I've had kind of a love/hate relationship with them which caused me to move away from PRS for a while. There are a couple reasons why. First and probably most importantly, although they were superior instruments, I always found myself babying them to a point where it was almost nerve racking. I was constantly paranoid about nicking or scratching the finish. They were just too damn pretty. Spent more time wiping them down than playing them. Second and less important, is that I'm a tinkerer/modder. I enjoy "Upgrading" a guitar to it's fullest potential. That is hard to justify when you are paying a couple grand for a guitar. I would like to have changed out the pickups in a couple of them, but I couldn't bring myself to mod them in any way. It usually ended up that I had a higher-dollar guitar that I would rather use the value of it to trade for an amp or some other gear that I wanted or needed at the time.

What brought me back was the S2. I played a satin Standard 22 and basically fell in love with it. It wasn't priced high like the Core series, but has playability comparable to the Core line. The tone of it is incredible, likely due to the super-thin Nitro finish. I won't be afraid to play it, and I won't be polishing it all the time, as it is a working musicians instrument. I won't have any hesitation to change out the pickups in it, or upgrade the Trem if I decide to, which puts a check-mark in my overwhelming urge to upgrade everything I own.

Not pictured are my Gold-top CE 24, or my '94 Whale Blue Custom 24 I used to own, but here are a couple of the others I had.

 

[elvis]

Good answer! I think the reasons for leaving would be at least as interesting as the reasons for coming back.

 

[alantig]

Phenrock, Markie, Hans, Paintguy, Zilmo, Frankie PRS, Duncan, Mitzner, Finnster, Grapeshot, Doc Bennett, Tag, Les....guitars and forum friends, that's what keeps me coming back.

Isn’t it awesome, Mike, how many great people we’ve met through guitars and PRS? Who would have thought way back when? Some of the finest people I know. That’s why I get so excited about NAMM, The Experience, and GearFest.

In the last 24 hours I’ve spoken with Hans, Zilmo, Boogie, Jizzy, and Markie. And all of you guitar guys have been and are a big part of my life, and I’m a better person for having met you.

When I went to the first Experience, I texted my wife and said, "I've found my people." Nothing has changed my mind since then. Mintzer was the first person from the forum who talked to me - there are a ton of people vying to be the last! Which, now that I think about it, is probably not a compliment.

When my wife went to her first Experience, she couldn't believe how many people I talked to (I'm not gifted socially). At one point, she actually said, "Who are you down here?" But before the last concert that year, she said, "No wonder you love this so much." Which means you are stuck with me until I hit Shawn's Kiss comment limit...

 

[Russ73]

I left 20 years before coming back in '14 with an S2 Mira and now I have 5 PRSi, I went through a Musicman phase and my style and needs changed as a player and I have never been more excited to pick up a guitar and play to be honest!

 

[strat63]

I never really went away because PRS has always made my favorite humbucker guitars. I will admit to some detours though. For instance I'm currently flirting with a Collings I35 LC. It's the 335 that I've always wanted but haven't been able to find. Just a stupid good guitar that covers some ground that none of my PRSi do. Thankfully there's room for both.

 

[gioforce76]

I left 20 years before coming back in '14 with an S2 Mira and now I have 5 PRSi, I went through a Musicman phase and my style and needs changed as a player and I have never been more excited to pick up a guitar and play to be honest!

I went through the music man phase too. Then I bought a custom 22 and no other guitar I have ever played sounded like that. One night I played my strat my Ebmm morse and the custom 22 through a Mesa boogie express and the custom 22 crushed both those guitars on tone. I have since bought or traded for three other prs guitars .