Is PRS guitars a victim of reverse snobbery?

Clashcityrocker

Curve Denier
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Aug 9, 2016
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By reverse snobbery I mean say your friends drive pick up trucks. Some are old and beat up but they still get them to where they want to go. You drive up in your new sports car or Mercedes and they look at you like you think you are better than they are. Of course you got the car because you liked it and it is a high performance machine plus it looks awesome. They give you attitude like they would much rather have a pickup truck because they feel comfortable with it and it fits their lifestyle. A recent Youtuber said he just didn't like Prs guitars. His reason was he tried one back in the 90's and it just didn't sound like a Gibson or Fender. He felt it was too pretty and he didn't like the birds. I commented that for 99.9 percent of guitar players their image doesn't really matter. It's what it sounds like and how it plays. He kind of took it as an insult to him but it wasn't really. He said well I need all the help I can get when I show up for a gig. I don't want birds on my guitar and I want to fit in as much as possible. I just feel like too many players are worried about their perceived image rather than getting a great instrument.
 
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I have two pickup trucks, and a couple fairly crude partsoteles.

But I also have a “no” face. Nobody has said anything to my face if I happen to strap on a PRS.
I play all kinds of venues: bar&grill to orchestra pits.

And I’m old.

Anybody’s opinion of me is none of my damn business. Plenty of ignorance out there about all kinds of stuff, and the biggest gas bags seem to know the least. Opinions: mostly distain prior to investigation.

I play with or know other local working musicians at various levels of skill in the local club wars. They sometimes also play or at least own PRS.

I’ve played jazz venues on big ol’ orange Gretsches with the big “G” brand on them. I once threatened to start using a cheap Dimebagg Darroll guitar on jazz gigs, just for the chuckle.

Ignorant haters will always be stepping on their own um, “equipment.” But I won’t talk to them if they want to step on mine!

Besides, it ain’t the arrow: it’s the Indian,
 
That never occurred to me.

On other guitar forums I hear a lot of criticism of PRS. If I think it needs saying, I can and do defend PRS.

On the Gibson forum, someone said "PRS guitars are like a solution looking for a problem". I let that one pass.

On The Fretboard, someone (a friend of mine actually :) ) said " If you find a good Gibson or Fender, you just dont need a PRS".
I replied: "Maybe thats why people buy a PRS?"


 
When I used a Jackson Soloist (no I never played metal or shred) I used to get asked to 'turn it up'.

Nobody has ever shown any interest in my PRS CE24, PRS SE Custom 24, Squier Esprit, Rickenbacker 650. Hagstrom Deuce or Gibson ES339. Never happens.

My Les Paul always gets the most attention. I get irked by people talking to me about it. I don't want to do that. I leave it at home sometimes for that sole reason.

Most players have tunnel vision for Gibson & Fender. Its their loss...
 
The German luthier Ulrich Teuffel makes the famous "Birdfish" guitar that, even though it is just a guitar, looks so different that players don't know what to do or what to play when they pick it up. So, he came up with another model, the Antonio, that wouldn't alienate players as much. To me, a PRS is just a guitar, but for some guys, it makes them feel alienated for whatever reason. Personally, when I was a kid the two guitars that were iconic were white strats with maple fretboards (Jimi) and sunburst LP (Jimmy) and I didn't take to PRS until about 9 years ago when I was looking for a LP and decided that Gibson could never make a guitar that lived up to the SC58. It certainly is strange, though, how people line up behind guitar brands as if the whole thing were a kind of totemism.
 
I’ve played jazz venues on big ol’ orange Gretsches with the big “G” brand on them.
That’s my favorite tactic. In the ‘vintage’ rock (50s/60s) band I’ve played in for 20+ years, I’m the youngest one so I like taking non-period-appropriate gear just to mess with the snobs. At this corporate gig/sock hop, I cobbled together a huge heap of “that’s just wrong”...
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Frankly, I couldn’t care less. And to be able to play with these guys (they formed in 1961, got back together after the war, and opened for every big act that came into the Indy area in the 60s. What a flippin’ honor.) I’d sport a wig and Hello Kitty Daisy Rocker.

And yes, this is an 11 year old photo since I still had hair color.
 
I recently saw someone say they felt like they were the "Ed Hardy T-shirts" of guitars. I have to admit, I get it - the maple tops can be pretty "loud" visually. Personally, I freakin love it and don't see it like a tacky design on a t-shirt, it's the natural beauty of the wood brought to life with color. But, again, I get it.

That being said, there's no reason a majority of players shouldn't be able to find something in the PRS catalog they like, visually. All the standards, Miras, etc that are just mahogany or solid colors. Now, if they don't like the neck carve, or the control layout, I guess that's valid.

Regarding tone, this might be out of my lane, but I think the excuse that they can't get the tone of a Gibson or Fender is a thing of the past. Back when it was all HFS/VB and Dragon II pickups, probably. But now there are Silver Sky, 594's, big part of it being pickups. I think the PRS tone family expanded a lot when the 57/08's and subsequent were introduced. Maybe not an absolute dead on recreation of a LP or Strat tone, but definitely a fantastic version of those tones.

Some of the people that poo-poo PRS are definitely reverse-snobbing. It's like when my wife talks about how she used to get dirty looks when she drove a BMW - yeah, well honey you were a good looking young 20-something, everyone assumed you were a rich, stuck up bimbo! Maybe they think we're saying "oh, your Fender or Gibson isn't good enough, because they don't stay in tune, or they don't have resonant wood, or the fretwork is crap, or the action is crap."

In many cases they would be right. I guess I'm just a d*ck.
 
I own one PRS. I only recently purchased it. I have had very little interest in them over the years. I have tried a few in the past... And only a couple have caught my ear. Fewer have caught my attention as to neck shape and size. But, there have been one or two.

Why was I not really interested? Partly it was that too jazzy top, too much figure, too flashy (this from a guy who plays a baby blue Gretsch on stage 90% of the time! LOL). Part of it was the idea that it was not 'vintage enough', too modern. That reverse snobbery, in a nutshell.

I felt the same way about Parkers, until I got to try one. Now, I'm bummed they went out of business.

These days I am still not into the super flamey tops and wacky colors. My SE Santana is about as 'modern' a look as I sport. I still have my LPs and Tele and Gretsch. But, the Santana is growing on me. I love the big, wide neck and light-ish weight. Flashiness aside, to me, it's how it plays and how it sounds. I still haven't fallen in love with the tone of my PRS, but I haven't spent a lot of time adjusting the pickups yet... I may still throw some more traditional/vintage voiced pickups in it. But, the neck is rather sublime. So, I doubt it's going anywhere any time soon.


I'm still not into lime green and bright flashy colors or big flame and quilt. But, I have no qualms about playing my PRS on ANY stage or in front of anyone.
 
That never occurred to me.

On other guitar forums I hear a lot of criticism of PRS. If I think it needs saying, I can and do defend PRS.

On the Gibson forum, someone said "PRS guitars are like a solution looking for a problem". I let that one pass.

On The Fretboard, someone (a friend of mine actually :) ) said " If you find a good Gibson or Fender, you just dont need a PRS".
I replied: "Maybe thats why people buy a PRS?"

The comments that annoy me are:

PRS Guitars have no soul, no mojo or 'too perfect'. None of the classics were recorded on a PRS guitar or some of the greatest guitarists didn't play a PRS and then list songs and artists that were all recorded pre-85. PRS guitars are 'bought' by lawyers and dentists...

I could go on and sometimes, I will bother to try and educate people but then sometimes, Mark Twains quote does come to mind - 'Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.’

As far as the soul/mojo thing is concerned, I would never accuse Santana of lacking in Soul and he wouldn't play a guitar that doesn't have 'mojo'. I wonder if the people that are saying this are only listening to someone demoing the PU's and tone - playing a few chords, licks etc over and over again with no felling or emotion - just to show the tones. There is nothing wrong with being too perfect either in my opinion. I would rather have a guitar with a balanced sound - balanced lows, mids and highs. Its a lot easier to boost or reduce these with the amps EQ if they are balanced than to try and boost 'mids' or 'bass' for example because the guitar doesn't have any and prefer to have quality too that don't become muddy or mushy with gain - still retain that clarity.

Its obvious where the stupidity of people is where historical music/artists are concerned - Jimi was never going to play a PRS guitar - having died 15yrs before PRS opened up their factory. Even when Paul made his first guitar, Jimi had been dead for years. I must admit, when I was a teenager and wanted to play guitar, the likes of Slash, Jimmy Page etc were a big influence on me and why I ended up with an Epiphone Les Paul Custom as my starting guitar. It was the search for that guitar that I saw my first PRS (around '89) and after that, the PRS Custom 24 became my ultimate guitar - think Wayne's World and the White Strat - that was like me with PRS. Amongst my peers, the majority of them were also in awe of PRS guitars - the quality, the craftsmanship etc - even if they were Fender or Gibson fanboys. It didn't matter whether their heroes played a PRS or not - it was the quality of the instrument that mattered. It seems that the majority of 'internet' people think that its more important to play a model your heroes play. Another thing that annoys me is that 'vintage' guitars are better - when the artists got these instruments, they weren't vintage and often they picked up guitars 2nd hand because they were cheaper.

As for being bought by Lawyers and Dentists - that is just ignorance related to price and that only Lawyers and Dentists can afford them. By that, then all the Gibson re-issues and Fender Custom shop are only bought by Lawyers and Dentists too because these are more expensive. Its just ridiculous assumptions!! Its as bad as saying people only buy PRS guitars to hang on their wall - a compliment to the beauty' of them but that is a disservice to them as an instrument!!

I think any true Guitarists will love a PRS guitar. Its like turning up to a car meet in a Ferrari and all car enthusiasts wanting to get close, take photo's and aspire to drive it and then go home in their Fords...
 
Eh...in my opinion, anybody who completely dismisses the legitimacy of any given commonality or popular opinion takes themselves entirely too seriously.

Life's too short and there is far too much to enjoy in life to completely write something off based off of a personal preference, let alone one or two isolated experiences in which somebody's expectations weren't fulfilled.

I love PRS guitars and prefer them in all aspects. That doesn't mean that every time I see a Gibson or Fender in a catalog or on a stage I roll my eyes and scoff in disgust. Hell, I'll pick one up to play just about any time I'm in a guitar shop simply because I love guitars, regardless of brand. I just haven't found one that ticks all my boxes like a PRS does.
 
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