I’ve been a PRS player since 1991, and have had quite a number of them over the years, played through good amps, and recorded for my ad work - I mention this because I’ve been able to listen back to old tracks over the years, and kind of get a “here’s where I was” vs “here’s where I am” reference, instead of a hazy memory.
Of course, players with both old ones and new ones have the ability to make immediate comparisons in the room, and nothing beats that.
Anyway, here’s where I am on this topic:
So many things on the guitars have changed over the years, most obviously the pickups and hardware, but of course it goes beyond that, that it’s kind of an apples-to-oranges comparison.
I have never had a PRS I didn’t love a whole lot, and the ones I had were damn fine examples. But I gotta say I like the recent ones more.
I love the 5x/0x series of pickups, the 58/15s (and LTs), the 408s, the current vintage-sounding P-90s, and the 85/15s. A lot. While I liked the older pickups, I didn’t love them as much. I think the new hardware is both a tonal improvement, and functions better, especially the two-piece bridges and the Private Stock Gen III trem with the locking saddles. I prefer the blade switch to a 5-way rotary. The 594, to me, is a wonderful reinvention of the McCarty. The 24.5 scale on the McCarty Singlecut I have, and the 25.594 scale I have on three guitars, is something that wasn’t available back in the day. I also like that PRS has put bone nuts on some stoptail models. I think they’re nice. I loved the look of the wingies, but the new tuners make string changes even easier.
In terms of finishes, the new finishes are thinner. I like the tone, so whether it is due to the thinner (or nitro) finish, or a little bit to the finish, or a tiny bit to the finish, I’m good with it.
Listening back to my earlier recordings, they definitely sound different from recent ones, even straight into the same or similar amps. The earlier pickups seem hotter (though maybe that’s just a different tone emphasis) and the recordings from those eras were more mid-centered and woolly compared to new pickup recordings. Recent pickups are clearer, and sharper - especially nice for clean tones - I think they’re more what I like to hear, more like the tones in my head.
There’s no, “I’m right, you’re wrong,” here. This doesn’t take a thing away from older models. I’d happily play any PRS I ever owned. Those old recordings sound just fine. But they’re different, and if I had to choose, I’d take the newer, post 2010 stuff (I think that’s around the time they came out with the 5x/0x series of pickups, and started the thinner paint?).