Mark Holcomb Ltd Edition

Thanks, VHT! That's great news. Just saw one on ebay for a very good price, used. But it's jade green. I saw several others listed by dealers in colors I like. Wish there was a Black Gold one. Don't want to have to take out a second mortgage... Aaaaargh!

you know you want ittttt :) Blues purists would cringe (ceramic pickups, flat radius, etc etc) but I say this is a phenomenal guitar that is very versatile if you want it to be. I sense a lot of folks will sell their Holcombs because they are after fancier guitars with fancier specs but this guitar is not leaving me. Grab one while you can!
 
you know you want ittttt :) Blues purists would cringe (ceramic pickups, flat radius, etc etc) but I say this is a phenomenal guitar that is very versatile if you want it to be. I sense a lot of folks will sell their Holcombs because they are after fancier guitars with fancier specs but this guitar is not leaving me. Grab one while you can!

Drat! Now you've got me thinking. Because I ordered my SE CU24 with 59/09's from Sweetwater, I'm sure I could do the same with one of these in the right color. Now just need to think what pups. Black of course, but good for blues. It's really the flat radius and the ebony board that have put these bad thoughts in my head. My wife will probably kill me....
 
YAASSSS! Glad you got it, finally, VHT. I've played mine almost every day since I received it in June. This guitar still blows me away. It is THE keeper. If I ever have to buy another guitar, it'll be another Holcomb.

Just.. the best instrument I've ever played.
 
YAASSSS! Glad you got it, finally, VHT. I've played mine almost every day since I received it in June. This guitar still blows me away. It is THE keeper. If I ever have to buy another guitar, it'll be another Holcomb.

Just.. the best instrument I've ever played.

Ya man, I beyond blown away: the playability, looks, craftsmanship, versatility and tone are all A1 to me. I had wondered before what a long scale PRS with these kind of specs would be like.....and I have my answer.

The ONLY negative about this guitar? It has me thinking about a Private Stock Holcomb. Sigh.
 
Ya man, I beyond blown away: the playability, looks, craftsmanship, versatility and tone are all A1 to me. I had wondered before what a long scale PRS with these kind of specs would be like.....and I have my answer.

The ONLY negative about this guitar? It has me thinking about a Private Stock Holcomb. Sigh.

PLUS. ONE.
 
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Oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please
 
Ya, that seven of his is something else. Really cool that it is 26.5" scale as well. I have been holding out for a USA PRS seven and one like this would be pretty slick!
 
I think if PRS ever offered to make a HANGAR18 Signature Model guitar, I think it would wind up being something very standard that they already offer (or have offered) in their core line. It seems like a paradox to me that someone will say "I've liked PRS guitars for x# years" and then when they get their own signature model guitar, they come up with all these crazy specs. I guess I'm just not that picky.

I am again reminded that it is must be a natural human reaction to scoff at something which is very different than what you are accustomed to upon seeing or hearing it for the first time. My thinking has evolved over time and I will now fill you in on the details. Maybe you ought to sit down for this.

I bought one of these. This coming from a guy who had never heard of Mark Holcomb, never heard any of his songs, never heard of his pickups, never heard of Periphery, never heard of anything related to him prior to this very thread in this forum.

Long story short, I was looking for another PRS guitar and definitely wanted my next guitar to be Jade in color. The neck carve also had to be thin from front to back (I measure the neck carve thickness front to back at the 2nd and 12th frets) and to also find the right guitar with pickups that I hated would be icing on the cake because I have a set of 57/08's that I'd like to install into a PRS guitar. So I ran across the Jade Mark Holcomb signature model listing that they had at Sweetwater. I spent a lot of time looking at it but didn't see the value of having a guitar with those drastically different specs. Then one day the thought hit me... "I've already got one normal Custom 24 that I am using as a downtune guitar but this Mark Holcomb model is purpose built for downtuning! Why the hell don't you just buy the Mark Holcomb guitar and use THAT one as your downtune guitar and return your normal CU24 to standard tuning?! Eureka! THat it! I should do that!"

So I went back to the Sweetwater web site only to discover that I had waited too long. Someone else pulled the trigger and it was gone. Oh well, back to the drawing board. The search for another Jade PRS guitar continued. I looked everywhere. I even started trolling web sites for music stores in other countries. Nothing. But then one day, the Jade Mark Holcomb guitar suddenly re-appeared on the SW web site. Holy freekin' cow Batman! I called my sales guy at SW and this time it did not get away.

Critical Review:
* Did anyone realize that guitars come with a matte/satin/flat finish on the front of the body and not just on the back of the neck? I was almost shocked when I opened the case. I didn't know PRS would ever put a flat finish on a 10 Top. My next thought was "Oh well, WTH" and decided to go with it. This guitar as sort of a camouflage look to it which I think is really cool in addition to being Jade. I like the looks of it.
* Someone in this thread mentioned something about the neck carve being a dealbreaker. For comparison, I have a Gibson Les Paul at whom which was built to 1959 specifications. I refer to the neck carve on that as a big beefy neck or a Louisville Slugger baseball bat neck. That is the opposite of what I call a "thin neck". To me, thin means thin from front to back. I sold all of my PRS guitars which had a neck carve which was closer to Beefy than they were to Thin. The two CU24's I had before buying this Mark Holcomb model have what I call a Thin neck on them, so naturally I thought they must be classified as "Pattern Thin" but they are not. They are Pattern Regular. This Mark Holcomb model is listed as being a Pattern Thin. I just used calipers to measure the thickness of the carve of all three guitars (two pattern regulars and this new pattern thin) and they are all identical in thickness at the 2nd and 12th frets. The only difference I can tell between the Mark Holcomb neck and the CU24's I already had is that the Mark Holcomb fretboard is just a hair wider than the CU24's and identical in width to a normal Les Paul Standard before Gibson went to that whole 2015 model wide weirdness. Even with that slight difference, I can't tell the difference between the Pattern Thin and the Pattern Regular.
* Seymour Duncan Mark Holcomb signature pickups. FYI When someone tells you that pickups are articulate and that you can hear every little detail of pick attack, those pickups are micro-phonic and definitely not wax potted to correct such a thing. To play these Mark Holcomb SD pickups you've really got to have your sh!t together or else you will hear every little subtitle screwup imaginable. You will also need to have a fast hand on the volume control when you aren't playing because you will have to wrestle with these feedback monsters just like Ted Nugent playing a big hollow body through a Marshall stack. Fair warning. Or you can look at it like this. These pickups will make you a better player because they won't hide your faults.

Overall, I like it. I'm not sure about the pickups for now but I'll give them a chance. I think they may grow on me. I really like the longer scale length for down tuning and that will be the primary mission of this guitar for me. Now I can get my other CU24 back from the Cemetery Gates. (haha Get it? Did you like that one? lol) And now for your moment of zen...

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Oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please

THERE IS DEFINITELY A GOD. That is most assuredly Holcomb. Most assuredly, therefore, AMERICAN. Most assuredly a 7. If any guitar of PRS' lineup could be ultraworthy of American 7 string guitar patriarchal glory, it is the Holcomb. HANDS DOWN, and positioned excellently tone-wise to all other seven's with the Alpha/Omega 7 pickups. I WILL OWN THIS!!!
 
THERE IS DEFINITELY A GOD. That is most assuredly Holcomb. Most assuredly, therefore, AMERICAN. Most assuredly a 7. If any guitar of PRS' lineup could be ultraworthy of American 7 string guitar patriarchal glory, it is the Holcomb. HANDS DOWN, and positioned excellently tone-wise to all other seven's with the Alpha/Omega 7 pickups. I WILL OWN THIS!!!

So, what are you saying exactly? hahaha
 
HANGAR18, I am really glad that you gave the Holcomb a chance and are digging it! I still love the "traditional" spec PRS' s as well, but there isn't anything wrong with different. While this guy isn't your typical Custom 24 by a ways, it was still purpose built; everything about it is well thought out amd there for a reason. In one of the interviews, Mark said that Paul kind of questioned and fought him on some specs.....he wanted to know WHY he wanted things the way he did. Nothing wrong with that from either party! Either way: beautiful new Holcomb and great review!! :)

ViperDoc: I am afraid if you wanted that Holcomb you would have to get it from Mark! Haha! The real question is: will a Holcomb 7 be another special run? Methinks it is very possible. It sounds like both the Holcomb and Waring models did very well for them.

Heck man.....a 26.5" scale 7, with those specs?? It would sell like crazy and would probably even bring PRS new customers!
 
HANGAR18, I am really glad that you gave the Holcomb a chance and are digging it! I still love the "traditional" spec PRS' s as well, but there isn't anything wrong with different. While this guy isn't your typical Custom 24 by a ways, it was still purpose built; everything about it is well thought out amd there for a reason. In one of the interviews, Mark said that Paul kind of questioned and fought him on some specs.....he wanted to know WHY he wanted things the way he did. Nothing wrong with that from either party! Either way: beautiful new Holcomb and great review!! :)

ViperDoc: I am afraid if you wanted that Holcomb you would have to get it from Mark! Haha! The real question is: will a Holcomb 7 be another special run? Methinks it is very possible. It sounds like both the Holcomb and Waring models did very well for them.

Heck man.....a 26.5" scale 7, with those specs?? It would sell like crazy and would probably even bring PRS new customers!

Thank you. :)
 
HANGAR18, I am really glad that you gave the Holcomb a chance and are digging it! I still love the "traditional" spec PRS' s as well, but there isn't anything wrong with different. While this guy isn't your typical Custom 24 by a ways, it was still purpose built; everything about it is well thought out amd there for a reason. In one of the interviews, Mark said that Paul kind of questioned and fought him on some specs.....he wanted to know WHY he wanted things the way he did. Nothing wrong with that from either party! Either way: beautiful new Holcomb and great review!! :)

ViperDoc: I am afraid if you wanted that Holcomb you would have to get it from Mark! Haha! The real question is: will a Holcomb 7 be another special run? Methinks it is very possible. It sounds like both the Holcomb and Waring models did very well for them.

Heck man.....a 26.5" scale 7, with those specs?? It would sell like crazy and would probably even bring PRS new customers!

NO doubt, the Holcomb is a diamond. They need to rock the Holcomb 7. The heavier, proggier metal segment is definitely on an up-trend. The H7 would do battle with the Mayones/Jackson/Schecter market and do well. I hope those numbers pencil...
 
NO doubt, the Holcomb is a diamond. They need to rock the Holcomb 7. The heavier, proggier metal segment is definitely on an up-trend. The H7 would do battle with the Mayones/Jackson/Schecter market and do well. I hope those numbers pencil...

I think the Schecter buyers would pass out if they knew how much I paid for this guitar... I'm not sure they are ready for that but I would be happy to be wrong on this.
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What string gauge is everyone using on their Holcomb? Currently I am using the stock gauge (new set of DD 10-52) but I am really tempted to fit it with my all time fav set of DD 11-56. 10-52 is too flubby as I tend to really dig in,
 
I thought about putting 11's on mine. It came with 10's on it. But after playing it with the 10's and in consideration of the longer scale length and jumbo frets I don't think the 11's will add any improvement to the way it is right now. As is, it plays effortlessly. YMMV
 
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