My first vintage PRS

[markd21]

I had been wanting one of these for a little while. I was drawn to it's quirky appearance. I really enjoy using unique guitars on stage. It captures people's attention and often will establish interaction after we play....

Anyway - the guitar.....

1990 PRS EG4!!!!!!!!!



I really wanted an EG3, but whatever. I got this one for a nice price - no case, hang tags, etc. That's always a bummer, but for this guitar and price I was totally OK with it. It came in pretty rough condition, so the first thing I did was completely disassemble it, clean it, and "rebuild" it.

Here's some shots I took during the process:





When I removed the pickguard, I thought it was REALLY cool to see the build date (or whatever) in pencil on the neck....



The wiring is nasty. This one has the two master tone controls. Weird, right? Actually, once I looked at it, I realized it was pretty clever.....one cap is a .022u and the other is a .047u. Gives you options!! Personally, I find both useless, lol....

 

[bodia]

Looks fookin' bada$$!!!! Looking forward to your tone write up!

 

[markd21]

Continuing....

The bridge was NASTY too - dusty, mucked up.....I was VERY excited to uninstall it. I even removed all the saddles to clean around those. The funk of 40,000 years was hanging tough around the springs. It needed to be cleaned badly and I have never seen the Mil-Com bridge person....



It needed new springs, too. When I got the guitar the bridge was cocked forward, and no matter how I adjusted the claw it wouldn't float right. So after being cleaned I noticed that the plating was flaking off....



That's ok. It adds to the vibe, lol....

 

[markd21]

The pickups are odd-balls. The bridge pickup is an SD '59 NECK pickup. Odd, but it sounds really good in that spot. I looked on the SD site, and saw that the output was similar to a hotter single coil, so...….I guess I'll leave it for now. The middle pickup is stock - I am guessing the SD SSL1. The neck is a DiMarzio stacked single



Tonally, the guitar kind of sucks at this point. The bridge pickup sounds great alone, but bites in the bridge/middle position. It's not wired to split, so it doesn't sound right with the middle pickup. The middle pickup sounds great alone, but sucks mixed with the neck position. The neck position just sucks. I have never been a fan of stacked singles....

It's fun to play, and it has some serious vibe in the pickup positions that DO sound good. I hear the potential. In fact, I know exactly what I want to hear from this guitar, lol. I am already anticipating the changes.....

Here's what's coming:

1) Seymour Duncan Jimi Hendrix pickup set
2) Tone Man Guitar "The Blues 64" wiring harness for Strat
3) A Parchment SSS pickguard for an EG3 set-up

Here's the description of the harness:

"The Blues 64 Strat kit uses the best audio taper pots, vintage PIO .1uf tone cap just like Fender used in the 50's and early 60's in many models. Now we have added 2 great features, (1) Special volume / tone frequency filter component that helps remove any Ice Pick type sound but still allows those sweet high frequencies thru with better response between volume and tone control and less treble loss (2) Our special tone control wiring for T1 control of the neck and middle pickup & T2 control of the bridge pickup only.

This kit gives you the very best vintage clean tone from which you can dial in from your controls, amp or pedal settings for your favorite genre of sound. Rock, Jazz, County, Rockabilly and YES that SRV / Jimi Blues Growl. You will Love This Tone!"

I dig the idea of having a tone on the bridge pickup (like the Silver Sky, lol). I am figuring this EG will turn out to be a pretty awesome guitar.

 

[markd21]

The playability is VERY nice. SO is the balance. I have been enjoying playing it, as is, but am looking forward to the mods. Here are some glamour shots for all to enjoy!!!

The body is SEXY. The contours and slightly varied shape is what made the EG3/4 more attractive to me....











At first I thought the color was HIDEOUS, but it has grown on me and I am digging it!!!! I LOVE how the light reflects off those curves!!!

 

[veinbuster]

Bloody brilliant!
It looks fantastic.

 

[shinksma]

Cool! I would want to try to get those pups back to stock, or at least into a trio that play well together!

 

[markd21]

Looks fookin' bada$$!!!! Looking forward to your tone write up!

Thanks! I haven't been SOOOOOO pumped about a guitar in a while. I am gonna be doing a review for my YouTube channel. It'll be a before/after deal - as is now, and then after I change it to a Hendrix/Mayer EG3....

Bloody brilliant!
It looks fantastic.

Thanks man!!!! I am LOVING it!!!!

 

[bodia]

Thanks! I haven't been SOOOOOO pumped about a guitar in a while. I am gonna be doing a review for my YouTube channel. It'll be a before/after deal - as is now, and then after I change it to a Hendrix/Mayer EG3....



Thanks man!!!! I am LOVING it!!!!

Sweet! I approve of your pending mods, too!

 

[g.wizz]

The playability is VERY nice. SO is the balance. I have been enjoying playing it, as is, but am looking forward to the mods. Here are some glamour shots for all to enjoy!!!

The body is SEXY. The contours and slightly varied shape is what made the EG3/4 more attractive to me....











At first I thought the color was HIDEOUS, but it has grown on me and I am digging it!!!! I LOVE how the light reflects off those curves!!!

A grest score, the color is similar to the Egyptian gold somewhat. Enjoy making it your own

 

[markd21]

Sweet! I approve of your pending mods, too!

Right on!!!

The pickups should be here tomorrow, and the harness by Friday. The pickguard is ordered, but will take a couple of weeks more.....

I was REALLY considering getting a Fender Hendrix strat. I like how the "backwards" pickups sound. My favorite strat I EVER had (even more than the vintage one) was a Custom Shop VooDoo Stratocaster I had ages ago (early 2000s, I think). In this case I won't have the reverse bridge pickup. I DID think about getting the guard cut with the single all facing the opposite direction - but after looking at TONS of EG3 pictures, the stock slant is RAD.

The Hendrix pickups are Alnico 5 with a 6.07 DC Resistance in every position. That combined with the "Blues 64" wiring should get me in the range of an even toned, responsive instrument that will KILL...

At least I hoping, lol.

 

[Andrew Paul]

Really cool guitar! I’m so looking forward to the YouTube video. Does it have original tuners? I thought that model had winged locking tuners?

 

[mojo1fan]

Awesome! I had one of those, except mine looked more like a urine sample than true gold.

 

[markd21]

Really cool guitar! I’m so looking forward to the YouTube video. Does it have original tuners? I thought that model had winged locking tuners?

Sweet!! I'll post it over here when I am done. Probably be a couple of weeks. As far as the tuners, according to the PRS support page:

EG BOLT-ON SERIES I: 1990 – 1991. New squarer shape. Alder body, maple neck, 22-fret rosewood fretboard. EG3 s/s/s and EG4 s/s/h, scratch plate mounted pickups. Volume, twin tones, 5-way selector, PRS tremolo, Schaller non-locking tuners.

This guitar has non-locking Schallers.

Awesome! I had one of those, except mine looked more like a urine sample than true gold.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA, yeah - this is kind of that way!!!!! Like g.wizz said, it's kind of like Egyptian Gold - but not quite.

 

[jfb]

That's a hot guitar. Congrats.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Bangin’! I love that color!


Oh, and..... dibs.

 

[markd21]

Bangin’! I love that color!


Oh, and..... dibs.

Thanks!! And....

It's all yours if I move it on!!!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Thanks!! And....

It's all yours if I move it on!!!

Sweet! Such cool guitars, and sooooo Joe Knaggs.

 

[Eddie kim]

I like gooooold....

 

[Boogie]

I’d drop an Andy Timmons pup set in that in a heartbeat! Bada$$ed color, vibe and impending mods...congrats on a killer!