The story behind this... Saw one in my local Guitar Center in the Boston area. It was in the "good guitar" room, but being GC, it played and felt like cr@p. Rusted strings, high action, completely dull sounding. I was completely underwhelmed. It was during their October guitar promotion (I forget what their silly name is) and the price was fantastic, but even at that price, I wasn't convinced a new set of strings would have made much of a difference on that guitar. Fast forward a week... I was in Houston on business last week, and stopped by a GC there. In the good room, they had the same guitar, hanging up high on the wall, where grubby hands couldn't get to it. Played it, and it was perfect - clear tones, played beautifully, and felt just as a PRS should. It was November, and back to list price, but the sales guy agreed to give me the promotional price. I couldn't fly back with it, as I had too many bags, but they said they'd ship it to my local GC. I said great, but make sure I get this one. Delivered a few days later, and I open the box, only to find another beat up Angelus, tarnished strings, the Fishman electronics fallen out in transit - it was shipped from another local store. Couldn't believe it - was so pissed! Good salesguy at the store said he'd call Houston ("Houston... we have a problem") and make sure they ship the one in stock, if they still had it. I opened the box at GC today with trepidation, but the guitar gods were good to me - this is the one I played.

Pretty much "par for the course" for a GC purchasing experience, but this worked out well in the end. Haven't stopped playing this afternoon - learning Opeth's "Closure" (probably the most beautifully sinister sounding song ever recorded on an acoustic!)