Neck profile preference (speaking of rabbit holes...)

If it has frets and stays in tune, I’m ok with it. I’ve never developed a huge preference, though I can get comfy with one carve if I play it exclusively for a while. I guess that’s true for most people. Real tiny or super wide necks take some adjusting, but all of the PRS carves I’ve owned were close enough to jump one to the next.
 
The pattern vintage neck on my S2 594 is home!

Deciding that I want a second PRS but with a tremolo bridge has involved much reading and looking at charts in a vacuum. Feature wise, the SE custom 24-08 was at the top of the list but the wide thin neck was a concern,

A couple of days ago, I was able to spend some time with a SE Custom 22 Hollow with a wide thin neck at GC. To my surprise, it was very playable, not home but comfortable. So the 24-08 looks like a go.

The other serious consideration for a PRS with tremolo was the SE Santana with a desirable wide fat neck but without coil split pickups. So, can I play country, jazz, and surf with the Santana? I don't take much convincing. The very gold SC SE Santana came with TCI pickups but the newer DC has Santana S.
 
Pattern Regular used to be my favorite, especially when I bought this

77193-B05-DBEC-4433-9601-C4-FA71-E47133.jpg


but then I tried a Pattern neck carve with this and immediately preferred it

image.jpg


Then this came along and ruined all other neck carves for me

9718C0A3-D480-4694-9875-50D8FD62E795.jpg


When I had the courage and funds to order my own PS, Pattern Vintage was the only way to go!

AECAEC29-5623-42CA-B57B-9327D630B286.jpg


As I’ve gotten older, thicker necks cause less hand pain for me. While I can get along fine with wide/fat and pattern, pattern regular is becoming more difficult. Which is a problem because my only guitar with that neck carve is my pernambuco neck which sounds amazing. First world problems I guess….
 
Pattern Regular used to be my favorite, especially when I bought this

77193-B05-DBEC-4433-9601-C4-FA71-E47133.jpg


but then I tried a Pattern neck carve with this and immediately preferred it

image.jpg


Then this came along and ruined all other neck carves for me

9718C0A3-D480-4694-9875-50D8FD62E795.jpg


When I had the courage and funds to order my own PS, Pattern Vintage was the only way to go!

AECAEC29-5623-42CA-B57B-9327D630B286.jpg


As I’ve gotten older, thicker necks cause less hand pain for me. While I can get along fine with wide/fat and pattern, pattern regular is becoming more difficult. Which is a problem because my only guitar with that neck carve is my pernambuco neck which sounds amazing. First world problems I guess….
Those are all gorgeous but the pattern regular blue is just next level.
 
Those are all gorgeous but the pattern regular blue is just next level.
It is - a one off Collection grade woods. Select dealers were allowed to custom spec a unique Collection grade PS as a thank you for selling the Collection Series when those runs first started. This was dreamed up by Jim, owner of Guitar Resurrection who has been a PRS dealer since 1985.
 
I started PRS in the 90's, and like many, I bought into the thicker neck=thicker tone ideology, and there's something to that theory. That's back when wide/fat was all that was coming into the guitar shops. Got a CU22, got used to the 2x4 feel of it, bought more PRSi, until one day I got my hands on a wide/thin neck 408.... ... then it was all over. It fit my hand like a glove.
So much that when I sent my HB to Maryland for a refinish, I had it recarved to thin.
I'm even in the process of reshaping the neck to thin on my SCHB project.
 
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Wide Fat / Pattern Regular / Pattern / DGT are the ones I really like. I have a couple with WF necks from 2006 that are pretty darn thick. They are thicker than my newer models, noticeably. The only one that I am not super fond of is my CU22 with a Wide Thin neck. I can play it with no issues but really prefer the WF and 22 frets of my CU22 from the same year.
 
Wide Fat. I had an SC58 with some kind of Pattern neck and didn't like it, too small. All my current PRS are older and have Wide Fat. Not interested in any other neck from PRS.
 
Wide Fat. I had an SC58 with some kind of Pattern neck and didn't like it, too small. All my current PRS are older and have Wide Fat. Not interested in any other neck from PRS.
Now I am wondering what profile my SC-58 has. I thought they were all the same but do not know that 100% for sure.

I pulled it out to check. Mine has the Pattern neck profile. Mine is a one off in a custom color and it has 57/08s in both positions instead of the 59/09 in the neck. Therefore, mine may be different but I don't know for sure.
 
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I don't know what Pattern neck mine was. I didn't know about the code on the sticker in the pickup compartment at the time. If I could find a guitar with just a Pattern neck, I'd like to give it a whirl.
 
Now I am wondering what profile my SC-58 has. I thought they were all the same but do not know that 100% for sure.

I pulled it out to check. Mine has the Pattern neck profile. Mine is a one off in a custom color and it has 57/08s in both positions instead of the 59/09 in the neck. Therefore, mine may be different but I don't know for sure.

Wide Fat. I had an SC58 with some kind of Pattern neck and didn't like it, too small. All my current PRS are older and have Wide Fat. Not interested in any other neck from PRS.

The SC58 typically has 57/08 in both positions, not a 59/09. *even though it was listed somewhere by PRS for this configuration, I always see them with 57/08.

I'll be honest I get PRS neck shape names confused sometimes. The SC58 has a pattern neck which is an updated wide fat. Here's a link with more info..


 
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My DGT is the best neck I’ve ever owned. Without the binding, which makes it feel smaller, less wide.. it’s perfect.
I do like the wide fat neck (no binding) as well
 
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