New SSH came with Repair from Factory

[JasonE]

I'm not agreeing with it, but on the flip side it wouldn't be an issue to lose my serenity over. So far down my list of concerns.. I was more upset at a Les Paul I bought new that the strap button came out the first week or two of ownership. If Gibson had addressed the issue at the factory with a dowel that may have never happened.

I had 4 Fender guitars that had the top screw come out of them. They drilled the hole too big before they put the screw in. All seemed good until the weight of the guitar was on the button for a while. I had to fix all of them by pushing some slivers of oak into the holes with some wood glue then putting the screw back in. I had zero issues after that.

I would rather see it fixed the way I did mine than to drill a much bigger hole to put a dowel in it. That is an extreme fix IMHO. I understand there are times when that fix is needed but not sure this is one of those times. The part that would really fire me up is the fact that it looks like they just hammered the dowel in there and moved on. They didn't have one that fully filled the hole and they left it raw. They could have put a full piece in there so it was fully filled and flush, put some stain on it and touched the finish up on it to make it look much better than that.

I just can't imagine that Paul would be okay with how this was fixed and how it looks if he saw it. I am betting he would not be happy at all with it.

 

[bodia]

Regardless of what it looks like, it is the process. You can see it clearly here. I'm not saying I'd be happy with it, or not. Just stating facts.

 

[SinSir]

I had 4 Fender guitars that had the top screw come out of them. They drilled the hole too big before they put the screw in. All seemed good until the weight of the guitar was on the button for a while. I had to fix all of them by pushing some slivers of oak into the holes with some wood glue then putting the screw back in. I had zero issues after that.

I would rather see it fixed the way I did mine than to drill a much bigger hole to put a dowel in it. That is an extreme fix IMHO. I understand there are times when that fix is needed but not sure this is one of those times. The part that would really fire me up is the fact that it looks like they just hammered the dowel in there and moved on. They didn't have one that fully filled the hole and they left it raw. They could have put a full piece in there so it was fully filled and flush, put some stain on it and touched the finish up on it to make it look much better than that.

I just can't imagine that Paul would be okay with how this was fixed and how it looks if he saw it. I am betting he would not be happy at all with it.

Toothpicks have been my friend more than once.. just citing an example of where it was worse, in my opinion, that it wasn't addressed at all, and maybe not even thought of?

Looks like crap, sure, covered up, yes. Is it structurally sound? If so, I'd move on and enjoy a sweet guitar. That's me. Others do what they want, cool with me.

 

[mintakka]

I’m really of two minds about it. Mostly my negatively is stemming from the sub-par job they did in this particular instance rather than the plug itself. I am 100% sure I could have done a better job of it myself - which is disappointing for a $4500 guitar from a company with a strong (and deserved!) reputation for quality.

I’m probably going to send a message to PRS later tonight. Maybe they’ll offer to have it shipped back to re-install the plug a little better. I’m sure the glue is strong but honestly the gap around the side makes me a little nervous. But all in all I definitely want to keep this guitar!

 

[JasonE]

Regardless of what it looks like, it is the process. You can see it clearly here. I'm not saying I'd be happy with it, or not. Just stating facts.

They have been doing it this way for decades. How has it become a problem with them ripping the hanger out of the body in the past few years? It obviously wasn't a problem before recent years. We would have seen people posting about this all over the place. This is something that will bring them a lot of bad press. If the repairs look like the one pictured here, the bad press is deserved IMHO.

 

[JasonE]

I’m really of two minds about it. Mostly my negatively is stemming from the sub-par job they did in this particular instance rather than the plug itself. I am 100% sure I could have done a better job of it myself - which is disappointing for a $4500 guitar from a company with a strong (and deserved!) reputation for quality.

I’m probably going to send a message to PRS later tonight. Maybe they’ll offer to have it shipped back to re-install the plug a little better. I’m sure the glue is strong but honestly the gap around the side makes me a little nervous. But all in all I definitely want to keep this guitar!

I think you have every reason to be upset with this. I would be very upset with that repair job. That looks like amateur work and that guitar was expensive.

 

[bodia]

They have been doing it this way for decades. How has it become a problem with them ripping the hanger out of the body in the past few years? It obviously wasn't a problem before recent years. We would have seen people posting about this all over the place. This is something that will bring them a lot of bad press. If the repairs look like the one pictured here, the bad press is deserved IMHO.

I did say that I’m not sure I’d be happy, or not. Heck, they could all look like this for who knows how long. You’d never know unless you took the strap button off. I’ve got a Miles Kennedy, and DW Hardtail that are both due for lockers. Maybe I’ll try to get to that tomorrow and post some pics.

 

[DISTORT6]

I've never seen that from the factory. That also doesn't seem like PRS quality to me and I would not be happy if that were the standard method. I get that its a hollow body but there has to be a better way than that.

What Would You Do?

Went to put strap locks on my 1 day old Core McCarty and when I removed the button on the butt, I found an enlarged hole with what appears to be a plug insert. Not really happy about this on a $5K guitar. Already sent a pic to PRS and waiting on a reply...

forums.prsguitars.com

Received a rapaired PRS Silver Sky? (solved)

A few days ago I ordered online a PRS Silver Sky in Roxy Pink from what I thought was a reputable seller from Germany. Before ordering, when I saw that it was in stock, I called and asked if it was a brand new guitar, and was assured that the guitar was new, no previous owner, no B-Stock or...

forums.prsguitars.com

Have you looked at these past posts that @alantig posted?

 

[Maxime Bousquet]

I install schaller lock on all my guitars and afterwards I have peace of mind, personally I would be very happy with this superb guitar!

 

[MWebster]

You never know. That little bit of opening in the finish may, in fact, give a core it's open and airy tone. Could be the secret sauce to all of it. Especially depending on what wood species of dowel is used.

 

[László]

Just curious what other folks take on this is...

I purchased this guitar (Core Special Semi Hollow) new from a local dealer (at MSRP, via trade credit) last month - guitar hang tag was signed in August. I went to install my strap locks today and found that the bottom strap button hole apparently had some issue that they repaired at the factory by plugging the hole with a dowel and re-drilling.

On the one hand - yeah obviously not a big deal. You can't see it when the button is mounted.

On the other hand - it's a brand new PRS Core model. Its a disappointing find. My main concern is if I ever sold this guitar it hurts the value.

Is it worth getting in touch with PRS over? I'm not even sure what they would do or what my expectation would be. Just disappointed.

It's not a repair.

That's how PRS has been doing it since 2021. Their painting process requires hanging the guitars by the strap button hole, and it's easily damaged, so they now use a dowel that can be easily replaced. You can see it on the video at 4:41.

That is a stock guitar, not a repair job. I had one on my Special Semi Hollow Artist and asked my dealer, then found this video that confirms it.

 

[xxxadixxx]

I put Schallers on all of my guitars the second they walk through the door and honestly, I have never looked for a plug. First off, the Schaller screw is wider than the PRS factory screw so it is already altering the hole. Second, the dowel repair is a totally acceptable word working solution. I use it in my furniture all the time. Finally, just like I do not look at (nor care about) the finish under the pick-ups, input jack, or electronics cavity, I do not look at the finish under the strap buttons. The only way I would see this impacting the value of the guitar is if this was there because they moved the strap button, i.e. now there are two holes. Otherwise it is simply how the guitar is made.

It is also important to understand that finishing over the dowel would do more harm than good. The finish on the mahagony would not bond to the finish on the dowel as it is already cured. The dowel is likely made from pine and thus has a different hardness and moisture content. Putting a spot finish on it would lead to a visible/physical seam and it is likely the new finish would simply crack off of such a small area.

 

[bodia]

They have been doing it this way for decades. How has it become a problem with them ripping the hanger out of the body in the past few years? It obviously wasn't a problem before recent years. We would have seen people posting about this all over the place. This is something that will bring them a lot of bad press. If the repairs look like the one pictured here, the bad press is deserved IMHO.

Again, it is not a "repair." As I stated yesterday, I had some guitars that needed lockers installed. Here are 4 pictures from a 2023 Miles Kennedy, 2023 DW Hardtail, 2020 Paul's Guitar, and a 1994 CE-22. Pics first, and then some thoughts/comments.

2023 Miles Kennedy

2023 DW Hardtail

2020 Paul's Guitar

1994 CE-22

First, the CE, I'd ignore this one. The original owner replaced the stock buttons with a locker, but the screw has a diameter considerably smaller than the original screw. It looks like there is glue in there, but I'm not sure if that bare wood looks like mahogany or whatever they use for the dowel. Regardless, you can see how small the dowel is by the footprint in the finish from the button. Actually, you can see this on all of the pictures.

Next, the MK. It's pretty small, to be sure. I guess how much you can of the plug is dependent on how much of the finish chips when they put the strap button on.

On to the DW Hardtail. I'd say this is the hardest to see, and I believe that is due to the satin finish. Nothing to chip to allow more to be seen.

Finally, the PG. This one, to me, looks the closest to the OP's picture. You can clearly see how small this dowel is, and the amount that is exposed because you can see the faint footprint of the strap button in the finish.

Everyone can feel free to have their own opinion. Mine is; this is inconsequential, and I would never give it a second thought. YMMV.

 

[rwandering]

I wouldn't care about it; no judgement on those who would (or do).

 

[László]

They have been doing it this way for decades. How has it become a problem with them ripping the hanger out of the body in the past few years? It obviously wasn't a problem before recent years. We would have seen people posting about this all over the place. This is something that will bring them a lot of bad press. If the repairs look like the one pictured here, the bad press is deserved IMHO.

Jason, as I understand it (info from my very well known and respected dealer) they made some changes to the painting system, and haven't been doing it that way for decades.

I have no idea what those paint system changes are.

As I said, and showed in the video, it isn't a repair. It's supposed to be there.

Whatever works that doesn't affect the tone/look of the guitars I'm fine with. But I keep the stock strap buttons on, anyway. The only reason I learned about this is that I had a strap button on a new guitar I received in 2021 that was loose; they simply replaced the dowel. Very simple and elegant fix since that's what was there in the first place.

I'm pretty finicky, and it didn't bother me at all.

 

[László]

Everyone can feel free to have their own opinion. Mine is; this is inconsequential, and I would never give it a second thought. YMMV.

I wouldn't give it a second thought, either; and didn't.

 

[JasonE]

Jason, as I understand it (info from my very well known and respected dealer) they made some changes to the painting system, and haven't been doing it that way for decades.

I have no idea what those paint system changes are.

As I said, and showed in the video, it isn't a repair. It's supposed to be there.

Whatever works that doesn't affect the tone/look of the guitars I'm fine with. But I keep the stock strap buttons on, anyway. The only reason I learned about this is that I had a strap button on a new guitar I received in 2021 that was loose; they simply replaced the dowel. Very simple and elegant fix since that's what was there in the first place.

I'm pretty finicky, and it didn't bother me at all.

What I meant by saying they have been doing it this way for decades is how they hang the bodies to paint them. There are old videos of them spraying bodies that looks just like the video in this thread. I am just not sure what would have changed that now makes them drill out the body and install a dowel that didn't have to be done in the past. I am now wondering if they did this to my SC-58 that they refinished a couple of years ago. I didn't notice it when I put the strap locks back on it but I may pull it out in the near future and pull the strap button to see. I surely would have noticed it if it looked like the one that was posted in this thread.

 

[vchizzle]

I am not sure that is how they make all of them. I have solid body and hollow body PRS guitars and I have never seen anything like that, including the PRS guitars I have worked on for other people. From the picture that looks like a bad job of patching an issue. I can't believe they wouldn't try to make it a nice tight fit and put some finish over it to blend it in. I would have much less of an issue with it if it were done that way. This looks like some guy in a Guitar Center that didn't know what the heck he was doing did the work.

Agreed. Appears the strap button was over tightened, snapped the screw…with a bad repair job. Not convinced that is a factory repair. I’ve done this job and made it look near new. I’m not a qualified repair tech, just someone who’s fairly handy.

 

[László]

What I meant by saying they have been doing it this way for decades is how they hang the bodies to paint them.

It's possible there's a new machine or system in place.

I have no other info than what Jack Gretz told me. But I implicitly trust Jack and the info he gets from PRS.

What I do know is that a strap button dowel doesn't make one iota of difference to the quality and tone of the guitars. My 2023 DGT is absolutely the finest sounding PRS Core guitar I've ever owned, and also one of the nicest looking. It can compete favorably with my earlier PS models.

That's truly saying something, dowel or no dowel.

I think at times we guitarists are somewhat fetishistic. I include myself in this criticism, by the way.

 

[DISTORT6]

Pre-dowel guitars are more valuable. Pre-factory, pre-lawsuit, pre-dowel guitars are the new Private Stock.