Newbie question about PRS ranking.

[DCDetector]

Not sure if this subject is controversial or not but I got's the ask. I'm looking to buy my first PRS and I want a good one.

For Fenders you have a ranking of:

Squire
MIM, MIJ (made in Mexico/Japan)
Stratocaster
Stratocaster Classic
Stratocaster Standard
Stratocaster Deluxe

Gibson you have:

Epiphone
Les Paul
Les Paul Studio
Les Paul Classic
Les Paul Standard
Les Paul Custom

What are the rankings for PRS guitars?

Thanks

 

[jay]

From good to stellar:
SE
S2
Core
Private Stock

So if you want a good one, anyone will go

(Welcome!)

 

[Maertl513]

@jay,
SE Standard
SE
S2
Core
Artist Package
Private Stock (second best: order driven by trader; best: order driven by private customer)

And then there are the Periscope guitars, composed by Paul and his Private Stock Division after asking the net community...

 

[kes7u]

Welcome.

I use the following rankings, but YMMV.

1) My PRSs
2) Everyone else's PRSs

Kevin

 

[xjbebop]

yep.... they're all good. Just figure out your budget and start shopping.....

...then start saving for your next one.....

 

[markm]

don't they have an S2 standard now, just before the regular S2
and they also have the CE back this year.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

SE Standard
SE
S2
CE
core
Artist Package/Wood Library
Private Stock

 

[bodia]

You really can't go wrong. They're all outstanding specimens and show what quality is all about.

 

[Maertl513]

@Dusty Chalk,
I added CE to Core, though I assume the mixture of US produced wooden parts combined with Asian spare parts would be more S2 than Core. CE as a class of one's own could be the better proposal actually.
I forgot Wood Library. :-(

 

[garrett]

SE Standard
SE
S2
CE
core
Artist Package/Wood Library
Private Stock

This is closest in my mind.

They're all consistently good at any level, though.

 

[BrianC]

I have both an Artist Package and a Wood Library - I believe a WL is a higher ranking.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

And then you gotta sammich Collection guitars in there too.

 

[kes7u]

I have both an Artist Package and a Wood Library - I believe a WL is a higher ranking.

In what way? Just curious. This was not my belief.

Kevin

 

[Dusty Chalk]

@Dusty Chalk,
I added CE to Core, though I assume the mixture of US produced wooden parts combined with Asian spare parts would be more S2 than Core. CE as a class of one's own could be the better proposal actually.
I forgot Wood Library. :-(

I was told that CE are part of the S2 collection during a recent email exchange with a vendor, but I rank them a tad higher, although not by much. I think the fact that you lumped them in with core confirms that ranking -- so...yeah, somewhere between the two.

I have both an Artist Package and a Wood Library - I believe a WL is a higher ranking.

I think we're getting really grey area with artist package and wood library, hence why I lumped them together. I have an artist package Paul's Guitar and a Wood Library Custom 24 -- they're fairly incomparable.

And I agree that they are all excellent values within their rankings. In many cases, there are no equivalents in certain categories -- the only 7-strings one can get are SE and Private Stock, so nothing else matters. The only Holcombs you can get these days are either SE new ones, or used core models.

Strictly speaking, there are really only four categories, so if you want to keep it simple, it's:

SE
S2
core
Private Stock

And then you gotta sammich Collection guitars in there too.

Yeah, I was totally losing track of all the different variations, so decided to stop.

 

[HANGAR18]

Oooh-oooh-oooh! My turn!

SE Standard
SE
S2
CE
core
Artist Package/Wood Library
Private Stock
Collection http://www.prsguitars.com/index.php/privatestock/collection

Ha! Top that!

 

[HANGAR18]

Oooh-oooh-oooh! My turn!

SE Standard
SE
S2
CE
core
Artist Package/Wood Library
Private Stock
Collection http://www.prsguitars.com/index.php/privatestock/collection

Ha! Top that!

PRS Dragon Guitars.

 

[Whitecat]

Wood Library can fall at several places on the spectrum. There are WLs that are below Artist Packs, ("mere" 10-tops) - some WLs that are described as Artist Packs and priced as such, and some WL builds that have "Private Stock level" timbers (maybe just a neck or fretboard, maybe a top) - so it's tough to place that.

PRS puts the CEs in a category they call "bolt-ons" which seem to fall between S2 and Core models. The Brent Mason sig is also in this category.

Finally, if you want to get granular, I'd say there's an argument that "10-top Core" falls between "regular" Core and Artist Pack since it's virtually all cosmetic anyway.

Then there are umpteen "limited" models that hit various parts of the spectrum too... for example, a Core model that is otherwise the same but with a solid rosewood neck... that must fall "above Core" too...

TL;DR it's complicated.

 

[rugerpc]

Ha! Top that!

SE Standard
SE
S2
CE
Core standard
Core
Core 10 top
Artist Package
Signature
Wood Library
Private Stock
Collection
Paul's own personal guitar of the moment, presented by the man himself.

But realistically...
The top ranked PRS is the one that speaks to you that you can afford.

 

[László]

You know, as much as I love my PS guitars and WL model, and have loved all the Core and Artist models I've owned, I think the most sensible thing is to treat them all individually, since every individual instrument has its own thing going.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

For the record -- MHO -- I prefer SE to S2 in most cases, I was more going along with the analogy to Big F and Big G, and their pricing and self-ranking. I think very highly of World Musical Instrument Co. I think the MIM/MIJ are more analogous to the SE range, and the Epiphone/Squier are more analogous to the S2 range. Gibson probably go more like: Epiphone, Gibson USA, Gibson Custom Shop, and Gibson Memphis, although those last two might be switched. Their custom shop isn't really analogous to Private Stock, they're more semi-custom, so more analogous to wood library or artist package.

Totally left out the Telecasters, SGs, 335s, and the like.