NGD - 305 and Archtop

I was playing my 305 through a mesa lonestar last night on channel 2 and I was on a high most of the night as a result. The 305 pickups are fantastic for blues based music and are totally complimented by the warmth of the lonestar.
 
ozboy said:
I was playing my 305 through a mesa lonestar last night on channel 2 and I was on a high most of the night as a result. The 305 pickups are fantastic for blues based music and are totally complimented by the warmth of the lonestar.
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Nice! That's my set up as well. My amp search ended with the Boogie Lonestar Classic.
 
lonestar said:
Nice! That's my set up as well. My amp search ended with the Boogie Lonestar Classic.
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I found my tone love with my 513 and Lonestar. It's such a great combo in singlecoil or humbucker.

Congrats on both guitars!
 
lonestar said:
Thanks everyone. The 305 feels very strange in my hand since the Reg Pattern neck size is tiny compared to the Wide Fat necks I'm used to.
That's part of the reason why I put 11s on; I like the "fight" that I've grown accustomed to with my Hollowbodies. The Archtop is my dream come true. I went to GC to buy some picks and saw it hanging there. The price was so good that I bought it right then and there without even playing it. I had to wait 30 days to pick it up since it was just sold to GC the day before. Here are my other two PRSi... a Hollowbody 1 and a Hollowbody Spruce.

Now that I think about it... all of the PRSi I own are discontinued. Haha.
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OK, I am officially very jealous of your HB/Archtop collection.

So...how do you like the differences in the stoptails between the piezo-equipped HBI and the non-piezo spruce HB? My Spruce HB has a piezo, and sounds great, but I always wondered whether the simpler stop tail of the non-piezo gave a bit more sustain or something. And how do you like the differences in the maple-topped HBI and the Spruce HB? Acoustically or electric-pup wise do you hear the difference as obvious, or subtle?
 
shinksma said:
OK, I am officially very jealous of your HB/Archtop collection.

So...how do you like the differences in the stoptails between the piezo-equipped HBI and the non-piezo spruce HB? My Spruce HB has a piezo, and sounds great, but I always wondered whether the simpler stop tail of the non-piezo gave a bit more sustain or something. And how do you like the differences in the maple-topped HBI and the Spruce HB? Acoustically or electric-pup wise do you hear the difference as obvious, or subtle?
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I'm not sure if the stoptails themeslf provide much tonal difference; it's hard to say. The HB1 and HBSpruce are different in tone but not by much. I think the Spruce is a bit more squishy in it's attack but that might be attributed to the different woods or different pickups between the two. At a gig, the two Hollowbodies can be used interchangeably for me. The nuances of controlling their musical feedback is practically identical. Another note... I have those locking studs for the stoptail on the Hollowbodies. When I put those on, I did hear/feel a difference for sure. I plan to get a set for the Archtop as well.

I've found the piezo on my HB1 utterly atrocious sounding/feeling so I never use it... believe me, I gave it many chances at live gigs. My bandmates had a sort of "intervention" one day to tell me that the piezo tone sucks. Since then I've only used my acoustic guitar for acoustic sounds. I forgot what electric pickups I have in the Hollowbodies but I think they both have the stock neck pickup... the bridge pickups are different from what I remember. Unfortunately I don't remember what they are since I've tinkered with them so much. I think one of them is a JB.

The Archtop is hands down the best sounding of the 3 Hollowbodies... it's beefier and deeper. That's the only way I can describe it. The sonic spectrum of the clean and dirty sounds wildly exceeded my expectations. There's just so much musicality crammed into each note of the Archtop. That being said, it's not too different from the Hollowbodies either. That's a more of a compliment to the Hollowbodies because they too are so musical. They've been my only gigging guitars for the past 8 years and I'm so deeply intimate with every aspect of the HB1 and Spruce.
 
lonestar said:
I've found the piezo on my HB1 utterly atrocious sounding/feeling so I never use it... believe me, I gave it many chances at live gigs. My bandmates had a sort of "intervention" one day to tell me that the piezo tone sucks. Since then I've only used my acoustic guitar for acoustic sounds.
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Interesting! I find the piezo to offer quite a good tone, especially when I run it through an EQ pedal and acoustic simulator pedal. But the piezo through a bit of dirt and reverb/delay is also quite nice. I seem to recall PRS changed the piezo system between 2006 (year of my HB) and a couple years ago - I wonder if you have the newer version? From what I recall, most people seemed to like the newer one...but maybe there is something about it that just doesn't jive with the rest of your rig.

Gah, now I want to go play my HB at loud volume, but I'm stuck as work for a bit longer. I should not hit this forum while on breaks - it makes it harder to get back to the non-music professional activity that pays the bills...
 
shinksma said:
Interesting! I find the piezo to offer quite a good tone, especially when I run it through an EQ pedal and acoustic simulator pedal. But the piezo through a bit of dirt and reverb/delay is also quite nice. I seem to recall PRS changed the piezo system between 2006 (year of my HB) and a couple years ago - I wonder if you have the newer version? From what I recall, most people seemed to like the newer one...but maybe there is something about it that just doesn't jive with the rest of your rig.

Gah, now I want to go play my HB at loud volume, but I'm stuck as work for a bit longer. I should not hit this forum while on breaks - it makes it harder to get back to the non-music professional activity that pays the bills...
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I believe my HB1 is a 2003. For what it's worth, I even hate piezo pickups in acoustic guitars. It thins out the sound too much for me. Some hybrid piezo/mic systems sound really good though.
 
The Archtop Spruce is one of those perfect guitars IMO. It's an ideal blend of shape, style, and wood, and although I feel that the Archtop pickups can be a bit limiting, they are simply sublime in that guitar, probably due to the spruce top and deep body. You'll love it. I've used mine with 10's and 11's, and it sounds equally good to the point that I still have no real preference.

And BTW....always wanted a 305 as well!
 
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Nice Archtop/Spruce Lonestar.! I recently picked up a '98, and absolutely love it. What a great guitar :D!!!
 
I really, really love the color of that 305. That is the color of the first Strat I saw and jones'd for when I was about 10. How do you like the sound of those pickups?
 
Aubs said:
I really, really love the color of that 305. That is the color of the first Strat I saw and jones'd for when I was about 10. How do you like the sound of those pickups?
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I absolutely love it. It's everything I wanted; Strat sounds + PRS look/feel. I especially love the quack in the 2 and 4 positions. I mostly play my Hollowbodies (2 Humbuckers), so this is a nice and versatile change for me. I think that the 305 pickups are a bit beefier than the quintessential Strat. However, I'm not a Strat connoisseur, so my assessment of that quintessential Strat sound might be totally off.

Here's a good representation of what it sounds like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0fsnsisPH0

I would post up a vid of myself, but I'm insecure. Haha.
 
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