So folks this is a special one and a long one. I think this qualifies as a short story or maybe even a novella.
I have traditionally been a Les Paul player (played only an Epi for about 10 years) and started getting into PRSs about 4 years back. My first, a Custom 22 didn't really rock my boat too much but my early 594 Singlecut, , hit all the right chords and became my number one for gigging with my hard rock band in Singapore.
However my own original music has a completely different flavour, dark, gloomy, daresay Gothic, tritone and riff drenched in equal measure. My band refuses to play it for fear of falling into depression or an Edgar Allen Poe short story, but luckily my wife is usually game (not only did she get me the aforesaid 594, she 'starred' in a video we made for the Guitarist contest a year back)
If you haven't been impatient and scrolled straight to the bottom, you can probably guess what my dream guitar would be. A Les Paul inspired PRS with major Gothic vibes? Did someone cough 'graveyard ii' at the back?
PRS has never heard of me. But they might as well have understood my deepest desires and hewn it into wood and metal. Let's just say I didn't sleep much in early December 2018
So getting this guitar hasn't been easy. Firstly, there would be none coming to Singapore so I would have to rely on trips overseas to get one, assuming they didn't sell out the moment they came (I spotted an NGD on this forum before December was even over which really brought out the green monster) Secondly the price. Beyond the sheer cash outlay, I struggled with the thought of paying 3X or so more than a normal PRS, for a guitar I already had (594) for mere cosmetic changes. The head was quite insistent on this one.
The head kept winning. Even when I had business trips to Japan and saw an example in person in Ochanomizu Tokyo, though it helped that that one was exorbitantly priced, compared to the US pricing. Also the ones I saw had a very tight flame and I preferred a wider one so the heart didn't protest too much.
I blew the budget I set aside on a Modern Eagle 1 which was also on my bucket list, figuring the Graveyard II would happen one day but many many years later and hopefully the price wouldn't have risen too much.
Then one day while scrolling through the interwebs, I found out that there was a Korean dealer which had a crazy amount of PRSs. The website wasn't very intuitive and somehow google translate didn't work,so it would be a full month later when I would finally spot it.
The perfect PRS Graveyard II. The perfect top. And the perfect back, with a pattern different to any other Graveyard II, but once I had seen it, it could only be this guitar. And no other Graveyard II.
The months passed. I kept checking the website to see it was available. It was there for the longest time but
one day it disappeared.
I was so disappointed and completely annoyed with myself. Also a little relieved since I didn't really have the spare cash thanks to said Modern Eagle 1.
Then came the first piece of the puzzle. I usually work on Japan but business needs meant I needed to looking at Korea. No trips just yet but it was in the offing.
Puzzle piece 2. Two months later, the business trip. Hectic with no time on the weekdays. But my wife decided to tag along and with an extended weekend, we decided to make a small trip out of it. The days were endless but Saturday arrived.
It was raining hard but I found my way to the store. Which despite the extensive collection is a little more than a hole in the ground with guitar cases and boxes strewn about in warehouse fashion. I wasn't really thinking too much about the graveyard as I thought it was sold so I was more interested in a couple of P245s which they had deals going on.
Initially it was a bit of a nightmare. No one spoke a word of English. Guitar shopping in Japan had spoilt me to expect great service and passable communication, but here we were at the mercy of Google translate. Also since most of the guitars were in storage, it literally took 10 minutes for the guys to get a single guitar out and in the absence of communication and very aloof body language, I almost felt that the staff couldn't give a sh**.
I was about to leave. But I didn't. And I also did one more thing while waiting. Checking their website again. And as if by magic, it was back. The Graveyard II was on the website again. The listing I had poured over in such detail for months was present word by word. Who knows? Perhaps there had been a bug the last time I checked.
No prizes for guessing what happened next. I think the pictures suffice.
Also next to my trusty #1. I don't know if you can see but the raven's heart finish is brighter and deeper than any PRS red I have ever seen before. It makes my burnt maple leaf Wood Library guitar look positively dull in comparison.
More impressions and a video to come but what I can tell you is the guitar is an absolute dream and exactly what I expected. Sustaining as impressive as the best of Les Paul's but with impeccable clarity. In case you are wondering, A Bing vs. the 'regular' 594 is on the 'to do ' list.
Anyways thank you for reading. And pardon the excitement.
P.S: In case you are wondering. Yes, I am hopelessly broke as of this moment.
I have traditionally been a Les Paul player (played only an Epi for about 10 years) and started getting into PRSs about 4 years back. My first, a Custom 22 didn't really rock my boat too much but my early 594 Singlecut, , hit all the right chords and became my number one for gigging with my hard rock band in Singapore.
However my own original music has a completely different flavour, dark, gloomy, daresay Gothic, tritone and riff drenched in equal measure. My band refuses to play it for fear of falling into depression or an Edgar Allen Poe short story, but luckily my wife is usually game (not only did she get me the aforesaid 594, she 'starred' in a video we made for the Guitarist contest a year back)
If you haven't been impatient and scrolled straight to the bottom, you can probably guess what my dream guitar would be. A Les Paul inspired PRS with major Gothic vibes? Did someone cough 'graveyard ii' at the back?
PRS has never heard of me. But they might as well have understood my deepest desires and hewn it into wood and metal. Let's just say I didn't sleep much in early December 2018
So getting this guitar hasn't been easy. Firstly, there would be none coming to Singapore so I would have to rely on trips overseas to get one, assuming they didn't sell out the moment they came (I spotted an NGD on this forum before December was even over which really brought out the green monster) Secondly the price. Beyond the sheer cash outlay, I struggled with the thought of paying 3X or so more than a normal PRS, for a guitar I already had (594) for mere cosmetic changes. The head was quite insistent on this one.
The head kept winning. Even when I had business trips to Japan and saw an example in person in Ochanomizu Tokyo, though it helped that that one was exorbitantly priced, compared to the US pricing. Also the ones I saw had a very tight flame and I preferred a wider one so the heart didn't protest too much.
I blew the budget I set aside on a Modern Eagle 1 which was also on my bucket list, figuring the Graveyard II would happen one day but many many years later and hopefully the price wouldn't have risen too much.
Then one day while scrolling through the interwebs, I found out that there was a Korean dealer which had a crazy amount of PRSs. The website wasn't very intuitive and somehow google translate didn't work,so it would be a full month later when I would finally spot it.
The perfect PRS Graveyard II. The perfect top. And the perfect back, with a pattern different to any other Graveyard II, but once I had seen it, it could only be this guitar. And no other Graveyard II.
The months passed. I kept checking the website to see it was available. It was there for the longest time but
one day it disappeared.
I was so disappointed and completely annoyed with myself. Also a little relieved since I didn't really have the spare cash thanks to said Modern Eagle 1.
Then came the first piece of the puzzle. I usually work on Japan but business needs meant I needed to looking at Korea. No trips just yet but it was in the offing.
Puzzle piece 2. Two months later, the business trip. Hectic with no time on the weekdays. But my wife decided to tag along and with an extended weekend, we decided to make a small trip out of it. The days were endless but Saturday arrived.
It was raining hard but I found my way to the store. Which despite the extensive collection is a little more than a hole in the ground with guitar cases and boxes strewn about in warehouse fashion. I wasn't really thinking too much about the graveyard as I thought it was sold so I was more interested in a couple of P245s which they had deals going on.
Initially it was a bit of a nightmare. No one spoke a word of English. Guitar shopping in Japan had spoilt me to expect great service and passable communication, but here we were at the mercy of Google translate. Also since most of the guitars were in storage, it literally took 10 minutes for the guys to get a single guitar out and in the absence of communication and very aloof body language, I almost felt that the staff couldn't give a sh**.
I was about to leave. But I didn't. And I also did one more thing while waiting. Checking their website again. And as if by magic, it was back. The Graveyard II was on the website again. The listing I had poured over in such detail for months was present word by word. Who knows? Perhaps there had been a bug the last time I checked.
No prizes for guessing what happened next. I think the pictures suffice.
Also next to my trusty #1. I don't know if you can see but the raven's heart finish is brighter and deeper than any PRS red I have ever seen before. It makes my burnt maple leaf Wood Library guitar look positively dull in comparison.
More impressions and a video to come but what I can tell you is the guitar is an absolute dream and exactly what I expected. Sustaining as impressive as the best of Les Paul's but with impeccable clarity. In case you are wondering, A Bing vs. the 'regular' 594 is on the 'to do ' list.
Anyways thank you for reading. And pardon the excitement.
P.S: In case you are wondering. Yes, I am hopelessly broke as of this moment.