NGD: Paul Allender with EMGs

[shinksma]

It's been a while since I posted a NGD thread, and this one isn't all that new-to-me any more - it actually arrived in early-November, but life and stuff got in the way, and frankly I didn't even pick it up all that much for more than a month. I just now took the photos.

It's a 2010 according to the Serial Number (Kxxxxx). Has the stock EMGs (which I've never tried before - that was part of the reason I wanted one of these models), and it appears to have an Ebony fretboard, even though that wasn't used until 2012 I believe on this model.

The bats are very nicely done, as always.

It is in very good shape for the age, not mint, but not beat up either.

It came with a gig bag (surprised me, wasn't mentioned in the listing), but not a trem bar (not surprising). Trem bar was an easy procurement, of course, and now I have one of the "new" ones with the plastic tip.

It plays very smoothly, stays in tune, and the EMGs seem to sound fine to my ears - very "level EQ" is how I would characterize them, which to some folks means "sterile" I suppose.

 

[toothace]

That's Bat-tastic!!!


Sweet top!

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

Looks great!

 

[DISTORT6]

I’ve always liked those.
Congrats!

 

[ElrytNamrogo]

Man, I haven't seen one of these in ages....sweet get!

 

[shinksma]

That's Bat-tastic!!!


Sweet top!

That top is actually one of the best ones I've seen recently (at sub-$1K pricing). That helped me click "buy". It stays very symmetrical in all lighting - that isn't a trick of one particular angle combo of sun and camera. Some others have no-so-great book-matching.

It's good to finally land one of these. The second PRS I ever played in a store was a used (and mildly beat-up) Allender in a local GC. That same store had a very nice-looking new core CU24 (my target purchase), which is what I played first, but it was in Whale Blue (not the Emerald Green I "required"), and it was set-up very poorly - action was terrible! Because the Allender played so well I knew the Whale Blue CU24 was just a bad set-up.

I ended up getting that core CU24 in Emerald Green 10 top with birds (yes, very specific) as my first PRS not long after - I found a used one at either the same or nearby GC.

And every now and then, I "almost" bought an Allender. But circumstances would direct my funds elsewhere (sometimes a different PRS), or the sale got mucked up by a weird seller. With the pandemic pricing bump, it seemed I would have to wait a while for one to reach my self-set budget (because they were redonkulously cheap prior to the pandemic), but this one was close-enough in the end.

It will, of course, be the guitar I play for any Halloween gigs...

 

[bodia]

Love the bats!

 

[dmatthews]

That's pretty cool... congrats!

 

[Eddie kim]

It’s all about the bats. I have a 2010 as well, and it does have ebony freatboad, even though the specs has it as rosewood.

 

[WA Paul]

Congrats, nice looking guitar and ebony board

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Congratulations, certainly appears to be Ebony fretboard.

I’ve only seen them in purple.

EDIT - The guitar not the fretboard (Alan).

 

[Boogie]

I’ve always loved these! Might keep the EMG theme but step down to 85s, but that’s me. Bats ftw!

 

[Bill SAS 513]

Awesome axe...Love the top...and ebony.
And GREEN ftw!!!!

 

[aphantomvaper]

Really nice axe! I've been watching those too specifically for the Bats.

Didn't know about the ebony fretboard though...that's sweet!

 

[shinksma]

So you know how sometimes you buy something (anything, a small kitchen hand appliance, a shirt, whatever), and for whatever reason you really never put it to use? I'm pretty sure I have a blender that's never been out of the box, and several shirts that haven't bubbled up to the top of the pile yet...

That's what happened to this PRS Allender...until tonight.

Sure, I'd pick it up and play it here and there, but never really "grooved". I'd play some licks or jam away at a song or chord progression for a few minutes, but then lose energy/interest. The main cause of this was that I was playing only a few specific guitars for the last year or two, on purpose, due to recording or performance needs, trying to make sure I practiced and played on the instrument(s) I'd be using, because I really wasn't playing as much as I wanted, so the limited time with instruments meant I needed to focus on "the players". Mostly my SC HB II, mandolin, and occasional acoustic guitar.

So for 18 months or so, this Allender has hung on a wall being neglected. Most of my other guitars also got neglected in that timeframe, but I'd at least had a chance to bond with them by playing the crap out of them in the months after I got them, and many got into regular rotation when I could just grab "any old electric" (vs "needing" the piezo-equipped HB that was such a great all-round tool). My Reclaimed Ltd SH Vela is a good example - it's been "resting" for a while, but it was a main practice and occasional recording and gigging guitar for a while. The Allender just didn't catch that break.

Anyway, tonight I was playing through a song I wrote back in 2015 that hasn't made it into the band rotation - it's a little too heavy (musically and lyrically) for what we do. I was in the mood to explore what I might want to improve, now that I've had 8 more years of writing experience. I was playing through one of my other recent acquisitions, a Yamaha THR II practice amp, which is great for noodling in the lanai area or in front of the TV, which is what I was doing (TV).

I played through the song using my old CU24 with HFS/VB pickups, trying to find a preset that I liked - but the pups were just not sounding "right" - too muddy, too much bass, even if I tweaked the amp. So I grabbed a SH 594 (my DC one), which has 58/15LT pups. Better, but still a little "loose" and muddy, not what I wanted for this song. Oh well. Then I remembered the Allender, with its EMGs - that might do the trick...and it did! Nicely cleaned up the tone I was looking for.

So I played and played, tweaking some elements of the song (placement of turnarounds and choruses, incorporating an intro I'd invented earlier in the day that happened to work, cleaning up some lyrics). That Allender plays super easy! Finally clicked with it! So now it sits on a stand by the TV, ready for the next round of goofing off...

Sometimes it takes time, but eventually the guitar can come to you - or you to the guitar.

 

[deepender]

It's been a while since I posted a NGD thread, and this one isn't all that new-to-me any more - it actually arrived in early-November, but life and stuff got in the way, and frankly I didn't even pick it up all that much for more than a month. I just now took the photos.

It's a 2010 according to the Serial Number (Kxxxxx). Has the stock EMGs (which I've never tried before - that was part of the reason I wanted one of these models), and it appears to have an Ebony fretboard, even though that wasn't used until 2012 I believe on this model.

The bats are very nicely done, as always.

It is in very good shape for the age, not mint, but not beat up either.

It came with a gig bag (surprised me, wasn't mentioned in the listing), but not a trem bar (not surprising). Trem bar was an easy procurement, of course, and now I have one of the "new" ones with the plastic tip.

It plays very smoothly, stays in tune, and the EMGs seem to sound fine to my ears - very "level EQ" is how I would characterize them, which to some folks means "sterile" I suppose.

Nice