I came close to pulling the trigger on this pre-owned 2019 PRS Private Stock Semi-Hollow Norther Lights for sale at CME. I noticed that that the finish was more purple and lacked the blue, teal, and green hues that I was used to seeing in photos of other NL PRS guitars, which ultimately led me to discovering this thread. After reading through this thread, I was suspicious that the CME NL PRS had faded, despite them not noting the issue on their website and Reverb listings (they’ve since updated their listings to indicate the fading issue).
I asked my CME sales rep for photos of the finish with the pickup rings lifted, which he provided (see below). You can clearly see how much the finish has faded on the exposed parts compared to the areas that were covered. I asked CME to contact their PRS rep to see if it were possible to have the guitar refinished based on the success stories from this thread where they provided a refinish. CME sent me the following response that they received back from PRS:
“There was a batch of Northern Lights that faded and we did refinish them. The other ones did not and have been out in the field long enough so
we are not offering refinishing on those. To avoid future problems with that stain we have discontinued that color. So if you have a good one that
has zero fading I would tell your customer to go for it! This was an isolated issue. Hope that helps, Mike Robb, Regional Sales Manager Central-East, Paul Reed Smith Guitars”
I was surprised and disappointed at PRS’ response. Suggesting that this fading issue was limited to a single batch of Northern Lights and the others hadn’t been in the field long enough to warrant a refinish, but then goes on to say that PRS discontinued the NL color to avoid future problems with the stain. CME was not offering to have the guitar refinished or make any price adjustments as a consolation, which even though I was disappointed, they aren’t obligated to and can run their business however they choose to do so. Therefore, I made the decision that this particular guitar was the right purchase for me and was ready to move on to something else. My only request to CME, which they eventually obliged, was to update their listings of this guitar with a note about the organic dyes fading.
I’m just curious if there are other avenues to pursue with PRS to have this guitar refinished. I understand that it will still be prone to fading, but I understand the need to keep these guitars cased when not in use and out of direct UV light. I find it odd that PRS has acknowledged the fading issue and refinished some of the NL guitars at no cost to the customer, but are taking the position that the rest of them haven’t been around long enough to eatablish there’s an issue warranting a refinish. Perhaps I’m making too big of a deal out of this but for a >$10,000 Private Stock PRS, I want it to have the Northern Lights finish that it had when it left the factory.
The following specs were carefully collected and recorded by a skilled technician. For a more detailed description and questions regarding sound, feel, or cosmetic condition, please call to speak to one of our experts.Please Note: The blue dye has faded on this guitar like many of this model...
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