NOS - color conundrum

[Huggy Love]

Hey PRS folks, Been looking at the NOS Korina pieces over at Dave's guitar website, talked with Tyler over there who was really helpful but I'm still really torn. There's a natural finish that has a great grain pattern to it but I never liked light colored instruments for some reason, or red either, not even a fan of burst, soapbars or gold hardware, so that limits things and I don't want to buy a new guitar and spend $ on chrome hdwr or mini HBs. So if you're bored and want to look at some guitars, check out the Korina stock at Dave's and let me know what Korina finish speaks to you, I know what I like but just a little curious what others think.

 

[JMintzer]

I -LOVE- the natural Korina w/gold hardware...

 

[bodia]

I'm in the same boat. Thinking about picking one of these up, but I'm up in the air on the color. I'll be heading there in a couple of weeks and hope that seeing them in person will make the decision easier. If you want some live feedback, PM me. I'd be more than happy to call you from there.

As for looking at their stock, the Transparent Walnut isn't bad, and I have a thing for Antique White. Already have a DGT and Strat in AW, so that's out for me on the Korina. The Gold Metallic looks cool too. If you want to buck the trend, go for the Powder Blue, or Grandma Hannon Pink:dontknow:

Sorry, I think everything I listed has gold hw

 

[SlimB79]

good ol' black http://davesguitar.com/products/paul-reed-smith/korina-mccarty-brazilian/

 

[vchizzle]

I feel your pain on the gold hardware. Honestly, I think the brazzy board is worth the trade off though. Not to mention old school birds. White, silver burst, powder blue and natural are my faves. These guitars are a great value.

 

[László]

I feel your pain on the gold hardware. Honestly, I think the brazzy board is worth the trade off though. Not to mention old school birds. White, silver burst, powder blue and natural are my faves. These guitars are a great value.

I like the gold, but someone explain something to me. I can't tell the difference between "birds" and "old school birds."

I've been a PRS owner since 1991, and except for the hollow J birds like I have on my PS Acoustic, they all pretty much look the same to me.

 

[vchizzle]

I like the gold, but someone explain something to me. I can't tell the difference between "birds" and "old school birds."

I've been a PRS owner since 1991, and except for the hollow J birds like I have on my PS Acoustic, they all pretty much look the same to me.

They are just solid birds, no outline of any sort....like they were in the "old" days, MOP or abalone. All core models have had some sorta outline since the J birds, I think.

 

[vchizzle]

Huggy, was it you that needed a lighter weight guitar(I forget)? This classic black is only 6 lb!!! Probably resonant as....

good ol' black http://davesguitar.com/products/paul-reed-smith/korina-mccarty-brazilian/

 

[Huggy Love]

Huggy, was it you that needed a lighter weight guitar(I forget)? This classic black is only 6 lb!!! Probably resonant as....

Yup, and blk/6lb is one I looked at just because of that, sadly the best looking one to me is heavier, but still pondering things.

 

[László]

They are just solid birds, no outline of any sort....like they were in the "old" days, MOP or abalone. All core models have had some sorta outline since the J birds, I think.

Hey I'm from the "old days." PRS player since 1991. Have had over 20-25 new PRSes since the first one.

And...I didn't notice this change at all. I guess it's good that I can tell between birds and dots at this stage of my life.

I guess I don't care about that stuff. Appreciate the info, though!

 

[John Beef]

The gold hardware on most of these is a bummer for sure, but they're just parts, they can be changed. At one point I dug my friend's MIK Epi Sheraton enough to buy it from him and change all the hardware out for nickle. That's a guitar I wish I could have kept.

I really dig the gold metallic and platinum metallic paints, there's a McCarty tobacco burst one that looks great. Basic black is right up my alley. Wish I could pick one of these up.

 

[Grizzlee]

I guess it's good that I can tell between birds and dots at this stage of my life.

That is funny!!!

 

[Huggy Love]

The gold hardware on most of these is a bummer for sure, but they're just parts, they can be changed. I really dig the gold metallic and platinum metallic paints, there's a McCarty tobacco burst one that looks great. Basic black is right up my alley. Wish I could pick one of these up.

Yea, I agree the hdwr is the easiest/cheapest mod, plus I've seen some of the private stock that had chrome bridges with brass pins that looked cool too. Gold or platinum wouldn't work in a jazz setting, which is about 50% of what I do, but the platinum solid color is kinda sci fi cool and unique:top:. The black one is very light and that's a big plus to me but I'm not mentally gelling with it for some reason. :dontknow: Maybe in my mind if it has birds, it should have some nice grain to it?, too heavy metal looking? ...oh I don't know.

Bursts (*with the exception of charcoal burst) are dead last for me, since day one they never appealed to me, I even passed on a used HB that was under $2k cause it was tobacco. So that really narrows down the field and why I kinda scratch my head on this idea, but getting a new/non-used PRS at that price is really good thing..........and new is good. We'll see, still on the fence.

Thanks for all the input guys!!

 

[vchizzle]

The gold hardware on most of these is a bummer for sure, but they're just parts, they can be changed. At one point I dug my friend's MIK Epi Sheraton enough to buy it from him and change all the hardware out for nickle. That's a guitar I wish I could have kept.

I really dig the gold metallic and platinum metallic paints, there's a McCarty tobacco burst one that looks great. Basic black is right up my alley. Wish I could pick one of these up.

I did just that on my SC Artist(lest a few control cavity screws). Knew I'd do it long before I had the guitar. I should've done the modified Monday thread with it.

Yea, I agree the hdwr is the easiest/cheapest mod, plus I've seen some of the private stock that had chrome bridges with brass pins that looked cool too. Gold or platinum wouldn't work in a jazz setting, which is about 50% of what I do, but the platinum solid color is kinda sci fi cool and unique:top:. The black one is very light and that's a big plus to me but I'm not mentally gelling with it for some reason. :dontknow: Maybe in my mind if it has birds, it should have some nice grain to it?, too heavy metal looking? ...oh I don't know.

Bursts (*with the exception of charcoal burst) are dead last for me, since day one they never appealed to me, I even passed on a used HB that was under $2k cause it was tobacco. So that really narrows down the field and why I kinda scratch my head on this idea, but getting a new/non-used PRS at that price is really good thing..........and new is good. We'll see, still on the fence.

Thanks for all the input guys!!

That black one is like a piano! It totally fits! I don't get the notion of a color not fitting a genre of music. I mean, if we were talk neon green or orange - ok, fair enough. Gold, platinum and black are classic guitar colors and fit any genre IMO. What are "accepted" colors for jazz? The bursts and natural that you don't like? I say get over that mental road block.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

White with creme covers and clear knobs... then smoke around it and leave it in front of a window is my vote.

 

[bodia]

White with creme covers and clear knobs... then smoke around it and leave it in front of a window is my vote.

Ditto that...nothing like that Antique White look! Love it when they get a little yellow going.

 

[Huggy Love]

I say get over that mental road block.

I say don't spend 2k on something you're on the fence about.

It's true black "does" everything, but I'm not connecting to it, and although the vast majority of jazz boxes are wood toned or grained, Scott Henderson blows jazz & fusion chops on surfer looking strats, so you can always buck the status quo. I'm just not feeling it at all.
The 2 best looking korina pieces to me on their site are the transparent orange and the platinum, but there is a used charcoal burst CU available locally so who knows. Hey look at it this way, the only thing better than looking & talking guitars is owning & playing them, right?

 

[jfine]

Natural Korina sure looks great! That would have been my choice for my Brent Mason, but I couldn't find one in that finish, so I got Whitewash (see my avatar pic). It looks nice, especially close-up, but there's something about that natural Korina...

 

[László]

My own experience is that when I buy an instrument with my eyeballs instead of my ears, I wind up wishing I hadn't.

For my last two, my dealer had the great idea of sending me clips of the actual guitars being played. It really worked out. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have considered the 30th CU24 unless I'd heard it. Turns out I loved the tone in the clips, and love the guitar in person.

 

[Huggy Love]

My own experience is that when I buy an instrument with my eyeballs instead of my ears, I wind up wishing I hadn't.

This can be very true, especially with different makes, models & brands. I was blown away at the amount of people on this site that ordered PRS online when I first got to this board cause I'm not a "sight unseen" kinda person, on the other hand I know what a PRS solid body & a Mccarty are like and I don't think I've ever ran across a USA made PRS that was a "dog". Still, the chance to get a NEW US-made unit under 2k is enticing, although the choices are not that vast, at least this thread gave members the opportunity to browse a little, like when we were kids looking at the toy section in the back of the Sears catalog.

I may not get sound clips for a value priced Korina but a fellow member is going to do some scouting for me when he makes a visit there & the PRS guru at Dave's (Tyler) has his game down and is really helpful, on top of that there are a couple of used pieces locally that I'm looking at, so who knows.:dontknow: Just fanning the flames of G.A.S.