Ok, so what next? To round out my collection. Suggestions?

gemyneye

So many guitars, not enough time
Joined
May 7, 2022
Messages
721
So, I am finally finishing off my collection. My goal is to write and record music, not necessarily for myself. Or even be a session player. I am working very hard and it's my 5 year plan. Currently, I have a 1976 Gibson ES-335, 1976 Martin D-35S, 2007 Godin xTSA, unlabeled Giannini Classical, 2008 McPherson MG-3.5, 2007 PRS CE22, 2018 PRS McCarty 594SC, 2021 PRS Silver Sky, 2020 PRS Custom 24, a 2020 PRS SE Custom 24, and a 2022 PRS Studio on preorder. Does anyone recommend my next PRS to complete the "perfect" round up/arsenal? Obviously there are so MANY guitars, and I don't have an unlimited budget, but I think one more core guitar is possible. Thanks!
 
Last edited:
First off, you need a hollowbody. The SE models are fine.

And if the goal is to a have representative of All The Usual Suspects, I detect several other gaping holes.

• You absolutely need something with P90s - whether PRS or otherwise. 24.x scale would be good.
• There's no Tele. I noticed there's no TELE. Pretty fundamental. Perfectly serviceable Teles come well under 500.00.
• What if you want to go surfing - or someone wants you to? A Jazzmaster or Jaguar would take you there. As long as you don't get something with humbuckers, Squiers are fine.
• Maybe a Casino? Thin true hollowbody (no durn plank down the middle) with P90s is a tone all its own.
• And look, what about a baritone? The SE 277 is marvelous.
• Since you're covering the acoustic domain, how'bout a resonator?

Aaanndd, I haven't even started on Gretschs. There are at least 5 or 6 unique types in that arena, and there are no real substitutes.

And dang, no 12-string! It doesn't have to be a Ric (though if you're going for the Apotheosis of the Type, it probably does). The Dano lipstick-tube 12-string is cheap and good; the Gretsch 54122-12 is a bit more money, but covers all the 12itude you'd need.

Some might think that, In a reasonably compact stable, the PRS Studio overlaps significantly in functionality with the Godin. Unless you're emotionally attached to it, off the Godin. Or keep the Godin and spend the Studio money on several of the above.

And in that same reasonably compact stable, you might not need two Custom 24s, even if they're from different series.
 
Thank you for some good insights! Actually I do have a hollow body, my 76 Gibson ES-335, unless you're recommending I get a different one? I've actually been considering a Tele. And funny thing, I was literally looking at the 277's last night!
I actually already have the Studio on preorder paid. The Godin I like for the midi/combo functionality and it plays really well.
My CU24 SE I keep at work as my "practice" guitar only at this point for breaks and lunches. I currently work an office job.
 
Depending on what you’re playing, the Tele is a good suggestion for all around stuff. You can cover a lot of it on the Silver Sky, but a Tele is it’s own thing. Perhaps add a Rickenbacker 12 string, or one of the Danelectros if your budget is tight. The 12 is a specialty guitar, but is magic in the right place. For anything from the Byrds, to CSN, to Petty styles, it’s a no-brainer.
 
Depending on what you’re playing, the Tele is a good suggestion for all around stuff. You can cover a lot of it on the Silver Sky, but a Tele is it’s own thing. Perhaps add a Rickenbacker 12 string, or one of the Danelectros if your budget is tight. The 12 is a specialty guitar, but is magic in the right place. For anything from the Byrds, to CSN, to Petty styles, it’s a no-brainer.
The 12 string, I vacillate on that one. I like the sound and it has its place but the thought of changing the strings makes me cringe.
 
Well ... yon 335 isn't a hollowbody - it's a semi, with a plank of wood running down the middle. More resonant (or something) than a solidbody - but a different animal from a full hollowbody.

There's no reason not to have a Tele of some sort; decent Tele-types can be had for under 250.00. A Squier Classic Vibe is a little more, and a nice instrument.

Gotcha on the Godin. I have an LGXt with the 13-pin. But recently I've caved to the add-on Roland pickup which I can put on any guitar I want.
 
Well ... yon 335 isn't a hollowbody - it's a semi, with a plank of wood running down the middle. More resonant (or something) than a solidbody - but a different animal from a full hollowbody.

There's no reason not to have a Tele of some sort; decent Tele-types can be had for under 250.00. A Squier Classic Vibe is a little more, and a nice instrument.

Gotcha on the Godin. I have an LGXt with the 13-pin. But recently I've caved to the add-on Roland pickup which I can put on any guitar I want.
Touché. I hadn’t looked at the Roland pickup.
 
I hadn’t looked at the Roland pickup.

GK-2, maybe GK-3. It's pretty horrifying to look at, and looks even more atrocious attached to a guitar. I stuck a red Borg emblem on mine to make sure anyone who cares knows I know it looks hideous.

But it does let me transport synth access from guitar to guitar reasonably conveniently. I'm just careful to mount it in some way that doesn't involve screws or (ideally) even doublestick tape.

No question the internal hex pickup-in-bridge is more elegant; if only every guitar came with them by default. (Except bridges contribute to tone, and I have to think having the piezo sandwiches down in the bridge has an effect. One benefit of the GK pickups - by comparison to integral - is that they leave the bridge, and therefore the guitar's native electric tone, intact.)
 
GK-2, maybe GK-3. It's pretty horrifying to look at, and looks even more atrocious attached to a guitar. I stuck a red Borg emblem on mine to make sure anyone who cares knows I know it looks hideous.

But it does let me transport synth access from guitar to guitar reasonably conveniently. I'm just careful to mount it in some way that doesn't involve screws or (ideally) even doublestick tape.

No question the internal hex pickup-in-bridge is more elegant; if only every guitar came with them by default. (Except bridges contribute to tone, and I have to think having the piezo sandwiches down in the bridge has an effect. One benefit of the GK pickups - by comparison to integral - is that they leave the bridge, and therefore the guitar's native electric tone, intact.)
Thank you out for the feedback!
 
3 P-90's. That model truly sounds like a "Strat on steroids."
Interesting observation. I often think my Reverend Slingshot Dlx (American period), also with 3 P90s, is the best Strat I can imagine. Open, warm, vocal quality in all positions, not a hint of strident thinstrat spike. It's my "favorite Strat" - including my actual Strat strat - and the main reason I don't lust for a Silver Sky. (In fact, my actual Stratstrat comes near the bottom of my Strat pecking order.)

But 3 P90s in a 3.5"-deep, 17" hollowbody (a la Gibson ES-5) don't sound very Stratty. The big hollow body changes the equation. (Apropos of nothing, I guess. Just contemplating the mysteries.)
 
So, then the Silver Sky wouldn't fit the bill compared to the P90's?
 
I can only speak for myself, but P90s and Strat pickups have in common only that they're single-coil pickups.

Very different native tones, with the P90 being bigger, warmer, rounder. Retains bite, but sounds good everywhere on the tone knob. It's also useful at all positions of the volume knob, whereas some pickups lose a lot of character when backed down. The P90 sounds good on every build platform I can think of, from solidbody to full deep hollowbody and all points and variations between - and clearly brings out the distinctive tonal response of each. The P90 may be the Universal Pickup, almost never the wrong answer.

Strat pickups, on the other hand, are beautifully tuned to the Strat and similar builds - but you don't see people putting them in other build types, because they don't translate well.

I haven't heard a Silver Sky (either series) in person, but in the demos I hear, the pickups sound similar to my description of P90s in my Reverend: open, full, sweet, singing. Not harsh and spiky.

I don't say the PRS CU22 which Mark recommended will stand in for a Strat, because I haven't heard or played one, but his "Strat on steroids" comment resonated with me, because that's exactly how I've described my Reverend. (The two guitars have different builds - the PRS, I assume, a solid body; the Reverend a thin but fully enclosed hollow body made of countertop phenolic with a partial center block and attached aluminum resonance tube. Original USA Reverends are the spiritual descendants of 60s Danelectro-built Silvertones, and worth a few minutes of online research if you're curious, but they're something of a digression here. Again, I'm just contemplating how particular pickups work in particular body builds, and marveling at the similarities and differences.)

I know if I had the wants for a Strat, it would be one of the Silver Skies. (The SE by default, because that's kinda my price bracket - and a Strat type will never be my go-to main ride/daily driver.) But every time I start to want an SS (mostly because seemingly everyone else wants one, probably), I remember that I have marvelous Strat machines in my collection already - the Reverend Slingshot among them.

Man, I keep sending myself on tangents. Let me try to refocus. Your question So, then the Silver Sky wouldn't fit the bill compared to P90s suggests that the two are alternatives to each other, and that's not really the case. A 3-P90 machine might stand in for a Strat (or a Silver Sky); a Strat or Silver Sky wouldn't stand in for any of the "iconic" P90 electrics.

Three pickups on anything will always suggest STRAT to a guitarist (though Gibson did it first with the big fat ES-5, 1949 I think). And some guitars with 3 P90s - like some guitars with 3 of any pickup - may sound somewhat, or a lot, Stratlike. But it's not because of the P90s.

The thing about P90s is that they turn every build they're installed in into a different animal, and I've yet to hear a build type that doesn't sound good with P90s. So there's no single classic/iconic P90 guitar.

In the jazz/blues idiom, there's been any number of Gibson hollowbodies which get their distinctive character from P90s. In the pop/60s arena there's all the Beatlesque stuff with P90s in the Epiphone Casino. In classic-to-hard rock there's a whole lineage of P90s in a mahogany slab - Les Paul Special, SG... well, shewt, the Les Paul was a P90 instrument from its inception till 1958 (I think). So there's a bunch of 50s rock & roll and rockabilly.

And because P90s sound great whether clean or dirty...from country/rootsy fingerpicking to elegant jazz rhythm comps and leads to balls-to-wall crunch and scream, there's just really nothing they can't do. It's hard to have just one guitar with P90s and ever think yep, got that covered. And by far most guitars which have come P90 from the factory have 2 pickups - sometimes just 1. Rarely three. It's just that when you have 3 pickups on a solidbody...it's hard not to Strat with it.

So a PRS with 3 P90s would be a good start into the P90 domain, as I have no doubt it can cop the vibe of a 2-P90 slab rocker (think LP Special or SG), as well as a big warm Strat. And it might be all the P90 a guy would ever need, if that guy's wiling to forego more hollowbody and semi tones.

Ehh. I blather. Carry on.
 
Last edited:
I can only speak for myself, but P90s and Strat pickups have in common only that they're single-coil pickups.

Very different native tones, with the P90 being bigger, warmer, rounder. Retains bite, but sounds good everywhere on the tone knob. It's also useful at all positions of the volume knob, whereas some pickups lose a lot of character when backed down. The P90 sounds good on every build platform I can think of, from solidbody to full deep hollowbody and all points and variations between - and clearly brings out the distinctive tonal response of each. The P90 may be the Universal Pickup, almost never the wrong answer.

Strat pickups, on the other hand, are beautifully tuned to the Strat and similar builds - but you don't see people putting them in other build types, because they don't translate well.

I haven't heard a Silver Sky (either series) in person, but in the demos I hear, the pickups sound similar to my description of P90s in my Reverend: open, full, sweet, singing. Not harsh and spiky.

I don't say the PRS CU22 which Mark recommended will stand in for a Strat, because I haven't heard or played one, but his "Strat on steroids" comment resonated with me, because that's exactly how I've described by Reverend. (The two guitars have different builds - the PRS, I assume, a solid body; the Reverend a thin but fully enclosed hollow body made of countertop phenolic with a partial center block and attached aluminum resonance tube. Original USA Reverends are the spiritual descendants of 60s Danelectro-built Silvertones, and worth a few minutes of online research if you're curious, but they're something of a digression here. Again, I'm just contemplating how particular pickups work in particular body builds, and marveling at the similarities and differences.)

I know if I had the wants for a Strat, it would be one of the Silver Skies. (The SE by default, because that's kinda my price bracket - and a Strat type will never be my go-to main ride/daily driver.) But every time I start to want an SS (mostly because everyone else wants on, probably), I remember that I have marvelous Strat machines in my collection already - the Reverend Slingshot among them.

Man, I keep sending myself on tangents. Let me try to refocus. Your question So, then the Silver Sky wouldn't fit the bill compared to P90s suggests that the two are alternatives to each other, and that's not really the case. A 3-P90 machine might stand in for a Strat (or a Silver Sky); a Strat or Silver Sky wouldn't stand in for any of the "iconic" P90 electrics.

Three pickups on anything will always suggest STRAT to a guitarist (though Gibson did it first with the big fat ES-5, 1949 I think). And some guitars with 3 P90s - like some guitars with 3 of any pickup - may sound somewhat, or a lot, Stratlike. But it's not because of the P90s.

The thing about P90s is that they turn every build they're installed in into a different animal, and I've yet to hear a build type that doesn't sound good with P90s. So there's no single classic/iconic P90 guitar.

In the jazz/blues idiom, there are any number of Gibson hollowbodies in the past (and some PRS Hollows) which get their distinctive character from P90s. In the pop/60s arena there's all the Beatlesque stuff with P90s in the Epiphone Casino. In classic-to-hard rock there's a whole lineage of P90s in a mahogany slab - Les Paul Special, SG... well, shewt, the Les Paul was a P90 instrument from its inception till 1958 (I think). So there's a bunch of 50s rock & roll and rockabilly.

And because P90s sound great whether clean or dirty...from country/rootsy fingerpicking to elegant jazz rhythm comps and leads to balls-to-wall crunch and scream, there's just really nothing they can't do. It's hard to have just one guitar with P90s and ever think yep, got that covered. And by far most guitars which have come P90 from the factory have 2 pickups - sometimes just 1. Rarely three. It's just that when you have 3 pickups on a solidbody...it's hard not to Strat with it.

So a PRS with 3 P90s would be a good start into the P90 domain, as I have no doubt it can cop the vibe of a 2-P90 slab rocker (think LP Special or SG), as well as a big warm Strat. And it might be all the P90 a guy would ever need, if that guy's wiling to forego more hollowbody and semi tones.

Ehh. I blather. Carry on.
That was very informative and much to think about! Thank you!
 
I can only speak for myself, but P90s and Strat pickups have in common only that they're single-coil pickups.

Very different native tones, with the P90 being bigger, warmer, rounder. Retains bite, but sounds good everywhere on the tone knob. It's also useful at all positions of the volume knob, whereas some pickups lose a lot of character when backed down. The P90 sounds good on every build platform I can think of, from solidbody to full deep hollowbody and all points and variations between - and clearly brings out the distinctive tonal response of each. The P90 may be the Universal Pickup, almost never the wrong answer.

Strat pickups, on the other hand, are beautifully tuned to the Strat and similar builds - but you don't see people putting them in other build types, because they don't translate well.

I haven't heard a Silver Sky (either series) in person, but in the demos I hear, the pickups sound similar to my description of P90s in my Reverend: open, full, sweet, singing. Not harsh and spiky.

I don't say the PRS CU22 which Mark recommended will stand in for a Strat, because I haven't heard or played one, but his "Strat on steroids" comment resonated with me, because that's exactly how I've described my Reverend. (The two guitars have different builds - the PRS, I assume, a solid body; the Reverend a thin but fully enclosed hollow body made of countertop phenolic with a partial center block and attached aluminum resonance tube. Original USA Reverends are the spiritual descendants of 60s Danelectro-built Silvertones, and worth a few minutes of online research if you're curious, but they're something of a digression here. Again, I'm just contemplating how particular pickups work in particular body builds, and marveling at the similarities and differences.)

I know if I had the wants for a Strat, it would be one of the Silver Skies. (The SE by default, because that's kinda my price bracket - and a Strat type will never be my go-to main ride/daily driver.) But every time I start to want an SS (mostly because seemingly everyone else wants one, probably), I remember that I have marvelous Strat machines in my collection already - the Reverend Slingshot among them.

Man, I keep sending myself on tangents. Let me try to refocus. Your question So, then the Silver Sky wouldn't fit the bill compared to P90s suggests that the two are alternatives to each other, and that's not really the case. A 3-P90 machine might stand in for a Strat (or a Silver Sky); a Strat or Silver Sky wouldn't stand in for any of the "iconic" P90 electrics.

Three pickups on anything will always suggest STRAT to a guitarist (though Gibson did it first with the big fat ES-5, 1949 I think). And some guitars with 3 P90s - like some guitars with 3 of any pickup - may sound somewhat, or a lot, Stratlike. But it's not because of the P90s.

The thing about P90s is that they turn every build they're installed in into a different animal, and I've yet to hear a build type that doesn't sound good with P90s. So there's no single classic/iconic P90 guitar.

In the jazz/blues idiom, there are any number of Gibson hollowbodies in the past (and some PRS Hollows) which get their distinctive character from P90s. In the pop/60s arena there's all the Beatlesque stuff with P90s in the Epiphone Casino. In classic-to-hard rock there's a whole lineage of P90s in a mahogany slab - Les Paul Special, SG... well, shewt, the Les Paul was a P90 instrument from its inception till 1958 (I think). So there's a bunch of 50s rock & roll and rockabilly.

And because P90s sound great whether clean or dirty...from country/rootsy fingerpicking to elegant jazz rhythm comps and leads to balls-to-wall crunch and scream, there's just really nothing they can't do. It's hard to have just one guitar with P90s and ever think yep, got that covered. And by far most guitars which have come P90 from the factory have 2 pickups - sometimes just 1. Rarely three. It's just that when you have 3 pickups on a solidbody...it's hard not to Strat with it.

So a PRS with 3 P90s would be a good start into the P90 domain, as I have no doubt it can cop the vibe of a 2-P90 slab rocker (think LP Special or SG), as well as a big warm Strat. And it might be all the P90 a guy would ever need, if that guy's wiling to forego more hollowbody and semi tones.

Ehh. I blather. Carry on.
I love hearing the Reverend Slingshot mentioned. I had a Slingshot Custom, 3 P-90's, and it sounded GREAT! My issue with it was the smaller neck carve, as I wasn't lucky enough to get one of the earlier builds that had a larger neck. Otherwise, an outstanding guitar, as the current prices for those earlier Reverends are going for now allude to!
 
If you can find a PRS Brent Mason, (used, because they don’t make them anymore) buy it! It’ll get Tele/Strat, and p90 tones, pretty much spot on. Plus, the 25 1/4 scale lets it play much better than any 25 1/2 scale guitar. The Korina body, maple neck/fretboard, combined with the 408/Paul’s pickups make for a very articulate, snappy and well balanced tone. I’ve seen a few on reverb…good luck!
 
Back
Top