Out For Delivery -- 30th



Hey Les, why is a PS model shipped with an AP case?

am I mistaken here? it looks the same as my Guitar case :dontknow:

It's definitely a PS case as it still has The Eagle in the liner like most PS cases have(I know some ME cases have that too). In addition, it looks like they used to blue liner in homage to the old blue lined cases from the 80's.
 
Hey Les, why is a PS model shipped with an AP case?

am I mistaken here? it looks the same as my Guitar case :dontknow:

It's leather instead of the nylon canvas, but except for that and the eagle logo inside the case, it seems to be the same otherwise. Has the black with brown ends and handle color scheme.

PRS always comes up with tasty cases for their guitars!

On another note, I was getting some very Tele-like sounds last night with my amp set up a certain way. This is a very interesting guitar to work with; it really compliments my McCarty Singlecut and between the two guitars, there's a world of tones to mess around with!
 
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Congrats to you Les! So leaving aside looks and materials, do you notice any differences in private stock over core guitars? Sound, feel, x-factor etc?

Yes to sound, feel and x factor. But I'm having a really hard time breaking it down into bits and pieces and words to describe everything.
 
Ahem. Time to admit I got one of these in blue quilt. The reports of how they sounded were all encouraging so I looked around. There is a red one at guitarrez out of Austin but I couldn't make that happen. Then I found the blue one at guitar factory parramatta. I though about it a couple of weeks and decided. I end up trading a 1970 gibson es 335. A big shout out to Lewis at guitar factory for being smart enough to get one of these into Sydney, and then being a good guy to deal with.

guitar shops are tough because you are nervous about spending all those dollars but Lewis made it easy, plugged me straight into the same amp I use and left me alone. I knew within a minute that this instrument played better than my other electric guitars. Set up just right, fast neck, comfortable, clear and lively. The PUPS are less hot than the 59/09s my ears are used to. The bottom strings in particular have a great feel for the 60s rock and blues classics.

So so I expect this is the last electric I will buy. At age 61 and good health I figure I have another 5 years wher my fingers will go at the right speed. At 500 hours a year and assuming, in real terms, it can be sold the for around 65% of new, it's like to cost me A$ 3-4 per hour which I see as fair value.
 
Les that is amazing. There's something just so classic about a yellow PRS. Hope you enjoy the heck out of it for a long time!
 
So so I expect this is the last electric I will buy. At age 61 and good health I figure I have another 5 years wher my fingers will go at the right speed. At 500 hours a year and assuming, in real terms, it can be sold the for around 65% of new, it's like to cost me A$ 3-4 per hour which I see as fair value.

That's an interesting calculation, I'm hoping that you are totally wrong and the "value" ends up being much higher.
 
^^^^^

Being a bit older, my (personal) feeling is that there is no need to think I cannot do it for quite a while longer. I feel like I can do more today than I could in any of thise prior years. And, at least thus far, I have no DESIRE to stop doing it.

I hope you keep at it for a lot more than 5 years.
 
So so I expect this is the last electric I will buy. At age 61 and good health I figure I have another 5 years wher my fingers will go at the right speed. At 500 hours a year and assuming, in real terms, it can be sold the for around 65% of new, it's like to cost me A$ 3-4 per hour which I see as fair value.

Don't sell yourself short - my old teacher played well into his 80s (maybe even 90s). You've got a lot of years left before your survivors have to send that guitar to me!

Congrats!
 
I don't want to hijack Les!s thread, but feel compelled to say as of today I have zero regrets. This guitar sounds the way I hoped it would, and plays the way I hoped it would.
 
And that, my friend, justifies everything to me. A non-player will never get to understand the great joy of knowing something wonderful is going to come out of a guitar when you simply unlatch the case. I'm also in my 60's, and didn't discover the sounds of a PRS until a few years ago. As the saying goes, better late than never. And they'll have to pry my Mira out of my hands when I die.
 
I don't want to hijack Les!s thread, but feel compelled to say as of today I have zero regrets. This guitar sounds the way I hoped it would, and plays the way I hoped it would.

Not a hijack at all! They're great guitars - enjoy the heck out of it!

I really was NOT looking for something else to put on my wish list!

But kind sir, it was looking for you! ;)

That's an interesting calculation, I'm hoping that you are totally wrong and the "value" ends up being much higher.

Yes, sir!

None of us have a crystal ball that sees into the future. Heck, since I turned 60 I haven't been able to play the fast licks at all.

"Could you ever play the fast licks, Les?"

"Uhm...Not really."

;)

Aw heck, I play the slow ones with good tone, nothin' wrong with that!!
 
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Thanks....Yes that can't be easy, but someday if you ever do, I for one would be very interested to find out! It's fascinating how workmanship and materials could translate to a difference, even though the geometry and electronics of the guitars are the same.

I've thought a lot about this question since you posed it yesterday. And I think I can give an answer. I'm no connoisseur. I bought my first PS in 2013. And I love the Core models. But yeah, the materials and workmanship can translate to differences.

Here's an example: the necks on all of my PS guitars are Peruvian Mahogany. My Artist V also had this neck wood, and I freakin' flipped over that guitar. Like the PS models I have, the neck felt alive. I'm not going to make a qualitative judgment, better or worse. But different? Certainly.

The African Ribbon Mahogany on the backs of my two electrics is the same stuff on that Artist V, which was an incredible guitar. Again, looks aside, it seems to sound a little different. I could move on to the fingerboard wood, etc., but the point is you can hear the wood. As with any electric guitar.

The fretwork is not just perfect, it's...incredible. This is the case on the acoustic as well as the electrics. The strings glide so smoothly. But these are details.

There is a solid feel to the guitar that has nothing to do with the weight. I know that sounds crazy. But I remember playing my first one for the first time - it felt like it was carved from a single block of wood, not glued together bits and pieces of wood. Yes, I realize that makes virtually no sense. And yet, there it is. That was my impression. It absolutely sticks in my mind.

Finally there is the finish. Paul's nitro is not the sticky, globby goo that gets sprayed onto lesser guitars. It's got a beautiful sheen, and it's hard as crystal. I thought I hated nitro until I played my first PRS with a nitro finish (that was my first Tonare, not a PS model by the way). It completely changed my way of thinking about guitar finishes. I think it sounds different, and maybe that's one reason for the subtle differences I hear with PS guitars, but mostly I love the feel.

Tone is subjective. My PS guitars sound a little different, and I believe that there are subtle details that sound fantastic. But someone else might not dig them. I can understand that.

Warning: Les Is About To Make One Of His Inherently Flawed Analogies.

I'll admit that this question can't be answered without empirical evidence. It's a thought experiment. Take it in good fun, OK?

Imagine if the engineers at Mercedes Benz or Rolls Royce were given the blueprints for a very nice car - a nice car, but not a Mercedes or Roller.They're tasked with making the car using the very same blueprint, but with their own materials, on their assembly line, with their workers, using their assembly methods. To make whatever little improvements they thought necessary when it comes to quality, but not compromising the original design.

Their further instruction is to spare no expense on the car's interior materials, engine, exterior materials and finish.

Remember, they are not modding the car, they are building a new car from scratch from the same design, but with their own materials and processes.

Would it be the same as the original car off the dealer showroom? Would one be able to tell the difference?
 
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I've thought a lot about this question since you posed it yesterday. And I think I can give an answer. I'm no connoisseur. I bought my first PS in 2013. And I love the Core models. But yeah, the materials and workmanship can translate to differences.

Here's an example: the necks on all of my PS guitars are Peruvian Mahogany. My Artist V also had this neck wood, and I freakin' flipped over that guitar. Like the PS models I have, the neck felt alive. I'm not going to make a qualitative judgment, better or worse. But different? Certainly.

The African Ribbon Mahogany on the backs of my two electrics is the same stuff on that Artist V, which was an incredible guitar. Again, looks aside, it seems to sound a little different. I could move on to the fingerboard wood, etc., but the point is you can hear the wood. As with any electric guitar.

The fretwork is not just perfect, it's...incredible. This is the case on the acoustic as well as the electrics. The strings glide so smoothly. But these are details.

There is a solid feel to the guitar that has nothing to do with the weight. I know that sounds crazy. But I remember playing my first one for the first time - it felt like it was carved from a single block of wood, not glued together bits and pieces of wood. Yes, I realize that makes virtually no sense. And yet, there it is. That was my impression. It absolutely sticks in my mind.

Finally there is the finish. Paul's nitro is not the sticky, globby goo that gets sprayed onto lesser guitars. It's got a beautiful sheen, and it's hard as crystal. I thought I hated nitro until I played my first PRS with a nitro finish (that was my first Tonare, not a PS model by the way). It completely changed my way of thinking about guitar finishes. I think it sounds different, and maybe that's one reason for the subtle differences I hear with PS guitars, but mostly I love the feel.

Tone is subjective. My PS guitars sound a little different, and I believe that there are subtle details that sound fantastic. But someone else might not dig them. I can understand that.

Warning: Les Is About To Make One Of His Inherently Flawed Analogies.

I'll admit that this question can't be answered without empirical evidence. It's a thought experiment. Take it in good fun, OK?

Imagine if the engineers at Mercedes Benz or Rolls Royce were given the blueprints for a very nice car - a nice car, but not a Mercedes or Roller.They're tasked with making the car using the very same blueprint, but with their own materials, on their assembly line, with their workers, using their assembly methods. To make whatever little improvements they thought necessary when it comes to quality, but not compromising the original design.

Their further instruction is to spare no expense on the car's interior materials, engine, exterior materials and finish.

Remember, they are not modding the car, they are building a new car from scratch from the same design, but with their own materials and processes.

Would it be the same as the original car off the dealer showroom? Would one be able to tell the difference?


I want to jump in here about something Les said above. The workmanships on the PSs are about as good as you will find. But, IMO, so are the production guitars! I have had many of both side by side, and it goes to show how GREAT the production PRSs are made. Most are pretty much flawless, just like the PSs!............

Tonally comparing, the one thing I can hear for sure now, is that PRS Nitro sounds better than PRSs old finish, or V12. The nitro is just more open sounding, and lets the guitar resonate better. However, where I do hear the poly finishes as sounding better sometimes is with mid to high gain, and the more gain you add, the better the Poly sounds to me. The reason is the poly cuts the high fizz more. It mutes the guitar more acoustically and in clean and lower gain settings, and that bugs the heck out of me, but with more gain, that same quality keeps the buzziness down. Other than that, I feel nitro just opens a guitar up and brings it up and entire level.
 
I want to jump in here about something Les said above. The workmanships on the PSs are about as good as you will find. But, IMO, so are the production guitars! I have had many of both side by side, and it goes to show how GREAT the production PRSs are made. Most are pretty much flawless, just like the PSs!............

Tonally comparing, the one thing I can hear for sure now, is that PRS Nitro sounds better than PRSs old finish, or V12. The nitro is just more open sounding, and lets the guitar resonate better. However, where I do hear the poly finishes as sounding better sometimes is with mid to high gain, and the more gain you add, the better the Poly sounds to me. The reason is the poly cuts the high fizz more. It mutes the guitar more acoustically and in clean and lower gain settings, and that bugs the heck out of me, but with more gain, that same quality keeps the buzziness down. Other than that, I feel nitro just opens a guitar up and brings it up and entire level.

Well I don't disagree, the production guitars are flawless as are the PS guitars, though the fretwork really does stand apart and in another league on the PS. Little things like the fingerboard edges are just that much more lovely to feel.

But they're different in a way I'm having a hard time describing. I mean, I had to resort to a thought experiment. Come on. I suck at describing these little things, but I do think they add up.

Then again, the finish plays a role, and as Tag says, it does make a difference, at least for me. Perhaps it's my fervid imagination, but I agree with what Tag says about the tone, though I think it's a very subtle kind of thing. But as with all things guitar, little differences here and there add up.
 
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