Private Stock Help Needed!

[C&M Music - Lafayette]

Tommorrow I will hopefully finalize my first ( and expect to be my only) private stock build. Because this the first PS rodeo for me and my dealer it has had some growing pains. Mostly because of cost issues, budget and how it all works out beyond selected wood. So my questions are?

1) Is the going back and forth on requests and the do ability of those request normal? It is wearing me out.

2) How would you go about spec'ing a custom color and getting samples? Are samples reasonable?

3) If their was one option you had to have, what would it be and why? My answer is the neck!

4) Have you guys ever selected your woods by email, or at least got the choices sent to you?

5) Below are the sheets I submitted. I am curious to know what you guys think, otherwise it is pointless in starting this thread in the first place.

A) Custom 24 Dbl Neck Standard, EIR necks, moons, hog buttons to match finish, adjustable stoptails, 57-08's, standard dbl neck switching wiith push pull pots, individual output jacks and McCarty Burst finish.

B) Dweezil/Mando Semi Hollow, Dweez wiring, trem, Santana 3 pups, EIR neck, Mac Ebony or African Black board, Badd a$$ color, I wanted a museum bird f hole and museum bird inlays but they shot me down like a Christmas Goose on that one, Quilt top.

C) Semi Hollow II with trem, Quilt top and back, EIR Neck, pups to be determined but with torched covers, Mac Ebony or African Black board,

D) Angelus Cocobolo with Cocobolo neck?

That's my list, can only do one if I sell off a couple of other gems. All will get played, the Dbl neck not as much, but played just the same. It is attractive to me because you cannot find a decent one out there from any other brand. The PRS dbl neck is far and away, way better than the rest. What to do? Please share your thoughts and guidance. This is a big deal for me. I want to get it right. Wanted to work this out on my own, but it is diown to the wire and I dont want to miss something when I pull the trigger tommorrow. I would like to have a PS and yes, I am scared!

 

[Brad737]

Audie, first off, congrats! You've figured out a lot already.

I do have a couple questions though. Do you currently have a double neck guitar? Do you gig regularly and need a double neck for stuff ala Stairway to Heaven? I certainly don't want to rain on your parade, but since you said this was going to be your one and only Private Stock, I'd just suggest that you make absolutely sure than what you want/need is a doubleneck. I'd hate for you to spend 10 or 15 grand, wait 6 months, get the guitar and say "cool, now what?" after a few days. I think doublenecks are so specialized that you'll either love it, or hate it. And I doubt the dealer is going to give you a 30-day return policy.

Best of luck in your adventure!

 

[C&M Music - Lafayette]

Hey Brad,

No I do not currently have one, the past ones were clunkers. I do not gig regularly, but I have always wanted a PRS Dbl neck. I agree, it is very specialized, but now that I am all about PRS I cannot think of another brand I would want. The other PS's would always be played. The Dbl neck would be played, but mostly cherished. Probably a good reason not to go with that one. Sometimes you really need to hear your thoughts come back to you from someone else. Especially when you get wrapped up in the options and the $$$. I went with four spec sheets so that I would have them all in front of me to decide and when I decide, there will be no looking back and woulda, shoulda moments. I want to get it right. Truth is, I want them all, but one will have to do. Thank you.

 

[toothace]

I am hopefully soon facing this same dilemma myself...I've got only 3 potential specs layed out for when the time comes. I'd say stick true to your heart and be sure you get what you are looking for...be it a "museum" piece to cherish or a daily player!

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

I would personally go with C or D. I'd hate to drop that much $$ on something that I just wouldn't play too often (Double Neck). I'm personally not a huge fan of the Dweezil one either which drew me to C or D.

 

[Whitecat]

Of those designs my vote would be for C. Agree about the doubleneck thing - if it were my only PS ever, getting one that had 'limited use' wouldn't make much sense to me. It should be a guitar that you can play on everything you do, every day...

 

[C&M Music - Lafayette]

Thank you guys, C is becoming my front runner as well. But I really need opinions on my four questions. So c'mon all you Private Stock heroes, help me out. Am I on the right track? Am I missing something? I meet this evening to see if I am going to make this happen and really appreciate the insight I can get from this forum.

 

[Whitecat]

The only PS I bought was designed by the PRS PS team/sold to a dealer so I can't help with the other questions, but I will watch with interest. Good luck either way.

 

[Brad737]

If I may add another chunk of wisdom, worth what you paid for it...

Don't leave something off your list just to save $100. When I spec'd mine, there were a couple items I thought about deleting, but I didn't want to regret not having them. I'm glad I ponied up the small amount of extra cash for eternal peace of mind.

As for the Angelus, I've never played a guitar with cocobolo. I DO however clearly remember a clip where Paul was talking about tone woods. He raved about Brazilian rosewood, and tapped a piece, exclaiming the virtues of its musical timbre. Then he made a disparaging remark about how dead cocobolo sounds, and it goes "thud" when you tap it. Like I said, I've never heard, nor played cocobolo. But I'd sure want to before buying one. (BTW, I do think cocobolo is absolutely beautiful to look at.)

Good luck!

 

[goof1073]

I am FAR from a "Private Stock Hero", but I have gone through the ordering process once...so here are my answers based on my experience:

1) Is the going back and forth on requests and the do ability of those request normal? It is wearing me out.
In general...yes. While the Private Stock program is there to create the "guitar of your dreams" there are certain things that they won't do and certain things that are potentially going to have large impacts on your final quoted price. The Private Stock group doesn't have a feature price list like we're used to seeing on standard production models. Sure some things are much more standard, but other things are not and believe me that you will be surprised about how much extra some features will cost so make sure you know your true budget and what your "must haves" are.

2) How would you go about spec'ing a custom color and getting samples? Are samples reasonable?
I had a custom color made for my Private Stock; "Zombie Stage 3". My dealer (Brian's Guitars) was the one that originally made the Zombie Fade so he was really aligned with what I wanted. But basically while we were going through the color selection process (and the inlay material process) I just kept sharing pictures with my dealer and when we picked the final color that we wanted, he sent those pictures to the Private Stock team with some exact details. Prior to staining my top I received pictures of some color samples and was able to ask questions, they made an adjustment and I gave my dealer the final "go ahead". One thing to keep in mind is that not all pieces of wood will take color the same depending on their underlying tones. The Private Stock team will do their best to adjust as needed, but before we landed on the final color my dealer asked Paul Miles if the top we picked would work with the color.

3) If their was one option you had to have, what would it be and why? My answer is the neck!
That was my answer also; my personal favorite neck carve is still the old Wide Fat neck. Not that I don't like that Pattern neck, but the WF just fits me a whole lot better. Also don't overlook things like the Fretboard radius or Fretwire...those will change the feel of things for you.

4) Have you guys ever selected your woods by email, or at least got the choices sent to you?
My top / wood kit came from a selection of PS Kits that my dealer had pre-selected for upcoming builds during a vault trip...I wasn't really looking to do a Private Stock during his trip, but the top that ultimately become my PS was so killer that I pulled the trigger. I did however ask my dealer during another trip to dig through the Koa stash for me and he sent me a number of images of different tops that I could've selected...there just wasn't anything there that said "buy me". Honestly, if your dealer is going to make the trip to the vault this is the best way to go; know what you want (reference images are a MUST) and they can send you images of what they find. If your dealer is ordering the guitar for you without visiting, I believe the process will go solely on those reference images and the PS Team picking a top, etc. that is reasonably close. In that instance someone else is going to have to let you know if they "let" you approve of the top or not. Some of that might have to do more with the dealer involved and their relationship with the PS team though...??

 

[Tag]

My #1 advice to you, especially seeing you seem to like semi hollow guitars like I do, is go with the old Artist 3, Mccarty depth, semi hollow trem build. It has a separate, or cut off and re-installed back. This build type is the best sounding/feeling semi hollow build of any guitar I have played, and I have owned and played a LOT of semi hollow guitars. I have 4 here right now. My Pomagranite which is the build type I am talking about above, a PRS PS McCarty semi hollow with F Hole, a Gibson 359, and a PRS Walnut semi hollow trem. The Artsit 3 semi hollow/trem is the best sounding/feeling easily. From Metal to straight up Jazz, it can do it all. Thats my best #1 advice, and I am sticking to it. :rock:

 

[veinbuster]

I think part of being worn down is exploring 4 alternatives. There are a lot of variables in each one and it is easy to get lost in the details of those. Focusing on the one guitar you most want to have built will make things much simpler. With multiple specs the most I would take them is a broad brush to get a ballpark price which might influence my choice of the one I was going to build.

If I was expecting to build just one, I would go with something mainstream that I would get a lot of use out of - so for me the double neck would go off the list, just because I don't want my most expensive guitar to be something I wouldn't use much. I think your hollow body choice or the Angelus would prove to be timeless classics.

Wood by email works well enough, but if you can swing a trip to the vault it is well worth it. Particular if you are working with colour. Paul Miles can show you samples of how colours work and talk through combinations that are viable. Remember that colours can look very different by the time they are photographed and then displayed on different monitors. Even taking that out of the mix, different wood will respond to the colour differently and Paul can help you understand how that happens.

 

[László]

My only custom order PS was my acoustic, and I approved everything by email and never saw a color sample. Also, there was no back-and-forth stuff beyond a couple of questions being answered.

I couldn't have been more thrilled with the outcome.

I liked leaving certain decisions up to the PS team. They had good suggestions, as did Jack Gretz, my dealer.

 

[ViperDoc]

Private Stock is a band of legendary builders who can build your dream axe, but they can't tell you what you should build, nor can we. The options you've listed are as amazing as they are varied. Hone your dream axe to one best option, and let her rip, baby! I'd love to see it. There appear to be Private Stock guitars that are built with a case-queen trophy existence in mind, and that's fine. Others are designed with the intention of being played. My experience is that my Private Stock is the best guitar I've ever picked up, and I play it routinely for its sound, feel and the overall experience. If that's what you're after, then you should choose the guitar you would enjoy playing the most, and build that one. It's tough, isn't it?

 

[László]

Others are designed with the intention of being played. My experience is that my Private Stock is the best guitar I've ever picked up, and I play it routinely for its sound, feel and the overall experience. If that's what you're after, then you should choose the guitar you would enjoy playing the most, and build that one. It's tough, isn't it?

I feel exactly the same way.

 

[CatStrangler]

I feel exactly the same way.

+1

 

[Tag]

+1

+2. Make it your #1 guitar and play the living daylights out of it. For all of their qualities, thats what they are best at, thank goodness. If it were just looks, I would never buy one.

 

[Dancing Frog]

+2. Make it your #1 guitar and play the living daylights out of it. For all of their qualities, thats what they are best at, thank goodness. If it were just looks, I would never buy one.

+3. Late to the party as usual. I carefully thought out PS can become part of you in ways that you could never imagine.

 

[Tag]

+3. Late to the party as usual. I carefully thought out PS can become part of you in ways that you could never imagine.

Yours is in the latest PSF pics and it looks STUNNING!

 

[C&M Music - Lafayette]

Thanks for the replies. Here is my belated update. I went to the music store last Wednesday to finalize this deal and the PRS rep was there to meet me. He explained everything and we are almost through working it out. Where I am at now, is that I have scratched most of my planed ideas. ON the Dweez, they cannot do the custom f-hole and wont do the museum birds, which scraped my plans for the overall build. The acoustis is still on the table, just waiting for a response from PRS on that one. The dbl neck was just going to be to pricey, and simply not played as much as any other choice. The semi hollow II was also scratched for price. That was a bummer. Simply put, Charlie ( that is me in the third person. Charlie was already taken as a handle) should probably not be buying a PS. However, I have a limited window of opportunity and i must take it within reason. All that said, this PS quest was driven after quilt was scratched from the artist package. Otherwise I would have ordered a quilted Pauls guitar or Santana with rosewood neck. I just would not have had the semi hollow I was after to compliment my Hollowbody II artist package. So with all this on the table before you guys, I pretty much finalized a PS semi hollow (artist II style) Pauls guitar with trem. Other details are still being worked out and waiting for an answer from the PS folks. Tag , I do like tlike the same style guitar and tone you like. I know I was a little all over the place on this, but I have to make it count and did not want to find out I could have had something and missed out because i did not ask. So after we worked out most of the details, we went to dinner. The PRS rep picked up the tab. which I was much appreciative of. How classy and cool is that. So now I am waiting to get things finalized and make sure I dont want to change the color. Ugh! The decisions!!! Thanks again guys for hearing me and responding. I will let you know when I get this worked out, hopefully Monday. I need to do a NGD for my Hollowbody II. Just need to take some good pictures. It is faded abalone smokeburst and it is smokin! Thank you again. I enjoy it here on this forum!