Private Stock Help Needed!

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 !


VERY GOOD!!! I would just make sure it IS the original Artist 2 semi hollow build type with the separate back, not one piece back. They will build them 1 piece if you do not specify this as clear as possible. Paul Miles knows about this, not sure who else does. Simply cant beat the response that build gives!!!!
 
Artist II was a typo. I meant to say Artist III like you had mentioned earlier in the thread Tag. I am stoked! Now that it is getting close, I am starting to waffle on the color. Their are so many great choices!
 
Artist II was a typo. I meant to say Artist III like you had mentioned earlier in the thread Tag. I am stoked! Now that it is getting close, I am starting to waffle on the color. Their are so many great choices!


SOOOO fine!!! :rock::rock::rock:
 
Artist II was a typo. I meant to say Artist III like you had mentioned earlier in the thread Tag. I am stoked! Now that it is getting close, I am starting to waffle on the color. Their are so many great choices!


I have to say again, if you have never played this type of PRS before, and they are VERY rare, I think you are going to be blown away. The additional resonance and liveliness this build gives is magical IMO. I have put them up against everything, and they have never come out second. SOO cool to see someone else ordering one like this. Amazing, amazing guitars. I cant wait to hear your tonal report! :rock:
 
Thank you Les,

Still have a few wrinkles to work out. Prefer different pups, but the 408s are great if the others cant happen as they were being considered all along anyway. Waiting for confirmation they will do the Artist III style hollowing. The Rep thought it would be O.K., but he was deferring to home base for that one. Should here something Monday. The only drag is not being able to pick out the wood. I have faith in the PS team, so no worries. Now it is just the pleasure of daydreaming about the insignificant, but pleasurable thing of color choices.

Tag,

Are your PS semi hollows, 22 or 24 frets?
 
Thank you Les,

Still have a few wrinkles to work out. Prefer different pups, but the 408s are great if the others cant happen as they were being considered all along anyway. Waiting for confirmation they will do the Artist III style hollowing. The Rep thought it would be O.K., but he was deferring to home base for that one. Should here something Monday. The only drag is not being able to pick out the wood. I have faith in the PS team, so no worries. Now it is just the pleasure of daydreaming about the insignificant, but pleasurable thing of color choices.

Tag,

Are your PS semi hollows, 22 or 24 frets?


All Artist series after the Is were 22 frets. All of mine are/were 22s because they were all IIIs. I am not crazy about 24 fret guitars in general, and would not buy one. They will do the build for sure. I just got a price on one I will hopefully be doing very soon. :rock:
 
Your chances of getting a good "book match" are better if you use fiddleback/flame vrs. quilted maple. However, if you specify that a quilted book match is important, Mr. Miles can look at the billet, and the edges/sides (and the back) of the piece and have a pretty good idea (although not guaranteed) of mirror imaging. And, as suggested above, you could request a one piece top, at additional expense, and more limited choices. I'm not generally a fan, but that's all about individual taste.

In regards to color, the PS team can also get pretty close, but again, a lot depends upon the chunk of wood you choose. A cleaner, whiter piece makes for more accurate color. And, I feel your pain over choosing a color. :dontknow:

Good luck with your build. Doing your own thing is a big part of the PS appeal (at least for me).
 
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Hey TAG, I'm interested in hearing more info about the Artist II/III build differences you're mentioning. From what you've said previously and in other posts, do I understand the Artist semi hollow build involves a construction with a top with no f-holes, sides with semi hollow design and a separate back plate? In essence, an almost H2 construction but without the carved back? What are the back plate woods, then, if the sides are separate? Still mahogany?
 
The (original) Artist II and III models I have played had a maple top on a mahogany body which had been carved out to create a chamber. There were no f-holes. The result was a lighter and more resonant guitar. An excellent instrument!

If you are creating your own, within whatever restrictions the PS folks have, you can design it the way you want. I assume you could have either a flat or carved back. One of my personal favorites (though not PRS) has a bit thicker body, and bookmatched quilted top (carved) and back (flat). In terms of feel it is similar to a 335, but with "natural binding" on both sides, without f-holes, a single cutaway and NO plywood. (I tend to think of it as a prototype Reitbergen sans f-holes). Hate to think how much it would cost to reproduce as a custom build!



Good luck making one exactly the way you want it!
 
Hey TAG, I'm interested in hearing more info about the Artist II/III build differences you're mentioning. From what you've said previously and in other posts, do I understand the Artist semi hollow build involves a construction with a top with no f-holes, sides with semi hollow design and a separate back plate? In essence, an almost H2 construction but without the carved back? What are the back plate woods, then, if the sides are separate? Still mahogany?


Yes Doc, no f holes and the back and sides are mahogany without the carved back. I wanted to add the carved back, which was doable, but I have to stop somewhere. So I will have a flat back on mine, which is in essence, a slice of the backwood removed, the insides hollowed out and the back plate replaced, with the matching hog trem and cover plates. I went with hog after carefully considering claro walnut.


Your chances of getting a good "book match" are better if you use fiddleback/flame vrs. quilted maple. However, if you specify that a quilted book match is important, Mr. Miles can look at the billet, and the edges/sides of the piece and have a pretty good idea (although not guaranteed) of mirror imaging. And, as suggested above, you could request a one piece top, at additional expense, and more limited choices. I'm not generally a fan, but that's all about individual taste.

In regards to color, the PS team can also get pretty close, but again, a lot depends upon the chunk of wood you choose. A cleaner, whiter piece makes for more accurate color. And, I feel your pain over choosing a color. :dontknow:

Good luck with your build. Doing your own thing is a big part of the PS appeal (at least for me).

Thank you 11top for your experienced help. This is what I needed to hear. I will clarify my bookmatched request with an emphasis on the whiter the better, even if I give up some figuring. After all it will still be private stock so I cant go wrong.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Tag, thanks for answering the fret # question. I too, prefer the 22 fret. I think they have me down for 24 fret, so I have to check and make sure I have that correct.
The color I am pretty convinced on is a take off of Tosca's "Yenita", which is Aguaviolet Smokeburst. His beautiful guitar is a glow version of that color and I am going with a dragons breath and a light charcoal stain on the back and sides. I am so fired up, can I tell ya!
 
The (original) Artist II and III models I have played had a maple top on a mahogany body which had been carved out to create a chamber. There were no f-holes. The result was a lighter and more resonant guitar. An excellent instrument!


Thank you Django. This guitar build is going great. For awhile, it was off track, but the PRS Rep and all you good folks on this forum got me heading in the right direction. Heck!, If the final numbers are not to out the box today, I may revisit the possibility of a carved back. It is the only thing I am leaving on the table. With or without, I am happy just the same.
 
Hey TAG, I'm interested in hearing more info about the Artist II/III build differences you're mentioning. From what you've said previously and in other posts, do I understand the Artist semi hollow build involves a construction with a top with no f-holes, sides with semi hollow design and a separate back plate? In essence, an almost H2 construction but without the carved back? What are the back plate woods, then, if the sides are separate? Still mahogany?


No F Holes! The back is still mahogany, and may be the same piece, I am not sure, but you can see the seam where the back was cut off. From what Paul Miles told me, they route the body from the back this way, and then glue a back cap on. This way is also much more semi hollow. The other way, the back is routed before its attached, so its one piece. If youdo not specify this, you will get the one piece back. I know, because I got three of them that way by mistake! I have also seen another that was done after my last one, (where we finally got it all straightened out) that had the one piece back. I have had several of them both ways, (not by choice :() and they sound very different. I MUCH prefer the first technique. Its more hollow sounding, and gives a much better feel in the strings. The other way I still prefer over a solidbody though, and sounds very good, but the first way is how the original Artist series semi hollow trems were done, I fell in love with, and have always wanted. They REALLY REALLY need to offer this as an option, or just make guitars like this again. IMO they sound better than an LP for that thing, (although a bit different of course) and better than a 335 for straight ahead jazz. They can pretty much compete head to head with many electric full body jazz guitars, and are devastating at blues and fusion. Paul Miles is the expert on this at PRS. He dug out the original design sheets for the Artist semi hollows from all of my complaining. Thank goodness he did, or these still would not be available. WHAT a design!!!
 
Thank you Django. This guitar build is going great. For awhile, it was off track, but the PRS Rep and all you good folks on this forum got me heading in the right direction. Heck!, If the final numbers are not to out the box today, I may revisit the possibility of a carved back. It is the only thing I am leaving on the table. With or without, I am happy just the same.



I would keep the back flat and stay with Mahogany. Flat because I know how good they sound, and also Mahogany because I like the tone much more than the PRS hollowbodies. When plugged in, they out hollow the hollow bodies IMO. I have had a McCarty thickness semi hollow with Fhole, and 3 CU 22 semi hollows with Fholoes, and have A/Bd my old Artsit 3 semi hollow with several PRS holowbodies, and have liked the Artist 3s more than all of them. Again, as always, this is to my ear, IMO, YMMV and all of that. I do have a lot of clips, so anyone interested can listen to them for a guide.
 
The (original) Artist II and III models I have played had a maple top on a mahogany body which had been carved out to create a chamber. There were no f-holes. The result was a lighter and more resonant guitar. An excellent instrument!

If you are creating your own, within whatever restrictions the PS folks have, you can design it the way you want. I assume you could have either a flat or carved back. One of my personal favorites (though not PRS) has a bit thicker body, and bookmatched quilted top (carved) and back (flat). In terms of feel it is similar to a 335, but with "natural binding" on both sides, without f-holes, a single cutaway and NO plywood. (I tend to think of it as a prototype Reitbergen sans f-holes). Hate to think how much it would cost to reproduce as a custom build!



Good luck making one exactly the way you want it!


Beautiful guitar. I am pretty sure that is very similar to what we are talking about, but internally who knows? We need some x rays! With the Maple back cap, at least you know its separate from the sides.
 
The (original) Artist II and III models I have played had a maple top on a mahogany body which had been carved out to create a chamber. There were no f-holes. The result was a lighter and more resonant guitar. An excellent instrument!

If you are creating your own, within whatever restrictions the PS folks have, you can design it the way you want. I assume you could have either a flat or carved back. One of my personal favorites (though not PRS) has a bit thicker body, and bookmatched quilted top (carved) and back (flat). In terms of feel it is similar to a 335, but with "natural binding" on both sides, without f-holes, a single cutaway and NO plywood. (I tend to think of it as a prototype Reitbergen sans f-holes). Hate to think how much it would cost to reproduce as a custom build!



Good luck making one exactly the way you want it!

PLYWOOD, HE SAYS. ????? What do you mean? Are your referring to known plywood use in...something? Curious.
 
^^^^

I just assumed it to be common knowledge that Gibson ES-335s (and their cousins) have plywood tops and backs. Some similar guitars (such as Collings, I believe) are available with either plywood or solid wood. And it is not unusual to have plywood in a relatively high end archtop (jazz) guitar. Witness the Gibson ES-175. Lots of great music in many genres has been made using plywood.

Not NECESSARILY a bad thing, as some people think it is part of what makes a 335 (or 175) such a unique instrument. Others (inc me) tend to lean towards being a "solid wood snob". Of course that generally means paying more!
 
^^^^

I just assumed it to be common knowledge that Gibson ES-335s (and their cousins) have plywood tops and backs. Some similar guitars (such as Collings, I believe) are available with either plywood or solid wood. And it is not unusual to have plywood in a relatively high end archtop (jazz) guitar. Witness the Gibson ES-175. Lots of great music in many genres has been made using plywood.

Not NECESSARILY a bad thing, as some people think it is part of what makes a 335 (or 175) such a unique instrument. Others (inc me) tend to lean towards being a "solid wood snob". Of course that generally means paying more!


Thats why for so many years I loved the L4s. Best value in a Gibson archtop back then. (Maybe still is, but I know they raised the price drastically at one point) The unknown Gibson to most. A 175 with a solid Spruce top, and the neck pup where it should be on a jazz guitar. Right against the fretboard. How anyone could play both side by side and buy a 175 I can not understand. That being said, playing both model Collings, I prefer the plywood, and I like the Gibson more than both. Go figure.
 
Alright guys. :( I am bummed out to tell ya my PS plan came to an early end. While they did say they would certainly do the Artist III hollowing, the other options just did not come together. While I could have stepped up and went over budget to make it happen, at the end of the day I was still not getting everything I wanted. Somethings they would not do, ( no it was nothing inappropriate) the Art III was a chunk $$ and I would have gone over budget while having to cut another option. Not what I want to do. Also, I want to get a better handle on this whole process or find a way to make the trip to the vault. :violin: So what I will do is save more coins and see what the future holds.:wink: No worries, just the same. Thanks to everyone for the very helpful info. Sooner or later, I will make it happen.
 
It might not hurt to give a complete list of your "final" specs and what, if any, might be negotiable. Stranger things have happened that to get a good result from a "want to buy" posting.....Someone may know someone, etc.
 
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