PRS guitars with definite soul

[grausch]

Youtube suggested the following video for my morning viewing. I think it lays to rest the statement that PRS guitars have no soul.

 

[fender1punk]

Orianthi, right?

 

[grausch]

Yes, first time I saw her and have to say that she gets excellent tone from her PRS. While the PRS definitely sounds different than a Fender for Voodoo Chile, it still sounds pretty damn good.

In the videos where she is playing with Billy Gibbons, I notice the difference in tone when she plays, but it sounds very good to my ears.

 

[László]

Lol people who think PRS guitars have no soul do not need another guitar. They need guitar lessons.

They might also need souls.

 

[garrett]

Someone say "soul"?

I've always maintained that it's a BS argument, but, hey, it's an excuse to post videos of people playing PRS.

 

[elvis]

Soul, as with everything else, is in the brain and fingers, and... well... ummm... soul... of the player. The instrument is irrelevant.

As a younger player I could not find a PRS that I could bond with. I could respect them for the quality instruments they were, but I could not play them. These days my favorite is an SC245. Go figure.

 

[grausch]

Well, I can say that I compensate for my lack of soul by banging out powerchords way too enthusiastically.

Looking at these clips, and those of Bernie Marsden, just makes me realize that I still need to spend a fair amount of time practicing...

 

[Huggy Love]

Anyone who says that an instrument is gonna have "soul" or not has no idea what "soul" is.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

 

[benh1972]

There are soulless guitars out there, & soulless guitarists, but if there are PRS's out there that are sub par, they'd by far be the exception rather than the rule, which is certainly not the case with other brands in the SE or S2 price range.

At the end of the day, most guitarists play the guitar that they felt called to them; a bad guitar doesn't summon you, it's more likely a guitar you settled on, because you felt it was within your budget.

I think you should always buy the best guitar you can afford, & if you can't afford it, save up, sell something to make up the difference, or whatever.

Life's too short for crap guitars, & from my experience, when you buy a sub par guitar, you make up the difference in cost getting it set up & modded by a tech, that you could have spent getting a better guitar in the first place.

I find it odd that so many choose a PRS (from whatever range) then choose to mod it.
To my mind, so much thought, craftsmanship, & effort has gone into selection of materials including hardware, that most PRS's come out just about as good as they can be.
I do get that some prefer to buy an SE, then mod it to be more like a core or S2 model; but really, by the time you've spent that money, you probably could have bought the real deal, without all the sweat.

You can dial up tone & effects with pedals & digital gear, but you can't substitute for practice, experience, feel & technique.

Just as a bad guitar player can make a good guitar sound crap, & good guitarist can make a crap one sound fantastic, it comes down to feeling at one with a guitar; doesn't matter if its PRS, Gibson, Fender, Gretch or whatever, if it doesn't feel right in your hands, your'e not going to get a good sound out of it.
Just check out the Youtube clips of guitarists demos of guitars, & you'll see exactly what I mean.

People that say this or that brand is rubbish are underestimating how much tone comes from the player, & overestimating how much difference it makes what it says on the headstock.

All that said, most brands let a few lemons slip through QC in their factories, & you've only got to encounter one of them & it sours your perception of that brand.

I wouldn't have said I was a fan of any particular brand before, as all guitar brands & styles have their individual pros & cons, but having owned a couple of SE's for a few months, I can say that though I'd be willing to trade up or sell some of my guitars to upgrade, I'd see no reason to do so with a PRS.

The one thing all good guitarists would agree on is that there is no substitute for practice.
You can't improve without putting in the time & effort, & it doesn't take long letting dust settle on your guitars for the same to happen to your skills & technique.

It doesn't matter how many or what type of guitar/s you have, you can only get good at it by playing.

 

[benh1972]

Anyone who says that an instrument is gonna have "soul" or not has no idea what "soul" is.

Yep, the instrument may have a feel, or look that's appealing that draws you to play it, but the "soul" comes from the player.
A guitar has no more or less soul than a car, motorbike, boat, or any other tool or instrument a human uses.

That said, it take a certain kind of person to look past the superficial appearance of something & use something that is not so aesthetically appealing.
Looks aren't everything though, obviously; there are plenty of blind musicians that have proven that feel & sound are what matters.

I think the whole "soul" thing is intangible; you can't see it, you can't touch it, but you can sense when it's there & when it isn't.
Whether you want to call it soul, vibe, feel, or whatever, I guess what it comes down to is it makes you sit up & take notice, whereas "soulless" music or instruments, just exist in the background, rather than demand your attention.
I do think though that, it's still more than that.
Music with soul makes you feel something, soulless music has little or no resonance, & doesn't elicit a noticeable emotional response.

Maybe rather than soul when it comes to guitars or other instruments, we should refer to "presence"?

 

[LJD]

I have to look beyond Orianthi for soul. That Santana clip will do.

 

[benh1972]

I'm with you there LJD; Orianthi's an excellent guitarist, but there's something intangible that comes with age & maturity in playing that you can't replicate in youth.
Not sure if it's having explored various styles, life experience, technique, or exposure to other music & musicians, but much as I appreciate Orianthi's technique, it somehow lacks the vibe you get from guitarists like BB King, Santana, John Mayer, etc.
She's technically proficient (though she was off key a few times in those clips), but just somehow doesn't have the feel I like to hear musically.
That said, it could be me not her; everyone's taste is individual, & that's where subjectivity comes from.

 

[Basauri]

There are soulless guitars out there, & soulless guitarists, but if there are PRS's out there that are sub par, they'd by far be the exception rather than the rule, which is certainly not the case with other brands in the SE or S2 price range.

At the end of the day, most guitarists play the guitar that they felt called to them; a bad guitar doesn't summon you, it's more likely a guitar you settled on, because you felt it was within your budget.

I think you should always buy the best guitar you can afford, & if you can't afford it, save up, sell something to make up the difference, or whatever.

Life's too short for crap guitars, & from my experience, when you buy a sub par guitar, you make up the difference in cost getting it set up & modded by a tech, that you could have spent getting a better guitar in the first place.

I find it odd that so many choose a PRS (from whatever range) then choose to mod it.
To my mind, so much thought, craftsmanship, & effort has gone into selection of materials including hardware, that most PRS's come out just about as good as they can be.
I do get that some prefer to buy an SE, then mod it to be more like a core or S2 model; but really, by the time you've spent that money, you probably could have bought the real deal, without all the sweat.

You can dial up tone & effects with pedals & digital gear, but you can't substitute for practice, experience, feel & technique.

Just as a bad guitar player can make a good guitar sound crap, & good guitarist can make a crap one sound fantastic, it comes down to feeling at one with a guitar; doesn't matter if its PRS, Gibson, Fender, Gretch or whatever, if it doesn't feel right in your hands, your'e not going to get a good sound out of it.
Just check out the Youtube clips of guitarists demos of guitars, & you'll see exactly what I mean.

People that say this or that brand is rubbish are underestimating how much tone comes from the player, & overestimating how much difference it makes what it says on the headstock.

All that said, most brands let a few lemons slip through QC in their factories, & you've only got to encounter one of them & it sours your perception of that brand.

I wouldn't have said I was a fan of any particular brand before, as all guitar brands & styles have their individual pros & cons, but having owned a couple of SE's for a few months, I can say that though I'd be willing to trade up or sell some of my guitars to upgrade, I'd see no reason to do so with a PRS.

The one thing all good guitarists would agree on is that there is no substitute for practice.
You can't improve without putting in the time & effort, & it doesn't take long letting dust settle on your guitars for the same to happen to your skills & technique.

It doesn't matter how many or what type of guitar/s you have, you can only get good at it by playing.

One of the best things I've red in years.
I've been one of those my-R9-has-to-be-closer-to-an-original-burst guy, spending a lot of money in pickups, electronics, plastics... just to reach an utopia. And what is worst, spending a lot of TIME installing and modifying, instead of just playing the guitar.
And that is one of the things I love from my PRSi, they're good as they are, and every second my hands are on them, is just for playing and improving my technique.

 

[charliefrench]

Not even sure what soul is. James Brown might know.

 

[elvis]

Every time I have seen a guitarist with real soul, I have asked them about their approach to the instrument. Ten times out of ten they can't explain it. They just play the heck out of it and find a voice.

 

[elvis]

I find it odd that so many choose a PRS (from whatever range) then choose to mod it.
To my mind, so much thought, craftsmanship, & effort has gone into selection of materials including hardware, that most PRS's come out just about as good as they can be.

I disagree. Paul crafts guitars that HE likes. I like the feel, the quality, and the design of some of his guitars. I do not agree with his taste in pickups. I know how to make a guitar Paul likes into one I like.

 

[benh1972]

Fair enough Elvis; it comes down to personal taste.
It was similar with Gibson & Les Paul, & kind of the mirror of Fender with the Strat & Tele.
Les was always tweaking ideas for the LP, some of which Gibson went with, some they didn't.
Some were financially successful, some were just not as popular.
Leo Fender & others worked with guitarists, finding out what they liked, & put that into their guitars.
Again some great ideas, some duds.
All guitar manufacturers, big or small have input from customers, it depends on the makers whether they take it on board or not, & to what degree.

Some niche makers insist that you buy their guitars the way they make them, some will do custom jobs.
At the end of the day the customers/guitarists, decide what works in a guitar.
Remember, Gibson almost went broke more than once, as did Gretch & Epiphone, trying to second guess what customers want in guitars.
It's sometimes a matter of manufacturers being granted the grace & time for the ideas they have that are ahead of their time becoming popular enough to turn a profit.

I'm sure if you asked 10 different guitarists, whatever style of music or guitar they play, just what they like in a guitar, you'd get more than 10 different answers.
Paul & his team craft great guitars, & a lot of time & effort goes into picking all the components, matching pups, etc, but at the end of the day you can't ever please everyone all the time.

Guitars will always be a compromise of some sort, there's really no such thing as the perfect guitar, just the one that comes closest to what the player wants.

There comes a time as a guitarist where you have to say your'e close enough, & the rest is down to technique & maybe amp selection, as well as adjusting tone vol & other settings.

Remember too, that the same pups will not sound the same in 2 different guitars; scale length, body, & other factors come into play as well as playing style.

I'm not saying modding a guitar is wrong, or that you shouldn't tweak a guitar to personal taste, I'm just saying that in my case, I prefer to work with what I have, or upgrade to a new guitar, rather than opening up Pandora's box by trying to modify something that's well built for purpose.

If changing pups, tuners, bridge etc gets you what you're looking for that's fantastic; it's just not my thing, as I'd rather focus on my technique with what I have than try to customise a guitar.

 

[shallbe]

I disagree. Paul crafts guitars that HE likes. I like the feel, the quality, and the design of some of his guitars. I do not agree with his taste in pickups. I know how to make a guitar Paul likes into one I like.

I totally agree with this. Some of Paul's stock guitars are perfect for me, but about half of them need changes or tweaks for me to love them.

 

[benh1972]

Yeah PRS make great guitars, & some great ideas filter down from the GOM, private stock, signature lines etc.

Clearly some really like the look of some guitars, some really like the sound, & some like both.
PRS may spend a lot of time AB'ing pups & going for a particular sound, but it's really subjective, & not everyone is looking for the same thing.
We're spoilt for choice these days when it comes to pups & swapping out gear, whereas unless you were a well paid musician or innovator (or both) back in the '50s - '60s you just got what you got when you bought a guitar.

If you like the look but the sound's not quite what you're after, I understand why you'd choose to mod the pickups.
Similarly I get why some choose to change the tuners or bridge for intonation, action, or sustain.
I had my Squier Strat hard tailed, 'cause the trem is just rubbish when it's made from shoddy metal; & it didn't seem worth it hunting down a substitute that would fit.

The same as if there's something in the look you don't like you might change it; my Epiphone ES 339 came with a pick guard, that I think actually ruins the look of the vintage burst, so I took it off.

For me with PRS though, at least at this stage, I find the stock models look & sound good enough.
That may change in time, as my style & hearing changes with age & experience.

One other thing; never underestimate the impact of properly stretched strings, & keeping your strings in good condition.
Well stretched strings that are still in good shape will easily sound better than old strings, no matter what pups you've got.
I was about ready to swap out the pups in my ES 339 until a string change proved it was the strings, not the pups that made it sound dull.
Much cheaper to spend a few dollars on strings than replace pups!