PRS T Twang Speculation

Stephen J.

Stephen J.

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Apr 19, 2020
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Inspired by the best Tele imitation thread:

What do you think PRS would do with the Tele? I personally don’t think they will come out with their version anytime soon, if at all. But if they were to, what do you think they would do? Not what you want them to do, but what you think would be most likely?

Headstock: traditional PRS, variation of 3x3 or 6 in line?
Neck: current profile/radius or something new?
Body: PRS, Tele, something new? Contours or slab?
Bridge: Vela plate, something new?
Pickups: Look like a Tele or just improvements on the tone in a PRS format?
Controls: Tele style or PRS design?

Do you think they would be more inclined to do it with an artist like the Silver Sky, or poke at it for a while like the EGs, DC3, 305?
 
I think a PRS tele style guitar could go two ways.

1) An original design. Essentially an updated tele with PRS design flourishes, looks and playability. Kinda like the 305 and dc3. Could be something like a SC trem thickness, alder or Swamp Ash bodied guitar with a 25.5 scale and maple neck. Would definitely want some plate style bridge (possibly Vela). Pickups would be hard to say. Existing pickups, like some combo of narrow 408, narrowfield or 509 pickups might be cool....or maybe a new proprietary job. Something like that would look and play sweet....like a PRS and be more a strong nod to a tele than a copy.

2) Artist guitar. Depending on what the artist wants or needs, this is where you could see PRS making a run at a tele more directly. Think John Mayer Silver Sky and how very Strat it is.

I would really love a tele inspired PRS. A guitar with that distinctive attack but PRS playability would be having your cake and eating it too IMO. I know they have done long scale, SC prototypes with single coils in Private Stock....maybe they just didn't make the grade to be a production model. PRS's that become production models tend to be very well thought out and fantastic instruments, so maybe they just aren't happy with their tele inspired attempts yet. I am sure if one day we see one, it will be a KILLER instrument, just like the dc3, 305 and John Mayer are all amazing strat inspired instruments.
 
It'll be a singlecut, gentle-shouldered Mira body, 3+3, Vela bridge, Paul's neck pup, new design bridge pup, two vol, master tone, 3-way with one mini toggle for the neck pup.

People will hate it.

People will love it.

It will end up in a museum, but I'm not sure which of the statements above is the reason.

I just said in the other thread that I really wasn't that interested in a PRS Tele...

...but I would totally buy that ^^^^^.
 
It makes sense.

We have the 594, or the More Paul.
We have the 594 S2 Thinline, or the S2G
We have the Silver Sky, or the Mayercaster

Why not? A real Tele artist series with someone as omnipresent in Nashville as Brent Mason, or work with a rocker known for Teles like Springsteen. I'd buy one like Mason's hybrid Tele today. We might as well add a TeleReedSmith to the mix!
 
Last edited:
bodia said:
If they did, I'd finally have a T Style guitar, that is for sure!
Click to expand...

Same. Like I say, I love that distinctive tele snap and attack....but never loved how a tele looks or played. A PRS tele inspired axe or Tele-Reed-Smith (I like that moniker....) would rectify both those issues, as it would play lights out and look amazing. Plus it would likely be much more versatile than an average tele, just like something like an nf3 or dc3 can do alot more than initial perceptions lead you to believe.
 
I bought a tele yonks ago just so I could play Run Like Hell easily - I just left it in drop D tuning (too busy playing tennis [see the "Is This Place Special?" thread in the General forum]).

Using other guitars I can get pretty close to the "feel" of Run Like Hell with the right delay pattern and the right touch of light dirt, but that bridge pickup somehow gets you "exactly there".

And my tele isn't even a typical US-made stock model, I have a Korean made Squier "Pro Tone" Fat tele with HB in the neck, ash body (AFAIK, most teles are alder body now), RW board.

So I'd be down to try whatever interpretation of "tele" that PRS might want to tackle.
 
RickP said:
It makes sense.

We have the 594, or the More Paul.
We have the 594 S2 Thinline, or the S2G
We have the Silver Sky, or the Mayercaster

Why not? A real Tele artist series with someone as omnipresent in Nashville as Brent Mason, or work with a rocker known for Teles like Springsteen. I'd buy one like Mason's hybrid Tele today. We might as well add a TeleReedSmith to the mix!
Click to expand...
How bout a jazz guy like Julian Lage - he plays more than one guitar but on electric I most often see him with his Nachocaster. Probably not gonna drive a lot of sales, but I'd bet he could help them design a hell of a guitar.
 
bodia said:
See SE One thread

https://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/gratuitous-se-one-picture.43098/page-3#post-557275
Click to expand...

There ya go.

C2-D2-C4-F5-A223-4-AC3-A630-E453-B2-DD656-F.jpg
 
Hmmm. Maybe a custom body with a type d in the neck and a silver sky single in the bridge arranged t style. 4 way switch to get series and parallel options and a mini toggle for out of phase...
 
It would have to have an ash body ... but as ash is being phased out due to rarity of stock it probably won’t happen :(
 
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