PRS Zach Myers vs PRS Bernie Marsden

[JCR]

Hi I'm a soon to be a PRS owner but I'm still a bit undecided, I make music for tv, and I need a versatile guitar,something that can get pop/comercial cleans, and do heavy Hard Rock and since I'm a fan of the Les Paul body type guitar,I'm going to end up buying one of these 2 guitars,according to the specs in the PRS site both are really similar,same pickups,same scale lenght, fat neck,same tuners and the stop tail looks similar,the body is the main diference,This guitar will enventually be the heavy/modern rock go to guitar with some bareknuckes, but for now I need something versatile with quality, I would appreciate feedback on both guitars and how they come from the factory

Thanks

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

As you have seen there's quite a lot of similarities between the two guitars. The ZM will sound a little different due to the fact it's a chambered body but I suspect not massively so. The ZM has a stoptail with adjustable saddles but the Bernie's more traditional bridge is also adjustable so the differences are more cosmetic as both will deliver excellent intonation. the ZM also has 2 tone an volume controls compared to the Bernie's 3 controls.

The main differences are cosmetic more than anything but you may prefer one neck shape over another. They're both listed as wide fat but the Bernie has a slightly beefier neck.

Put some Bare Knuckles in my Bernie and loved them. but as I needed a bit more beef from the bridge pup I swapped that for a Suhr Doug Aldrich. Great cleans from the stock pup but you can't go wrong with some BK pups. May be worth setting the guitar up for coil split when you swap out the pups.

From the factory? Mine was perfectly set up. Had issues with the nut and the ZM may be cut for 9's although the Bernie is definitely cut for 10's. You're unlikely to have any other issues and chances are the nut will be fine.

Try them both out in a shop if you can as what makes you go for one over another could be something such as neck feel or... well... One will speak to you!

In the mean time I have a link to my demo of the Bernie Marsden in my sig. Blues demo at the end and a little rock jam at the beginning. Flick through it as I do some cleans at some point. All stock at that point.

 

[Duffy]

Hi I'm a soon to be a PRS owner but I'm still a bit undecided, I make music for tv, and I need a versatile guitar,something that can get pop/comercial cleans, and do heavy Hard Rock and since I'm a fan of the Les Paul body type guitar,I'm going to end up buying one of these 2 guitars,according to the specs in the PRS site both are really similar,same pickups,same scale lenght, fat neck,same tuners and the stop tail looks similar,the body is the main diference,This guitar will enventually be the heavy/modern rock go to guitar with some bareknuckes, but for now I need something versatile with quality, I would appreciate feedback on both guitars and how they come from the factory

Thanks

This isn't about one of those two, but I just got one of the new Tremonti SE Customs in black/grey flame and it is an awesome sounding guitar. It has the same pickups and I think the maple neck and thicker body gives it the brighter tone than my SE Santana. I also have an SE Singlecut Tremolo guitar that sounds almost like the Tremonti SE Custom. The Tremonti SE Custom is the nicest looking, feeling, and playing guitar that I have bought in a long time. It has the four control knobs like the ZM.

It has the wide/thin neck, that is similar to a strat neck, not rounded like many LP necks. The sound of the pickups is really good with the bridge having a brightness that can be mellowed out and the neck pickup is more mellow; both pickups are very powerful sounding. I dig this guitar.

I personally am considering the PRS SE Custom 24 as my next guitar.

The ZM has the vintage style tuners. It is a super nice looking guitar. The adjustable bridge is a very nice feature.

I think it would be hard to go wrong with either of your pre-selections, but you might want to look at that Tremonti Custom.

Good luck in finding what you want.

 

[JCR]

thank you guys for your feedback I'm leaning towards the Marsden model,Duffy I also thought of the Tremonti model but I like fixed bridges and I want to avoid changes in a new guitar