I get nervous when I mod or change anything on my PRSs. I make it a point to keep the original components in case of a future sell-off or for when my "estate" WILL have to sell off all my gear...you know...I'd rather my kids get or sell a '59Paul WITH original PAFs..
BUT...I suppose a '59 that got some "upgrades" at the Gibson factory wouldn't hurt it's value a whole lot..as long as they didn't swap/keep those PAFs.
Then again, my '62 ES335 was "Custom Made" at the factory...they added a Bigsby (oops...there goes a few $K) and removed the stop tp.
I started reading this thread and I was like....wow...that's gonna be one VERY pricey pickup and switch swap!! PTC aint cheap and neither is shipping. I realize that we aren't all handy with an iron...and some people don't WANT to be...but for me...partly cause I'm a broke assed jackass most of the time, I find it easy, with some internet guidance when necessary, to do minor electronics work on guitars and amps...and it's satisfying...though probably sometimes not as "pretty" as it could be...and right now I think I have my Tremonti's pups out of phase lol...
But what really caught my eye was where it was suggested to have the PTC do a set-up.
Again...not trying to be a dick (I never have to TRY very hard)...but....uhhhhh...doesn't PRS already DO a set-up on a PRS guitar before it laves? That used to be one of their selling points...you know,
"You KNOW that if your guitar doesn't arrive at a show, you can go into a store and grab that same PRS model off the shelf and it will feel and sound the same! Exquisitely set-up for consistency from one guitar to another blah blah blah".
QC, set-ups, attention to detail (and of course innovation) are what PRS was...IS all about.
So what's the dealio fellas?
Do they come perfectly set-up or not? Is there a need these days to buy a PRS and then send it back for a set-up?
And NOW I'll go back and take another look at the OP...shoulda done that first...doh...ok this is a '97. I suppose even PRS set-ups can't last SIXTEEN YEARS!!!!
OK well I STILL say...I like to mess-up...I mean PERFORM my own wiring and pup swaps...sure they look like hell and don't work properly (kinda liking the out of phase thing lol)...but a least I did it.
Set-ups too. It's worse in the acoustic community but I honestly see threads where people say...just had my guitar in the shop for a string change and a set-up!
Or...just brought my guitar to my "tech" to have the trussrod adjusted.
I usually say...NO MAN....do it YOURSELF!! Learn how online of you don't know already. No one can set-up YOUR guitar for YOU. That is as personal as picking your own nose or choking your own chicken. Friends don't let friends pick their noses or spank each others' monkeys.
When I teach guitar (yes...it could be an injustice), nomenclature, maintenance, tuning, stringchanges, truss adjustments.....all that stuff starts on lesson TWO! To me, understanding the actual instrument is as important as learning to wipe your own bum. Yes you can pay someone to do it for you but...if you want it done right...the way YOU like it....well, you should probably operate the toilet paper ya know?
NOW...all that said...if I had the money and was lazy...I'd have to be even lazier than I already am...and well then you'd call me a two toed sloth...or a corpse...I'd LOVE to one day be able to take my old '94 CE to the PTC for a ...re-furbish...I mean a sprucing-up. Not sure what I'd have them do. I love the played-in feel of that guitar. Frets could use a little attention...some divots worn in here and there and a loose/lifting wire around fret 13 that could use a lift, cleaning and re-seat...but other than that...it's set-up exactly how I like it.
It WOULD be fun though to get my guitar back from the PTC and get to open the case and feel what they did. I bet it would be AWESOME (and awesomely expensive?).
Hey...if you have the money, if you live close to the PTC or authorized repairshop (different from a store guitar "tech")...it would probably be cool to take your guitar(s) in once a year or two and see what they do...BUT...
I'm THAT kid. You know...the one who, two days after getting a new birthday bike, it's in pieces in the front yard cause I'm "fixing" it. I only ever rendered one unuseable (decided it was "learning how to re-spoke bicycle wheels day" one time...oopsies.
When I was like 10 I got my first guitar and amp. I re-finished the guitar with crumpled tinfoil. My Grandparents brought me to Disneyworld in Fl about a month after getting my first amp. IIRC I had like $45 spending money for the Disney trip. What did I spend it on? a Nice new 12" guitar speaker with an aluminum dustcone. No :-( it didn't make my wee old tube Harmony amp any louder (man I wish I had that amp TODAY!!!!).
My next guitar when I was 15 was a Fender Mustang. FIRST thing it NEEDED was of course a new paintjob. Then once it was all nice and canary yellow with red pinstriping I knew that it needed a louder raunchier pup in the bridge (I already knew this at 12!!!!???) so I put a DiMarzio SD1 SC in it...but...it was too tall. I borrowed Frank's Dad's router. Didn't know how to use one..didn't tighten the bit enough and it almost plunged right out the backside of the guitar.
My POINT to this rant is...it is my BELIEF (and only mine) that everyone who owns a guitar should know how to do a few minimal things to do to it like...change strings, tune it, intonate it, adjust neck relief, string height, pickup and polepiece height, and then just the typical proper care and maintenance like watching humidity, keeping it clean etc etc
The more you can do to your guitar the closer to it you become and the better your understanding of the instrument/tool gets and that is all part of helping you enjoy your instrument.
Not saying that you cant enjoy it without doing your own maintenance/set-ups...you can have tons of fun driving cars without having to know how to do an engine swap or even a tire change...but, find yourself at a gig in the middle of nowhere at 2:30am Saturday night (Sunday morning) and suddenly...NO SOUND!!! Well...there is no 1-800 Stageside Assistance operator you can call and your guitar probably doesn't have OnSat.
Send a mans guitar to the PTC and he will play a well set-up guitar for months!! Make a man learn to do his own setups...and he'll probably have to bring it to his tech twice as often!!! lmao
nah...hey everyone...you and your guitar(s) will get along much better if you learn to work on them yourself.
YMMV, my two cents, FWIW, ......................everybody funny, now YOU funny TOO!!! ........George Thorogood
