The Eagle has landed

[rabidhamster]

Pictures to come

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Ooh...

 

[themike]

HURRY WITH THE PICTURESSSSSSSSSSSS

 

[jfb]

HURRY WITH THE PICTURESSSSSSSSSSSS

This. Now.

 

[markie]

Stop teasing & show us some pics :evil:

 

[rabidhamster]

Sorry for the long tease guys! I've been going nonstop since the guitar came in, but I have the photos now- I was both very pleasantly and unpleasantly surprised - theres some issues with the serial number missing I'm afraid...:bawling: I'm uploading high quality pics now but heres the unboxing

 

[justmund]

What model is this?

 

[sergiodeblanc]

OM MY GOD! So Psyched for you!... It's Golden! :adore:

 

[rabidhamster]

I got the guitar restrung and set up today - the thing was filthy and had a really bad setup, the frets were all tarnished- this guitar has definitely been played. I was on the fence about whether or not Private Stocks were worth the extra premium before I got this, but not anymore... this guitar has taken the place as the best instrument I've ever owned. It makes my Artist package top look pretty tame...

I've contacted the guy I got it from to see if it was an insurance auction guitar or something.... Fingers crossed... I'll probably call PRS tomorrow to see if they've heard anything as well. I knew the signatures were missing on the guitar when I bought it, I thought it had a headstock repair, but in person it looks a little more suspicious to me. I'm so bummed this guitar may or may not really be mine yet...

 

[rabidhamster]

It came with the truss rod cover on loose, and as you can see its had something under it that reacted with the nitro... The whole back of the headstock looks like that too

 

[rabidhamster]

Pretty nice looking back as well.... this thing is light!

 

[rabidhamster]

OM MY GOD! So Psyched for you!... It's Golden! :adore:

Thanks man! I nearly crapped myself when I bought this. It sounds absolutely monstrous plugged in! Even better, it cured my gas for an old Jr, a 24 fretter, a 24.5 scale PRS, and a second trem guitar.

 

[justmund]

Interesting control layout, what do the 3 knobs and blade switch do? Got any photos of the reverse headstock?

 

[rabidhamster]

Interesting control layout, what do the 3 knobs and blade switch do? Got any photos of the reverse headstock?

Its a Howard Leese Golden Eagle. The controls are 3 way switch, master volume, tone, tone. Its actually quite versatile and blending the tone knobs with both pickups on gives an astounding variety of tones.
I'll get a shot of the headstock up soon - it almost looks like its had a headstock repair - in fact I was almost sure it had when I bought it, but now that I look closely, if it has, it was an amazingly good job.

 

[Jazzedout]

Regarding the serial number (and I might be stating the obvious here): Did you remove the pickups to see what is written in the pickup cavities?

 

[justmund]

Don't know much about these, looks awesome!

What are the pickups like?

 

[markie]

Well............................ The Guitar looks legit to me!

 

[rabidhamster]

Don't know much about these, looks awesome!

What are the pickups like?

Thanks, it sounds amazing!! I can't put it down. The pickups are vintage PAF inspired, the neck is pretty straight on vintage PAF, reminiscent of my DGT pickups but without such a pronounced midrange. The bridge is a bit hotter - they're speced at 12-14 k, but I haven't measured mine yet. Its really nice and warm and musical, with enough highs to cut through and work for anything.


Here's a shot of the headstock showing kinda why I think there was an expert headstock repair on this guitar. There's definitely been something spilled on this guitar that reacts with nitro though, even on the back of the neck and body theres some streaks here and there where the finish is a little damaged. I could get it fixed, but I know one day the whole neck will look like that, and I cant wait.

 

[rabidhamster]

Well............................ The Guitar looks legit to me!

Thanks man! I'm lovin it.
I really don't have much reason to think its currently hot, other than the suspiciously missing SN and signatures... I bought it from a seemingly well respected company that does a lot of insurance and liquidation auctions. I've bought some industrial automation rails from them before - in fact that's what I was looking at, trying to be responsible, when this thing hit me out of left field.
My memory has never been the best, but I vaguely remember a thread about a Private Stock with similar issues back before BAM shut down.

Regarding the serial number (and I might be stating the obvious here): Did you remove the pickups to see what is written in the pickup cavities?

Great question, only obvious if you've taken them apart. Yep, I checked under there when I changed the strings and the SN there is all intact it looks like. There's a little thin white sticker with some number printed on it in the neck cavity, never seen that before but my newest before this is an 04. It also has the PS number and I think the store that purchased it originally in the bridge on the modcat sticker.
I left a message with PRS customer support today - not that they're the guitar police or anything, but I do know that if I had a private stock that was stolen I'd probably call them.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I hope this all works out in the end, what a bangin' guitar. I'd offer to touch that up for you, I'd even sign it too... but then it would be stolen for real.:wink: