The Shameful Elephant's in the Room

[AP515]

For a trip to... wait for it...
Tuscany!

Why not
Elephantine!

 

[Huggy Love]

Well....... Ya kno,........ I can understand having some contempt in your heart for companies that plagiarize each other in the constant combat that is the business world. All you have to do is look at a 69 Camaro & a 69 Firebird and deep down in your soul, you'll see what a horrible tragedy it has been throughout human history. The bitter war of Coke vs Pepsi has scarred many lives ..........not to mention ...Dr Pepper!!!

I was with you up until this.....

Now PRS just seems to be acting like an arrogant jerk

......Oh man, you stepped in it this time!!!

 

[László]

Hey guy's, first let me say that I have been a PRS fan and on again off again owner throughout the past 25 years.
Having said that, one of the things I most admired about Paul and PRS was their originality, they came up with a unique and gorgeous body shape in an already over crowded guitar market that was riddled with foreign copy cats by the mid to late 80's, and a custom 22 or 24 had it's own unique shape as well as sound.

Now fast forward to 2017-18, Paul and the folks at PRS have literally made near identical copies of two world famous guitars, that have been their primary competition for over 30 years.

Lets be honest with ourselves and just admit, the McCarty 594 single cut is a Gibson Les Paul Standard and a John Mayer Silver Sky is a Fender Stratocaster....The aesthetics and sound similarities are undeniably nearly identical.

Now if PRS was some Indonesian / Korean copy shop, then fine, it's been expected and done by them for years now, but Paul and PRS are true American innovators, I've always thought so, but the similarities with these guitars is just too much to ignore.

Aside from the fact that PRS is charging thousands more for each model than it's Gibson or Fender doppelgängers, and we all know about the PRS aesthetic quality and attention to detail but seriously this is just too much to ignore any longer.

PRS as a whole has really disappointed me with these very apparent copies, and it just seems like their trying to prove that they can " IMPROVE " on designs that have already been done over 60 years ago.
As far as I was concerned Gibson and Fender have their pride and joy in their Les Paul and Stratocaster models, as did PRS with it's Custom 22 & 24 models.

Now PRS just seems to be acting like an arrogant jerk on a playground by saying..." hey man I can build a better one than you ".....I mean it's just childish and petty, and I lost a lot of respect for them because of it.
They need to stick with their own designs and stop trying to copy and top the other guys.

This is what happens when someone takes too many bullish!t pills.

 

[Macmutt]

Good catch.

Whoa..hold it.. as I said in this post I'm not comparing aesthetics or quality of craftsmanship...PRS has Gibson and Fender beat by a mile, and yes my other post has indicated that I came to that realization the hard way.
This post is just an expression of disappointment in PRS for lack of originality with their newer models...Thats all.

 

[shinksma]

Whoa..hold it.. as I said in this post I'm not comparing aesthetics or quality of craftsmanship...PRS has Gibson and Fender beat by a mile, and yes my other post has indicated that I came to that realization the hard way.
This post is just an expression of disappointment in PRS for lack of originality with their newer models...Thats all.

I think you might want to take a look a the model history of PRS to realize they have released more (useful) new models in their first 30-ish years than G & F ever did.

Guitar companies can't pump out a truly new model every year. They can do tweaks or variations or re-issues, like the 509 being an updated 513, the new version of the CE, or the Vela undergoing a few variations - and the Vela itself is a relatively new model.

The CU24-08 (released last year as a core model?) is a variation of the CU24, obviously, but using features borrowed from the 408.

The 594 (DC) was two years ago, and the SC version six month later, IIRC. The Silver Sky was this year.

If you are looking for PRS to release a new shape that is different from the classic PRS shapes (Santana/Mira DC look, Custom, Starla) but also doesn't look like other classic guitar shapes a la the 594 or Silver Sky, then you wil lprobably have to wait a while. The Vela was a great innovation (IMHO), and isn't something a company can always crank out - look a the recent forays into new shapes by F & G (well, G - what has F done recently?). The market simply doesn't have an appetite for that, if they want a different shape they usually go to a different brand. Which is why the now-classic PRS Custom shape is one of those go-to models for "not F&G".

I guess what I am saying is: exactly what were you expecting from PRS? That spiked nightmare seen being played/held by Mark Tremonti? A PRS interpretation of the notion that is a Prince Cloud guitar?

 

[jxe]

willing to look the other way on the bolt-on necks, but offering a guitar with a pickguard is tacky and shameful.

 

[MichaelS]

I keep starting to type a response, but then delete it everytime, cuz it's just not even worth it.
I think I'll keep this one. Maybe. It's late...

 

[Wakester]

willing to look the other way on the bolt-on necks, but offering a guitar with a pickguard is tacky and shameful.

they do use screws to hold the pickguards down, not tacks, right?

 

[shinksma]

they do use screws to hold the pickguards down, not tacks, right?

Maybe they use glue, so it truly would be "tacky" (until the glue dried).

 

[Johnny Rigs]

Whoa..hold it.. as I said in this post I'm not comparing aesthetics or quality of craftsmanship...PRS has Gibson and Fender beat by a mile, and yes my other post has indicated that I came to that realization the hard way.
This post is just an expression of disappointment in PRS for lack of originality with their newer models...Thats all.

Of all of the posts in this thread so far, you reply to mine? That one? Hah!

Let’s try something else on for size. You need to adjust your disappointment and originality meters. Of the whole body of PRS current work, you pick out two models. One of them is an artist signature model that Fender wouldn’t make so PRS agreed to. And the other is a body shape that customers had long been asking for. Shame on PRS for sacrificing their originality to make what their clients were asking for, right?

It’s a good thing your aren’t into acoustics. The collective disappointment in originality might kill you.

 

[dmatthews]

Whoa..hold it.. as I said in this post I'm not comparing aesthetics or quality of craftsmanship...PRS has Gibson and Fender beat by a mile, and yes my other post has indicated that I came to that realization the hard way.
This post is just an expression of disappointment in PRS for lack of originality with their newer models...Thats all.

Newer models like the S2 Studio?
Or the Vela?
DW CE24?
509?
I know... the Santana Retro!

 

[rugerpc]

Been doing some research on the new 2015 Les Paul's, primarily the new brass nut and Geforce tuning system is where the problems are occurring

Turns out Gibson is using a soft brass for that zero fret nut, so when the Geforce tuner is being used it's creating such friction that its wearing grooves into the brass nut and leaving metal dust residue on the fretboard.

Plus some people have been having issues with recharging the Geforce battery.

So knowing these latest issues, I can't risk spending that kind of money...So looks like it's a PRS for me after all.

TLDR: Gibson sucks, going to buy a PRS.

Hey guy's, first let me say that I have been a PRS fan and on again off again owner throughout the past 25 years.
Having said that, one of the things I most admired about Paul and PRS was their originality, they came up with a unique and gorgeous body shape in an already over crowded guitar market that was riddled with foreign copy cats by the mid to late 80's, and a custom 22 or 24 had it's own unique shape as well as sound.

Now fast forward to 2017-18, Paul and the folks at PRS have literally made near identical copies of two world famous guitars, that have been their primary competition for over 30 years.

Lets be honest with ourselves and just admit, the McCarty 594 single cut is a Gibson Les Paul Standard and a John Mayer Silver Sky is a Fender Stratocaster....The aesthetics and sound similarities are undeniably nearly identical.

Now if PRS was some Indonesian / Korean copy shop, then fine, it's been expected and done by them for years now, but Paul and PRS are true American innovators, I've always thought so, but the similarities with these guitars is just too much to ignore.

Aside from the fact that PRS is charging thousands more for each model than it's Gibson or Fender doppelgängers, and we all know about the PRS aesthetic quality and attention to detail but seriously this is just too much to ignore any longer.

PRS as a whole has really disappointed me with these very apparent copies, and it just seems like their trying to prove that they can " IMPROVE " on designs that have already been done over 60 years ago.
As far as I was concerned Gibson and Fender have their pride and joy in their Les Paul and Stratocaster models, as did PRS with it's Custom 22 & 24 models.

Now PRS just seems to be acting like an arrogant jerk on a playground by saying..." hey man I can build a better one than you ".....I mean it's just childish and petty, and I lost a lot of respect for them because of it.
They need to stick with their own designs and stop trying to copy and top the other guys.

TLDR: it doesn’t matter how much better they are, PRS has no right to make guitars in these configurations.

Whoa..hold it.. as I said in this post I'm not comparing aesthetics or quality of craftsmanship...PRS has Gibson and Fender beat by a mile, and yes my other post has indicated that I came to that realization the hard way.
This post is just an expression of disappointment in PRS for lack of originality with their newer models...Thats all.

TLDR: PRS quality is why you need to consider them over Fender or Gibson.

 

[Johnny Rigs]

</end thread>

 

[C&M Music - Lafayette]

IT IS A SIGNATURE MODEL. PAUL BUILT WHAT THE ARTIST WANTED FENDER TO BUILD AND FENDER SAID NO. PAUL BUILT IT TO PLEASE HIS ARTIST. AS ALL THINGS PRS, IT IS OUT OF THE PARK. I AM SURE PAUL WILL BE RELEASING A GUITAR THAT HAS THESE PUPS, NECK AND MAYBE A DIFFERENT CHOICE IN RADIUS TO DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM THE STRATITUS AND SHOWCASE THE OTHER GUITAR ELEMENTS WE KNOW AS PRS. (I HOPE SO ANYWAY.) THEN AGAIN MAYBE NOT, THE SS IS SOMETHING FENDER WOULD NOT AND/OR COULD NOT DO. SO AS MUCH AS IT IS THE SAME, IT IS JUST AS MUCH DIFFERENT (READ BETTER). THAT IS WHAT PRS IS ALL ABOUT, BUILDING A BETTER GUITAR, NO MORE, NO LESS. I REPEAT IT IS A SIGNATURE MODEL. I REPEAT IT IS A SIGNATURE MODEL. I REPEAT IT IS A SIGNATURE MODEL. I REPEAT IT IS A SIGNATURE MODEL.

 

[Ovibos]

The 594 is a massive sales hit.
The Silver Sky is a massive sales hit.
The MT-15 is a massive sales hit.

There are clearly large markets PRS is tapping.

It's a business.

To quote PRSh when asked why <insert model here> was discontinued: "if you stop buying them, we stop making them". So clearly, he is motivated to make models people will buy - and recent rollouts show a solid batting average.

 

[Huggy Love]

Whoa..hold it.. as I said in this post I'm not comparing aesthetics.

I call bvllshyt on this hypocritical statement, half of the game of the Strat & LP is the aesthetics/look. You can punch out notes on BC Warlock, an LTD whatever, and an Ibanez pseudo strat, but what made those instruments (*along with the sound*) was the look of players like Hendrix & Page that everybody identified with rock stardom along with the tones they created.

To say you're not comparing aesthetics when the look of these guitars is half (or more) the factor, is hypocrisy.

 

[László]

People have short memories, or are ignorant of history. From 1990-1995, PRS made a Strat-looking, 3 single pickup, bolt-on neck, plastic pickguarded, guitar called the EG. Google it. It’s pretty much a Strat.

The concept is, therefore, 28 years old for PRS. So the “elephant” has been around for a while.

The Santana shape is a variation on the Les Paul Jr. double-cut. Take a look at both guitar shapes, Person Thinking He’s Pointing Out Elephants.

The Strat headstock was first seen on the 1948 Bigsby Merle Travis guitar. And guess what; the Les Paul body shape was ALSO first seen on the 1948 Bigsby Merle Travis guitar. Google the damn thing. Now tell me how original the world is.

What motivates anyone to claim, “OMG, I’ve just noticed something that’s upset me that no one else is talking about,” when in fact, it’s all over the freaking internet and is the subject of innumerable rants and blathers, including on this very forum, is a mystery to me.

 

[rugerpc]

McDonalds only sold beef...until they didn’t.

Xerox only sold copiers...until they didn’t.

Apple only sold computers...until they didn’t.

The notion that a company must confine itself to some artificially narrow origin is commercial death. I’m glad that PRSh is smarter than that.

 

[toothace]

So...ya think the OP got things stirred up like he was hoping to?

 

[vchizzle]

Bravo!