Things to look for when comparing guitars

[moT]

I have two Bernie Marsden 2015 guitars that I am going to compare before sending one back. What are the top things to look for? They are identical guitars and the serial numbers only differ by one. That said, so far I have found that one of them has two minor finish imperfections. One on the top and another on the head. They aren't show stoppers but if I don't find anything else to differentiate these imperfections will be the deciding reasons I send it back.

BTW, I really like that I am having a hard time finding differences. Kudos to PRS for having such great quality control.

Here is a link to show what they look like in case you are interested.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[helmi]

does one "feel" better to you than the other. "feel" to me, (besides NOT having jumbo frets) is my biggest factor.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Neck profile, jack looseness, fret wear, scratchy pots.

 

[garrettb]

Feel, weight, playability, sound, looks. You're searching for the intangible "it" factor.

If all else fails keep the one with the better finish.

 

[dogrocketp]

I would always tell you to listen to the guitar unplugged. After that go above the octave E on the top 2 strings and play. See if one of the guitars sings betters up there when you bend a note. That`s where PRS smokes the competition.

 

[andy474x]

Feel and definitely sound when you play them acoustically. If one rings more than the other, sustains more on higher notes, all the stuff above.

 

[CVS]

I am with Andy - feel & sound - PRS is very consistent, compared to other major brands, where there can be big very noticeable differences in tone

 

[moT]

Unplugged they are awfully close. One is slightly heavier than the other. They both seem to be new other than hanging in a store somewhere as demos. Both are very comfortable to play in sitting position. I didn't put a strap on though I did try to see if there were any loose bits anywhere on either guitar. Everything seemed pretty tight though one had some screws that weren't as shiny on the back compared to the other guitar.

Plugged in they are pretty close too. The lighter one has more difference when I fiddle with the tone knob. I wasn't sure when I was attempting to match the volume between guitars, but it's definitely noticeable when I max the volumes out. The sustain seems better on the lighter one too but I am not certain enough to say there is a difference. Neither one seems to have a smooth volume change. I hit a point as I increase the volume knobs where the volume seems to jump up.

Other differences not yet mentioned are one seems to have a really loose jack compared to the other, and I get the sense from some light scuffs on the back of the body that one of them had been played more than the other. There is no fret wear on either that I could detect from a visual scan nor from running my fingers across the frets.

The tone knob is the biggest deciding factor I could find. Unless someone can come up with something else I should check or consider, then I think I will base my decision on the tone knob.

 

[bodia]

Unplugged they are awfully close. One is slightly heavier than the other. They both seem to be new other than hanging in a store somewhere as demos. Both are very comfortable to play in sitting position. I didn't put a strap on though I did try to see if there were any loose bits anywhere on either guitar. Everything seemed pretty tight though one had some screws that weren't as shiny on the back compared to the other guitar.

Plugged in they are pretty close too. The lighter one has more difference when I fiddle with the tone knob. I wasn't sure when I was attempting to match the volume between guitars, but it's definitely noticeable when I max the volumes out. The sustain seems better on the lighter one too but I am not certain enough to say there is a difference. Neither one seems to have a smooth volume change. I hit a point as I increase the volume knobs where the volume seems to jump up.

Other differences not yet mentioned are one seems to have a really loose jack compared to the other, and I get the sense from some light scuffs on the back of the body that one of them had been played more than the other. There is no fret wear on either that I could detect from a visual scan nor from running my fingers across the frets.

The tone knob is the biggest deciding factor I could find. Unless someone can come up with something else I should check or consider, then I think I will base my decision on the tone knob.

Sounds like you've done a thorough run down!

 

[andy474x]

If it's that close, keep the looker!

 

[Ovibos]

A lighter one with more sustain sounds like a clear winner to me.

Plays longer and lets you play longer...

 

[pac90]

The loose jack can be easily tightened, and the alpha pots they use on these SEs are maybe just different values (still within range) - they are very cheap to buy incidentally

Check setup if you a string height gauge to hand, specs etc on prs website, to A/B them

I can only see one guitar on that link. Honestly, they are so well made that if it were me, I'd just chose the prettiest top and work from there

 

[moT]

Here's a picture of the other in case you are interested. And yes I went with the prettiest top though that wasn't the only deciding factor. Here's the same picture of the one from the first post if you want to compare. The birds are slightly darker on one of them also but that wasn't really a consideration, and I can't really tell much difference from these two pictures.