Typical Order Wait Times

[jaegerhunt]

Howdy,

I finally ordered what will be my first PRS guitar earlier in May this year. I’ve been wanting a guitar from them for almost 10 years now, but I never knew which one was the one for me until seeing and getting to play these new Silver Sky core guitars. When I saw the one in Roxy Pink I knew that was the one I wanted the most, which I’m excited for when it finally does arrive. I’m curious though; I bought it through Sweetwater, and my sales rep told me I could be expecting it between August and September, however when I checked in with them at the start of August I was told it could be December. I’m wondering if by the time November rolls around I’ll be finding out it’s not due to arrive until next year. Does anyone here have any speculation on when I could be seeing mine if I ordered it in May? I’m a patient person, so I’m not throwing any tantrums about it not being here—I’m happy PRS is building guitars the way they do, not compromising on quality for speedy production, so I know once I get mine it’ll be worth the wait. Still, I’m just filled with much enthusiasm, having practically dreamt about playing it every week since placing my order. Also feel free to show off yours if you have one. This is my first PRS post as well. Cheers!

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Congratulations and welcome.

 

[Moondog Wily]

Hey Jaegerhunt, welcome to the addiction club! Nobody can say for sure on arrivals, even PRS, but your Sweetwater rep would certainly be the best source IMO!! I have heard of people being told it will be ready on date XX and it comes a month earlier!!! I have also heard about the opposite!!!! Be prepared though, as once you have it in your hands and get used to how fantastic it is, you will be picking out your next one in no time flat!!!!!

 

[László]

There's a pretty long wait. Having ordered a lot of PRS' over the last 31 years, I'd say plan on being very, VERY patient.

Ordering from dealer stock saves a lot of wear and tear on the nervous system.

I only buy from dealer stock now. Hey, I could get hit by a bus this week. I'd like to have the guitar before that happens!

 

[shinksma]

I ordered a guitar (WL, so not your average production order) in Aug 2020.

It has not yet arrived. Two years and counting. I will note some in the run have arrived at the dealer over the last few months, just not mine yet.

I had a similar experience with another guitar I pre-ordered (not a WL, but not a typical production run guitar either). It arrived at the dealer about two years after ordering.

OTOH, I got my Midnight Rose Silver Sky in July 2020 just about five months after ordering on day one, and that was mid-pandemic.

:shrug:

You could always look around to see if anyone else is selling one that is "in stock" or even used, and cancel the Sweetwater order.

 

[jaegerhunt]

I ordered a guitar (WL, so not your average production order) in Aug 2020.

It has not yet arrived. Two years and counting. I will note some in the run have arrived at the dealer over the last few months, just not mine yet.

I had a similar experience with another guitar I pre-ordered (not a WL, but not a typical production run guitar either). It arrived at the dealer about two years after ordering.

OTOH, I got my Midnight Rose Silver Sky in July 2020 just about five months after ordering on day one, and that was mid-pandemic.

:shrug:

You could always look around to see if anyone else is selling one that is "in stock" or even used, and cancel the Sweetwater order.

Man, it’s tempting, ‘cause there’s a music store in my area that sells Silver Sky’s (where I got to test drive some), but they still don’t have any in Roxy Pink, and the big draw from Sweetwater for me was the option to finance it, so instead of paying $2.6K up front I’m only paying about $76 a month for 3 years… Although if it’s going to take Sweetwater 3 years to get mine then I suppose I could look elsewhere. But based on yours and the other comments, I suppose it is what it is and I just need to be patient. I have my other work horses to keep me busy in the meantime, but I’ll still be daydreaming about my Silver Sky. It would just be cool if there was a waitlist where one could see their place in line and have a better idea about the wait than the guesstimating Sweerwater does.

 

[GGJJGG]

I ordered a Purple Iris SSH about 18 months ago from Sweetwater. Still waiting. Shorter than for a King of Tone I guess.

 

[GGJJGG]

I ordered a Purple Iris SSH about 18 months ago from Sweetwater. Still waiting. Shorter than for a King of Tone I guess.

I stand corrected. Got an email from Sweetwater that the guitar has arrived.

 

[bodia]

I stand corrected. Got an email from Sweetwater that the guitar has arrived.

Nice!

 

[Daryl Jones]

Very cool, welcome to the heroin club!

 

[archtop]

I ordered a Purple Iris SSH about 18 months ago from Sweetwater. Still waiting. Shorter than for a King of Tone I guess.

I lost a house and a King of Tone in a fire. Replacing the King of Tone took approx. 2 weeks longer than the 4.5 years to deal with insurance, deal with the county, battle with the architects and rebuild the house!

 

[Hessman2000]

i ordered a cu24-08 ten top from GC in January 2021 and I’m still waiting. First they said a year then another 6 months. Now they’re saying April 2023. Is this normal for everyone. And PRS won’t even talk to me or even send me a non format letter email response. They say talk to the dealer, I talk to the dealer, the dealer calls them and all they say is April 2023. No reason nothing. Great guitars but needs a huge improvement in the PR dept.

 

[GGJJGG]

I never contacted PRS. But the Sweetwater guy (Randy Poteete) was absolutely great to deal with. It became a bit of an inside joke between us after about a year (as we knew it would be worthwhile wait). I stuck it out and ended up with a really special guitar. Not much consolation for you, but hang in there.

 

[RC Mike]

i ordered a cu24-08 ten top from GC in January 2021 and I’m still waiting. First they said a year then another 6 months. Now they’re saying April 2023. Is this normal for everyone. And PRS won’t even talk to me or even send me a non format letter email response. They say talk to the dealer, I talk to the dealer, the dealer calls them and all they say is April 2023. No reason nothing. Great guitars but needs a huge improvement in the PR dept.

PRS isn't your contact point. Your dealer is. There are ways dealers can escalate issues up through PRS. Part of the purpose of a dealer network is to handle customer issues. From a customer standpoint, that's not a bad thing. It means dealers have to compete on price/service/extras. There are some really great dealerships out there and some not so good ones.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

I never contacted PRS. But the Sweetwater guy (Randy Poteete) was absolutely great to deal with. It became a bit of an inside joke between us after about a year (as we knew it would be worthwhile wait). I stuck it out and ended up with a really special guitar. Not much consolation for you, but hang in there.

Randy is my guy there too. Great guy.

 

[shinksma]

i ordered a cu24-08 ten top from GC in January 2021 and I’m still waiting. First they said a year then another 6 months. Now they’re saying April 2023. Is this normal for everyone. And PRS won’t even talk to me or even send me a non format letter email response. They say talk to the dealer, I talk to the dealer, the dealer calls them and all they say is April 2023. No reason nothing. Great guitars but needs a huge improvement in the PR dept.

As the other poster pointed out, your PoC is the Dealer. PRS doesn't want to handle individual customer orders, that why they have a dealer network. Using GC probably doesn't help your case, though.

And unfortunately, PRS now has sufficient backlog that this is quite normal today. As I noted earlier in the thread:

I ordered a guitar (WL, so not your average production order) in Aug 2020.

It has not yet arrived. Two years and counting. I will note some in the run have arrived at the dealer over the last few months, just not mine yet.

My WL is still in the build cycle. If this was not a WL, and I really needed a guitar, I would have canceled the order over a year ago. But I'll live with the other PRSi I have. But not all have that luxury, I will admit.

Frankly, if I wanted a CU24-08, I'd just go grab one from Reverb - there should be plenty of used ones there, maybe even a few new.

 

[Daryl Jones]

My Hollowbody was between 8 and 9 months getting here. Was originally supposed to be 3-4. My L&M guy said that if it was now, it would be 24-26 months or more. One of the major deterrents to me ordering any other guitar now, no matter how much I would like a 24-08 or maybe the newly mentioned SE DGT. Chances of me finding anything on the rack are slim and nil and Slim left town a long time ago.
Not uncommon really for Canadian orders, my buddy is waiting for a Dingwall Bass for 11 months now, and my Seagull S12 was 9 months coming. Those are both Canadian made guitars, so it really isn't out of the ordinary on delays anymore.

 

[kenjunk]

Ordered a Custom 24-08 in January 2022, still patiently waiting, dealer said PRS isn't taking any custom orders until they fulfill a significant portion of the backlog.

As of November 2023 still waiting.

December, still waiting.