Vintage PRS

glide

New Member
Joined
May 20, 2012
Messages
6
I am looking to buy a vintage PRS. Can anyone tell me what to look for?
 
I have a 1990 Custom that I love, but I have recently purchased a 2012 408, so the Custom can be retired after serving me well. Here are the main differences that I observe in the old vs new PRS guitars. My 1990 has a Wide Thin neck, that is really thin. The 408 has a Pattern Thin neck that is larger. I love both necks. The fret sizes are larger & taller now. I don't think there is anything that is better about an older PRS. I actually think the models in the last few years are better than the older ones. I have played my 1990 Custom at local gigs for 20 years, and I have never had to adjust the neck or repair anything. It is hard to go wrong with any PRS no matter the year.
 
I have a 1990 Custom that I love, but I have recently purchased a 2012 408, so the Custom can be retired after serving me well. Here are the main differences that I observe in the old vs new PRS guitars. My 1990 has a Wide Thin neck, that is really thin. The 408 has a Pattern Thin neck that is larger. I love both necks. The fret sizes are larger & taller now. I don't think there is anything that is better about an older PRS. I actually think the models in the last few years are better than the older ones. I have played my 1990 Custom at local gigs for 20 years, and I have never had to adjust the neck or repair anything. It is hard to go wrong with any PRS no matter the year.

The older, 80s PRS guitars have the Brazilian rosewood fingerboards and South American mahogany body and neck, features I only see on Private Stocks currently. Plus the vintage ones have the one piece tremolo.

I just got an extremely lively-sounding 1988 Custom 24 that makes my 2000 and 2001 Custom 24s sound rather tame and muted in comparison. It possesses a Gibson-like, raw sounding edginess to it that I don't hear in my newer, smoother sounding PRS guitars, Archtop included. Is it the Brazilian rosewood that gives it that extra sizzle in the highs, the higher mass trem or the light weight (7.5lbs)? Don't know, but it makes all my other guitars sound rather generic.
 
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