What shall I buy? Prs or fender?

[Chriscavilla]

Ok. I really need some honest advice guys. I am a long time user of the fender strats and have couple ( 1976 original and an early 90s mim). I have decided to buy another guitar and been toying with the idea of buying either a fender select hss strat or a prs 408 maple top. I like to play rock (not heavy) and love the single coil sound. I think both guitars will give me this as the prs has some interesting switching options on the pickups that will allow this.
I've never had a prs and the thought appeals to me ....the price diff is quite substantial!! Am I likely to be paying over the odds for the prs brand or are the guitars really worth it??
Is the fender select a comparable model. Are the parts quality?
So the question for you die hards out there is which guitar will I get the best bang from my buck!!

 

[László]

I have a 408-equipped Signature Limited. I love it.

But that doesn't mean you will.

The only person who can say whether an instrument is worth the money is the individual player. It's worth it to me. That doesn't mean it's worth it to you or anyone else.

Ultimately the only person who determines value is the individual buyer. There is no "best" that applies to everyone. Play one and decide if you like it enough to spend the extra dough! In fact, play one a few times, and then go back to your Strat and see if you miss what the PRS has in terms of feel and tone. Then you'll know.

When I'm in the studio trying to decide whether to keep a part, I always mute the track, and then say, "Do I miss this track?" If so, I keep it.

If you miss it, and are willing to spend the money, it's most likely worth it. If you go back to your Strat and say, "This one's still my favorite," then it's probably not.

 

[swede71]

If you buy a strat i would go for the Clapton signature.One of the most versatile guitars on the market.But since you already own 2 i would definitely go for a PRS.Perhaps a DGT,513,408 or a custom so you still can get some singlecoil options.Personally i love the sound of singlecoils and absolutely love my Custom 22 soapbar.305 or the DC3 is 2 guitars i want to check out.The playability on PRS guitars are fantastic.

 

[justmund]

What those guys said!

Also they're different animals, a 408 will sound and feel completely different to a Strat. A 408 is an amazing guitar, with humbucker and singlecoil unique to those pickups, with no volume loss. You'll miss out on the position 2 & 4 inbetween quacky sounds with the 408 though, so if you use those sounds, consider a 305/NF3/DC3/SAS NF/Studio/513 etc. Personally I would look at the NF3, fantastic pickups that do somewhere inbetween a singlecoil, a P90 and a humbucker. They approach singlecoil territory as you roll the volume down, and P90ish/HB territory at the higher volume knob settings.

You'll get the bolt-on, maple neck (with RW board option), 3 pickup/5-way blade configuration you're used to, and although we don't talk prices here, I doubt you'd pay a premium over a Select Strat.

If the Narrowfields aren't you thing, try a DC3, again a familiar platform and closer tones to a Strat, but with PRS quality.

As Les said, try before you buy. Try as many guitars in the PRS line as possible, take your amp in and see how it responds to the guitar, see how the volume knobs interact with the amp etc

 

[CHARISMAFIRE]

Try a DC3!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

I recommend getting to a store or as many stores as you can and try playing as many PRS and Fenders as you can.

The problem with liking a guitar on paper is that it doesn't always pan out when you actually play the thing. I've had this happen more often than not.

If you already own two Strats then moving to something a little different does seem a good idea however.

 

[swede71]

I found a good video for you.As a starter

 

[slang05]

In my opinion (and like everybody else has said, only yours matters) there are several options for PRS guitars that will fill a greater need than a strat would.

Let me tell you about a journey I went on last year. Picked up a Deluxe Ash strat..Loved it..Playability was awesome. But I couldn't get past the distorted tones (I play in a new country band, think Aldean to Luke Bryan to Urban). They were real thin. So I traded it for a DC3. Wow! Sound quality of that guitar was 2nd to none and just a tad more expensive. But, the big frets weren't working for me (I'm about to be ironic on this) and I couldn't get use to the neck..I like Fender necks (soft V, big C shaped) so I did a few more trades and ended up with a 513. Neck profile and scale length is very Fender like (25.5 and like a soft V shape) but what really did it for me are the pickups. The 3 way switch takes you from a single coil to a medium output humbucker to a full output humbucker. I promise you that I can get a les paul, strat and tele tones out of this guitar and a few more. I compare it to a modeling amp, lots of ton options but all are very high quality. I feel confident that I could play All My Ex's Live In Texas, Kick Start My Heart, Brickhouse and Ride The Lightning with this guitar, and do it well. Honestly, for me, the 513 is THE working mans guitar!

My other guitar is a PRS DGT...I feel like I can do almost as much with this guitar. The way the pickups are tapped, it is extremely versatile. I don't believe the pickups are as hot as most PRS pickups, but it has a great tone to it. Something to consider.

As far as the 408..Never played one, but the coil taps (from what I have seen on youtube) sound amazing, I seriously doubt you could go wrong with that guitar either.

Overall its up to you. But I can tell you this...
For a versatile PRS go with a 513.
For a strat like PRS go with a DC3

But again, I have no experience with a 408..I would love to have one though.