What was the thinking behind the Starla design?

[Blutone]

Hi All,

In 2022, I turned 50. My wife was going to get me a new guitar to mark the occasion. I tried out loads of guitars, none of which were PRS because I, wrongly, assumed I would need £1000s to get one. I didn't know about the SE range until a mate, a beginner, told me he had got a PRS. I nearly fell off my chair until he explained that there was an affordable series and he had chosen an SE Starla. At the time, I wanted single cut Gretsch style hollow body to contrast with my 72 Reissue thinline Tele. So, given I hadn't given PRS even a look, I was curious about what he got. I tried a powder blue one versus the G 5420, the Epiphone Lucille and a number of other guitars. I kept coming back to the Starla
. I really didn't want to get one as it went against what I set out to get, but it inspired me and was perfectly suited to my finger picking style. So, whilst I know it (along with the Mira) kicked off the S2 line, I would love to know more about what was behind the design as the pickups are so different in tone to the more well known Standard and Custom guitars. What was PRS wanting to provide for customers with such a different tone compared to the majority of their products. I would love to know more, as this guitar has turned me back into a teenager, eager to learn as well as perform and it is my go to guitar. I would love to get hold of an S2 Studio as I think it would extend the experience for me, but to date, the SE Starla has been my most influential, inspirational and fun guitar, I have ever had. Thanks PRS and any thoughts about the design?

 

[vchizzle]

I believe it was something brought to the table by Joe Knaggs before he went off on his own. Around the same time as the Mira. Something to branch out the brand as a more vintage design to appeal to those who didn’t love the flashy maple tops and colors. I have a core Starla and it’s a great guitar.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

The Starla and Mira were developed by Joe Knaggs to kinda bring a “retro” flavored less expensive design into the lineup.

2007(Mira) and 2008 (Starla) weren’t particularly awesome years for the company financially, so they were kinda chasing trends and taking chances with new models.

Paul says he designed the OG “Core” (although it wasn’t called core and S2 wasn’t a thing yet either) to be like “Teisco Del Ray pickups on steroids” (Paul’s words).

 

[Blutone]

I believe it was something brought to the table by Joe Knaggs before he went off on his own. Around the same time as the Mira. Something to branch out the brand as a more vintage design to appeal to those who didn’t love the flashy maple tops and colors. I have a core Starla and it’s a great guitar.

Thanks for your comment. I didn't know you could get a core version. Ooh that's interesting. I wonder how different it is. Got a pic?

 

[Blutone]

The Starla and Mira were developed by Joe Knaggs to kinda bring a “retro” flavored less expensive design into the lineup.

2007(Mira) and 2008 (Starla) weren’t particularly awesome years for the company financially, so they were kinda chasing trends and taking chances with new models.

Paul says he designed the OG “Core” (although it wasn’t called core and S2 wasn’t a thing yet either) to be like “Teisco Del Ray pickups on steroids” (Paul’s words).

Thanks for your comment. I saw it that YouTube vid too and it made sense but I hadn't appreciated that the Starla design was knocking about in 2007. The worldwide banking crash period. So that explains the different design. Whilst the S2 Studio is top of my list for my next PRS ( I want the trem otherwise I would go for a Vela) I wonder if there is another model that would be a next good logical step for this Blues/Rock n Roller? I have often wondered what those Starla pups would sound like on a Hollow body...just thinking out loud...

 

[Blutone]

Here is a snippet of what my SE Starla sounds like in my world.. https://www.blutonemusic.com/2023/04/blutone-druid-play-chill2-station.html

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Thanks for your comment. I saw it that YouTube vid too and it made sense but I hadn't appreciated that the Starla design was knocking about in 2007. The worldwide banking crash period. So that explains the different design. Whilst the S2 Studio is top of my list for my next PRS ( I want the trem otherwise I would go for a Vela) I wonder if there is another model that would be a next good logical step for this Blues/Rock n Roller? I have often wondered what those Starla pups would sound like on a Hollow body...just thinking out loud...

People have swapped in Starla’s in HBs and raved about them.

The originals are kinda hard to find now.

 

[Blutone]

Click here for video

People have swapped in Starla’s in HBs and raved about them.

The originals are kinda hard to find now.

I would imagine the HB design would 'tame' the top end of the DS-02 pups in a very complementary way. I'm not a huge fan of the 58/15 pups on the HB.

 

[SinSir]

People have swapped in Starla’s in HBs and raved about them.

The originals are kinda hard to find now.

I have a set waiting for a home, and been dying to swap pickups in my seHb2.. hmmmm

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Not that I’m trying to enable or anything (Not much! Who said that?!)

I’ll just leave this here -

2009 PRS USA Korina Mira - MINT - Preowned with Hard Case | eBay

2009 PRS USA Korina Mira - MINT - Preowned with Hard Case 2009 PRS USA Korina Mira in stunning minty condition with original case and paperwork. The guitar is super comfortable to play and of course balances perfectly on a strap and is very resonant.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Blutone]

I have a set waiting for a home, and been dying to swap pickups in me seHb2.. hmmmm

I would love to hear how that works out...

 

[aamefford]

There’s a few fans of the S2 Studio here. That bridge HB is pretty amazing. Jangly, splits well, very responsive to the tone control. The D type single coils are pretty cool also. They seem a bit darker, or mid centric or something as compared to Strat pickups at least to me. I don’t have much experience with Strats though. Others will have more accurate comments. Mine holds tune really well.

 

[Blutone]

There’s a few fans of the S2 Studio here. That bridge HB is pretty amazing. Jangly, splits well, very responsive to the tone control. The D type single coils are pretty cool also. They seem a bit darker, or mid centric or something as compared to Strat pickups at least to me. I don’t have much experience with Strats though. Others will have more accurate comments. Mine holds tune really well.

I think that is what I'm after another complementary tone to the bridge HB. The Vela would give that but I like the idea of two D types together. I have been looking at Strats for a while but none seem to inspire. The SE Silver Sky was probably the best but it didn't get me as excited as my Starla still does after almost two years! The S2 Studio seems like a logical next step...Glad you like yours and that the tuning is good.

 

[rockinforJesus]

I had a G5420T that I sold to buy a S2 Standard.
Couldn't get along with the pickups - were a bit too dark for my liking.
Traded the Standard for a S2 Starla.
My, oh my do I enjoy this guitar.
Bigsby + Filter'tron-ish pickups + single cut body shape.
Let the good times roll!

 

[vchizzle]

Thanks for your comment. I didn't know you could get a core version. Ooh that's interesting. I wonder how different it is. Got a pic?

 

[Gtrbldr]

Well, that is a combo I would like to try; chieftain and starla.

Love my "core" 2009 starla. It sounds like a "grown up" guitar. It is a little unstable, tuning wise, and am working on that. But otherwise, the short scale, PUs, neck and bigsby are a very cool combination, especially in my "scene": church

 

[Jimi D]

Thanks for your comment. I didn't know you could get a core version. Ooh that's interesting. I wonder how different it is. Got a pic?

Though they look very much the same, the core Starla is substantially different than the later S2 and SE versions; different scale length, neck carve, tuners, pickups, Bigsby, etc. And, of course, it came with a typical (at the time) form fitting PRS hardcase (a huge one, because of the Bigsby). Mine is one of my most gigged guitars; it's a great guitar for Classic Rock and Country covers.

 

[vchizzle]

Well, that is a combo I would like to try; chieftain and starla.

Love my "core" 2009 starla. It sounds like a "grown up" guitar. It is a little unstable, tuning wise, and am working on that. But otherwise, the short scale, PUs, neck and bigsby are a very cool combination, especially in my "scene": church

It’s a great sound. It’s been awhile since I plugged that combo in. I better get to it this week as I only have a couple months left with the Chieftain. My buddy who owns it will be back in the Midwest in March and likely be headed back to Seattle with it.

 

[JasonE]

I have a core Starla. I am not a fan of the Bigsby. I was not part of the target audience until they put out a stop tail version of it. Then I was in. I ordered mine in a finish that was available but none had been made in yet. From what I was able to piece together, they made 5 guitars in that finish when they made mine. One was exactly like my guitar and the other three had variations. It is a very interesting guitar. It really compares to an SG in tone but also gets some chimey top end like a Gretsch. It definitely has that nice fat midrange grunt to it that an all mahogany guitar gets. If memory serves me, they only made the core stop tail Starla for a couple of years.

 

[shinksma]

I have an S2 Starla - when I was in the hunt for a Starla I was looking for either Core or S2, it didn't matter to me which (SE wasn't out yet), because I didn't think the core offered "much" different from the S2 - they have slightly different Bigsbys, but not being a Bigsby expert I knew it wouldn't matter to me. Pickups are supposedly a bit different too (the S2 are "import" pups, but still very different from the usual import HBs of course), but the S2's pups are gnarly enough.

I like mine, though I do occasionally wonder why Bigsbys have that hard counter-clockwise stop right there that isn't quite where I normally hold a trem bar.