What was Your 1st PRS?

Texas_minor_blues

Rosewood or Bust
Joined
Jan 31, 2013
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622
Location
San Antonio, TEXAS
Been pondering posting this thread for a while and seeing someone post about their 1st PRS I feel this was as good a time as any to ask this. So here we go, what was your 1st PRSi, where did you get it, and what made you say, that is the one....
 
Late 90's Custom 22. Semi-hollow with factory McCarty pickups and switching. Vintage Yellow.

I bought it because it was the best looking guitar I had ever seen. And I was drunk with a pocket full of cash from the sale of my car. Bought it from my friend Russ and the Music Exchange in Colorado Springs.
 
'97 McCarty in some type of dark red/purple. My memory tells me it was something like what Angry Larry looks like. I bought it, with the wife's blessing from the Villa Park Guitar Center in the spring of '98. Traded my EBMM EVH (Hot Pink quilt) in on it. It was so different from anything else they had in the store. Just gorgeous. Sadly, I sold it in 2000 to get the Taxman outta my life.
 
The only one I've had, my Hollowbody Spruce. Loved everything about it, the versatility, the feel of the neck, the sound, etc. And I had been looking for a lightweight guitar after a few major surgeries. Never thought I would be lucky enough to find a used one in such great shape, I love it!
 
This one:
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I bought this new in 93-94? Of all the dumb stuff I did as a kid, this guitar wasn’t one of them. And yeah, I still have it.
 
Purple CU22, Dragon II's, 5-way rotary, stop tail, old skool birds, with a unique flame pattern on the top horn.

Sold it for peanuts during my child support days, saw it online for sale a year or so later for more than I sold it.

Live and learn.
 
Custom 22 in Trampas Green that I just got a few weeks ago actually.

I'd been casually browsing PRS for a few months as an option I was just kinda considering. During that time I bought a Les Paul Traditional but ended up returning after short time as I just didn't bond with it and it never felt right to me. Then one day I came across this Custom 22 at CME and really liked the top figuring for standard top. It also had a good weight, a pattern regular neck which I wanted and my preferred color combo (I like green guitars, I wanted the body/neck color to be natural or some transparent tint, and I wanted the plain maple "binding" around the body edge). At that point I decided to pull the trigger because it just felt right. And I'm glad I did! I've loved almost everything about the guitar right off the bat but the pickups weren't quite to my taste. Over the weekend I swapped to 57/08 covered pups and now it's just right! Prefer both the sound and the look of the covered pickups.
 
I was initially smitten by all that purfling and Tigrish striping. It came across as pure art. In person it has this effect of filling up your field of vision.

But somehow my first also happens to my champion in terms of pure intensity of tone. Almost like a Ferrari on restraint in its resonance and tone. Keeper forever!
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Old story that I'll happily repeat...

In 2010 I went with some friends to the very first Dweezil Zappa band camp in New York at a resort in the Catskills.
Everywhere there were open cases of the most beautiful guitars I'd never heard of before. I was stunned... pick one up and play... they all felt amazing of course.
Over those 8 days I became rather enchanted with these amazing instruments.
On the second to last night Dweezil gave away three SE ONEs, and out of about 80 people I was ONE of the lucky ONEs.



Dweezil looks like he wants it back.:D

Autographed...



I gigged and practiced with that a lot.
I had been in the market for a nice Strat before that trip, so spurred on by my new discovery of PRS, I found my 305, and the rest as they say, is history.
 
2008 CU22 in McCarty burst with hollow birds, dragon II's, that after a couple of months was changed to the non-engraved of 57/08's
along with replacing the rotary switch to the McCarty switching, sold it to a friend and still see it from time to time.
 
I live about 90 miles from the factory, and had seen and admired Paul’s early models when I went to buy strings at Washington Music for years. About 12 years ago, I was looking for a backup to my expensive G guitar that had had the fretboard planed, 2 fret jobs, 3 nuts, and still wouldn’t stay in tune.I saw an eBay listing for a used SE Singlecut P90, and I couldn't go wrong at the ridiculously low asking price. After I got it, I was shocked that it played better and stayed in tune better than the other guitar, which was more than 10 times it’s price. Divorce struck, I had to sell off a lot of my gear, but this one guitar stayed. It was simply better than my more expensive guitars. You can see it under the slick soap bar thread. I detest posting pictures of myself or my guitars.
 
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