When Is Beautiful To Beautiful to Play Out?

[Detroitblues]

A friend of mine loved his Gibson LP Supreme. I saw it once and thought it was the most incredible guitar I've ever seen (that was long before I saw a couple PRS DRAGON's!!!). He had it a few years and it looked brand new. He said it was so nice, he didn't want to play it live. He ended up selling it because he never wanted to play it. Just insanity! His PRS CE22 was his regular gigging guitar, despite its monster top, it was used and already had some road rash.

Does anyone have a guitar that looks so nice, you don't want to play it out live or for that matter not play it all? PRS core models, artists packages, and Private stock are absolutely gorgous guitars, to the point they are nearly showroom display pieces. Does anyone treat them like they need to be looked at from behind a glass sheild or red velvet rope? Or are you like me and gig with whatever guitar suites your tastes for that night?

 

[Raymond]

I have only 1 but it's a bog standard production model CU24 with a 10 top. EXTREMELY nice as it is, it is nothing unique about it, it is not the best PRS every made, it has no history (I am the original owner) nor a private stock so I play mine (already have a tiny battle scar unfortunately on Day 1 with a lamp shade).

However, I have notice next year is 30[SUP]th[/SUP] anniversary so I am thinking of getting one and now I would be scared to play that, or at least play it outside a controlled environment.

Would I ever sell it? No. I guess I would treat them with respect and care but it's made to be played so I will play it when and if I can a more unique PRS.

What is weird is I can relate to it in a different field.

I am a photographer, my camera (Canon 5D3) with a lens (such as a 85L) attach can be worth the value of a Private Stock PRS. And I have 3 5Ds as I need backup in my line of work, same as any musician requires back up guitars for gigs.

I treat my gear with respect, I take care of them but I do not baby them, back when photography as a hobby, I see them in a different light. Their sticker price of the gear made me almost too scared to use them, made me too scare to rack up those shutter counts. These days, I look at them as tools, they are made to be used.

Guitars are too.

I can't speak for a professional musician though, I guess if you see your guitars as tools then if the guitar gets you the tone you want, you use that one. If that happens to be a PRS SE then PRS SE it is.

On the other hand, if you are buying it as pieces of art then I can totally understand the thinking behind that. $10,000 for a piece of art is actually quite reasonable really on the grand scheme of things.

 

[gball]

I hear of this all the time but like you I don't get it. I buy guitars to play them, and I have never owned one I didn't play live, so I don't understand someone that would or what the motivation could be.

Full disclosure though: I have an unnatural dislike for guitar collectors and fetishists who buy them as objects or investments. My problem, I know, and I am working on it, but it has always bothered me that someone would purchase a wonderful instrument then stick it in a vault or hang it on a wall when there is someone somewhere that could be making music with it.

 

[QueenCityGuitars]

Personally, I would be more concerned with someone realizing I was playing a $10,000 guitar, and having to babysit it between sets in fear of it being stolen, than I would be worried about play wear.

 

[HANGAR18]

I have felt the temptation to give them the museum treatment but I deliberately remind myself of what PRSh says all the time that they are made to be played. So all of mine are going to get played.

 

[László]

Full disclosure though: I have an unnatural dislike for guitar collectors and fetishists who buy them as objects or investments. My problem, I know, and I am working on it, but it has always bothered me that someone would purchase a wonderful instrument then stick it in a vault or hang it on a wall when there is someone somewhere that could be making music with it.

I fought that same feeling, but the more I got to know the really cool people here who do collect, I was able to appreciate the fact that folks are simply into different things and at some point they'll get enjoyed as both art and instruments.

I try to be less judgmental these days.

I'm on the "go play 'em" side of the balance scale, but they're certainly great artistic expressions, too. So I can see appreciating them from that perspective.

As for me, I use 'em in my work. Including my PS.

 

[jfb]

Personally, I would be more concerned with someone realizing I was playing a $10,000 guitar, and having to babysit it between sets in fear of it being stolen, than I would be worried about play wear.

This.

 

[Raymond]

I fought that same feeling, but the more I got to know the really cool people here who do collect, I was able to appreciate the fact that folks are simply into different things and at some point they'll get enjoyed as both art and instruments.

I try to be less judgmental these days.

I'm on the "go play 'em" side of the balance scale, but they're certainly great artistic expressions, too. So I can see appreciating them from that perspective.

As for me, I use 'em in my work. Including my PS.

A private stock PRS (or any core line PRS) arguably has more man hours put in than many pieces of art, the designs on it will be unique to you, it is a piece of instrument that oozes quality that no one can deny. It can totally be appreciated on an artistic merit. If one were to sculpt one from paper mache that looks like the real PRS then then we would all think it is something amazing to display as art.

Instead, a real PRS happens to play some sweet music too.

 

[gball]

I fought that same feeling, but the more I got to know the really cool people here who do collect, I was able to appreciate the fact that folks are simply into different things and at some point they'll get enjoyed as both art and instruments.

I try to be less judgmental these days.

I'm on the "go play 'em" side of the balance scale, but they're certainly great artistic expressions, too. So I can see appreciating them from that perspective.

As for me, I use 'em in my work. Including my PS.

I hear you. That's why I mentioned I am "working on it." This started with me years ago when I realized prices on old guitars were begin pushed up by people who had no interest in the guitars beyond making a profit on them. I remember when I was in Jr. High/High School and would visit the local music store - there was a rack in there for used guitars. Not "vintage." Used. Any Strat in the rack for $300, any Les Paul for $500. They were meant for people to play, who couldn't necessarily afford a new guitar. They were not precious, they were simply used instruments. As I age I am getting over it though.

 

[rugerpc]

Don't confuse people who buy them as art with people looking to hold them for appreciation for a future profit. One is not necessarily the other.

I have some very special PRS guitars that I rarely (I didn't say 'never') play. I keep them beautiful because they are beautiful-not against anything as base as a future profit. In fact, I doubt that these few will ever be sold. It is far more likely that my heirs will be graced with them.

 

[John Beef]

Personally, I would be more concerned with someone realizing I was playing a $10,000 guitar, and having to babysit it between sets in fear of it being stolen, than I would be worried about play wear.

There was the one guy several years ago who was playing a $3.5 million Stradivarius in a subway station for tips. So, a $10,000 guitar is relatively worthless.

 

[László]

There was the one guy several years ago who was playing a $3.5 million Stradivarius in a subway station for tips. So, a $10,000 guitar is relatively worthless.

Kinda like my son and Jared Leto this past spring, only without the Strad...

 

[László]

A private stock PRS (or any core line PRS) arguably has more man hours put in than many pieces of art, the designs on it will be unique to you, it is a piece of instrument that oozes quality that no one can deny. It can totally be appreciated on an artistic merit.

It's so hard to define art.

The line between great craftsmanship and art is often blurred. It's very hard to make a distinction between the two, though I suppose each of us might come up with different views.

My own view is that Paul Smith's original designs are indeed works that can be called art; however each new one based on that original work is a manufactured copy of the original work, though each has its own distinct crafted identity.

To my mind art is mostly what you make with a PRS, and while the instrument certainly has great craftsmanship and even artistic merit, it is still meant to be an instrument. On the other hand, my brother Robert is an artist. He spent his entire life learning to create single-purpose art (i.e., it's not meant to do something other than be art) and he spends months on each painting working day and night to achieve and create a purely artistic work like this large oil painting. There will only be one of these paintings made, ever. There won't be more in different colors with different trim. So to my way of thinking, it is a much more unique thing, and viewing it is a different kind of experience than looking at a guitar.

This painting is called Intelligent Design, and as with much good art, it tends to make one think:



I won't claim that it's somehow better or more valuable than a manufactured good. I see no reason to do so. But there is only one of these, and that is one difference between making art and making a commercial product.

For my walls, I acquire works of art that fit my idea of what art is. To create music I make for my livelihood, I use PRS guitars (as well as other non-guitar instruments). As much as I love my PS acoustic and appreciate what went into it, the guitar lives in its case and isn't hanging on my wall as art, nor are my "Artist" electrics.

My brother, however, would say, "Hey, why can't a manufactured guitar be a valid artistic statement?" And I couldn't argue the point, except to express my view that there is a difference of intent. But who knows?

And as we all know, the Metropolitan Museum in NY has a PRS in its collection. So it's impossible to say a PRS isn't art, at least for me. I think it's two, two, two things in one: it's a floor polish AND a dessert topping!

However, back to the original point:

If a PRS is art, then it's meant to be appreciated, it's meant to create music to be shared with others. That's my view, whether it hangs on your wall, or around your shoulder, share it.

 

[Raymond]

I think a PRS, or any one of a kind original piece can be art, except that a guitar is also a tool to create more art.

I don't think an apple mac is art, the design of it can be. But because each Private Stock PRS is unique, I would say it is art. If however they make it into a production model that is identical then it would take away that element that I would call it a piece of art.

Then again, beauty is in the eye of a beholder, if someone wants to frame his PRS on the wall and admire it, and get enjoyment from it, that's alright by me.

 

[gush]

I play all my guitars. if I had a 10,000 guitar I think I would gig with it but then again If I had a 10,000 guitar I might feel different about it. Who the hell knows.

I had a really drunk guy pick up my cu24 and air guitar with it while I was on break at a gig last summer. I took it from him while others kicked him out of the bar. I read in the paper this week he got his 3rd DUI. What a dumbass.

 

[maxtuna26]

I wouldn't keep my guitars in a glass box for display, unless it's super limited in numbers, say, like there's only 10 of it in this world. Otherwise, Core model or SE, I wouldn't keep them away from the stage. I'm not going to throw them around, I'll keep all my guitars safe, but when there's buckle rash or a couple dents, I wouldn't mind it. They're battle scars and you actually have to pay extra loads of cash to Fender/Gibson to get their Custom Shop do it for you! And when you pass down your guitar to whoever that inherits it, you've got plenty of interesting stories to tell about those scars.

 

[mezzio]

Doesn't Paul and many other big guitarists always say "its just wood and strings, a tool to do your job". I've always felt that way about instruments personally, and feel guitars need to be played, regardless of rarity or price... this includes even taking it up on stage.

 

[alantig]

My brother, however, would say, "Hey, why can't a manufactured guitar be a valid artistic statement?" And I couldn't argue the point, except to express my view that there is a difference of intent. But who knows?

Doesn't Paul and many other big guitarists always say "its just wood and strings, a tool to do your job". I've always felt that way about instruments personally, and feel guitars need to be played, regardless of rarity or price... this includes even taking it up on stage.

Yes, I do believe PRSh has said that - but he's also said that there's a lot of work that goes into it. I like to think of the intent as a work of art that's meant to be a tool for you to create your art. I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. We certainly don't look at our guitars the same way we look at a hammer or a screwdriver (although some of us have looked longingly at a liquid screwdriver in much the same way we look at guitars!).

I remember reading an article about EVH some years ago. At a point in the article, the author described going from EVH's house to a session or photo shoot or something. He said EVH took a couple of his guitars (I don't think the Frankenstein was one, but it was still one of the early guitars) and tossed them in the back of his pickup - no cases, no gig bags, nothing. He couldn't believe EVH did this, and EVH said something to the effect of, "Look - they're my tools. I use them to do my job. If something happens to one, I'll get another." I'd venture to say that, while many here can appreciate that the instrument is a tool, we don't look at it as THAT kind of tool - even the guys who are making their living with them.

 

[HANGAR18]

I remember reading an article about EVH some years ago. At a point in the article, the author described going from EVH's house to a session or photo shoot or something. He said EVH took a couple of his guitars (I don't think the Frankenstein was one, but it was still one of the early guitars) and tossed them in the back of his pickup - no cases, no gig bags, nothing. He couldn't believe EVH did this, and EVH said something to the effect of, "Look - they're my tools. I use them to do my job. If something happens to one, I'll get another." I'd venture to say that, while many here can appreciate that the instrument is a tool, we don't look at it as THAT kind of tool - even the guys who are making their living with them.

I take better care of my tools that that. All of them, including the ones I keep in the toolbox in the garage, and I don't want to replace them because I didn't take care of them and they got ruined.

 

[László]

I take better care of my tools that that

+1

Hell, I take better care of my socks than that!