Hey, everyone, I've just joined the forum and am pleased that my first post is in this zombie thread that deserves a bit more attention, just like the PRS 12-string models.
I don't know why I never signed up here before, but it's probably because I used to be a hardcore lurker (and sporadic poster) on Birds and Moons. That place turned me into a PRS junkie, for sure! After its demise, I migrated over to Vintage Rocker, but after a while I felt like our vibrant little community had become less vibrant and considerably smaller. Some time later, I plunged into the world of luthier-built acoustic guitars, where I still focus most of my energy, and my PRS obsession began to fade. That was a good thing for my bank account, by the way.
Since I recently purchased a very expensive acoustic, this month I decided to thin the herd and sell some guitars I rarely, if ever, play anymore. I live in Paris, and it's never been easy to sell PRS guitars on the second-hand market here. There are many people in this country who've never tried a PRS yet cling to their prejudices against the brand, whatever those prejudices might be. For example, several years ago I had a lovely McCarty Soapbar that took a few months to sell, even though the price was more than reasonable. Even worse, some time later it took several tries and a few price reductions over a couple of years before I found someone interested in a 100% original 1988 Custom in Black Cherry with birds, and the buyer was in Belgium! (The only reason I sold that guitar is that I already had another '88 in Whale Blue with moons whose understated sexiness rocks my world to this day!)
This time round, the first guitar I put up for sale went very fast. Hardly surprising, I guess, since it was a fully loaded Trussart Steeldeville priced to move quickly. People here seem to love Trussarts, even though I doubt that many people have ever played one. True, Trussarts are excellent, very distinctive guitars inspired by a few of those old classic body shapes that appeal to the unadventurous. But I also suspect that part of the appeal comes from a sense of national pride, since James Trussart is the only Frenchman who's had a ton of worldwide success in the high-end electric electric market (by being, ironically enough, adventurous)!
Just last week, a friend who's lusted after my 1999 HBII piezo ever since I got it back in 2004 decided to take the plunge and has now bought himself a fantastic instrument at a HUGE discount. I'm sure he'll be happy for many years to come.
The last guitar I put on the market is my 2005 Custom 22/12. It's a bare-bones example, non-10 top, moons in Tobacco Sunburst that I bought brand new at a blowout sale in New York in 2008. I priced it very low but got not a single expression of interest other than from a dude who clearly had read the add too quickly or hadn't noticed the headstock, because he thought I was selling a special Custom 22 with a single coil in the middle.
Well, to cut a long story short, last night I took the CU 22/12 out of its case to show to a non-guitarist friend who'd come over for dinner. Later on, well past midnight, I took it out again, tuned it up and plugged it in to make sure everything was working properly. I emerged from the 12-string magic a couple of hours later with the realization that I had no desire to part with this awesome guitar!! It plays like a dream, has a wide range of killer sounds, balances pefectly on a strap and is probably a bit lighter than my 2006 513 Brazilian. More importantly, it takes my playing to places none of my other guitars do!
Suffice it to say, I feel very fortunate to have what is surely one of the best 12-string guitars ever designed. It's not going anywhere anytime soon!
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