Which is the one PRS to rule them all?

[Utkarsh]

So this is a question for which my answer has wavered constantly.

As a Gibson Les Paul convert, my initial answer was the SC594 which I got 5 years ago. Still an amazing guitar with the sustain and 58-15 LTs being the standout elements but over time my tastes became a bit more err...PRSish.

Then came along the 513 and blew my mind. That was my answer for the longest time and till today, I consider perhaps the only guitar one would ever need. The 513 and a Line 6 Helix is the ultimate minimalist functional dream.

A few years, a few guitars later, I got a 24 fret Modern Eagle V, and it felt like the natural evolution of the 513. I still go back and forth between the two, as while my MEV is ultra special, there is a magic about the braz necked 513 Rosewoods, which are current and future classics.

Then finally of late, particularly for my band practice, I have been favoring the Custom 24 piezo. Practically, from an audience POV, the only guitar you need for live performances as it does great approximations of every guitar tone you can conceive. And the approximations sounds musical as well, especially after the TCI magic

So I am utterly confused. What is the one PRS you think that can rule them all? And I know the answer is, just get more PRS's

 

[danktat]

For me it is the simplicity of the CU22. And though there are several other offerings that I covet......That is what I always seem to come back to.

 

[danktat]

(Sorry, I had to go there since I had those pix up on facebook already )

 

[Iceman101]

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice ofcourse

 

[bodia]

West St Ltd.......ALL. DAY. LONG.

 

[Gtrbldr]

My collection.

All joking aside; really depends on your needs. A Swiss army knife do it all kind of guitar; I think you mentioned some good examples.

For me: I prefer a guitar that does one or two things exceptionally well and have a few guitars to cover different grounds. All the extras that come with all combinations of PU splits don't do it for me and I never use them. Thank goodness they are hidden behind push/pull knobs in my guitars. If I want a Tele sound, I use a tele, not the split coils of my CU24.

That brings me back to my original answer; my collection with a CU24, McSoapy and Starla. From vintage to modern, single coil and 'exotic': got it all. And for strat sound: I have a custom strat for that, that does not get any airtime at all.

 

[Turkeyhead]

Obviously personal preference is the determining factor for this. For me, of the guitars I’ve spent time with, is the 513 swamp ash. It just sounds good for all occasions and it feels great to me. The 408 is a pretty close second.

Would love a 513 with a rosewood neck though. I prefer a rosewood neck to any other type. Rosewood with swamp ash? Hmmm…

 

[The Bird]

I don’t know about subjective points of view, but objectively the best one is my McCarty 594 Singlecut Wood Library 10-Top, since it is the best individual guitar ever made.

 

[ScottR]

Is this a rhetorical question? The DGT of course!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice ofcourse

Ehhh… I mean, shouldn’t it be The Sorcerer instead of his pupil?


I dunno, just perhaps it’s the guitar that got guitar heros and gods to acknowledge Paul could build guitars? Like, the one that wrangled Carlos, Al D., Nancy Wilson, Howard Leese, and others? Or maybe the one that was used to sell the most albums and help one of the most identifiable guitarists ever to win as many Grammy awards as The King of Pop?

 

[sergiodeblanc]

West St Ltd.......ALL. DAY. LONG.

These guys never listen.

 

[László]

If I could only own one guitar, my guess is it'd be the 2016 20th Anniversary of Private Stock model, which is similar to the MEV, with the following exceptions:

594 scale length, but with a Pattern neck.

Thicker mahogany back and thinner maple top. These are pretty slight differences amounting to hundredths of inches, but they seem to matter.

Madagascar RW fretboard. Sounds warm and 'chocolatey', but still articulate.

Narrowfield middle pickup instead of single coil (and in 2016 they weren't making the TCI pickups, but I got some very nice sounding ones in mine).

The electronics are also different - coil splits on the PG or Narrowfield pickups are determined by blade selector. But the PG pickups are also narrower than traditional humbuckers, so there isn't THAT much difference.

It's true that today this isn't the guitar I play most, that distinction falls to the 2021 Special Semi-Hollow Artist (ebony fretboard). However, that's because I'm spending a lot of time learning its nuances (It takes me at least a year to figure out what kind of tracks any instrument works best with). Yeah, it's worth the effort involved to learn what a guitar can do (or what I can do with it, which isn't necessarily the same stuff!)..

However, the 20th PS is the most beautiful-sounding guitar I own, and would be my desert island choice over my #1 McCarty Singlecut PS, a guitar whose tone I adore, but isn't as universally versatile, or my CU24 30th Anniversary PS; the latter guitars work best for me currently in situations where I have a choice of what to record with.

 

[László]

These guys never listen.

Ha! Listening isn't the same as agreeing!

But yes, the Westies sound great!

 

[Chuck_P]

An alternate angle would be a guitar that doesn't do approximations of guitar tones - the Limited Special Semi. It doesn't really sound like an LP or 335 in humbucking mode, and doesn't sound much like a Strat or Tele in any single coil position. Of all the PRSi I have played (and I certainly haven't played all of them), it's the most confident in being itself.

 

[Anachronism]

I'd say the 513, followed by something like the P22. I think versatility is something that PRS (both the man and his company) value. Yes, PRS does well selling Les Paul or Strat style guitars, but the allure of having one or two guitars that do it all has been there since the early days.

 

[iounothing]

All of them.

 

[Bogner]

My next one...

 

[Geo408]

My 2019 Limited Edition Custom 22 semi-hollow special. It handles a lot of styles, convincingly. Plus, it’s just as effective on stage as it is in the studio. It covers more ground, for me, than any other single guitar that I own.

 

[bodia]

These guys never listen.

You can lead a horse to water………

 

[Tonart]

Paul made the Paul’s Guitar in secret, deep in the fires of mount boom$, to control all others. As soon as you put on your 594’s, Santanas, Custom 24s, DGT’s, you will sense the presence of the One Guitar. You can try to take it off, but it’s too late your guitar has been enslaved. So there.