Who here plays a 513?

C

clasbtenn

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Ladies, and Gentlemen,
Who here plays a 513, and likes the clean AND saturated tones it provides?
If you have other PRS guitars such as a McCarty, do you like it as much?
How is the tone different from your other PRS guitar(s)?

I am asking due to the nature of the 513 pickups not being able to be changed out as easily, or at all, compared with other, standard size pickups.

Any and all input is appreciated. :)
Thank you!
Stephen
 
Hello Stephen,
as my avatar shows, I have a 2013 513 AP with a solid IRW and ebony board
I don't have another PRS at the moment to compare with but I've owned a couple Cu22's with 57/08's
and naturally the tone is different, but I do love the flexibility of the 513 and out of the 3 mods (SC, clear HB and heavy HB)
I do favor the SC and clear HB for the blues and classic rock I play through my Mesa V25, although the heavy HB mod is
a setting to be reckoned with when you need that extra bass and thump
this model can handle almost any style you can throw at it, you'll always be experimenting with it's myriad tones.
hope that helps.
Nabil
 
I am new to the 513 and am really happy with the guitar as you would expect it covers a lot of ground in single coil it is a bit darker/fuller that my 305 ( different body woods )
both hum bucker modes are great.
Tone wise it can pull off pretty much anything and do it well if not great.
also unlike many Strat style guitars the center single coil really works well !!!

 
I have 7 with various combinations of wood and 2 that could be mistaken for 513's, a P515 PS and a 509 PS.

They sound a bit different than my other PRSi(e.g. SAS's, DGT, SC245, 408, etc.) in that they all have a bit of chime on the bridge side and can be a bit nosy--especially the ones with gold plated hardware-- and they have a Strat like coo on the neck side. How much different than other PRS really depends on the wood, but they all sit in the tonal space between a Fender and a PRS. The humbucking tones are sort of like Archtop and McCarty pups with the traditional wood combinations. And with those wood combos, those tones have to a tendency to be muddy if you like to keep your volume maxed, so you have to be a knob rider to get the best performance out of them. I tend to be favoring maple necked ones with rosewood and kingwood fretboards as of late which have an extended top end over the regular old 513's with less harmonic bloom, so that puts them more on the Fender side of the fence.
 
@Dancing Frog is the 513-wiseman.
I'm owner of a core 513 MT (with a modification regarding electric parts: no printed circuit board (PCB), but hand-wiring).
It's right that there have been a few improvements along the "life time circle".
The first models came serial with BRW neck, Phase II tuners and compensated 513 nuts, PCB (513 RW). 2007 the "classic" core model detached the RW model: mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard and than the above mentioned specs.
2010 (25th Anniversary) a limited run of swamp ash bodied 513 had been launched.
2011 the core model has been named 513 MT (maple top), as a connecting part with the older versions they came along with PCB, but over the year a few parts were detached: Phase III instead Phase II tuners, new PRS nut instead of the 513 nut.
Did the PCBs had a few revisions since first announcement of the 513 in 2004, 2014 PRS decided to rip off the PCB and to braze connection cables among all electric parts for delivering the best possible and transparent sound.
Currently improvements are - my pov - only due cosmetical issues.

That all said: Dancing Frog is capable to say everything about tonal differences within his own collection.

My experiences are more limited: I played in 2001 or 2002 a CU24, owned end of November 2011 my 513 MT, got it modified in 2014. Compared it with three other 513 (one RW, one MT from 2011, one MT from 2013) at one date in late summer 2014.
Unplugged I noticed differences in the sound of the RW to the MTs, plugged there've been little differences switching through all modes and pup combinations. But I do not relate that to wood specs but to different adjustments of pups heights.
At that date I had the opportunity to play Paul's former "back-up" P's G.
Recently I played a PS DGT at a GC.

Yes, I only have got one 513 (and I'm biased, because I'm very convinced by that tonal versatility), but sound-wise I was never disappointed compare it to other even more expensive PRSi.

I underline everything what my dear friend Nabil aka @g.wizz stated, but I'll push his words to a climax: Once you've endeavoured all the beneficiaries a 513 provides you need not to chase other guitars: nasty dirty sounds, chiming sounds, powerfull voicings in one - and good looking - PRS.
 
I have just gotten mine at the experience event earlier this month. Having a few PRSi, I have to agree with others that it is tonally different, but they all are. But if I have to boast it's use over others, it would be due to what it is capable of: 13 sounds!!!. Some may recall the superstrat which will do the same but with in/out phasing. Or, if you use coil-tapped humbuckers you can get even more sounds/tones/voicings on a strat.

Do I like it, YES AND MAN IT PLAYS LIKE BUTTA!!!!!.

If I had to compare it to another in my herd for versatility, it would be my studio. Both give more tones than my McCarty but the McCarty has it's place too. If I had to choose one of my PRSi to get me thru, it would be the 513, before that I would have to say it was the studio.
 
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I have a pair. One is a Private Stock with Rosewood neck and incredible quilted top. Ironically, perhaps, I tend to prefer the other (Artist Package) with maple neck/board. For me, it seems to have more of whatg (in my mind) is more of the "Strat" sound and feel I have long sought, but with the added flexibility of all the other sounds.

For the HB tones alone, I would probably prefer the PS and RW neck, but the maple seems to bring out the best overall sound and feel.
 
django49 said:
I have a pair. One is a Private Stock with Rosewood neck and incredible quilted top. Ironically, perhaps, I tend to prefer the other (Artist Package) with maple neck/board. For me, it seems to have more of whatg (in my mind) is more of the "Strat" sound and feel I have long sought, but with the added flexibility of all the other sounds.

For the HB tones alone, I would probably prefer the PS and RW neck, but the maple seems to bring out the best overall sound and feel.
Click to expand...
Congrats on the pair. I have one with a maple neck and board and one with a maple neck and brazzy board. Surprisingly, the one with the brazzy board has more of a "Strat" sound. It's actually brighter than maple on maple which is something that I didn't expect when I spec'd it as a Private Stock.
 
Care to share some more photos/clips of 513s? Leaning towards this model for my next guitar...from what I've seen I should be able to get a used one with a 10 top for about $2k...
 
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I'm happy to oblige
20150308_102924_zps5ucryo4e.jpg


Now it has the clear grey lampshades and Ebony tuner buttons and IRW cover plates on the back to match the neck and fretboard
thanks for my dear friend Maertl513 for providing them for me.
 
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