Buck
It feels awesome to be metal in a plastic society
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2017
- Messages
- 126
Why are PRS Tuners so ugly?
- Thread starter Rick Allison
- Start date
I think the Phase II and III tuners look great with the brass shaft. The Phase I tuners look cool on top but really bulky in profile. As they hold tuning flawlessly and that extra mass seems to add a bit of sustain, I mostly shrug. Some folks complain about the winged cam levers, but my only gripe with them functionally is that @#$*& 12:1 turn ratio. The 14:1 ratio on the Phase II tuners feels better for me personally. Grovers are fine, and they have their advantages particularly with the higher 18:1 turn ratio that makes fine tuning a little more forgiving, but I wouldn't call them superior in any way. Honestly, I think high ratio tuners seem to slip more easily, probably thanks to being butter smooth to turn. If the Grovers held any kind of tonal advantage, you wouldn't see Kluson-style tuners on nigh everything.
Since you asked why...
I've heard Paul say that the unplated brass posts sound better to his ear than plated ones. Every little thing adds up. He also likes the locking tuner design because it's simple and relatively foolproof.
He's really into the effect of tuning machines on tone, and just look at the tweaks to the 594 tuners for living proof. They've been tweaked in extremely detailed ways for tone, even though the Phase 3 tuners have been really popular, and no doubt the effect is very subtle.
As others have said, beauty is in the eye and ear of the beholder.
Paul also has said it actually costs more to have some parts be plated and others unplated, and PRS does it that way for a reason.
But heck, it's your guitar. You get to decide!
I've heard Paul say that the unplated brass posts sound better to his ear than plated ones. Every little thing adds up. He also likes the locking tuner design because it's simple and relatively foolproof.
He's really into the effect of tuning machines on tone, and just look at the tweaks to the 594 tuners for living proof. They've been tweaked in extremely detailed ways for tone, even though the Phase 3 tuners have been really popular, and no doubt the effect is very subtle.
As others have said, beauty is in the eye and ear of the beholder.
Paul also has said it actually costs more to have some parts be plated and others unplated, and PRS does it that way for a reason.
But heck, it's your guitar. You get to decide!
D
Deleted member 5962
Guest
Everyone knows that nobody looks at the tuners. Tuners are on the back anyway! Knobs are where it's at.
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
I love knobs!
gush
Where is that speedo pic
I'venever considered prs lockers ugly. Strange??
21Hemispheres12
Old Member
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2017
- Messages
- 620
I never really cared what tuners looked like as long as they worked well. That changed when I got hybrid phase III tuners though. I catch myself staring at the back of the headstock more often than I'd like to admit.
I'll bet some of us like to look at a little backside.
D
Deleted member 5962
Guest
Certainly, I’m just sayin’, if you keep your knobs polished and standing tall, few will notice the tuners.
Alnus Rubra
Loving nature’s wonders
Seriously what have you done with Les?!
Have you been sniffing the inside of the coffee grinder?!!
I must be his alter ego, Lesteban. Where's my hat?
kes7u
Wife's husband and Dog's dad
AND doctors and lawyers are STILL buying these d*mn ugly tunered guitars!Its part of a evil genius plan to uglify the guitars in order to shed the doctor/lawyer Art tag.
Alas the plan has utterly failed because everyone is still ogling at the flame and quilt.
Kevin
kes7u
Wife's husband and Dog's dad
drdoom8793
THAT guy at Chick-fil-A
Count me in!
Its part of a evil genius plan to uglify the guitars in order to shed the doctor/lawyer Art tag.
How come when doctors buy a nice house or a Mercedes, everyone wants one also? But, when they buy a kick ass guitar that’s beautiful and sounds amazing, they give the manufacturer grief about it?
kes7u
Wife's husband and Dog's dad
I think because guitar players, 'in general', are a different lot. More apt to be anti establishment than the average, and thus more likely to resent the 'suits'. Particularly with regard to the fact that these 'suits' are able to afford nicer and higher quality instruments than they, despite having lesser skills, which in itself is not entirely unexpected.
Kevin
Tonart
Tone of the Art......or is that backwards?
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2018
- Messages
- 2,755
Lol exactly! Not fair!
Perhaps, just perhaps, there’s also this misconception out there that electric guitars are only as good as their pickups, so why spend a few grand on a high-end Gibson, Strat or PRS.
“What difference does the wood or construction make? Just get a plank for $50 and install high end pickups, why don’t you. Anything more is a vanity project for folks with too much disposable income.”
Whereas in reality to folks who have really used their ears and feel, and then thought deeply about it, the guitar could be 90% of the equation and the pickups 10%. It’s like Adele and her ultra high-end microphone - which is more indispensable, authentic and meaningful?
There’s also that eye candy art part of it, culminating in private stock, that many people frown on, but they’re kinda missing the joy and point.
The funny thing about PRS is, I could get an Adele by buying a Bernie Marsden for a really affordable price, and it’s already such a beautiful guitar. It’s really about listening to the guitar itself and not just the pickups, and discerning the wheat from the chaff, and not just adopting blanket absolutist views. If one surgeon buys a high end guitar, it’s an anomaly. If a 100 do so, there usually a real reason for it. Surgeons are not stupid obviously, if you trust them with your body while unconscious.
I sometimes think I’m a fool for buying private stock guitars, but the next second I am reminded I only have one life.
All this is merely my individual view, I have to emphasize. It is guaranteed to be wrong to at least 50% of people out there, I concede.
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