Why Did You Chose a PRS Over a Fender Tele or Strat ?

[Deleted member 5962]

Because PRS was the only guitar approved by the NJ State Bar Association. At the risk of being disbarred, I confess to also owning a couple of Teles and a Strat.

I know what you’re saying. That said, the dentist license I have hanging in my office confuses most people.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

This is the age old story.

It really is. That’s how I arrived at PRS guitars 25 years ago. At one point I had a Les Paul Custom, American Standard Strat, a couple Kramers and a couple Ibanez. When I started playing again, I played one PRS and suddenly, I didn’t like about half of my previous “dream” guitars. All the things I thought I had to tolerate to get those classic sounds… suddenly I found there was one that I didn’t have to “tolerate” anything I didn’t like! And no, it didn‘t sound just like either, but felt and played so much better, I was a convert almost immediately.

 

[Lewguitar]

Does your CE22 have an alder body? Seems kinda late to not be mahogany.

Sure looks like alder to me. Doesn't seem to have the little short grains and pores of mahogany.

 

[Mark Ray]

Why?

Because, all the things.

 

[Simon Says]

Or just get a SE Silver Sky. They're better than most Strats!

I'm confused. Just a few posts up I said

As far as the Stratocaster goes; Eric Johnson's Signature is ticking all relevant boxes. The price is not too crazy for a used, 12" radius, hotter bridge pickup, quartersaw soft V neck, thin nitro finish, 50s deep contours - I always believed it's the best production Strat

Silver Sky is the opposite of what I want a Stratocaster to be. I bet the Silver Sky is a shag, but it's not for me. I'm still considering Fiore as its a notch nearer to what I like, though

 

[Lewguitar]

I'm confused. Just a few posts up I said


Silver Sky is the opposite of what I want a Stratocaster to be. I bet the Silver Sky is a shag, but it's not for me. I'm still considering Fiore as its a notch nearer to what I like, though

Simon, the EJ Strat doesn't have a hot bridge pickup. The one I owned sure didn't.

Eric uses pedals and a Marshall to get his violin and overdriven tones. Straight in, without a pedal, the EJ Strat won't get those tones.

And the pickups in it are kind of on the weak side of things. They're alnico 3 pickups which is the weakest of the alnico magnets. They're good for sparkle and chime but they're not hot at all.

It's a great playing guitar but I didn't like the tone. I traded mine for a '02 CU22.

Have you played a properly set up SE Silver Sky? The vibrato is superior to the Fender and it stays in tune better.

And the pickups are very vintage sounding. Sounds like an old Strat. The fingerboard radius is 8 1/2 - 9" so string bending is easy.

And it's half the price of an EJ Strat. One third the price if you find a used one you like.

You could get a SE Silver Sky and a Dover Drive pedal that Eric helped design and have it all for less than an EJ Strat.

 

[pete55rock]

In my opinion every period has its gear which fits.
When I need a vintage tone, I play Tele, Strat, LP or SG with a traditional Fender or Marshall Amp.
For modern tone I use a PRS with a high gain amp from Diezel, Bogner, Soldano or Elmwood.

 

[tbp0701]

Last week I went through with a gear pare-down. I kept my Mira along with the Tele, Strat, and Martin 000-15. (Gone are a Collings, G&L, Hamer, an amp and pedal.)

Those are my essentials, although if not for nostalgia I could probably do with just the Mira and Tele. As much as I love the Strat, the Tele is more versatile and helpful for learning, as it won't hide any sloppiness. Vintage frets and 7.25" radius may be a factor. (The Mira doesn't hide much either, but I'm surprised how much the Strat can). I do miss contours when playing the Tele, though.

Now that my guitar rack has empty space, I'm looking around. A lot of guitars are intriguing, but I ask myself if they will really give me anything what I already have can't. Still, a PRS CE or a Tele-style with contours (anyone tried a Larrivee Baker-T?) is tempting. And there's the long-unfulfilled 335 longing, but the size (and cost).

 

[dilznik]

Pick it over? No. Supplement? Yes. Have two strats and a tele to go with the PRS guitars. Pick it over a Gibson, however... yes I did that.

 

[Prina]

When I got my LP, PRS (the firm, not the founder) didn't exist.

 

[IRG]

Or just get a SE Silver Sky. They're better than most Strats!

Well my SE SS arrives tomorrow, we'll see how it compares to my Strat - can't wait to add it to the collection.

 

[Mozzi]

Everyone should play what 'works' for them and you don't 'need' a Fender to get great Tones that sound beautiful in the mix that it doesn't matter what actual 'brand' or 'style' of guitar it is to anyone, it still sounds 'great', you feel comfortable playing and the audience has a great time....

I don't think every Fender Strat sounds 'great' and is a better sounding Strat than a lot of S-type guitars made by other brands - same with Teles and some are more comfortable and/or ergonomically designed - - not 'slabs' because that was 'cheap and easy' to mass produce on a 'big' scale so could flood the market and happen to be in the hands of various musicians who had little choice or particularly deliberated over their 'tone/sound' to record some of the iconic music that helped cement those guitars in 'history'. The 'music' was inside them, the tool helped them get it out and in most cases, they'd play the guitar they had, not necessarily the best guitar they spent time considering each for its tone.

The guitar that became iconic for the Sound of a certain song was most likely recorded by the artist who felt 'most comfortable' with that instrument at the time of writing/recording, their 'main' axe. If you want a great 'SC' S or T-type tone specifically, even then I don't believe it must be made by Fender. To me, the Silver Sky sounds much better than most Strats - especially the bridge position. Bridge and Middle pickups on a Strat to me are always the test - I hate shrill, harsh, ice picky, very bright, piercing pick-ups and most strats are too 'bright' for my tastes - I like warmer, fuller HB tones in general - so the SS is a great SS to my ears and balanced across all 3 pups - which I don't always see in Fender too. Not bashing Fender - they certainly have their fans - but I don't think you need a Fender T or S type and they don't necessarily make the 'best' instrument for me to get the tones I want/need - inc SC stratty/tele tones...

 

[Sonic Blue 55]

I didn't. I have two Strats, three Teles, four Gibsons, and 2 PRS.

 

[Mystic38]

Why did I pick a PRS over a Strat or a Tele?..

I didn't and I won't.. sorry, but IMO knockoffs (silver sky) are tacky business practices. If you need to steal somebody else designs you lack ethics.

Why did I pick a PRS over a LP?..

I didn't and I won't. I have a core 594 and it won't and can't replace my 2 LP's ..but it is a really good guitar in its own right...

In general, PRS 2HB guitars are their own thing... after all, despite the plethora of new models, the CU24 is THE PRS guitar and needs to be applauded and recognized as such.

 

[IRG]

Well my SE SS arrives tomorrow, we'll see how it compares to my Strat - can't wait to add it to the collection.

A full review coming maybe later this weekend, along with pics, at work now. Very early impressions are favorable, and questionable at the same time. Favorable - the pickups are great. Love all 5 positions. And going from position 1 through 5 is interesting, they almost at first don't sound all that different from one another, if you start at 1, then 2, etc. But if you move from 5 down to 1, you realize there is a whole range that just kinda sneaked up on you. Impressive. I haven't used high gain pedals or fuzzes with it yet, but I thought clean there is very little 60cycle hum at all, seems well shielded. But my strat is quiet too.

The questionable: Might just be the neck (finish) in particular. The fretboard is fine. The back of the maple neck though, has seemingly almost no finish on it, not quite raw wood, but not far from it. Normal? It's smooth, but not like my strat, or my CE24 that are like glass. I might take some 0000 steel wool or 2000/4000 grit (other?) sandpaper to it, especially low down on the neck, frets 1-7 range. Higher up is ok. Maybe I just need to get used to it, and sure, over time your hand oils will help. But my strat neck is wonderful right out of the box, so the edge here to the Strat.

I like 2 point tremolos, my strats with those have all held tune really well. The SS has 4 springs, I'm sure it's been mentioned elsewhere, but it's a bit too stiff for me, almost don't see the point as is. Can I just remove 1 spring and all is well, or does a bunch of recalibration have to occur as well? Overall a nice piece though. I get a little bit of ringing on the high E string, nut might need to be adjusted, just like every SE model I've owned. Not pinching at least.

I got my SE SS from SW as a demo, it had a little ding in the headstock (so small I almost can't see it), but otherwise looked new, plastic still on, etc. For the money, hard to beat it. I'm looking forward to a weekend of playing it coming up, and then better assessing it.

 

[IRG]

Another quick update. I had a pack of modeling very fine grit sandpaper, and took a small piece, I think it was 4000 or 6k grit. And just started going over the back of the neck. Within a minute or two, that super smooth glass like feeling was there. Much better now! And so simple. I might also leave the tremolo alone for now too. Still really like the pickups too. The pickguard plastic came off, I guess it's a keeper now! Time to sell the CE24, wasn't sure I wanted to or not, but I think it's time.

 

[Gerryg]

I still love my Strat, tone feel etc, but I really Love my 594, it’s by far in a class all it’s own.

 

[John F]

Why did I pick a PRS over a Strat or a Tele?..

I didn't and I won't.. sorry, but IMO knockoffs (silver sky) are tacky business practices. If you need to steal somebody else designs you lack ethics.

Why did I pick a PRS over a LP?..

I didn't and I won't. I have a core 594 and it won't and can't replace my 2 LP's ..but it is a really good guitar in its own right...

In general, PRS 2HB guitars are their own thing... after all, despite the plethora of new models, the CU24 is THE PRS guitar and needs to be applauded and recognized as such.

Silver Sky are more than a knock-off, just ask John Mayer about the 2 plus years it took to finalize the new design. You forgot to mention the too many to count Super Strat versions made by nearly every other manufacturer and former employees of Fender, plus the exact copy clones some of which even use a Fender headstock. Almost every part of the Silver Sky was redesigned and manufactured in-house to improve on the PRS design for color, sound, feel, and playability per JM’s direction. This was something Leo Fender himself did with his G&L line. Nothing about the SS is due to a tacky business practice. A lot of time, money, engineering, metalurgy, trial and error was used to produce the SS. In fact, according to Paul the parts in a SS are new designs to PRS with the exception of the pick guard screws, strap buttons and strings give or take a few other screws. Paul delivered a product with the help, vision, and request from JM. PRS could have tossed together a clone in a few months if all they were after was a duplicate with a different headstock and color palette. I’ll also mention Paul worked with David Grissom for 25 years to create the DGT. The first versions became the McCarty models and were produced long before Grissom put his name on one. I appreciate your preference of Fender and Gibson originals, I have a few myself. I just think statements like “knockoff”, “tacky business practices” and accusing PRS of “lacking ethics” don’t belong here in the “PRS Forum”. Take those terms over to TheGearPage.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

I didn't and I won't.. sorry, but IMO knockoffs (silver sky) are tacky business practices. If you need to steal somebody else designs you lack ethics.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on all these car companies tacky unethical practices of ripping off of Fred Flintstone.

Oh wait. His car only had two wheels. But then again, 2 vs 4 wheels is pretty comparable to 6 on one side vs. 3x3, so yeah, my comment is valid.