Why is the PRS Stoptail so rare?

[Mentalo87]

Hey all,

apologies if this was covered already somewhere, but I didn’t find anything via the search.

Sine I started to play PRS Guitars back in 2001ish (Santana SE) I am wondering why the fixed bridge variants are such a rare thing..? I much prefer them over the vintage trem, in fact I own two stoptail versions and one with a trem which is blocked anyway.
To me they are so easy to use, they stay in tune, super low string height compared to TOM-style bridges, fast to adjust, etc.
This is the only thing that keeps me from buying an other CE24. I just keep looking in the used market for non-term CE22/24.
What’s your opinion?

 

[Greywolf]

They are consistent on the models that fit them , McCarty's and Paul's .
I don't use the trem much but do like the natural reverb as DG would say .
The old mantra is ever true .. They build what sells , if the market demands more stoptails .. they will come

 

[László]

What’s your opinion?

The whole McCarty line - McCarty, 594, Hollowbodies - and the Paul's Guitar are stop tail models, as are the S2 McCarty line, the Velas and the two Tele style guitars. That's 16 PRS models total with stop tails.

They're wonderful guitars, and cover the stop tail category quite well. They've made an awful lot of all of them; stop tail PRS' are not rare at all.

What do you need that they aren't offering?

 

[ImpulseThread]

I have a left-handed Custom 22 with a real left-handed stop tail. I’ve seen the bridge alone sell for $800 on eBay.

 

[Mentalo87]

Double Cut, bolt on maple neck, all hog body or hog body with maple cap, H-H and fixed bridge would do it.

You are right, obviously there are a lot of fixed bridge models which were not in my focus.

 

[Bogner]

Great Guitars...My Favorite In Fact.

Rare? I Wouldn't Say So Unless I Ended Up Buying All Of Them As I Have A Bunch Of Them.

The One Piece Wrap Isn't Crap.

 

[RC Mike]

Double Cut, bolt on maple neck, all hog body or hog body with maple cap, H-H and fixed bridge would do it.

You are right, obviously there are a lot of fixed bridge models which were not in my focus.

There are somewhat common CE 22s that would fit that. It's if you want 24-frets that things get less plentiful.

 

[Prs Mods too]

One piece wrap tail FTW.

 

[RickP]

The whole McCarty line - McCarty, 594, Hollowbodies - and the Paul's Guitar are stop tail models, as are the S2 McCarty line, the Velas and the two Tele style guitars. That's 16 PRS models total with stop tails.

They're wonderful guitars, and cover the stop tail category quite well. They've made an awful lot of all of them; stop tail PRS' are not rare at all.

What do you need that they aren't offering?

What he said… ^^

There are lots of stop tails, three of my 5 current PRS guitars are so equipped. As mentioned, they fit what sells, so I’d derive from that a majority of PRS players want trems. But plenty, including Paul’s own signature model, are standard with stop tails. Several recent releases use the Vela style stop tail. @Aahzz would say that’s sprinkling a little “magical” on them.

 

[Herr Squid]

Double Cut, bolt on maple neck, all hog body or hog body with maple cap, H-H and fixed bridge would do it.

You are right, obviously there are a lot of fixed bridge models which were not in my focus.

A rare beast indeed! That would have been like a CE Standard stoptail which they may have made for a few years in like the late 90s maybe. It's entirely possible I imagined that model, but it would have been called something like that, and if they ever did it, it would have been in the 90s-00s era.

The stoptail was the standard fixed bridge from the 90s until the 594s took off in 2017 or so. So they made lots of guitars with that bridge. Though as sales went up, maybe those got to be outnumbered by the 2-piece fixed bridges.

 

[SinSir]

A rare beast indeed! That would have been like a CE Standard stoptail which they may have made for a few years in like the late 90s maybe. It's entirely possible I imagined that model, but it would have been called something like that, and if they ever did it, it would have been in the 90s-00s era.

They did. There was a NGD not long back

 

[watelessness]

in one respect, if there were more models with stoptails i'd have more guitars so this is a blessing?

 

[Mentalo87]

Same applies to me

 

[RC Mike]

They did. There was a NGD not long back

 

[Greywolf]

There are 186 of them on the Verb presently .. including this beauty with 59/09's

 

[RC Mike]

There are 186 of them on the Verb presently .. including this beauty with 59/09's

Maple bolt-on neck?

 

[Greywolf]

Heaven's NO .. Mahogany neck wood library Custom 22 - the WL are the color and the pickups in this case

https://reverb.com/item/82684105-prs-custom-22-wood-library-stoptail-bridge

 

[RC Mike]

It's the maple bolt-on that the OP wants.

 

[Greywolf]

The Hunt is part of the fun of aquisition

 

[aphantomvaper]

I thought they are Well Done, personally. I like mine very much.