Theory about what people don't understand about PRS...

[daizee]

Never handled one, but in a market awash in pre-ripped-jeans guitars, it's hilariass (yes) to me that people would pass some sort of projected moral judgment on a company for making guitars that are too pretty. Maybe PRS should ruin the finishes on them once they're done and double the price.

 

[Otter351]

I have no idea why anyone would want to limit themselves to one brand. Even if I got some sweet endorsement deal, I wouldn't get rid of my favorite guitars from other manufacturers. I bought my first PRS in 1991, mostly because of Carlos. I have bought many since but that '91 is the only one I that was worth keeping. Oh, except for the '93 Cu24 (sunburst, moons) I stupidly sold. If you bought that from some dude on a newsgroup in the mid 90s, I've got cash.

 

[Softpaw]

Santana on brand loyalty and using different guitars for different tones [2016]:


Q: Your guitar playing and tone on that song ["Anywhere You Want to Go"] was amazing. You're still using the Paul Reed Smiths?

CS: To be totally truthful, the last three or four albums I recorded including 16 songs with Ronnie Isley, which is yet to come out but will come out right after this, I was playing a scraggly, funky Stratocaster I bought in Chicago. I played that on "Santana IV." That's all I play in the studio. Paul Reed knows about it but live I play Paul Reed guitars. I'm not gonna get in trouble. He knows texture-wise I'm a painter and I use different brushes.

Q: Which is why you've played everything from Gibson Les Paul Specials, Standards and SGs to Yamaha SG2000s in the studio?

CS: I don't use the same brush on the same canvas and he understands that. Live, I will always honor his guitars and that sound but in the studio I have a need to go to this scraggy, nasty, gnarly, big teeth and big claws Strat.

Q: Everybody associates you with the SG or the Les Paul...

CS: The thing about it is and it's probably gonna sound however this is gonna sound but this is the truth: I'm the sound not the guitar. I can grab any guitar and I'm gonna get something out of it because it's my fingers, my heart and my soul. Right now I'm in the mood and the mode to use a Strat in the studio.

You weren't able to get the sounds you needed on the new album from a PRS?

CS:When you hear the first intro of "Santana IV," you hear eeeeeeoooowwww [imitates a roar]. I can't do that with the Paul Reed. That's like all the way treble Strat through a wah-wah and I can't get that with the Paul Reed. I tried it with the Paul Reed but it doesn't get that gnarly. But I can play ballads and other nasty and raunchy things with the Paul Reed. It's just the Strat I have for some reason that I bought in Chicago, it has a different kind of animalistic - and that's the word - vibration and sensuality to it.

Carlos Santana Talks to UG: 'I Don't Wanna Play With Precise Drummers'

'That's really important for a musician to have a drummer that doesn't sound like you're boiling an egg and counting it second by second and it's all...

www.ultimate-guitar.com

 

[Defendant]

Great point. It’s sort of in a way like the bad rap Bill Finnegan got when the used Klon prices went up to $2000-$4000… That’s his fault? He made each one by hand for $265. After 2000 of them he just couldn’t do it anymore…..
Paul Smith is always upping the ante and refining what he’s always done. heh, they’re absolutely fantastic guitars that ain’t a Fender or a Gibson… Both of those companies build $10K to $20K custom guitars with no flack.. PRS does an incredible $10K Private Stock and the “lawyers guitars” statements come out of the woodwork. Makes no sense….

Well, he definitely leaned into the figured top/birds thing once he realized people liked them. And Private Stock is basically a chunk of his customer base, ordering completely unfiltered. There are VERY FEW plain Jane private stock guitars.

Whereas if someone orders a master built Fender or made to measure Gibson ...it will likely look like an old Fender or Gibson, often with aging. Gold hardware MAYBE. I was in a dealer in London with a dozen Gibson M2Ms pre-pandemic ...and they all just looked like Relic Les Pauls.

So yeah, private stock stands out as bling/gaudy and glass case-bound in comparison, even if the prices are similar.

People are making broad assumptions, but there are reasons why.

 

[tktk]

I do know PRS guitars play extremely well, but unfortunately it's imprinted on my brain that PRS guitars are ugly thanks to those nu-metal garbage bands in late 90s - early 00s, and also I hate Santana.

 

[Gizmot]

I only own one PRS guitar but my friends who own a lot more and more expensive models all appreciate and respect is how consistent PRS’ build quality and workma are. I hear no stories about incorrectly made guitars with PRS - they are the class of the industry in consistency.

 

[MusicWannabe]

Hair ?
Paul Reed Smith had Hair ???
Naw ... that can't be him !

 

[3-Chord-Genius]

I've never owned nor played one. BUT, they seem like absolutely fantastic guitars. I think what makes them divisive (is that the right word) is their unique shape. You either like it or you don't. I don't think it's their fancy embellishments because I have a D'Angelico with a really ornate (some would say tacky) headstock which I love. But I've never heard a bad thing about their quality.

 

[MusicWannabe]

I just don't like the feel. I like thinner necks. Nothing against em though.

I hear you. I think they have a chunky neck bias ...

But check out a S2 McCarty Thinline, with its "Pattern Thin" neck.

Feels a lot like a Fender "Deep C" .

And the "Wide Fat" on the SE Hollowbody is not bad either.

The Pattern Vintage, is however, like you say. But a lot of folks like it ...

 

[sixty2strat]

I wanted one till I owned one. Like many things in life it was not what I thought it could be

 

[rizla]

I never had any preconceived ideas about them other than they looked a bit wrong in photos I saw in GP and GW magazines. The shape never looked quite right.
Then when I started working with them I came to appreciate them for what they were. Ive owned a few but I dont have any now, they never quite felt or sounded right to me.
One thing I dont or didnt like about PRS is the marketing but Ive noticed they have tamed it a little lately.

 

[Jollyb]

I just don't like the scale and they all look the same. Remember that old argument " the world would be such a boring place if everyone had the same opinions ".

That's how PRS appears to me. Kudos to PRS for achieving super consistency but they are all just good....not great. IMHO.

 

[datguytim]

I tried to like them - have for 25 years or more - just can’t stand ‘em when they are in my hands. Neck shapes are horrible, weight feels skimpy, sound is meh at best. Just bland. I suppose I don’t like their inherent flavor. I tried. From CE 22s, McCartys, and big $$$ Private Schlock……

LES PAULS POR VIDA!!!!

 

[ltsmash1200]

I started playing guitar in 1999 and I live about 20 minutes from Annapolis. So being a teen in the early 2000s in Maryland, PRS got a LOT of hype. That was THE guitar for a lot of kids around. I used to really pine after them and would go check them out at Garrett Park Guitars every couple of weeks.

Once I got decent enough to tell the difference between guitars though, I never found a PRS that felt right to me and I was never big on their pickups. At some point, I attributed what was throwing me off to their in between a Gibson and a Fender scale length. Also, I didn't like the rotary pickup selector. After that I went full in on Gibsons and Fenders and just kind of wrote off PRS as not for me. Plus, I have never been really big on super flamed out tops.

However, lately I've been swayed by a couple of friends who are PRS lifers and decided to try out a McCarty 594 because it has a scale length I'm used to and the pickups aren't anything like those old HFS pickups that I wasn't a fan of and I really liked it. When I first saw the Slimer green Eriza Verde color they offer now it really caught my eye as well. Plus, I do feel like it would be nice to support the local guys, whether or not they need it.

If I can find one without a super flamed out top, I'll probably be picking one up in the near future.

 

[MusicWannabe]

Hey ! The ancient factory videos are cool. Shows how far they came from the view you get in the Shaun Employee Anniversary Construction Video on the PRS site with the SOTA construction with its CNC machining centers.

The most fascinating thing to me about PRS, is how in 1985, they came into a mature market with dominate players like Fender and Gibson, and made a niche for themselves.

 

[DiPa]

I don’t care if someone or a bunch of folk don’t dig PRS, lol, what matters most is how I feel and those that don’t care for them, it’s your loss mates.

 

[bigtone23]

I'm not a PRS guy, but have played a few that I did like.
Those included an 87 CE24 and a McCarty P90. I don't bond well with Gibsons, but those McCarty models seem to hit me much better.

 

[Guppie]

I do know PRS guitars play extremely well, but unfortunately it's imprinted on my brain that PRS guitars are ugly thanks to those nu-metal garbage bands in late 90s - early 00s, and also I hate Santana.

Same. Santana's name connected to anything is more a turn off for me than a turn on.
I just don't like the look and vibe of PRS guitars just like I don't like the vibe of Schecter, BC Rich and ESP ltd guitars. Nobody's starting threads on trying to rationalize why some people don't like ESP guitars.

 

[justonwo]

They look pretty nice to me. I mean, well made solid body with two humbuckers. How could you go wrong? I don’t usually go for the wild colors, but they look like wonderful instruments to me. Oddly, I’ve never played one.

 

[Flatfish.]

No need for theories, people just don't like em.
too showy, I personally wont pay for that much shine.
I don't like bling on my cars, guitars or women, or me.