Paul Reed Smith, Chasing Sonic Magic

In my case he is selling snowballs to an Eskimo.
Both my most recently acquired guitars have been his.
and they have become my main gigging instruments
and chances are good that I will buy a 509 next year.
 
They are very innovative. Didn't know about the 25" scale concept. Interesting.
These days, I am lusting after a SE Soapbar II.
 
I have a PRS story,years and years ago when PRS was just starting out and these guitars were still being made in small batches i went to Portland Music in Portland Oregon down on first street.now this place is huge and its still there far as i know.So im looking at all these guitars.i mean id never seen nothing like it,Gibsons,Fenders,Rickenbackers,ect.even a fooking Purple Tolex limited edition Marshall.so this ol boy behing the counter asks me if id even seen a 40 thousand dollar guitar.actually i think it was like 75 grand but it was ALOT. i said hell no i aint so he reaches into this case behind the counter and pulls out this all hand made Dragon inlayed PRS.looked kinda like a Lester if i remember.i mean this thing the whole neck was inlayed like a Dragon with MOP and Abalony.it was beautiful but alittle over the top for me.so there ya go. PRS guitars
 
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This is the one I'm aiming for.

se_gt_sesoapbar2.gif
 
I cannot explain it, beyond personal chemistry: I have never played a PRS that felt warm to me. The neck and fretboard literally feel cold and metallic to me. I'm also not crazy about the locking tuners on some models, but mostly it is the feel. I love some of the color finishes.
 
I've owned 3 PRS guitars and at present I still have a Mira. They are really fantastically well-made instruments, and the playability and tone is as good as it gets, and I think Paul Smith is onto something with the scale length. And I know you can feel the "but" coming...but, there is something a little sterile, bordering on the cold with many of them, and I think its the pickups. My Mira only became great after getting the right set of pickups in it, same with the 245 I had (I didn't change out the pups in the CE I had years ago to compare). I would buy one again, and the reissued CE's look very attractive to me, but I would do it knowing that I would probably end up replacing the pickups and that factors into the decision since they are not exactly cheap to acquire.
 
Maybe it is a question of getting hold of the one that speaks to you, but My McCarty MC58 is the best guitar I've ever played. The warmth is there and the responsiveness, and the neck seems to have been moulded to my hand. It is my go-to guitar whenever I don't ave an actual specific reason for using another.
 
BGood said:
This is the one I'm aiming for.

se_gt_sesoapbar2.gif
Click to expand...

Brother-- put P90's in your Indie---- you will have it ......

I had the Santana SE --- well made --- VERY well made good quality great guitar--- I just was too full up on black double cut solid body humbucker geetars so I sold it .....

But there was NOTHING wrong with it ...
 
I know. I'm thinking about switching the Gibson P94 I have in the G400 to the Indie and reverting the SG to it's Classics humbuckers.
But ... a P94 is not a P90. Close but no cigar.
And the SE Soapbar is a slab guitar, not a carved top, so ... lightness.
 
well.........who am I to tell a man he cant have a bunch of geetars lol ;) ROCK ON
 
Regarding the "cold sterile" sound of PRS guitars.
I think most of us are just used to the sound of Gibson and Fender type guitars.
The fact that there is a fair amount of talk about getting PRS guitars and swapping
to Gibson type pickups clearly shows this.
PRS guitars are their own beast. They have a different sound. They sound like PRSs.
Buying a PRS to swap out the pickups seems to defeat the purpose of having one.
Why try to make an apple out of an orange?
 
BGood said:
I know. I'm thinking about switching the Gibson P94 I have in the G400 to the Indie and reverting the SG to it's Classics humbuckers.
But ... a P94 is not a P90. Close but no cigar.
And the SE Soapbar is a slab guitar, not a carved top, so ... lightness.
Click to expand...
I have an SE One, with a Fralin P90 and added tone control. It's honestly in the running for the best playing electric I've ever owned. Lightweight? Oh man, like a feather! I think they're Korina wood, but could be mistaken.
Get one. You won't regret it!
 
Tony M. said:
Regarding the "cold sterile" sound of PRS guitars.
I think most of us are just used to the sound of Gibson and Fender type guitars.
The fact that there is a fair amount of talk about getting PRS guitars and swapping
to Gibson type pickups clearly shows this.
PRS guitars are their own beast. They have a different sound. They sound like PRSs.
Buying a PRS to swap out the pickups seems to defeat the purpose of having one.
Why try to make an apple out of an orange?
Click to expand...

Well, I can only speak for myself but I view it the same as anyone ever changing pickups in any guitar for any reason...to make it work better for you. By that logic no-one would ever change out the pickups in their Strat or Les Paul either, but I think it's fair to say that most of us have tinkered trying to improve the tone of their guitar in their own ears. For me, there is just not enough of the harmonic information that I want to hear in PRS pickups, thus the mention of sterility. I think that is the target they have had to allow the pickups to work better with a ton of gain piled into the front of the amp, but for me they just don't work at the gain settings I use and they sound pretty lifeless (and I have tried a bunch of their pickups, not just the ones that came in my guitars).
 
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I have had my eye on the Soapbar II for over a year, there is a rare green one that gives me wet dreams. I had a chance at one for under $300 but just couldnt scratch up the dough.

i need a slab of mahogany with 2 p90s and a wrap tail bridge.

I'm waiting.
One of these 6 yellow in RH is mine:
guitar-color-3-jpg.173251

Guy commissioned a small run AND included leftys!!
 
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