PRS Neck Construction

smitty_p said:
Interesting. When I look at the McCarty 594 it is nearly a perfect guitar for my purposes, including my persnickety control layout preferences.

I was always suspicious of that heel, though.

I’d still like a trem option.
Click to expand...

Go play one. I bet you don't even notice the heel. They are somehow perfectly ergonomic even if they don't look it.
 
gball said:
I also disagree, and I am not really a PRS fanboi: I've said before I have a soft spot, but that's only because I grew up in Maryland where they are made. No, Paul Smith has taken large-scale guitar building to a very different level (and TBH, I don't buy into the tiny builder = better product by default mindset. I played a couple Echo Park guitars (Ghetto Birds) and they were very nicely made but nothing that blew my skirt up, just well built versions of things we already know). The PRS neck design and join is actually pretty unique if you compare closely to other builders, but its not (in my mind) about innovation with PRS guitars, to me its about carefully considered evolution and improvement in materials, technique and design. I say all this while underscoring the fact that I have no real interest in buying another PRS and will probably be selling the one I do have in the near future, I just think we as players should acknowledge the fact that PRS has been successful precisely because he/they really do do thing differently than other builders.
Click to expand...

Perhaps my point lies in the definition of "innovation." I do acknowledge PRS design changes to existing components and they appear to be valid changes with a definable result.

Now, I have played the PRS Artist Series, and while I found them very, very nicely made, it was not better - and in some cases - not as good as a Music Man - neither of the two I like or would consider buying...but that's just my personal opinion.
 
gball said:
They seem bulky, but I have found that they "disappear: when you are actually playing them.



Yes, we are saying the same thing I believe and definitely agree that it's not about being all new. What Paul Smith does is definitely some next-level sh!t when it comes to perfecting design.

I am very likely selling my 2013 Mira very soon. It's a first-generation S-2, one of the very first ones made in fact, and I do really like it but it never gets played.
Click to expand...

Really??? Next Level poop from an improvement to an existing design, an improvement over a Mortise & Tenon Joint, or a better quality finish??? This is something any competent luthier is capable of. Other worldly though???

We used tongue & grove neck joints on my double neck, but I don't really consider that an innovation. I just felt it was stronger.

I do see where he has made a better quality part - in the case of the tuners just as one example - but better quality tuners, tremolos are widely available.

Now, has PRS exceeded Gibson and Fender for quality??? Without a doubt, Yes.

Have they combined some really great features in a factory-produced guitar??? Yes.
 
Robert Herndon said:
Perhaps my point lies in the definition of "innovation." I do acknowledge PRS design changes to existing components and they appear to be valid changes with a definable result.

Now, I have played the PRS Artist Series, and while I found them very, very nicely made, it was not better - and in some cases - not as good as a Music Man - neither of the two I like or would consider buying...but that's just my personal opinion.
Click to expand...

MM are really nice, and the solid rosewood necks are simply stunning. Build quality is better than any bolt-neck builder out there I think, but they are not really doing the kind of thing PRS is. I also am not the buyer for either of them if we're being perfectly honest.

Robert Herndon said:
Really??? Next Level BLEEPBLEEPBLEEPBLEEP from an improvement to an existing design, an improvement over a Mortise & Tenon Joint, or a better quality finish??? This is something any competent luthier is capable of. Other worldly though???

We used tongue & grove neck joints on my double neck, but I don't really consider that an innovation. I just felt it was stronger.

I do see where he has made a better quality part - in the case of the tuners just as one example - but better quality tuners, tremolos are widely available.

Now, has PRS exceeded Gibson and Fender for quality??? Without a doubt, Yes.

Have they combined some really great features in a factory-produced guitar??? Yes.
Click to expand...

I'd say yeah, what he is doing is a step beyond what other manufacturers are doing, even with something as simple as that neck join. If you pull the neck pickup out of a PRS you will see what I mean. I get if the guitars don't check your boxes, TBH they don't really mine, but I really think what PRS is doing as far as build quality is a notch better than other makers. They are, simply put, the most stable guitars I have owned - they never need adjustment, never go out of tune, never feel different when you pick them up. That alone is a feat.

Anyway, this is all opinion and based on my own somewhat limited sample size, and as with everything it is partly subjective and your experience and opinions are likely to differ.

But at the end of the day, I am a Gibson player and I accept them the way they are. Some people think I am nuts for that, when I could have a nice PRS or MM or something else instead, but the Gibsons feel they way I want and more importantly make the sounds I want so with them I stay.
 
The main thing he does with the neck is the slow, step by step cut down to the final size. The wood relaxes and reshapes itself between each successive cut. The end result is a neck that is the right shape and has no tendency to warp.
 
gball said:
MM are really nice, and the solid rosewood necks are simply stunning. Build quality is better than any bolt-neck builder out there I think, but they are not really doing the kind of thing PRS is. I also am not the buyer for either of them if we're being perfectly honest.



I'd say yeah, what he is doing is a step beyond what other manufacturers are doing, even with something as simple as that neck join. If you pull the neck pickup out of a PRS you will see what I mean. I get if the guitars don't check your boxes, TBH they don't really mine, but I really think what PRS is doing as far as build quality is a notch better than other makers. They are, simply put, the most stable guitars I have owned - they never need adjustment, never go out of tune, never feel different when you pick them up. That alone is a feat.

Anyway, this is all opinion and based on my own somewhat limited sample size, and as with everything it is partly subjective and your experience and opinions are likely to differ.

But at the end of the day, I am a Gibson player and I accept them the way they are. Some people think I am nuts for that, when I could have a nice PRS or MM or something else instead, but the Gibsons feel they way I want and more importantly make the sounds I want so with them I stay.
Click to expand...

I see. On that I can relate. Thats why i changed the neck joint on my double neck. I'm considered an idiot for building a replica, but structurally its better.
 
DonP said:
The main thing he does with the neck is the slow, step by step cut down to the final size. The wood relaxes and reshapes itself between each successive cut. The end result is a neck that is the right shape and has no tendency to warp.
Click to expand...

Yes. B. Hefner told me this when they did necks for me.
 
gball said:
Would it be a set- or bolt-neck?
Click to expand...

I really like the bolt-on neck, TBTH, on a Strat anyways....I been sketching it out..split parallelogram inlay looks wicked. The fly in the ointment is using the TOM/Stopbar Gibson bridge with a zero angle neck...
 
Robert Herndon said:
I really like the bolt-on neck, TBTH, on a Strat anyways....I been sketching it out..split parallelogram inlay looks wicked. The fly in the ointment is using the TOM/Stopbar Gibson bridge with a zero angle neck...
Click to expand...

Hey, whatever works for you. I lean toward guitars with set neck but I have no problem with a bolt neck. I actually went through a period where I played Strats more or less exclusively, for about 3-4 years. They were modded with humbuckers but they were Strats.
 
gball said:
Hey, whatever works for you. I lean toward guitars with set neck but I have no problem with a bolt neck. I actually went through a period where I played Strats more or less exclusively, for about 3-4 years. They were modded with humbuckers but they were Strats.
Click to expand...

I'm on the fence...I made the Von Herndon Tele-esque set neck and they are seamless, but a Strat feels "normal" to me in a bolt on configuration, not to mention the cost perspective.

Stagecrafter Heel.jpg
 
Last edited:
gball said:
Hey, whatever works for you. I lean toward guitars with set neck but I have no problem with a bolt neck. I actually went through a period where I played Strats more or less exclusively, for about 3-4 years. They were modded with humbuckers but they were Strats.
Click to expand...

I played a Stratocaster from 1988 until 2005...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top