View other reviews for this product:
mooseherman
Published on 01/27/10 at 12:56
This guitar was made in the good old Us of A. It's incredibly well-crafted. It has an interesting combination of woods, a mahogany body, maple neck, and a rosewood fretboard. It features the PRS custom tremolo bridge, a nice alternative to the Floyd Rose. It has 24 frets and two great humbuckers (not sure the name). It features three knobs, one volume, one tone, and one that functions as a pickup selector switch.
UTILIZATION
This guitar is a dream to play. Getting a nice sound out of it shouldn't be tough for anyone, unless they really despise the sounds of a PRS. The top frets are very easy to reach and allow for some piercingly high notes. I've rarely been able to play in that register as easily as I can on this. It's a bit on the weightier side of the spectrum, but it's not going to break your back like a Gibson Les Paul might. Everything about this guitar is right on, the bridge and drivers are stable. I've heard someone describe the guitars as "butter in your hand", and I have to say it's a good analogy.
SOUNDS
This is where I'm a little torn on this guitar. I personally prefer bright, twangy sounds and popping R&B tones out of guitars, they fit my style. However, I'm also partial to really rocking out, and getting loud and crazy in the style of Crazy Horse, or even Sonic Youth. This guitar leans closer to the latter, but it doesn't have the raw crunch and power of, say, a Les Paul. It's more of a guitar for prog, metal, and really 80's style rock leads, though with the right amp combo it can sound good for more general rock too. If I had to say whether or not it suited my style, I'd probably say no. But I'd be doing the guitar a great disservice to say that it didn't sound good. As far as the tones it's going for, it's got them nailed. The leads and sustain are soaring. The more well-known guys who use these guitars (Santana, Brad Delp of Boston, Al Di Meola) all use them to great effect, and this guitar is one of their better models. I must say though, I'm not a fan of the clean tones at all, they seem boring and have no pop.
OVERALL OPINION
I like the way the guitar plays more than anything. It is more comfortable than almost any guitar I've played, especially when "shredding". I think that this guitar has been discontinued, since PRS's website no longer lists it and the only time I've seen it is used, so if you can find a remotely good deal on it, take advantage. I've tried a few PRS models, definitely liked this the best, so if the kind of sounds I talked about are your thing, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
UTILIZATION
This guitar is a dream to play. Getting a nice sound out of it shouldn't be tough for anyone, unless they really despise the sounds of a PRS. The top frets are very easy to reach and allow for some piercingly high notes. I've rarely been able to play in that register as easily as I can on this. It's a bit on the weightier side of the spectrum, but it's not going to break your back like a Gibson Les Paul might. Everything about this guitar is right on, the bridge and drivers are stable. I've heard someone describe the guitars as "butter in your hand", and I have to say it's a good analogy.
SOUNDS
This is where I'm a little torn on this guitar. I personally prefer bright, twangy sounds and popping R&B tones out of guitars, they fit my style. However, I'm also partial to really rocking out, and getting loud and crazy in the style of Crazy Horse, or even Sonic Youth. This guitar leans closer to the latter, but it doesn't have the raw crunch and power of, say, a Les Paul. It's more of a guitar for prog, metal, and really 80's style rock leads, though with the right amp combo it can sound good for more general rock too. If I had to say whether or not it suited my style, I'd probably say no. But I'd be doing the guitar a great disservice to say that it didn't sound good. As far as the tones it's going for, it's got them nailed. The leads and sustain are soaring. The more well-known guys who use these guitars (Santana, Brad Delp of Boston, Al Di Meola) all use them to great effect, and this guitar is one of their better models. I must say though, I'm not a fan of the clean tones at all, they seem boring and have no pop.
OVERALL OPINION
I like the way the guitar plays more than anything. It is more comfortable than almost any guitar I've played, especially when "shredding". I think that this guitar has been discontinued, since PRS's website no longer lists it and the only time I've seen it is used, so if you can find a remotely good deal on it, take advantage. I've tried a few PRS models, definitely liked this the best, so if the kind of sounds I talked about are your thing, you owe it to yourself to check it out.