PRS

Where is it made? (USA, Japan, Mexico, France...) US model How many frets and what kind of pickups does it have? What's the pickup configuration? 24 frets 2 PRS zebra coil humbucker pickups What kind of bridge does it have (Floyd Rose, Wilkinson....)? prs acc 4007 tremolo. What controls does it have (volume, tone, pickup selector...)? What kind of neck does it have? Volume, tone, LM-type switch. UTILIZATION Is the neck comfortable? Very comfortable, I prefer it to my prs CE 24, which is too slim, too slender Is the access to the upper frets easy? Yes, it couldn't be easier, although I would've preferred thinner frets from the 20th fret. Is the instrument ergonomic (body shape, weight...)? Nothing to do with a LP, you can play 4 hours straight without a problem Is it easy to get a good sound? ... It's incredibly versatile. A small snag, however, is that mine sounds too sharp when I play clean, despite my efforts to adjust the highs with my amp. Which affects my other guitars, since I have to alter my settings live. I also tried to adjust the pickups. It was useless. I would love to read what other people say about this. SOUNDS Does it suit your music style? Yes, very open sound. And it sounds good with anything: fender, marshall, mesa and, as of lately, ENGL!! Which amp(s) or effect(s) do you use with it? I'm sold on this one. Engl and mesa I have an engl powerball and a mesa mark V What kind of sounds do you get and which settings do you use ("crystal-clear," "fat," etc.)? Fat, fat linking park-like sounds, but also really vintage funky and bluesy sounds. Very nice for picking as well. Which sounds do you prefer / hate? I love a clean sound that is a bit thick, like a strat with a light tube screamer. I love to get this sound with the santana. The humbuckers fulfill this role fabulously. Further, as I said before, I hate the shrill sound of my PRS, that's why I give it 8/10 OVERALL OPINION ALL-ROUNDER How long have you been using it? I've had it 2 years and play 50 gigs per year. Which feature do you like the most / the least? Its weight, reliability and that you can do whatever you want with it. And its look!! Did you try any of other models before buying this one? I have 2 strats, one LP and another PRS How would you rate its value for money? It's expensive, but I don't want to see this model everywhere. Quality has its price. Based on your experience, would you buy this product again? ... Yes, I'm looking for another one to not wear it out.

I owned a USA made 2002 PRS McCarty in dark blue, moon inlays, wide-fat neck, thicker than standard mahogany body, maple top with 22 frets. It had light vintage style tuners and one-piece stoptail bridge. 1 push/pull Tone knob and 1 volume control and 3-way switch. The nickel silver covered McCarty pickups had been replaced with an EMG 81 in the bridge and an 85 in the neck. The guitar was used and had some dings here and there but the high quality of build was still very apparent. UTILIZATION 20-22 fret areas, you may need to bend your wrist a bit awkwardly, depending on your hand size and reach. It was the same with my 1996 PRS standard and definitely not as easy to access as the PRS SC 250's and 245's I've had. The neck was a HUGE wide/fat, so much so that I could not do sweeps and some other lead moves that I was accustomed to. There are differences between PRS necks, even if they are labeled W/F. I had a PRS 250 SC standard that was listed as a W/F but was more like a W/T or regular carve. I posted this observation and the birdsandmoons (PRS) forum and others commented that there is some hand finishing at the end of production and some necks may get sanded down more than others, even if they are labeled the same thickness. The guitar weight was fine - but in the end the really thick neck forced me to sell it rather quickly. SOUNDS I used this guitar with custom built Peters amplifiers, which are kind of a cross between a Peavey 5150 and high gain Marshall/VHT with a little Boogie thrown in. The amp was paired with a 4x12 that had Celestion Gh12 -30's and a Splawn 4x12 with Governor/ManOWar speaker combo. I usually go for a nice thick Jerry Cantrell AIC tone, to use with my modern rock/metal band. The guitar had a very open and deeper bass sound to it. It seemed to muddy a little under high gain playing. This made it sound somewhat undefined during rhythm playing. The EMG's couldn't prevent the inherent bass of the guitar from coming out and gave it the generic EMG clean tone. The guitar had very nice and thick lead tones and it was best suited for that. In the end, it was too bassy of a sound and it didn't fit the best for my style of music. OVERALL OPINION I liked the lead tones the best. Absolutely could not stand the thick neck and was not happy with how the guitar responded under high gain rhythm playing. I was looking for another PRS to match up with my '96 standard and in the end the '96 blew this one out of the water with playability and sound. For being used, the action, fit and finish were very good. I have been through many guitars and had a number of years where I would buy, try and flip, which enabled me to have many guitars around to try out. I'd recommend trying them before you buy, because each neck will be a little different. I got a good deal on this one but was not able to play it before purchase and I would not have made the same choice, even though I made out even on it's resale. These are high quality instruments if you like thick necks. You can get good deals on them used, so I still think they are a good value for the used price.

I am a guitar player since 1979, 40 years of playing countless electric guitars. I started from the very bottom with low budget guitars, in fact my first "great" guitar was a Fender Strat Plus in 1993 (which I still have). But being an old rock lover I always wanted nothing but Fender and Gibson. In fact my favourite ones were the Les Pauls. But back then Gibsons weren't the most affordable ones to buy. I bought my first Les Paul back in 2011. I'm talking about all this background because in the year I'm doing this review (2019) I had the luck to introducing myself into the PRS realm. The 513 is my second PRS guitar, because in january I pulled the trigger for a Custom 24 (which made me think on what I was doing all this time). I was real lucky to buy the 513 on May and I need to say this is my best guitar up to date. Just to begin with this I need to refer to the overall quality of the instrument. The action, the feel, the playability, the sounds, the looks... This guitar has everything you would need and more. It has 5 pickups that are matched in the style of an HSH guitar. A really cool feature that the sounds brings is the fact they can do a very wide variety of sounds. You can get beautiful twang from the the combinations, and when in single coil they sound chimey and full. You can do up to 13 sounds due to the clever 2 blade switching system in where one blade has 5 positions figuring the classical strat combinations. The other blade has 3 positions and it's for changing the way the "humbuckers" combines. In these 3 modes you can switch between 1- Heavy humbucking: In this mode the humbuckers are connected in series, which gives it a darker and fatter sound. 2- Clear Humbucking: In this mode the pick ups are connected in parallel, so they will sound full, but quite cleaner. 3- Single coil: In this mode the guitar acts like a classic strat, but don't expect a classic strat sound. It resembles it but it has a modern twang, maybe a boutique sound if that make sense. You can make it sound great no matter the tone and volume are. The center mic is always in single so when you make the cominations they will stay the same in the position 3 of the 5 blade switch. Reacts great to overdrive, distortion and any FX you would like to use. Lots of sustain and the tremolo bar stays in tune so well. The guitar is very comfortable, maybe the most comfortable that I've ever played. The finish is something really awesome, just putting the hand on the neck and you will know what I'm talking about. That is PRS. Another remarkable feature that I would like to say about this specific guitar is the fact it really has its own voice. You can recognize the sound of a Les Paul, a Telecaster...this one has a 513 sound. This is the 513, by 2016 or so this guitar was discontinued, but if you are serious in the music business and you see one used don't hesitate and go for it! it worths every penny, you will not regret it, this guitar is a keeper! PROS: Just about everything mentioned above! CONS: If you're low on budget it will not be an option.

The PRS CE line was their line of bolt on guitars. They had these guitars before the SE line of imported guitars. These guitars were made in America like the other PRS guitars but they were cheaper due to the bolt on construction. These guitars also came with all the features of the USA made PRS guitars but were still a bit cheaper. Nowdays a used CE model is the cheapest way to get into a USA made PRS. The guitar has a mahogany body with a maple top. It has a bolt on rock maple neck with a 22 fret rosewood fretboard. The neck on this example was the wide fat neck. Up top on the headstock you get PRS's great locking tuners, something you dont get on PRS SE models yet. The bridge is the PRS vintage style tremolo. The pickups are PRS Dragon pickups which are nice. The controls are the old PRS setup since this is an old PRS. You get a master volume and a master tone and a 5 way rotary pickup selector. UTILIZATION Even with the bolt on design this PRS retains its playability. PRS was clever in the design of this guitar. The bolts for the neck are pushed back way under the neck pickup so the heel of the neck is no bigger than it is on the set neck models. It feels just like a set neck model with a raw neck. The locking tuners are great and they hold tuning well. I love the PRS locking tuners because they are a very unique design. They didnt just copy some aftermarket locking tuners, they made their own. The tremolo is very stable and it didnt cause me any problems when playing normally. I do not normally use a tremolo so if the guitar can be as stable as a hardtail I think it is a good tremolo. One thing I hate about these older PRS guitars is the Rotary pickup selector. You never really know where you are. There are 5 positions and they all look the same essentially. SOUNDS While this guitar originally came with Dragon II pickups the owner found some original Dragon I pickups and swapped them in. These are both PRS pickups but they are totally different sound wise. The Dragon II's are more of a mid level output pickup with an overall bright sound. The old Dragon I pickups are very high output. They have a big dark sound which is great for heavy music. They werent really designed for heavy music but they work well. It is unfortunate that they are so expensive to find. Even with the big dark sound and the huge output the Dragon I pickups are very articulate. They are very sensitive to dynamics which is hard to find in a super high output pickup like these. They respond very well to the volume and tone controls. PRS is one of the few companies who I think could do very well selling their pickups aftermarket. OVERALL OPINION If you are looking to get a PRS you should see if you can find a CU model for cheap. Nowadays you can get these guitars for less than 1000 USD. That puts them close to the price of a new PRS SE and they are a lot more guitar than a PRS SE. I think finding a CU model used is the best way to get into a real American made PRS guitar. A guitar like this is a stepping stone into a PRS Custom model or something cool like that. Even as a bolt on the PRS bolt on design is so nice they feel just like the set neck guitars. If the choice was between a PRS SE model and a PRS CU model I think the CU model wins hands down.

The PRS Stripped 58 is one of their newest models in the line up. It is easy to tell that this guitar is supposed to be like a classic 58 Les Paul. Because it is supposed to be more like a Les Paul it has some parts that PRS doesnt use much on their normal guitars. It is a modified PRS singlecut in design. It has a mahogany body with a maple top. The top has a nice flame on it. PRS always uses good tops on their guitars. The set in neck is mahogany with a rosewood fretboard. The neck is the new Pattern regular profile which is just like the old Wide Fat neck. The neck scale is PRS's 24.5 inch scale they use on their Les Paul type models. The neck has 22 frets and the famous bird inlays. Up top you get PRS's fancy locking tuners and the bridge is one of their newer tune-o-matic style designs. This guitar has their 57/08 pickups in the neck and bridge and the controls are classic Gibson with a volume and tone with a 3 way toggle. UTILIZATION The main difference between this guitar and other singlecut PRS's is the 2 piece tune-o-matic style bridge. This bridge is more adjustable than the normal wraparound bridge they use on most guitars but PRS's normally dont need that much adjustment in the first place. This gives the guitar a more traditional Les Paul like feel which is what the guitar is going for. Since this is a LP style guitar PRS uses their 24.5 inch scale. This is even shorter than a real Les Paul. IT gives a bit looser feeling on the strings and the upper frets are a little closer to each other. With the pattern regular neck, what they use to call wide fat, you get a traditional Les Paul feel but the flatter radius helps the playability a lot. SOUNDS With the 57/08 pickups if you close your eyes you will think you are playing a Les Paul. Comparing this side by side with a Gibson the tones are nearly identical. The PRS has a slightly more pronouced tone. With a bit of drive you get that classic singing PAF tone. The pickups have that vowel like PAF quality that everyone loves. The clean tones have a nice bluesy spank to them. The pots work very well and you can ride the volume to clean up the tone and it cleans up nicely without becoming too thin. OVERALL OPINION Even though this is a fully priced USA made PRS it still costs about half as much as a Custom Shop Gibson and I think the quality and tone are better. You arent going to find a Gibson with a top like this. Gibson just barely started to put locking tuners on their guitars. This guitar has the classic sound with all the modern appointments that high end players expect. If you have the cash and are looking for a high end single cut this should be on your short list. With a Gibson a lot of what you are paying for is the name on the headstock. With a PRS you are paying for real quality.

PRS is a super high end guitar maker known around the world. They are known for their high end instruments built for professionals. Lately they have started a Line of foreign made guitars called the SE line. These guitars are much cheaper but have most of the tone and playability of the much more expensive USA made models. This is the foreign made version of the Santana signature guitar. This guitar is pretty unique in the PRS line since it has more of a Gibson Double Cut shape to it and a short scale. The body on this guitar is mahogany with a mahogany set neck. The profile is PRS's wide fat neck that a lot of people like. It has a 22 fret rosewood fretboard with the PRS birds on it. The neck scale is 24.5 inches. You get PRS tuners up top and a PRS Fender style tremolo bridge. The pickups are two PRS pickups voiced specifically for this model. The controls are basic with a master volume and master tone with a 3 way switch. UTILIZATION PRS guitars are some of the best playing guitars out there. This one has a strange feel to it due to it being a Santana signature. The Wide Fat neck profile is something you find on many PRS guitars. It is a very popular profile. It is not as fat as the name implies. The shorter upper horn gives you a bit different feel when playing high on the neck. The short scale may trip some people up. It is shorter than that of a Gibson. It gives you a really loose feel on the strings so you can bend them like crazy but it also gets very crowded on the upper frets. With just about every PRS SE model I hate where they put the pickup selector. It is out by itself on the body away from the knobs. I wish they would put it closer to the knobs. This isnt a big problem but it takes some getting use to. SOUNDS The sound from this guitar is super smooth. The clean tones from this guitar are super mellow because of the short scale. With less tension on the strings you get less snap on each note. The pickups help make the notes super fat when you are playing with some drive. The neck pickup has a really vowelly PAF sound to it. Almost like you have a subtle wah on at all time. This gives you really smooth but clear leads in the neck position. The bridge position has a crunchy classic rock voicing. Soloing in the bridge position gives you great bite and attack on the notes. The pickups are like hot rodded PAF's. They give you a great combination of clarity and definition with your overdriven tones. OVERALL OPINION This guitar is good for the hardcore Santana fan but personally I would not select this guitar over a normal PRS. The things that make this guitar unique for Santana do not add to the overall great playability of a normal PRS. The unusually short scale may put people off as well as the modified shape. If you are a PRS fan looking for a more affordable way to have the same guitar as your hero here it is.

The PRS guitars for a long time have been considered a mix between a Les Paul and Strat. Now the mix has gotten more stratty with this PRS 305. This guitar comes with 3 single coil pickups fitted to an alder body. The scale is 25.5 half an inch larger than the normal PRS scale. The guitar has a set neck construction to connect it to its maple neck. The controls are simple with a master tone and master volume control switched with a 5 way switcher. The neck shape a newer shape from PRS. It is the “Pattern Regular” shape they say is similar to the shape of 80s PRS guitars. It has more of a V shape feel. The pickups are not super quacky like normal single coils they are kind of like mini humbuckers. They are smooth but still have a single coil feel. You can instantly hear that this is not a strat. The 305s neck pickup has smooth warmth that is good for jazz, and combining the neck pickup with the middle pickup results in a clear, bold sound perfect for funk, while switching on the middle pickup alone adds more midrange edginess. The bridge pickup is nice and bright like you would expect from a single coil. When you match the bridge with the middle position it smooths out a bit of the top and gives you your best setting for most types of playing. Even with all the stratty bits on the guitar this guitar is way more than that. The sustain is better and the locking tuners and compensated pickups are modern enhancements. The built quality on these guitars are a step above most other companies. If you are a high end LP player and are looking to get a single coil guitar that has more modern features and a familiar feel the PRS 305 is a good choice.

The Paul Reed Smith Custom 22 Ten-Top is one of PRS's flagship guitars from the 1990's. It features a mahogany body with a carved figured maple top, twenty-two frets, a twenty five inch scale, and Mahogany neck with a Rosewood fretboard. Made in the USA, and solid everywhere. It features the HFS pickup in the neck/treble position, and the Vintage Bass pickup in the bridge/bass position. It has a 5-way blade switch and a tone and volume knob. UTILIZATION The guitar is an absolute dream to play. Every aspect of it is so perfect and so well thought out and planned for. It sounds and feels just incredible. Very sweet and quick action, awesome tones and really easy to get lost in. Really comfortable to stand or sit. Well dressed frets, comfortable bridge design, and nice shape. Really tempting to just sit and play it all day long. SOUNDS The Custom 22 absolutely sings no matter what you ask it to do. It can go from chunky bass tones to twangier treble tones and all kinds of places in between. It gets heavy too, and sounds great on hot lead tones. I even played extreme drone metal with it! Also sounds great at my local jazz club through an old Fender Twin Reverb. Really responsive to the effects and amps you use on it, and a very unique sound. OVERALL OPINION Overall I am blessed by having this guitar in my life. I got a GREAT deal on it, and I'll never give it up! It's basically my dream guitar, but then again so is everything PRS makes. If this were stolen I would track down that thief and do unspeakable things to him! This guitar is a must have everywhere and there are days where I barely even put it down.

The PRS SE guitars ("SE" stands for "Student Edition") are made in Korea and are intended to bring PRS guitars down to a price point where student or non-professional guitarist can afford a PRS guitar. Personally, I have never been a fan of PRS guitars but had an extraordinary opportunity to acquire this guitar for an outstanding deal at a time when I happened to be looking for another semi-hollow guitar. There are simple controls: a single volume, single tone, and a three-way pickup selector switch. The guitar has the PRS "Wide-Fat" neck profile that I simply can't get along with. The string spacing seems to be wider than any other guitar I've played and that has the effect of throwing off my playing and making it inconsistent. The guitar has a fixed-wrap around bridge, 22 frets, and seems to be otherwise stable while being incredibly light in weight. The guitar also comes with a nicker-than average gig bag with ample padding and plenty of storage space. UTILIZATION Here's the dilemma I have about this guitar. While I don't like the way the guitar plays, there's no denying that the guitar sounds wonderfully, both acoustically and amplified. Because it is so light in weight I could see playing the guitar all night and covering a wide style of music. The guitar has a single modern-shaped "F" hole that provides a unique tonal signature. I'd like to be able to echo my displeasure playing the guitar in listening to the guitar, but that's just not the case. The guitar sounds great and I don't know that I've heard a guitar at this price point sound this good. SOUNDS The pickups are zebra non-descriptive "PRS Designed" SE pickups. I'm not sure if they're modeled after production PRS pickups, but there's no denying that to my ear they sound wonderful. Aside from the fact that it, being a semi-hollow, obviously feeds back on higher gain settings, there's not a tone I could not coax out of this guitar, from crystal cleans to cheap dirt to 70's rock, 80's hard rock, and contemporary metal. While it's not well-suited for metal, I can see it easily being an ideal "all-in-one" guitar for gigging musicians. OVERALL OPINION I still can't say that I'd ever purchase another PRS guitar. I think PRS guitars are aesthetically pleasing, but I've simply never played one that I felt is a comfortable guitar to play, or one that I'd want to play for more than one or two songs tops. Whenever I have to play something where I need that "Semi-hollow" tone, I reach for my $199 Epiphone Dot and not my more expensive PRS. It sounds great, but it's just not the whole package.

This PRS SE 245 guitar is built in Korea. It has a mahogany body, a maple top, a mahogany neck, and a rosewood fretboard, with 22 frets and 25 inch scale. The hardware is all PRS proprietary, designed after the USA models and identical in appearance, yet different in metal composition. The pickups are PRS 245 Treble and Bass humbuckers, and there are 2 volume and 2 tone knobs and a 3 way, like a Les Paul. This is a very nice instrument. I've played the black one (which I'm reviewing here), and I've seen pictures of the sunburst ones - the sunburst ones have a much nicer looking top. The black finish is expertly applied on the one I'm familiar with, but I would have rated the guitar higher if it had the nicer flamed top like the sunburst. UTILIZATION The guitar plays very well! It is obviously inspired by the Les Paul, but with the Paul Reed Smith distinctive shaping. It is quite well made, and the fretwork is some of the best I've seen in this price range. The guitar balances well, and it is easy for my hands to reach all the frets. SOUNDS These pickups sound great! The treble pickup really cuts through, but it is not too hot. The neck pickup sounds very warm and open, and that nice "woman" tone (like Slash or early Cream) is really easy to achieve. This guitar will do about any genre, excelling at rock and blues-based styles. OVERALL OPINION This is a nice choice for someone on a budget, or a pro that needs a backup for their more expensive main guitar. For the pricing, this offers a lot of style, playability, and tone. Check it out - it's worth a look if you find one in a store near you.

Bernie Marsden was one of the early guitar players in Whitesnake. He has been active again recently and now has a PRS signature mdoel. This is the PRS SE Bernie Marsden model. At first I didnt realize this was a signature guitar. It doesnt have any crazy markings on it I just thought they fixed the control layout on the normal PRS SE Singlecut. That being said there arent many differences between this model and the normal PRS SE Singlecut but all the changes make the guitar better in my opinion. The guitar has a mahogany body with a maple top. The top has a flamed maple veneer on it which is quite nice. The guitar has a set mahogany neck with a modified wide fat profile. It is a bit fatter and based on one of Bernies personal guitars. Up top on the headstock there are Kluson style tuners that are non locking but hold tuning well. The bridge is the PRS Wraparound style bridge that works fine. The pickups are normal PRS humbuckers in a Zebra pattern. The controls are in a more traditional layout. The pickup selector is on the upper bout and the controls consist of two volume knobs and a master tone. UTILIZATION These import PRS guitars have great features and feel for the price. This guitar has a more traditional feel than some of the other PRS Singlecuts. The neck is nice and chunky like an old Les Paul. The vintage style tuners are vintage style but hold tuning a lot better than real vintage pickups. The bridge is the wraparound PRS design but they have refined the bridge over the years and it works great. The intonation on the bridge is perfect with the guitar. The guitar has a 24.5 inch scale which gives you a more Gibson style feel as well. To add to the more traditional feel the guitar is full thickness like you would get on a real Les Paul. SOUNDS The pickups in this guitar are nothing special but they get the job done. For their import models PRS uses some decent all around pickups. I dont know what specific model these pickups are but they have a very old school tone to them. They are medium output and have a good bite to them. The pickups clean up great and are very touch sensitive. They have great dynamics for no name pickups. The bridge pickup has a bit of bite to it. If you play with the volume knob you can get nice tones from dirty to clean. Playing in Whitesnake you know Bernie needs a good heavy sound. These can do a good classic rock tone but also have a good overall tone to them. The neck pickup has a nice PAF style bluesy tone to it. It works well with the bridge. OVERALL OPINION This is the good kind of signature guitar. Bernie actually plays these unlike a lot of PRS endorsers. A lot of them have PRS SE signature models but play the made in the USA model. Bernie says this guitar is absolutely fine and he gigs with it. It does not have any crazy markings on it that make it stand out either. Just the Bernie Marsden signature on the headstock. Les Pauls all have signatures on their headstock so a signature on the headstock is nothing to get mad about. These guitars are very well priced too at only about 600 dollars. These can compete very well with Standard Gibsons in fit and finish and playability.

Just like a real Dragon I think the PRS Dragon I pickups are pretty mythical beasts. It is pretty hard to find a guitar with them now that PRS has not used them for a while. These pickups are something special. They have four conductor wiring so you can split the coils. This is useful for all the older PRS guitars with rotary pickup selectors. The output on these pickups is a rediculous 20k. This pickup hits the amp hard so you have to compensate for that. If you compensate for it you are rewarded with amazing tone. You would think that this high output makes these pickups metal only pickups but you would be wrong. These pickups are super versatile even with the huge output. The pickups overall have a darker tone with a lot of low end. They are very thick sounding. The over the top output these pickups have make them super sensitive to dynamics which is something you do not see much in high output pickups. These pickups can pick up everything your hands are doing. The huge output also makes it very sensitive to volume adjustments. Lots of pickups the volume knob is just an on off knob. Lots of volume pots as well suck a lot of the tone from the pickup when they are on a very low volume. All of a sudden your guitar sounds super thin even though its just supposed to be quieter. With these pickups when you turn down the volume you still get all the tone you were getting before just at a lower volume. The pickups are so powerful when you turn down the volume the tone is still there. If you have a guitar with these pickups in it you should feel lucky because these pickups are great. If you have a chance to pick up some of these pickups you should as well because they are tone monsters and even if you do not like them you can sell them back and make some money.