PRS Singlecut

I have been playing guitar for 13 years. I play blues rock, alternative, and worship music. My major influences range from Buddy Guy, and SRV, to TOOL. I am beginning to get into jazz too.

I found two of these for sale at Mammoth Music here in Anchorage, Alaska. I chose the wrap around tobacco burst with the adjustable tailpiece, essential since I play with 11s and these come set up for 9s. I was actually in the market for a Les Paul again. I just couldn't find one for less than 3,800.00 that sounded good in all pickup positions and all the way up the neck. So I entered the PRS room and started messing around with a Santana 3 through a Mesa Boogie Lone Star Special This guitar was pretty sweet and I almost bought it untill I plugged in the Singlecut. WOW! Tone to die for everywhere. It listed for 3,480.00 I walked out with it for 2,449.00.

The incredible quality. This guitar oozes class. The woods are stunning and it looks like it was dipped in glass. Then there is this butter smooth tone that was more than what my ears were looking for. I would not recommend these pickups to a shredder buy the Tremonti if that's your thing. These pickups are full articulate and smooth but not at all muddy. I play through a Mesa Boogie Heartbreaker combo and practice through an Epiphone Valve Jr. Both of these amps have inherently dark personalities but this guitar still cuts through them.

The fact that it comes set up with 9s. Does anybody actually play with strings that light? Most Gibson's I've bought at least came with 10s. PRS's standards are so tight that the nut needs to be filed for heavier strings otherwise they pinch.

As I stated before this guitar is built on a whole different level from any standard production guitar available today only Custom Shops and the likes of Warrior and Tom Anderson are at this level and they cost a small fortune.

If you have the cashola you will not regret buying one of these. But before you spring for one on ebay play one yourself 'cause they have a unique voice and about the heftiest neck PRS makes.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I found this guitar on E-bay, at
the store: Musicland.
I paid $230.
I liked the specs.

The pickups are loud and aggressive.
The green flame finish is top notch.
The action is perfect.


-

Excellent overall construction.

If you didn't know you were playing a copy, you'd
swear that this was a genuine Paul.
I rate this as one of my best guitar purchases.
Before you put a mortgage on the house to buy a Gibson, pick up one of these!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The PRS SC245 is basically PRS' homage to the great Gibson Les Paul, but made to have the unique vibe of the PRS guitars. These were recently reintroduced a few years ago after Gibson (unsuccessfully) sued them to stop producing it. However, now it's back and better than ever. They're made at the PRS USA factory in Maryland as always.

This particular guitar features all mahogany construction with a figured maple top (it's also available in solid colours like gold) a rosewood fretboard with 22 frets, the option of moon or bird inlays, locking tuners, a PRS designed wraparound bridge/tailpiece, and a pair of PRS SC245 humbuckers. It also offers a 24.75 scale length to go that extra mile. It's loaded with the same control layout as an LP (two volume, two tone, and a 3 way selector switch). Very cool.





UTILIZATION

The design of this guitar is fairly ergonomic considering that it's a mahogany guitar built in the general Gibson tradition. The weight is reasonably light, and the guitar sits well on the body. The neck heel is sculpted differently than a Gibson Les Paul and this allows for greater upper fret access in my opinion. The singlecut shape isn't the greatest guitar for flying on, but the PRS doesn't make things difficult by any means - it's quite easy to play on.

Getting a good tone out of this guitar is pretty easy. PRS guitars have always been known for their wonderfully pure tones, and this one is no exception. They're well crafted and have a great unplugged sound, and the pickups are a great match for the guitar, providing a great range of tones from clean to high octane.

SOUNDS

I've tried this guitar through various different amplifiers and have been fairly impressed each time. The PRS pickups in this guitar are very nice and articulate, and it definitely sounds wonderful for a whole host of styles. The clean sounds have a nice low end to them that works very well for jazz/blues styles. The bridge pickup has enough bite to approximate country tones, and using the center position offers a nice spanky funk tone as well.

The distorted side of things are fun too. This guitar has a wonderful complex tone with a lot of killer harmonics lurking inside. Heavy rhythms are just awesome with this guitar, and it sings for fusiony lead work too. Though the pickups have a vintage tint to them, they work well for high gain applications and sound good in a variety of contexts.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the PRS SC245 is a great guitar that is an excellent alternative to the Gibson Les Paul. The craftsmanship is excellent, the feel is there, and the tones are wonderful. They were about $2,000 new when they were made (PRS recently discontinued them) but if you look to a dealer or eBay you can find a nice one for a reasonable price no doubt. Definitely give one a whirl!

Usa Made, 2002 Black Non-Tremolo, Singlecut body shape with carved maple top, mahogany back and neck, rosewood fretboard, 25” scale length with 10” fretboard radius, optional bird inlays, Wide Fat neck carve, PRS #7 Treble and Bass pickups, two volume and two tone controls with 3-way toggle on upper bout.

UTILIZATION

They call it the modern Les Paul, and with a reason.
From down to earth blues, to modern drop tuning Heavy Rock, this guitar can handle a lot of genres.

The frets are easy accesible, and the neck is really comfortable, you can see and feel that this guitar was done by precise and great craftmanship, it screams “quality” from the first time you play it!

The stock pickups are great, more on the vintage side, I’m planning to replace them with the Bareknuckle pickups, the Aftermath on the Bridge and the Cold Sweat on the Neck (I've already tried different BK PU in my Gibson SG, and I know that their quality is top notch).

I found that the Volume and Tone controls are really responsive and more controlled than my Gibson SG Standard.

SOUNDS

I play different genres, mainly on the heavy side of Alternative/Progressive Rock.
Bands that I like and I’m inspired by are Alter Bridge, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Massive Attack, Meshuggah and Alice in Chains.
I have buyed this guitar used, in great conditions and for a great price, from a store in U.S., because these guitar here in Europe are really expensive.

I've used it in a store, and at reaharsals with a Peavey 5150 with an Harley Benton 2x12 cab, and in a store with a Diezel Einstein (which I'm planning to buy soon) and a Mesa 2x12 cab.

In both the circumstances the sounds are great, even with the stock pickups I was able to have amazing results in a few minutes.

From Jazzy like clean tones, to high gain distortions, this guitar let me hear myself perfectly in the mix (I play in 2 different bands, both with another guitarist).

OVERALL OPINION

For the price I payed this guitar, I cannot be more happy. I've also tried modern Gibson Guitars, but at that price for me they were impossible to buy. I knew that the Paul Reed Smith guitars were at the same, if not higher, standards of the Gibson ones.

If you play modern genres, my opinion is to update the pickups to the Bareknuckle, and you will have a guitar that will last you a lifetime.