PRSs--Are they worth the High Prices?

[SteveB]

Is that an ancient PRS Forum TRC on there, Steve?

sure 'nuf. Good eye.

[Lew]

Twas a good day for Ernie yesterday. I picked up a David Grissom Model. If you don't own a PRS, this is one to check out. It's everything you might have heard and more. Clean, simple and tone-to-the-bone.

As a rule I have never liked prs, but that model is really calling me. The price aint too bad on it either.

[JohnnyB]

Yeah, I like PRS obviously, they are "my" guitar brand as much as Mesa is "my" amp brand.

Who do you think you are, Carlos Santana?

4) They have birds on the fretboards. To me that is new age. I am not a new age guy. I am not even religious. But I think that is a big reason I don't like them. Birds, makes me laugh. If an inlays should be anything else than a dot or a block it should be a Toni Iomi upside down cross, dragons, Homer Simpsons face, Poes ass.. anything but birds and dolphins. New age sucks!!!

I think you need a PRS with butterflies alternating with unicorns.

[SteveB]

Who do you think you are, Carlos Santana?

If you heard me play, you'd know there is no reason to ask that...

[JohnnyB]

Actually, saxes aren't too terribly bad. My son just got a vintage Selmer Mark VI Alto for $5500 from a reputable shop.

True, dat, but when I started on tenor in 1966, a Selmer Mark 6 was about $800, so it hasn't changed much.

The last I checked with some symphony players I know, a "so-what" 18th century Italian cello was in the vicinity of $30,000

That's right. Run that $800 through an inflation calculator and you'll see that 1966's $800 is 2007's $5206.82.

Now that Strad cellos cost in the several millions, the $500,000 Montagnas seem like a pretty good deal. Both Lynn Harrell and Yo Yo Ma played (and made their reputations on) Montangnas until they got the Stradivarii from Jacqueline Du Pre's estate. She willed the Davidoff to Yo Yo and Harrell bought the other one and named it after her. Both of those cellos had been given to Du Pre.

When I was a kid, a good Strad fiddle was around $100K and a cello $1M. Now they're about ten times that.

Can you imagine what it's costing today to get decent-sounding maple and spruce planks big enough to make 2-piece carved arch tops and backs for a cello, let alone a double bass?

[Brooks]

I'm not so much into "better Gibsons". Someday I'll probably grab a NewPort or a Duotone though.

i agree. my faves are the duotone & newport for that reason.

PRS make nice stuff, but i originally gravitated towards hamer because

ten years ago you couldn't touch their quality/price ratio, esp used.

their used prices now seem to have caught up w/ PRS.

[Craig S]

I skipped the PRSs last night and played my Les Paul and strat. The Les Paul sounded great. Just freakin' great. But it's just not as comfortable for me to play. Never has been. When I pulled out the strat, my bass player says ("I don't like lace sensors." I told him that I tried some "nicer" pickups in the guitar, but went back to the lace sensors. When I plugged it in and played it second set, his head whipped around when he heard it. He was shocked at how good it sounded. I ended up playing the strat two sets to the Les Paul's one. That probably gives you an idea of what I like.

Was that the "Sparkle Strat" you have? That's a really good sounding guitar...

[DavidE]

I skipped the PRSs last night and played my Les Paul and strat. The Les Paul sounded great. Just freakin' great. But it's just not as comfortable for me to play. Never has been. When I pulled out the strat, my bass player says ("I don't like lace sensors." I told him that I tried some "nicer" pickups in the guitar, but went back to the lace sensors. When I plugged it in and played it second set, his head whipped around when he heard it. He was shocked at how good it sounded. I ended up playing the strat two sets to the Les Paul's one. That probably gives you an idea of what I like.

Was that the "Sparkle Strat" you have? That's a really good sounding guitar...

THat's the one.

[Craig S]

THat's the one.

and weighs about 2 pounds..... That one isn't a real tough call as a play out guitar..

[SteveB]

PRS make nice stuff, but i originally gravitated towards hamer because

ten years ago you couldn't touch their quality/price ratio, esp used.

their used prices now seem to have caught up w/ PRS.

Used to be Hamer would beat PRS on pricing both used and new, now not so much if you are talking current models, although PRS still seems to hold value better. Hamer is way cheaper though when you start trying to customize your order, as PRS can't do that with the volume they produce and you have to go Private Stock then. Its definately true though that pretty much every Hamer is a "custom shop" piece with that level of attention to detail, which PRS, Gibson, and Fender can't do under normal circumstances. From that standpoint, Hamer probably should be charging more.