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I don't think the problem is wood nearly as much as the finish. Purple with a rootbeer edge is probably going to look ugly on any piece of wood. Put a simple amber or even clear finish on that top and it wood look just fine.
Last edited by Jim Soloway; 04-23-2020 at 11:21 AM.
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04-23-2020 10:42 AM
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then again I could see Joe Exotic rocking the hell out of this thing.
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It's beautiful wood, it's awful color choices, and a poor type of burst (needs to be waaaaay more subdued and gradual and shift between colors that are more similar to work) for wood that busy.
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PRS have such beautiful curves, i don't like too much grain, and just a small amount of flame is good to me
UGLY
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the shop in jakarta indonesia appears to specialize in colorful/distinctive prs guitars
here's an ash burl top...
cheers
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Ah, but the question remains, how does it look under stage lights? Hmmm?
As a public service, anyone experiencing aesthetic remorse with their PRS guitars can ship them to me and I promise not only never to reveal their source; I will also promise to play them only in the dimly-lit confines of my study. I'll pay shipping.
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That PRS over-the-top paint job is an insult to the beautifully figured wood.
If they had sprayed it something a bit more subdued it would likely have much more appeal...like this PRS SC245.
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Like a number of other forum members, I've been gassing for a PRS SE Hollowbody for a few months now, so a couple of weeks ago, suffering from lock-down boredom, I ordered one from an online store with a 30 day return policy. I went for the Standard model, with the mahogany ply body, expecting it to sound somewhere between my archtop and my thin-line semi. Its a gorgeous guitar for the money; I was highly impressed. However, I found it sounded identical to my Yamaha SA2200, which I'm not for parting with, so the PRS went back.
Having experienced the excellent playability of the Hollowbody, I was still gasing for a PRS though. I realised that a guitar of which I don't own an example is a solidbody with humbuckers. So, after some further deliberations I place an order for this:
- the SE version of "Paul's guitar".
The photo doesn't do it justice in terms of depth of colour. The body and neck are gorgeous, but I was less than impressed with the setup. The nut cut is good, but looks a little messy, however the bridge was set far too low, resulting in an unplayably low action - fret buzz all over the neck. I decided to correct that once I'd swapped the stock 9s for 10s. Having done that and set it up to factory specs, it played beautifully except now there was a 50 cycle hum that I hadn't previously noticed. Some say hum is inevitable, but it was far louder than my single coil guitars, which even with standard pickups are virtually silent. The PRS was certainly not silent. Over the next 24 hours I did a number of tests. The fact that the hum disappeared when I touched the bridge or strings suggested an earthing problem. I checked out the control cavity - everything seemed OK and the interior surface was adequately shielded Continuity seemed as it should be; the bridge and strings were well grounded to the cable. (The cable was also OK). I also noted that touching the height adjustment screws made the hum worse. As the pickups are coverless, the pickup bodies are unlikely to be grounded in any way. Last night I resigned myself to having to do a more thorough inspection of the electrics, or after consulting PRS, sending it back to the retailer for a replacement.
This morning I checked it out again - but it was silent - no hum. Since then, I have shaken it, knocked it with my hand, turned the amp up to full gain, but the hum has not returned. OK this sounds like a classic dry joint problem and more than likely the hum will return at a most inconvenient time. Currently though, returning it to the retailer is not really an option as I have no proof of the problem.
Has anyone else had a hum problem like this, that seemed to cure itself whilst the guitar was just sat in a rack ?
Now that I am not distracted by the hum I can confirm that I love the tone of this guitar. It is fuller in the mid-range than my Tele or Strat but also has an upper range sparkle absent from most humbuckers, without seeming shrill or ice-picky. This makes it very articulate and free from muddy tendencies, whether clean or overdriven, It isn't a jazz guitar in the conventional sense, but it is a good complement to my other instruments and will find its role in more rock oriented playing. My Yamaha is more bluesy when played clean, but the PRS seems more versatile - it also has coli splits (or "taps" as PRS describe them), so it can mimic single coils, if necessary, in a more convincing way than the Yamaha does. So despite the potential for future hum problems, I am really pleased with this purchase.
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My #1, an '86 CU24 Ten Top, is easily the most tonally versatile of all my guitars, rivaled only by my ES-345 w/VariTone. Not to mention being a visual knockout. With 5 separate pickup combinations and the "sweet switch" ten distinctly different voices are available without touching the knobs on my amp. The build quality is simply perfect. The SEs I have seen definitely exhibit QC of the highest order. When you get this hum thing settled, you are going to be very happy with your purchase. Looking forward to seeing more pics!
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Glad your 60 cycle hum issue disappeared. I bet it had something to do with the coil-tap connections. But since the hum mysteriously disappeared, hopefully it is moot.
What pickups are in your SE? My SE Hollowbody II has 58/15 p'ups that I really like.
Beautiful guitar you got there!
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The pickups are the "new" PRS TCI (tuned capacitance/inductance) pickups (SE versions). My impression is that they are a little lighter in the mids, with more top end than the 85/15s. Very clear sounding. They are a good choice for the solid bodies, but I think the 85/15s work well in the Hollowbody.
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I had another theory overnight about the disappearing mains hum. I had noticed that during the setup, the guitar collected a lot of static - on the body - and possibly on the pickup formers. My theory was this: that pools of static could act as antennae and be intermediaries in transferring hum to the pickups and internal circuits. Once the static had leaked away overnight, the hum disappeared. Great theory - I was all set to test it this morning by rubbing the guitar with my cat's fur (except I don't own a cat)0 or an equivalent. Before doing so, picked up the guitar switched on the amp - and loud hum again. End of static theory. However, I then know it must be an external factor and sure enough, located the dimmer switch in the hallway outside my office. Switch it off and voila - no hum. Boring solution, but effective. Nevertheless, it does mean this guitar is not as robust electrically up as my 4 other electrics. This may bug me for some time - we shall see.
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I sold my '86 C24 several years ago and made a KILLING$$$$$. Bought a gorgeous new one with the easier-to-use blade and a tone knob for around a 1/4 the price. Just sayin'.
Originally Posted by citizenk74
My #1, an '86 CU24 Ten Top, is easily the most tonally versatile of all my guitars, rivaled only by my ES-345 w/VariTone. Not to mention being a visual knockout. With 5 separate pickup combinations and the "sweet switch" ten distinctly different voices are available without touching the knobs on my amp. The build quality is simply perfect. The SEs I have seen definitely exhibit QC of the highest order. When you get this hum thing settled, you are going to be very happy with your purchase. Looking forward to seeing more pics!
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Hi folks, maybe you can give me some advice. For months I've been tinkering with the idea if a PRS hollowbody could be THE guitar for me.
The situation: I'm not a hardcore jazz guitarist, I like the flavour but wouldn't be able or willing to play a solo-jazz performance. I'm into funk and soul jazz.
- Right now I'm using to very different types of guitars for the two bands I'm in. In our soul-jazz-funk organ trio I play an Ibanez GB or ES-330 with .012s flatwounds while in our funk outfit I use a telecaster with .010s roundwound.
- When I'm playing the tele I miss the thicker tone and weight I can get from the hollow guitars when taking a solo (with a clean tone).
- When I use the archtop / thinline I sometimes miss the thin, funky rhythm tones I can get from the tele. I also tried a les Paul – pretty much the same.
- Neither of these guitars excel in overdrive tones. I don't use overdrive or distortion much, but for some songs they are required. It's like a different instrument – like the differnce between a piano and a moog synthesizer.
BTW.: I tried semihollows – first an Ibanez JSM 10 and then a Gibson 335 – but these are really not my cup of tea. I found them rather flat-sounding. So I sold the 335 and got the 330 which I like much better (being an avid Grant Green fan helped).
So my thinking is (probably also inspired by corona-related no gigs boredom) that maybe I should look for a guitar that is right in the middle. I'm not interested in the plywood SE versions. I have checked these in a local store and found the uninspiring – close to a semi hollow. I don't care about the piezo option either.
The PRS hollowbody seems to be right in the middle:
- The scale length is between my Ibanez/Gibson and Fender – so should be able to get a little more brilliant tone tone than the archtop, but sweeter than the fender
- Humbuckers should provide more heft than the tele single coils, but I heard these PRS pickups are also clean and provide good treble.
- Solid woods may provide a more complex or unique tone than plywood?
Unfortunately none of these show up in stores within reasonable distance to just try and see if my theories hold true. Right now there are two guitars within reach I could mailorder – in Europe we can send mailorder items back for like 14 days no questions asked – und thus try out:
- A new hollowbody 2 with all the bells and whistles like birds and the newest hardware and pickups. Quiet pricy but if it would be "the one" I would just open the wallet. I'm still making up my mind if I like all the design elements like the birds and the curly maple top and back. It's a rather dark color (black gold wrap) so these are not too pushy.
- A used 1998 hollowbody 1 with the mahagony back. It has the moon inlays and a not too obtrusive maple top. I also wonder if I prefer the simpler bridge and closed tuners to the newer versions. It has "Archtop Pickups" – any idea if these are any good? It is round about half the price of the fancier and new one.
Give me your thoughts please.
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I am not sure you are going to find much difference, sound-wise, between the higher end PRS and the SEs, or Gibsons, or other semi hollow guitars. Feel-wise is a very different story. Pickups can make a difference. The Archtop pickups, to me, were weak and dark sounding. I liked their 58-08 or 59-09 pickups best, but they still didn’t get me what I needed. I ended up going the route of a couple of effects that help dial in what you may feel you are missing from one or the other. One is the Giggity from Voodoo Labs, and the other is the Distillery from Tone Concepts. Try checking out some videos of what they do, tone-shaping wise. May be right for you, may not. As far as guitars, have you looked at Collings? Originally Posted by guavajelly
Last edited by uburoibob; 11-09-2020 at 10:05 AM.
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For a long time I was looking for a used PRS Custom 24 Piezo with the wider neck option, mainly for music theater work where I need to quickly switch to an acoustic sound. Kinda hard to find the piezo option with the wider neck option. Prices for new ones are crazy. So I found this new one that had been hanging around the dealer for a couple of years. It is supposed to be the "Orange Tiger" color, but the sprayer either suffered from over enthusiasm that day or had a hangover that made him/her move very slowly. Put on way too much pigment and ended up with a not correct but beautiful rosewood/chocolate brown color. Not at all orange. Add to that it's not a "10-top," and thus it was not selling. I was going through a personally tough dark time when I saw it, so the deep dark brown just spoke to me. So I made a ridiculous low-ball offer, and to my surprise they took it without even countering. I found matching solid rosewood parts to replace all the plastics and tuning buttons, even the switch tip. A unique one-of-a-kind brown rosewood PRS finish, I am thrilled with this guitar, especially the wide/thin neck, I call him "Brownie." Brownie has accompanied me on my last three out of town trips to keep up with scales/practice, because he's relatively small and thin and easy to carry in a small gig bag.
Last edited by Woody Sound; 06-17-2021 at 01:00 PM.
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He's lovely, congrats
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
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The guitar is gorgeous! Congratulations, and play it in good health!
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Added of couple more pics. Note the birds on the replacement rosewood knobs. I use the bigger wing as a pointer. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
For a long time I was looking for a used PRS Custom 24 Piezo with the wider neck option, mainly for music theater work where I need to quickly switch to an acoustic sound. Kinda hard to find the piezo option with the wider neck option. Prices for new ones are crazy. So I found this new one that had been hanging around the dealer for a couple of years. It is supposed to be the "Orange Tiger" color, but the sprayer either suffered from over enthusiasm that day or had a hangover that made him/her move very slowly. Put on way too much pigment and ended up with a not correct but beautiful rosewood/chocolate brown color. Not at all orange. Add to that it's not a "10-top," and thus it was not selling. I was going through a personally tough dark time when I saw it, so the deep dark brown just spoke to me. So I made a ridiculous low-ball offer, and to my surprise they took it without even countering. I found matching solid rosewood parts to replace all the plastics and tuning buttons, even the switch tip. A unique one-of-a-kind brown rosewood PRS finish, I am thrilled with this guitar, especially the wide/thin neck, I call him "Brownie." Brownie has accompanied me on my last three out of town trips to keep up with scales/practice, because he's relatively small and thin and easy to carry in a small gig bag.
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Here's a pretty unique PRS, like a Les Paul with a piezo "acoustic" pickup in the bridge.
Paul Reed Smith Singlecut P245 w/Piezo Black Cherry | San | Reverb
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How does the piezo sound?
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I have a PRS hollowbody II and a Parker Fly deluxe. Both have piezo. Both have a bit of quack... kind of a ringing pronounced attack to each note. Not particularly acoustic sounding. Not warm, but it does have some ability to fake an acoustic type of sound. I find myself never using the piezo stuff on them.
I had a Taylor T5 (if I remember the name right). I miss that guitar. I wish I still had it. It did the electric acoustic thing a lot better, then any other piezo type of guitar. I can not remember if it had piezo in it our not, but I liked it.
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Hi,
First of all sorry if this isn't about a jazzbox, but I guess you can play everything on anything
Here's, the situation : I mostly play jazz but have the opportunity to play in some rock bands, which would be nice and give me a decent amount of gigs to do !
I don't have a rock-suited guitar. The PRS Custom 24 shape looks cool to me, but living in Corsica i can't try any since there's no retailer.
I've found an used luthier's guitar in the same shape, sadly can't try it neither. The luthier is well known and respected here in France. Craftmanship looks really nice with what seems to be a 1 piece body. I don't know if blindfold, i should choose the luthier's guitar or a real PRS... Any advice ?
Some pictures !
Open to all suggestions or reviews about this particular guitar shape !
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I have a PRS CU24 and have owned two others. Absolutely my #1. BTW the guitar in your picture has a two-piece top. The back may or may not be one piece, my PRSs have all been made of one piece of mahogany. The instrument pictured is undoubtably a well built instrument; for my personal taste (this is not a judgement, merely my opinion) the tailpiece is not something I would find useful for playing jazz. But the guitar is beautiful and I am sure sounds and plays wonderful, especially if it follows closely the PRS example it is modeled on. Good luck with your search!
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Hi,
Yes the maple top is in 2 pieces, i was talking about the Mahogany body. The luthier that made it was known to have and use a big stock of a well dried +100 years old Mahogany !
In France an used PRS Custom 24 is at least 1700-1800€ for the cheapest model and i could have this luthier guitar for 1200€, would you call it a great deal ?
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