prs ja-15

**JSanta** · 04-19-2021, 07:27 AM

Originally Posted by paul s.

Is it me or are the pickups on this guitar a bit hot? Would SD 59s tone it down?

I don't have that problem, but I also don't use the guitar strictly for jazz. Rolling down the tone and volume a bit seem work for for me.

If you do decide to swap pickups, please let me know. I'd be interested to buy another set of 53/10s.

**Oscar67** · 07-19-2023, 03:03 AM

If and when I find one in the EU… Seems like this could be my desert island guitar.

**Oscar67** · 05-24-2025, 03:39 PM

After about eight years of waiting for one to show up locally that I could try before buying, one showed up online yesterday. I dropped everything, drove out, tried it and bought it. Mine’s from 2011 and looks just like the OP’s. After getting home I’ve been able to play it for two hours so it’s still very early days. When I went out to try it I took my 594HB-II with me which is pretty much the best guitar I’ve ever played in my life (thus far). The JA-15 had to surpass the 594 and it did: it’s warmer, fatter, louder, woodier and much more 3D. I wasn’t familiar with the 53/10 humbuckers in the JA-15. They’re awesome, very open sounding without pushy mids. They’re definitely more powerful than the 58/15LT’s in my 594. I never thought I’d say it, but in comparison the JA-15 makes the 594 sound somewhat timid and flat. In turn the 594 sounds a bit sweeter. Not more mellow but just sweet, as in ‘angelic’. The JA-15 is more brawny but in a really, really good way. It makes me sound like Kenny Burrell and that’s one happy place to be (unfortunately it doesn’t make me play like Kenny - oh well).

**Mick-7** · 05-25-2025, 03:26 AM

Originally Posted by Oscar67

After about eight years of waiting for one to show up locally that I could try before buying, one showed up online yesterday. I dropped everything, drove out, tried it and bought it. Mine’s from 2011 and looks just like the OP’s.

Quite a testimonial... apparently this the only other model they made that is similar to the JA-15, don't know how it compares but its sales price is generally lower -- PRS-Hollowbody-I Singlecut-Artist

https://prsguitars.com/privatestock/gallery

**cmajor9** · 05-25-2025, 03:58 AM

The one PRS model I’m interested in, if one should ever be available in Europe.

**Oscar67** · 05-25-2025, 05:18 AM

Originally Posted by cmajor9

The one PRS model I’m interested in, if one should ever be available in Europe.

Mine’s in Europe. As rare as hen’s teeth here so I had to move fast. It was worth the wait and the effort. The neck feels as close to Private Stock as I’ll ever get without buying Private Stock and it sounds glorious. The guitar needs some minor TLC to get back to peak performance but so does any guitar after 15 years without a set-up.

**Oscar67** · 05-25-2025, 05:33 AM

**jads57** · 05-25-2025, 09:41 PM

So in the past I have owned both a Hollow Body ll and a SC Hollow Std all mahogany. I preferred the tone of the HB ll overall.
While these were both excellent versatile work machines. I eventually moved them on for other guitars. Mainly I found the neck shapes too slim and narrow as well as the acoustic tone a bit flat as well.

So I was hoping the JA-15 would be the answer for me. Unfortunately after visiting the same guitar twice. I came away feeling the same way. I somehow find for me PRS while excellent instruments,they just don’t speak to me.
I really wanted this model to be the answer for my versatile hollow body that could cover many genres.
Im glad for those who love them,but my Benedetto Bambino and Carvin Holdsworth models speak more to me.

**Oscar67** · 05-26-2025, 02:17 AM

I’ve always admired and listened to artists who played golden-era Fender and Gibson guitars so those always attract me. Took me a long time to accept that those don’t really work for me. PRS guitars from a certain period absolutely work for me. It’s very personal. I’ve jammed with friends and when I play my gear they love the sound I get. Then they play my stuff and it sounds mediocre.

Anyway, what sets PRS apart is not just the quality but that they’re not chasing their past. Their new stuff has always been their best stuff. Personally I feel that for the first time PRS has now passed beyond its prime. Their guitars they made between 2010 and 2020 are in the Goldilocks zone. All my PRS’s were designed and/or made during that period, including the JA-15. Recently they got into the TCI thing and every single one I tried just sounded plain wrong to me.

(PS for the record, the best-sounding instrument I’ve ever had is an Eastman SB55v copy of a LP Special double-cut with a single P90… that thing is freakish in how it sounds… and last week it fell and the headstock broke off completely…)