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Love the sound of the PRS guitars..anyone recommend one for under a1000..cheers..
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07-19-2022 05:07 AM
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That is some mighty fine playing. The PRS SE imports are a great bargain, I don't know how they sound compared to the US made. I'm currently using a US C24 Piezo.
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stated that hes using Dragon II pickups....didnt i read they discontinuted these...on new models? what an education we get then the wisdom here....thnks Woody
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I have a PRS SE hollowbody II piezo. Love it. Fat wide neck, comfortable 14" body, impeccable construction and finish. I am going to upgrade with OEM PRS 53/7 pickups. The stock import pickups are fine. But a bit too hot for my tastes.
Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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I have a hollowbody II SE. All stock except for flatwounds. I don't get the sound of the video (more a player issue) but overall I am happy with the warmth from it. It was just over $1000. There is a youtube video of someone playing the piezo version (on just the neck hb) that sold me.
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Yesterday, I played an American PRS Hollowbody Piezo II at Willie's American Guitars:
New Paul Reed Smith Hollowbody II Piezo - Willie's Guitars
It is a beautiful guitar. However, I didn't care for the feel of the neck nearly as much as my Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion III. It really seems to be a matter of the right guitar for the right person, and a matter of "try before you buy". I simply seem to have stumbled on the right guitar for me, and this is not a reflection on the PRS at all. When you find the right one, hang on to it.
The PRS sounded really, really good and is certainly versatile, with the ability to blend the piezo and standard pickups. If I had found the feel of the neck to my liking, I would have taken it home. I am glad to have had the opportunity to finally try a higher end PRS though.
There seems to be a number of variables that go into how the neck/fretboard feels. One difference, however slight between my Gibson and the PRS is the fretboard radius. Mine has a 12" radius, while the PRS has a 10". I am just grabbing at straws here since I don't know if we can really feel that difference, but something in the combination of variables just favors the Gibson for me. I didn't measure nut width or string spacing at nut or saddle between the two instruments, but both claim a 1 11/16" nut. The PRS does not have a bound fretboard, while the Gibson does. Maybe that contributes to width? Again, just guessing. All I know is that it is only by playing the instrument that our hands know if it is right for us. That is why I never buy a guitar from a catalog or remote website.
Tony
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The PRS SEs that I have seen and played are really nice guitars. I have used my '86 PRS CU24 on gigs and at jams and gotten nothing but complements on the tone. As for hot pickups, I follow Paul's advice to me to run the pups lower than most people do. Mine are flush, more or less, with the mounting rings. I do the same with my Gibsons, with good results. I find Gibson's advice to run them at 1/8" not optimum, tone-wise. Good luck in your quest!
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I've got a Custom 22 with 57/08 pickups. I get a nice jazz tone out of it. The amp I use is a Fender Deluxe reverb reissue.
However, I wonder if there are "famous" jazz players who use a PRS. I don't seem to know anyone.
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I'm infamous, which I suppose doesn't count, but only among those who know me, and are for the most part un-available for comment. Originally Posted by Jazz_175
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I've got an S2 custom 22 semi hollow that gets great jazz tones. I think the key is the pickups, as others have mentioned it seems the stock PRS pickups are pretty hot. The stock S2 pickups just weren't voiced right for jazz, at least for me. I swapped them for Curtis Novak standard humbucker sized wide range clones and it sounds great now. Gets close to some of my favorite 335 tones. I think the takeaway is if you like the feel of a PRS it will be able to get you the sound provided you're willing to swap pickups if needed.
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big inquiry from me..not enough jazz vids...the donna lee one ..radar on..10/4
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ICBW, but I believe all of the hollowbodies have the wide-fat neck. I had one for a while and didn't like it. I much prefer the wide-thin that I have now on the C24 Piezo. Originally Posted by tbeltrans
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No experience with prs but I believe they use a scale length of 25" so a little longer than Gibson and a little shorter than Fender. PRS has a history of not building left handed guitars so never considered buying one.
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lefty prs - Google Search Originally Posted by whiskey02
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As far as jazz tones go I interpret that to mean clean and warm.
For the breadth of tones available, my solo album UTONIA (see link in sig) has, with the exception of "The Blues Place" and a couple of flat-top interludes, nylon-string meditations, and some Resonator action; features PRS guitars exclusively.
An '89 CU24 that Paul picked out for me handled all the structure tracks, doubled left and right, while my '86 CU24, made with top wood I supplied, did all the melodic chores, again left and right. At no time in either the left or right channel is there more than one guitar being played.
"Little Mental Boogie" is clean, and features some spiffy chord work; "Things in the Sky" is pretty obscene, and "Waiting for the Aliens" falls squarely in between. "Last Call" is Dobro action. Other tunes run a gamut, and have their own appeal.
Amps were a '72 Marshall Plexi and a '64 Fender Vobroverb, both of which, surprisingly, supply the clean tones of "The Blues Place" where the guitar is my '64 ES-345TDSTV, which was recorded in stereo. I forget which side is which, it's just rich.
It's all for free, so check it out, if you've got the time and inclination.
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I'm a fan of the 22 fret PRS guitars. They move the neck pickup just a little further away from the bridge and get a more mellow sound to my ears. Better for jazz tones IMHO.
Their 24 fret guitar neck pickups are too bright for me ... usually.
I have a McCarty and a CU 22 that are really nice. Both are 22 fret guitars.
Most PRS guitars have 25-inch scale fingerboards, but there are exceptions.
The McCarty 594 series which are 24.594 inches. I played one of these a while back and it's one of the few solid bodies I still think about getting.
There are also the SE 245 models which have 24.5-inch scale necks. Santana signatures also have the 24.5" scale. There were also US made SC 245s and SC 58s with 24.5 scales, but they are not in production anymore.
Then there's the PRS 509 which has a 25.5 inch scale.
Maybe some other exceptions.
SE 245s can be had new for less than $1K. The SEs are not made in the main PRS factory in the US but are usually excellent guitars. You might consider a pickup upgrade to get the most out of them.Last edited by Bluedawg; 07-20-2022 at 07:27 PM.
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While not a straight ahead jazzer, guitarist, Paul Jackson, Jr. endorses PRS and has a wonder full hollowbody signature model, plus a couple other PRS' in his arsenal.
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wealth of info here...ty
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An 86 PRS? Originally Posted by citizenk74
The PRS SEs that I have seen and played are really nice guitars. I have used my '86 PRS CU24 on gigs and at jams and gotten nothing but complements on the tone. As for hot pickups, I follow Paul's advice to me to run the pups lower than most people do. Mine are flush, more or less, with the mounting rings. I do the same with my Gibsons, with good results. I find Gibson's advice to run them at 1/8" not optimum, tone-wise. Good luck in your quest!
Very nice.
Wasn't that his first year of production? You must have been one of his earliest customers.
I lived in Maryland when he started up. I remember going to Chuck Levins and seeing them there at about that time. I should have grabbed one of his guitars in the 80s. Oh well,
At least I was able to tour his factory multiple times before leaving Maryland.
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I cannot find on the prs website the signature model you mentioned. Originally Posted by Gitfiddler
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PRS JA-15
Great guitar no longer in production. On sale occasionally on this site.
Originally Posted by Jazz_175
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I've just watched this video. Great tone of the PRS JA-15
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I think the majority of what you hear in that video is the pickups and amp. Any guitar played that softly and with that much amplification will sound just like that (imo).
Thought it'd be worth having a counter opinion.
Good luck in your search.
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I had a JA-15 for a couple of years and I found it to be incredibly versatile. It can cover really convincing jazz tones, as well as handle distortion with ease. It's a really nice guitar, and they don't come up for sale often.
If I wasn't completely devoted to the Gypsy stuff, it would have been a guitar that I held onto forever. It was quite special.
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