PRS Guitars - Hard to sell?

Whistler · September 2023

CloudNine said:

I think it could be because they are sterile, toneless lumps of tasteless bling ...

Some PRS guitars may be described as bling but the rest of your comments could not be further from the truth. It would seem you not played a PRS or paid attention to what PRS himself has worked so hard at all his schooldays and working life: resonance, sustain, tone, feel, comfort, balance and more? Paul has been so focussed that, as has been said above, whereas we hark back to the golden days of Fender and Gibson, PRS guitars have constantly improved through Paul's lifetime.

CloudNine · September 2023

Whistler said:

CloudNine said:

I think it could be because they are sterile, toneless lumps of tasteless bling ...

Some PRS guitars may be described as bling but the rest of your comments could not be further from the truth. It would seem you not played a PRS or paid attention to what PRS himself has worked so hard at all his schooldays and working life: resonance, sustain, tone, feel, comfort, balance and more? Paul has been so focussed that, as has been said above, whereas we hark back to the golden days of Fender and Gibson, PRS guitars have constantly improved through Paul's lifetime.

Rob1742 · September 2023

Is it the right time to mention that my doctor plays a fender

rlw · September 2023

There was an interview with PRS in Guitarist magazine, coinciding with the review of the MEV, and he used the term industry standard a few times.

Is it possible that PRS builds guitars to the highest standards in order to be able to perform within the music industry at the highest levels, hence you see them in the hands of many studio professionals and serious performers.

They are built to cover all the bases, not to sound like a vintage Gibson or Fender or whatever, and are aimed at seriously professional users.

Trickle down means that they are also bought by players who aspire to and can afford them but this is not the reason for building them the way they do.

The S2 and SE ranges aim to let trickle down trickle even further but these guitars are still made with the aim of sounding and behaving like professional instruments, rather than mimicking other brands.

I've had a few PRS, from a McCarty down to the recent SE Hollowbody II and SE Pauls Guitar and, without exception, they have all been very well made guitars but have done little for me in sound terms.

But this, I have realized, is because my expectations were wrong, so where I thought I was getting a great guitar for this or that, what I was actually getting was an extremely well built blank canvas as a starting point to achieve those goals.

I think they are harder to sell because you can't just plug one in and sound like Page or Clapton or SRV or whoever and a lot of people find this disappointing.

As has been said, if Hendix had used a PRS, or Freddie or BB King, the world would be different. Imagine John Lee Hooker playing a Custom 24. That would have turned heads.

RaymondLin · September 2023

OilCityPickups said:

The original question was 'are PRS guitars hard to sell', and I would have said they are not quite as easy to sell as similarly priced Gibsons or Fenders.

Several reasons for this, none relating to oral health professionals you'll be glad to note. Also I'm not talking about Far Eastern PRS guitars here.

Firstly PRS were late to the party. Gibson gave a company name and history going back well over a hundred years, and Fender pushing eighty ... PRS simply haven't had the time or the mileage to seep into a guitar players consciousness like the 'big two'.
Secondly they mix features between Gibson and Fender, and while that's a big plus for many players, to others it produces an instrument that's neither 'fish nor fowl'.
Lastly the models that seem to get all the coverage in the guitar media (and forums) are ones that, if one is generous, one would call extravagant and extrovert, with tops that would make certain big cats blanch with jealousy. Or if one prefers more sedate six stringers and was less diplomatic, one might liken to an explosion in a tarts handbag.

One of my favourite guitars ever that I've tried was a PRS SE1 ... a stripped back rock machine that I should have bought while they were going fairly cheaply a few years ago.

It really needs a Tone pot IMO, without it it’s a bit bright to my taste.

But it’s cheap, I got mine for £250.

dazzajl · September 2023

I have a PRS S2 that’s in the sale section here. It’s not got a lot of interest and think the price is fair. I know there is not as much interest and cash go around as there are guitars for sale but I would agree that the S2 range might be especially tough to shift at the mo.

It’s American (though it doesn’t say so anywhere) but it’s not as ‘American’ as the next rung up and from what I can tell, no better at all than the SE line. Because the SE guitars are incredibly good. Seems it’s not worth the extra cash over an SE to some folks and not good enough for others.

As for guitar owner stereotype jokes, I guess they amuse or offend depending on how well we fit those boxes.

RaymondLin · September 2023

The S2 is the embodiment of PRS’s philosophy to a tee, at least in conception.

hitting that middle ground between 2 sides (Gibson/Fender) vs (Expensive/cheap), trying the Jack of all trades approach and so you eliminate a section of people who either want cheap or expensive.

OilCityPickups · September 2023

rlw said:

There was an interview with PRS in Guitarist magazine, coinciding with the review of the MEV, and he used the term industry standard a few times.

Is it possible that PRS builds guitars to the highest standards in order to be able to perform within the music industry at the highest levels, hence you see them in the hands of many studio professionals and serious performers.

They are built to cover all the bases, not to sound like a vintage Gibson or Fender or whatever, and are aimed at seriously professional users.

Trickle down means that they are also bought by players who aspire to and can afford them but this is not the reason for building them the way they do.

The S2 and SE ranges aim to let trickle down trickle even further but these guitars are still made with the aim of sounding and behaving like professional instruments, rather than mimicking other brands.

I've had a few PRS, from a McCarty down to the recent SE Hollowbody II and SE Pauls Guitar and, without exception, they have all been very well made guitars but have done little for me in sound terms.

But this, I have realized, is because my expectations were wrong, so where I thought I was getting a great guitar for this or that, what I was actually getting was an extremely well built blank canvas as a starting point to achieve those goals.

I think they are harder to sell because you can't just plug one in and sound like Page or Clapton or SRV or whoever and a lot of people find this disappointing.

As has been said, if Hendix had used a PRS, or Freddie or BB King, the world would be different.   Imagine John Lee Hooker playing a Custom 24. That would have turned heads.

This of course doesn't factor in the Silver Sky ... which isn't really a blank canvas, at most generous, its a tribute to a Fender Strat :-)
As indeed the PRS SE1 is a Les Paul Junior by any other name.

rlw · September 2023

OilCityPickups said:

rlw said:

There was an interview with PRS in Guitarist magazine, coinciding with the review of the MEV, and he used the term industry standard a few times.

Is it possible that PRS builds guitars to the highest standards in order to be able to perform within the music industry at the highest levels, hence you see them in the hands of many studio professionals and serious performers.

They are built to cover all the bases, not to sound like a vintage Gibson or Fender or whatever, and are aimed at seriously professional users.

Trickle down means that they are also bought by players who aspire to and can afford them but this is not the reason for building them the way they do.

The S2 and SE ranges aim to let trickle down trickle even further but these guitars are still made with the aim of sounding and behaving like professional instruments, rather than mimicking other brands.

I've had a few PRS, from a McCarty down to the recent SE Hollowbody II and SE Pauls Guitar and, without exception, they have all been very well made guitars but have done little for me in sound terms.

But this, I have realized, is because my expectations were wrong, so where I thought I was getting a great guitar for this or that, what I was actually getting was an extremely well built blank canvas as a starting point to achieve those goals.

I think they are harder to sell because you can't just plug one in and sound like Page or Clapton or SRV or whoever and a lot of people find this disappointing.

As has been said, if Hendix had used a PRS, or Freddie or BB King, the world would be different.   Imagine John Lee Hooker playing a Custom 24. That would have turned heads.

This of course doesn't factor in the Silver Sky ... which isn't really a blank canvas, at most generous, its a tribute to a Fender Strat :-)
As indeed the PRS SE1 is a Les Paul Junior by any other name.

True. Although Paul would see both guitars as fixing the issues on the originals.

Boromedic · September 2023

rlw said:

OilCityPickups said:

rlw said:

There was an interview with PRS in Guitarist magazine, coinciding with the review of the MEV, and he used the term industry standard a few times.

Is it possible that PRS builds guitars to the highest standards in order to be able to perform within the music industry at the highest levels, hence you see them in the hands of many studio professionals and serious performers.

They are built to cover all the bases, not to sound like a vintage Gibson or Fender or whatever, and are aimed at seriously professional users.

Trickle down means that they are also bought by players who aspire to and can afford them but this is not the reason for building them the way they do.

The S2 and SE ranges aim to let trickle down trickle even further but these guitars are still made with the aim of sounding and behaving like professional instruments, rather than mimicking other brands.

I've had a few PRS, from a McCarty down to the recent SE Hollowbody II and SE Pauls Guitar and, without exception, they have all been very well made guitars but have done little for me in sound terms.

But this, I have realized, is because my expectations were wrong, so where I thought I was getting a great guitar for this or that, what I was actually getting was an extremely well built blank canvas as a starting point to achieve those goals.

I think they are harder to sell because you can't just plug one in and sound like Page or Clapton or SRV or whoever and a lot of people find this disappointing.

As has been said, if Hendix had used a PRS, or Freddie or BB King, the world would be different.   Imagine John Lee Hooker playing a Custom 24. That would have turned heads.

This of course doesn't factor in the Silver Sky ... which isn't really a blank canvas, at most generous, its a tribute to a Fender Strat :-)
As indeed the PRS SE1 is a Les Paul Junior by any other name.

True. Although Paul would see both guitars as fixing the issues on the originals.

Out of curiosity what issues are there with the original Fender Strat? If you like a single coil guitar and you get a good one, there's nothing particularly wrong with them, they sound great, the trem is a triumph of engineering considering. There's certainly nothing that I'd consider could be improved upon?

The SS (oh dear, doesn't sound good shortened does it

) is just a Strat made made to the fave specs of a certain John Mayer, and then altered in a PRS way (cut aways, reverse PRS headstock, and turds). Apparently produced to a more consistent standard. It's reinventing the wheel, once again, which Paul is pretty good at selling it has to be said, but he's no revolutionary despite his own claims. He did make alterations to the Les Paul style offerings more in keeping with the older specs, and also upper fret access, but again others had done similar before he did.

I'll take my hat off to him with what he's managed to build with his company, and he hasn't sold out to the corporate world just yet. It's great you can actually deal with the guy who's name is on the headstock, yet the company is massive and that's impressive. For that normally you'd have to buy a custom from a smaller maker. He's still passionate about it too, although he makes a few spurious claims, it's certainly no more than anyone else does.

chris78 · September 2023

I think the answer to “what’s wrong with the strat” goes back to why PRS got popular in the first place.
Paul’s trem is vastly superior as it allows a guitar to actually stay in tune when using it (no a strat doesn’t).
Paul’s guitars have useable pickups - at best a strat’s bridge pickup is bare able with the tone down a bit and let’s be honest, virtually nobody uses the middle. The neck heel makes access more difficult that it should be at the top end. Of course, when Paul was making his early designs, virtually all fenders came with 7.25 radius at a time when people were playing faster, bending more.

That said, the silver sky didn’t do it for me. If I want a strat, I want it to sound overly trebly, I accept the design flaws, same as on a tele when I accept it won’t intonate at all and that’s the deal.

OilCityPickups · September 2023

RaymondLin said:

OilCityPickups said:

The original question was 'are PRS guitars hard to sell', and I would have said they are not quite as easy to sell as similarly priced Gibsons or Fenders.

Several reasons for this, none relating to oral health professionals you'll be glad to note. Also I'm not talking about Far Eastern PRS guitars here.

Firstly PRS were late to the party. Gibson gave a company name and history going back well over a hundred years, and Fender pushing eighty ... PRS simply haven't had the time or the mileage to seep into a guitar players consciousness like the 'big two'.
Secondly they mix features between Gibson and Fender, and while that's a big plus for many players, to others it produces an instrument that's neither 'fish nor fowl'.
Lastly the models that seem to get all the coverage in the guitar media (and forums) are ones that, if one is generous, one would call extravagant and extrovert, with tops that would make certain big cats blanch with jealousy. Or if one prefers more sedate six stringers and was less diplomatic, one might liken to an explosion in a tarts handbag.

One of my favourite guitars ever that I've tried was a PRS SE1 ... a stripped back rock machine that I should have bought while they were going fairly cheaply a few years ago.

It really needs a Tone pot IMO, without it it’s a bit bright to my taste.

But it’s cheap, I got mine for £250.

drool ....

The pickup would get replaced ... the one I tried was a bit shrill on the top end ... but hey, I know a pickup winder :-)

Boromedic · September 2023

chris78 said:

I think the answer to “what’s wrong with the strat” goes back to why PRS got popular in the first place.
Paul’s trem is vastly superior as it allows a guitar to actually stay in tune when using it (no a strat doesn’t).
Paul’s guitars have useable pickups - at best a strat’s bridge pickup is bare able with the tone down a bit and let’s be honest, virtually nobody uses the middle. The neck heel makes access more difficult that it should be at the top end. Of course, when Paul was making his early designs, virtually all fenders came with 7.25 radius at a time when people were playing faster, bending more.

That said, the silver sky didn’t do it for me. If I want a strat, I want it to sound overly trebly, I accept the design flaws, same as on a tele when I accept it won’t intonate at all and that’s the deal.

Lol, what a load of old tosh, only PRS made a Strat playable. There's a whole host of pros made a career on them with non of the PRS bollox. The SS is the same flipping radius for one, if the 7.25 is so terrible why copy it? Why copy the six screw trem if it's shite? The bridge pickup is perfectly usable on numerous Strats I've played, and the SS ones are just a copy of the dipper pickups, there's no fancy 'lectrics and certainly nothing that differs in that regard to a JM Fender Sig. The beauty of the middle pickup is the in-between tones, and Clapton made a career out of the middle pickup sound.

PRS pickups have notoriously been a weak point until recent years as well, lots of folk switch em out.

Your point about why PRS have become popular has naff all to do with Strats themselves, more like players wanted a humbucker guitar with an easier to use trem than a Floyd. The majority of PRS output is focused on a Gibson style guitar with Fender nods in such things as the DGT etc.. A Strat is 3 single coils, not the usual PRS guitar really, hence why the EG3 was much maligned.

Was the 54 Strat perfect out of the gate? No, it needed some work, which Fender did to it, the heel access is absolutely fine unless you're playing some shred or something. PRS haven't made anything any different, they just copied the features that worked already.

Your fanboy PRS eyes can't see the (10 top figured) wood for the trees.

RaymondLin · September 2023

OilCityPickups said:

RaymondLin said:

OilCityPickups said:

The original question was 'are PRS guitars hard to sell', and I would have said they are not quite as easy to sell as similarly priced Gibsons or Fenders.

Several reasons for this, none relating to oral health professionals you'll be glad to note. Also I'm not talking about Far Eastern PRS guitars here.

Firstly PRS were late to the party. Gibson gave a company name and history going back well over a hundred years, and Fender pushing eighty ... PRS simply haven't had the time or the mileage to seep into a guitar players consciousness like the 'big two'.
Secondly they mix features between Gibson and Fender, and while that's a big plus for many players, to others it produces an instrument that's neither 'fish nor fowl'.
Lastly the models that seem to get all the coverage in the guitar media (and forums) are ones that, if one is generous, one would call extravagant and extrovert, with tops that would make certain big cats blanch with jealousy. Or if one prefers more sedate six stringers and was less diplomatic, one might liken to an explosion in a tarts handbag.

One of my favourite guitars ever that I've tried was a PRS SE1 ... a stripped back rock machine that I should have bought while they were going fairly cheaply a few years ago.

It really needs a Tone pot IMO, without it it’s a bit bright to my taste.

But it’s cheap, I got mine for £250.

drool ....

The pickup would get replaced ... the one I tried was a bit shrill on the top end ... but hey, I know a pickup winder :-)

Haha, I did replace my pickups too, a Monty’s 54 (kinda Gibson clone). They are local ish to me so they did all the work including the loom and wiring.

which, as you have mentioned earlier, it’s now literally a Les Paul Junior copy.

crunchman · September 2023

dazzajl said:

I have a PRS S2 that’s in the sale section here. It’s not got a lot of interest and think the price is fair. I know there is not as much interest and cash go around as there are guitars for sale but I would agree that the S2 range might be especially tough to shift at the mo.

It’s American (though it doesn’t say so anywhere) but it’s not as ‘American’ as the next rung up and from what I can tell, no better at all than the SE line. Because the SE guitars are incredibly good. Seems it’s not worth the extra cash over an SE to some folks and not good enough for others.

As for guitar owner stereotype jokes, I guess they amuse or offend depending on how well we fit those boxes.

You have reduced your asking price to £1150, but you can get them new for £1299:

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/230705407655025-10655038--prs-limited-edition-s2-mccarty-594-custom-colour-black

I know that one is in the "sale" but you are going to struggle to get 89% of the new price.

The colour on yours is a bit niche as well. That's going to put some people off.

I know you probably have a bit of haggle room in your asking price.

steveh · September 2023

Boromedic said:

Out of curiosity what issues are there with the original Fender Strat?

Have you ever tried to use the trem for anything more than a dainty flutter?!

OilCityPickups · September 2023

steveh said:

Boromedic said:

Out of curiosity what issues are there with the original Fender Strat?

Have you ever tried to use the trem for anything more than a dainty flutter?!

We know some men who did:

Image: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/licensed-image?q=tbn:ANd9GcR6GSyNCsTh4mdxcSiSksXDU3A6q1swUiTZHO1Jk7ogt3cE8-pebsGCLfeAcV2dtjEVTkqhHVn4jaXURaI

and last but not least

Image: https://i.discogs.com/3eN2yU2HNzY37Yel88HgwDep1a3voUCjmTZ0Jtn4leY/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:413/w:538/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9BLTgyNjA1/LTE0MzU0MTEzMzEt/OTE5OS5qcGVn.jpeg

thomasross20 · September 2023

There are just too many guitars now. Feels like absolute market saturation and I don't know where all the new £££ ones are going to go.

TimmyO · September 2023

Jay100 said:

ICBM said:

Buy second hand and don’t pay dealer prices, then they won’t be hard to sell if you want to.

Agreed. It was more this particular dealers reluctance to accept any in as trades or purchases which made me question how easy they are to sell on.

the only thing for sure is that they're hard for HIM to sell on - maybe he's not taking the sound advice quoted.

steveh · September 2023

OilCityPickups said:

steveh said:

Boromedic said:

Out of curiosity what issues are there with the original Fender Strat?

Have you ever tried to use the trem for anything more than a dainty flutter?!

We know some men who did:

and last but not least

1. Hendrix was never in tune.
2. Beck moved to the two post design for his "Where were you" antics onwards.
3. Hank DEFINES "dainty flutter".

OK...I'll give you SRV!

soma1975 · September 2023

rlw said:

I think they are harder to sell because you can't just plug one in and sound like Page or Clapton or SRV or whoever and a lot of people find this disappointing.

Plugged mine in and sounded like Chad Kroeger.

Boromedic · September 2023

soma1975 said:

rlw said:

I think they are harder to sell because you can't just plug one in and sound like Page or Clapton or SRV or whoever and a lot of people find this disappointing.

Plugged mine in and sounded like Chad Kroeger.

Did you wanna be a Rockstar?

soma1975 · September 2023

Not like me to say sorry....

CountryDave · September 2023

TimmyO said:

Jay100 said:

ICBM said:

Buy second hand and don’t pay dealer prices, then they won’t be hard to sell if you want to.

Agreed. It was more this particular dealers reluctance to accept any in as trades or purchases which made me question how easy they are to sell on.

the only thing for sure is that they're hard for HIM to sell on - maybe he's not taking the sound advice quoted.

Maybe this is the bedroom dealers first step in negotiating a better price from the seller?

’ooh, they are difficult to sell on, I can only give you £800. And I’m cuttin me own throat.’
Seen later that day for sale at £2200.

dazzajl · September 2023

crunchman said:

You have reduced your asking price to £1150, but you can get them new for £1299:

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/230705407655025-10655038--prs-limited-edition-s2-mccarty-594-custom-colour-black

I know ………

You can’t get one like this at all, apart from mine at the moment. So anyone wanting something this far off the normal PRS beaten path doesn’t have options. Making ‘less than new’ feel fair to me.

I know I’d pay this much if I wanted it but obviously the market will ultimately decide and I’ll be far from disappointed if it doesn’t sell.

chris78 · September 2023

Boromedic said:

chris78 said:

I think the answer to “what’s wrong with the strat” goes back to why PRS got popular in the first place.
Paul’s trem is vastly superior as it allows a guitar to actually stay in tune when using it (no a strat doesn’t).
Paul’s guitars have useable pickups - at best a strat’s bridge pickup is bare able with the tone down a bit and let’s be honest, virtually nobody uses the middle. The neck heel makes access more difficult that it should be at the top end. Of course, when Paul was making his early designs, virtually all fenders came with 7.25 radius at a time when people were playing faster, bending more.

That said, the silver sky didn’t do it for me. If I want a strat, I want it to sound overly trebly, I accept the design flaws, same as on a tele when I accept it won’t intonate at all and that’s the deal.

Lol, what a load of old tosh, only PRS made a Strat playable. There's a whole host of pros made a career on them with non of the PRS bollox. The SS is the same flipping radius for one, if the 7.25 is so terrible why copy it? Why copy the six screw trem if it's shite? The bridge pickup is perfectly usable on numerous Strats I've played, and the SS ones are just a copy of the dipper pickups, there's no fancy 'lectrics and certainly nothing that differs in that regard to a JM Fender Sig. The beauty of the middle pickup is the in-between tones, and Clapton made a career out of the middle pickup sound.

PRS pickups have notoriously been a weak point until recent years as well, lots of folk switch em out.

Your point about why PRS have become popular has naff all to do with Strats themselves, more like players wanted a humbucker guitar with an easier to use trem than a Floyd. The majority of PRS output is focused on a Gibson style guitar with Fender nods in such things as the DGT etc.. A Strat is 3 single coils, not the usual PRS guitar really, hence why the EG3 was much maligned.

Was the 54 Strat perfect out of the gate? No, it needed some work, which Fender did to it, the heel access is absolutely fine unless you're playing some shred or something. PRS haven't made anything any different, they just copied the features that worked already.

Your fanboy PRS eyes can't see the (10 top figured) wood for the trees.

Go back and read the post.
I said “what made prs popular in the first place”, ie the customs. Nothing to do with the SS which I’ve said doesn’t do it for me.

You’re so obsessed with getting on your high horse and dislike of prs it’s impaired your ability to read

DuploLicks · September 2023

thomasross20 said:

There are just too many guitars now. Feels like absolute market saturation and I don't know where all the new £££ ones are going to go.

There’s another thread on this but trying to stay within the topic…
Covid saw a rush of players including me & on top of my initial Strat I duly hoovered up another 3 guitars, none PRS. I’ve a real hankering for a DGT but really hard to justify the space & money. The flood of cheap & good guitars means everyone can have a nice fleet. The SE range realises that and will sell for a while but ultimately it needs a rush of empty rooms & full wallets to drive prices back up

Boromedic · September 2023

I think we've derailed the OPs thread enough tbh and my reading comprehension is fine thanks.

I've owned a PRS so I don't dislike them, it also didn't hold as much value as some, but more than others.

Th4fonz · September 2023

A used prs has always been a buyers market guitar due to the massive savings on the rrp. I think people are are pretty crazy to be buying them brand new when generally they are that consistent between one and another. The only brand I’d blind buy tbh.

As for shifting them on my core silver sky sold in 2 days but I don’t overcharge and hang on for every penny like some people do.

Sassafras · September 2023

If I buy a guitar, it's coz it's a good one and I'll want to keep it and use it and not that I'll worry about its resale value.
Otherwise I'd never buy anything.

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PRS Guitars - Hard to sell?

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