Gibson Les Paul Studio/PRS

I have both a Custom 24 SE and a Epiphone Les Paul 1960 Tribute Plus. The PRS is made in Korea and is a great guitar. The Epiphone is made in China but has USA hardware including Gibson USA 1957 pick ups, Grover locking tuners, switch craft switch, mallory caps, etc.

Both of theses guitars are incredible I got the PRS new for 480.00 and the Epiphone new form sweetwater for 570.00.

Both of these guitars compare favorably to my American Special Strat.

Just about any guitar can be used for blues, everything from the flying V, to Teles, to Strats, Les Paul and PRS have been used by the greats.

Hey Gang - A ten day biker rally just finished up in my area which features a lot of live music. You can listen to 5-6+ bands a day without hardly moving. I always like to assess what gear these full-time working bands choose. Things have changed some over the last several years.

Gibson ( LP in particular ) are far away the most common seen. That's not a new trend but {I think} the gap is widening. And there not " shiny -new" Pauls either ... OLD Gibsons are, apparently, the guitar du jour. What I've seen change is the increased presence of PRS. All respect to Fender ( I'm sure they make/sell a lot more guitars than PRS?), they are not as well represented as they used to be. And what used to be a 80/20 mix - strats to teles- appears closer to 50/50 now. I wasn't counting, these are abstract observations made under the influence of copius amounts of alcohol. That clarified, Gibson / PRS / Fender (in that order) represented 80%+ of all the electric guitars I saw being used. Acoustic guitars are harder to identify from a distance- it's hard to read headstocks with blurred vision. :) .... ( I wonder if it's a different story at the CMF in Nashville? Would PRS outnumber Fender there? Probably not? )

Amps were a different story ... aside from the obvious heavy load of Marshall I saw every brand / set-up imaginable. I didn't hear one single set-up I'd call "weak".

Anyway... since your thread was specifically about Gibson vs. PRS I thot I'd chime-in that PRS has done a pretty effective job of clawing it's way toward the top amongst the " working crowd ". Personally, I like'm both.

Good Luck- neither would be a "mistake" .....

Sounds like you had a ton of fun listening to a lot of live music recently!!

That's really interesting to hear that the percentage of fenders, particularly strats seems to be waning.

PRS is definitely making some strides. Being a happy medium between the strat and the LP, I can see how they would appeal to the working guitarist. I hadn't listened to or read about Al DiMeola in a long time, and discovered that he's a PRS guy now. I think he even has a signature model. I always remembered him with that cool ebony LP!!

I can't wait until I can go out and get my hands on some PRS models and see what I think, especially compared to my strat and an lp studio.

A PRS employee told me 'they' consider Gibson their biggest competitor and I think he was speaking in terms of quality.

On the PRS web site (and else where on the web) there are some interesting videos about PRS's philosophy, design/manufacturing concepts, their quality control and, of course, new models. And then there are their amps...

As for Al DiMeola, he's got a signature-model Ovation out there too.

Originally Posted by: maggiorSounds like you had a ton of fun listening to a lot of live music recently!!

That's really interesting to hear that the percentage of fenders, particularly strats seems to be waning.

PRS is definitely making some strides. Being a happy medium between the strat and the LP, I can see how they would appeal to the working guitarist. I hadn't listened to or read about Al DiMeola in a long time, and discovered that he's a PRS guy now. I think he even has a signature model. I always remembered him with that cool ebony LP!!

I can't wait until I can go out and get my hands on some PRS models and see what I think, especially compared to my strat and an lp studio.

try out some usa prs u will feel the difference.but u will allso feel the difference in the wallet.great investments.

PRS for the longest time was considered to be more of a smaller manufacturer and more boutique in comparison to the already established brand of Gibson. Only in the recent decades have they began making guitars that are more accessibly priced for anyone who is not an avid collector or professional player. This accounts for the boom in the PRS market and their now very noticeable presence as a competitor to Gibson. They are seen as such because the two build guitars with very similar philosophies. The formula for a Les Paul is the same as the formula for a PRS Custom 21/22. Set neck, mahogany body, flamed or quilted maple top, ebony fretboard, dual humbuckers, two volume, two tone, three way switch, stop tail piece with tune o matic bridge. PRS gained its following because it actually did Gibson better than Gibson did Gibson in the late 80's. A similar story is the coming of age of Taylor acoustic guitars in regards to how they started as a boutique company and by way of high quality instruments have become a very large player in not only the high dollar instrumnets but also the 500-1000 dollar instruments.

As for Fender, there still isn't a guitar manufacturer that could do Fender better than Fender can do Fender. And there probably never will.

The Fed Ex man delivered my new Custom 24 S2 PRS yesterday in Black Cherry.

I'm so glad I ordered this from Sweetwater rathern than buying the manhandled one at Guitar Center. I'm blown away at the craftsmanship of this guitar...and this isn't even a high end one!! It's a beauty to look at and a pleasure to hold in your hands. The fretword is the best that I've ever seen. Action is rediculously low, intonation dead on, setup is just fantastic right out of the box. The sustain is as good as my les paul despite having a trem bridge. That shocked me.

Despite having a trem bridge, it holds tuning better than both my lp and my strat. Even after 1.5 hours of playing blues riffs and various songs, it was still in tune!

I have to admit that initially I was dissapointed at the tone. I got that same impression of lifeless tone I got from various youtube videos. However, I started messing with the pickup selector and using the coil tap and it grew on me. Then I plugged it into my Zoom G5 pedal and was amazed at what it would do with the various amp simulations. With a Vox amp simulation, I was blown away by the vintage Beatles tone I got! This guitar works much better with my Zoom G5 than either my strat or lp. Don't know why...

I think the problem is that I have only ever played strats and lps and I'm used to hearing those tones. The more I played it, the more I warmed up to it.

On my LP, I only use my bridge pickup - the neck is too muddy for my taste. On my strat, I use my neck pickup only - the others are too twangy or gritty for me. On this guitar, I find both pickups are appealing...and the coil tap adds even more variation. If I want a less refined gritty sound, the coil tap does the trick. This is no one-trick-pony!

24 frets will take some getting used to but hasn't caused a major problem. It's nice to play on the 7th and 9th frets and still feel like you are at the top of the neck! Even though the scale length is shorter than my strat, I felt like I had to reach farther...probably because of how the neck is attached to the body. It seems like an SG in that regard - you have clear access to every single fret up to the last one! Dropping the guitar lower and holding it at more of an angle pretty much took care of that, so no biggie. Probably looks cooler that way anyway :-).

So, I'm happy so far. I'm looking forward to playing this guitar over the next few weeks getting used to the new feel and exploring the tonal possibilities.

Grats maggior! I was pretty sure you'd report a good experience with ur new PRS ... they make great stuff and it's the PERFECT compliment to what u already have. U are now officially "ready for anything" ((well...almost anything...we'll have to make sure your next guitar, the Godin, is piezo equipped...THEN you'll be ready for "anything" :)

Curious: You playing a tube amp or solid state?

Put that G5 on "MS CRUNCH" and knock out a little NUGENT tonite ...THAT's how u break a guitar in! :)

Hey Fretsmith -

I'm playing through a Peavey Valveking 112 - it's 50 Watts. I found I love the sound of a tube amp!! That was my big equipment purchase a bit over a year ago.

You're right that this guitar is a great complement to what I have. I see this guitar becoming my goto guitar for playing out, along with my strat. Still love the strat too!

With the Zoom, I'm really not using the amp for it's sound...just amplification. Now that I have a guitar that seems to work with the Zoom pedal much better, I will go back to expierimenting with using the Zoom as strictly an effects pedal.

My interest is definitly piqued on the Godin. Such a great looking guitar and from listening to Hanspeter here play it, it sounds awesome. I'll run across one one day!!

Last night I was breaking it in with songs I've been playing the past couple of months with the band since I'm so familiar with then and how they sounded with my strat. It took me a while to tame the clean tone...but I got it where I wanted. The dirty tone for Hard to Handle was friggin awesome!! That led to a little "Runnin' with the Devil"!!

In between learning some new songs for next week's rehearsal, I'll be breaking this puppy in!

Cheers!
Rich

I am Green with envy.. You got it in my fav color, Black Cherry. The first PRS I ever touched , back in the Middle 80ties felt like the guitar on my dreams. Two others were in close contention. A 1930 Gibson, and a 64 Rickenbacher.
Congrats on your new baby..

Thanks! Black Cherry seems to be a popular color with PRS. I saw it in person and it really jumped out at me. I'm not a big fan of red anything (guitars, cars, etc.) but this is just really classy looking. It's the red/black combo I like. I think my faded cherry les paul looks awesome too with the black pickguard, black knobs, and black switch.

I love the guitar, but it's so different from what I've played before. It feels great in my hands, but I'm still adjusting to it and discovering its personality. It's got some mojo...it's just a different mojo than my other guitars. I can't wait to play it at rehearsal next week :-).

Those are some classics you've put your hands on!!! What guitars do you play?

MIM Fender Tele
Alvarez A/E
Freebie from Guitar Tricks
Can't condone anything more expensive.

Originally Posted by: compart1MIM Fender Tele
Alvarez A/E
Freebie from Guitar Tricks
Can't condone anything more expensive.

Cool!! Back when I was shopping for my strat 13 years ago or so, I remember that the MIM fender instruments had a pretty good reputation. I tried a tele once - it was a natural wood finish, blonde I guess you'd call it.

Congratulations on the new guitar, glad you found something you really like.

I just looked up your model on sweetwater, looks stage worthy, I hope you get many chances to use it on stage.

Coupled with your amp, that should be a sweet set up. Now you just need a generator and a big field about 10 miles outside of town. See what it all sounds like.

Thanks! It's definitely stage worthy - light, looks good, and stays in tune forever!! My strat is stage worthy too, so I have choices and a backup if necessary.

Having spent a month with my PRS, I thought I'd update this thread with my thoughts on it.

Unfortunately, my Custom 24 S2 turned out to have an issue with either wiring or the neck pickup. I noticed it had a loud buzz which would go away when I touched the strings when using the neck pickup. If I touched the pickup height adjustment screw, it go REALLY loud. So it is boxed up to head back to Sweetwater. They've made the return really easy - great guys there!!

To cut to the chase, I'm considering a Les Paul again. And here is why:

There was a lot to REALLY like about the PRS - playability, lightweight, great sustain, great tuning stability, gorgeous to look at, great craftsmanship (hum issue aside). Unfortunately, to my ears, the tone was nothing special, there was nothing inspriring about the tone like when I'd pick up my strat or LP. All was not lost though...for me, the PRS was going to be about it's versatility and its stageworthy-ness. Since I was in a band, this was going to be my gigging guitar - one guitar would give me the tone I needed on stage and would be super comfortable to play. Once I decided to bow out of the band and noticed this hum issue, I found that this guitar really didn't have a place in my collection any more.

As far as it being a gigging guitar, I noticed that one of my favorite musicians Steven Wilson uses PRS this way. He uses LPs and Strats in the studio, but PRS on stage.

If I find myself in a band situation again, I will definitely consider a PRS again - though I may opt for a 22 fret model. Otherwise, I'll be looking to upgrade my faded LP studio to something like a LP Standard or Studio Pro. As I've learned - if you want LP tones, buy an LP, otherwise you will be dissapointed.

I know it stinks buying a new axe to have ur pickups swapped.
Like the s2 , u can send the guitar to ptc and put any kind off pickups u like.
they have pu for metal , blues,jazz,ect.
If iam not mistaken s2 comes with hfs pickups,which u will find in allot off se models.