# Guitar Advice - PRS



## Shiny

My lad (16) has an Epiphone SG which we bought 2nd hand when he started to learn the guitar.

He's a bright lad and is looking to do well in his GCSEs, probably leaving school with 16 GSCEs mostly A & A*, but he's going to have to work hard for it over the next couple of months.

All he wants to do is play guitar and as an incentive, i said i'd give him £200 towards a new guitar if he buckles down with his revision and just does the best he can in his exams.

The initial idea was to go halves on a cheap Fender Strat, but he's since fallen in love with the white PRS SE Dave Navarro Signature...










He's happy to spend £400 of his savings (spending any of his savings is a miracle in itself...) but £600 is a lot of money so i wanted to ask the guitar guru's on DW for their opinion of PRS and in particular this model.

The reviews look good and obviously i need to get him into a guitar shop to have a play to see how he gets on with it, but i just want a bit of reassurance that it will be a good buy before giving making a commitment to him.

Also quick opportunity to show him off as i am proud of what he has achieved, the clip of Chinchilla was taken Wednesday evening and he only started learning it on Sunday....


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## BaggyFX

A good quality guitar will hold its value, go for it. If his heart is set on the prs, he will feel like he has ploughed his money into something that he didn't really want.


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## Shiny

Cheers Baggy.

He does like detuning/retuning his guitar. He's read a little about the disadvantages of having a tremolo bridge as opposed to a fixed bridge, but has also read that you can get a locking device for the PRS which will hold the note better after retuning.

Any thoughts on this?


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## Bulkhead

Shiny said:


> Cheers Baggy.
> 
> He does like detuning/retuning his guitar. He's read a little about the disadvantages of having a tremolo bridge as opposed to a fixed bridge, but has also read that you can get a locking device for the PRS which will hold the note better after retuning.
> 
> Any thoughts on this?


Does the locking kit include a new/modified bridge to include fine tuners? Locking nuts are great but reduce the ability to maintain tuning on the fly. I used to play around with various bridges on my two strats. To be honest, I never had a huge problem with them going out of tune, once the strings were bedded in and stretched. However, much like your son's desire for the PRS, what I really wanted was a Les Paul. It was a heart-felt decision - my favourite guitarists used them and I loved the tone and purity of construction. Never looked back and never regretted it. They are bloody heavy though - before they started hollowing them out. To my former neighbours in West Bridgford in Nottingham, I can only apologise for the noise!


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## Jem

Shiny said:


> Cheers Baggy.
> 
> He does like detuning/retuning his guitar. He's read a little about the disadvantages of having a tremolo bridge as opposed to a fixed bridge, but has also read that you can get a locking device for the PRS which will hold the note better after retuning.
> 
> Any thoughts on this?


That does look a very nice guitar, and if it's what he really want's then anything else will feel second best, PRS do make some damn fine guitars indeed though.

As for drop tuning with a tremolo, all he needs to do is have it set up with the trem flat to the body and not floating, then when he drops the tuning, the trem will stay in the same place, and stay in tune.

Locking tuners can be handy for keeping tuning stability with lots of changing of tuning:


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## Shiny

Cheers chaps.

It is the "Tremol-no" that he is looking at, which turns the tremolo into a hard tail -


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## Jem

Shiny said:


> Cheers chaps.
> 
> It is the "Tremol-no" that he is looking at, which turns the tremolo into a hard tail -


That looks more suitable for guitars with Floyd Rose tremolos and looks like a lot of messing about, for the PRS I'd just set the trem flush with the body, unless he particularly wants the trem floating.


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## Guitarjon

Hmmm not always been floating bridge locking tuners. They are great but if your going to be messing around with tuning then they can be a right pita.

Looks like a nice guitar, not owned a prs before but I always like white guitars with gold hard wear. I'd strongly advise he goes and tries that specific guitar somewhere (might have to travel) as what a guitar looks like can greatly affect your purchase. I've tried loads of guitars and always gone for the one which plays the best. 

I was all ready to spend going up a grand on a fender strat one day. Went in to the shop and it didn't feel any more special than I though or feel like it was worth it. I tried a different guitar at around half that price and it was fantastic.


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## Shiny

Yeah to fair when we bought his Ibanez bass at Christmas, he tried a load of guitars in Swindon and I then took him to Reading and finally Andertons in Guildford so he could try out different models and be sure he was happy. 

We will do the same again to make sure he his happy with the PRS when it is sat in his hands.


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## developer

My lad, 19, has had a PRS Santana for a few years now and he loves it:


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## Kimo

Prs make lovely guitars and £600 is nothing on a quality piece of kit 

I done the same and went halves on a custom jackson randy rhoads and though I don't play anymore. It's still a lovely bit of kit and I don't regret it


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## PWOOD

Looks nice played very average. I doubt when you go and play it and compare against similar priced Gibsons (USA made) he will as be as struck on it. The non endorsee PRS guitars are better value if it's a PRS he wants.


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## Shiny

Yeah, in true teenage fashion he is now considering the SE Blue. 

What Gibsons would you recommend he tries then in the same price bracket. Bear in mind he already has the Epiphone SG which I guess is a budget Gibson?


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## PWOOD

Hands on for a decent amount of time with all of them. He will know when he plays it what he wants. looks are important to his age I was the same however it clouds judge ment on playability. Mind his SG with a decent Seymour Duncan or similar pickup will sound really good for minimal outlay even including a decent setup by a luthier.

As far as recommending a guitar this The SGJ Gibsons are great value but the finish is satin to keep cost down as they all use nitrocellulose lacquer which helps the sound but for a gloss finish takes a lot more time to achieve. I have had reliable service from Guitarguitar and Kennymusic if it helps. Not ideal due to stock level but this Les Paul is a real bargain http://www.kennysmusic.co.uk/guitar...13-les-paul-60s-tribute-vintage-sunburst.html


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## Shiny

Right then.....thread update!

My lad has done some research and with all the faffing around he does tuning, retuning, detuning etc, he has decided on a stoptail.

He has his heart set on the PRS SE 245 with the single cut and slightly shorter neck. He had a good half hour play in a local shop and is now pretty much set on this.










Anyhooo, there is one minor drawback with this as the stoptail is not adjustable so he won't be able to adjust the intonation of each string, which he feels is something he will need.

Now the Fredrik Akesson signature model comes with a TonePros adjustable wraparound stoptail. He doesn't like the colour of the guitar so is thinking of buying the SE 245 and then replacing the bridge with an adjustable one to allow intonation.

This is where it gets a bit over my head and need some pointers and recommendations of a decent bridge that will fit the SE 245.

This is the bridge on the Fredrik Akesson http://www.guitarcenter.com/TonePro...-Locking-Stud-Set-102532090-i1374132.gc?nce=1 but reading various reviews on the web it has mixed opinions from good to very bad.

He is also looking at possibility of Pigtails Wrap-Around Intonatable Tailpiece and studs/bushings - http://www.pigtailmusic.com/Products.php#IntonatableTailPiece . He's read good reviews about this but i'm not even sure they will ship to the UK.

Will welcome any advice with open arms with regard the bridge, or recommendations for other suitable products.

Probably looking to buy from Guitarguitar or Andertons, I will need to speak to them but i guess another possibility is that they may be able to offer something suitable if they sell such a thing?

Cheers all :thumb:


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## shaunyshaun1234

I could be wrong but I would assume that adding an adjustable Bridge would require modifying the guitar with holes etc. 

With regards to buying guitars, I would keep an eye out for local used guitars as buying new is a lot of money down the pan the second it leaves the shop!!


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## Shiny

The bridge literally slides onto the two big screws and are pretty much interchangable as i understand it, provided it is not a dual bridge like he has on his Epihone SG.

We bought both his Epiphone SG and acoustic Aria second hand, we also have a second hand Laney amp. Both were in as good as new condition and were a massive saving on the new price. However, he really wants a new guitar which i can kind of understand. I guess the depreciation in value is only an issue if he plans to sell it, which unless he becomes a drug addict or something I can't really ever see him wanting to do.


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## Jem

If the bridge is the correct fit for the studs it should just slip out and slip the new one in. But I'd check the intonation on the standard bridge before buying a new bridge, and if he is frequently changing tunings then the intonation may need setting differently for each tuning to be perfect, so he'd most likely end up with the new bridge set on a happy medium which works pretty well for the different tunings he's using, which could be where the standard bridge is set.


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## Shiny

Yeah, that makes sense.

Talking it through with him, he is going to give the standard bridge a go and see how he gets on and how the intonation is. He can always look into a different bridge at a later date.

I'm going to take a day off next week and maybe go to Andertons so he can have a good feel and play and make sure he wants to commit to it.


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## tmitch45

I can recommend Andertons but if you want to try specific guitars I would ring ahead to check they have them in stock. They do have loads in stock but if its a very particular guitar you can bet they won't have it unless you check.

Has he though about some other different guitars like Chappers (A great guitarist and friend of the Andertons owner) own guitars see video below:-






Or they have just started selling schecter guitars which I think are great:-






Hope this helps. Its worth looking at their other videos in particular the ones where they do blindfold tests of cheaper models v real models. For example epiphone v Gibson v Gibson custom.


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## Shiny

Well i took the day off yesterday and took my lad to try out a load of guitars.

Was a bit disappointed with the Gibsons in the price range, they felt a bit cheap in comparison, although did sound nice.

He kept going back to the PRS SE 245, so he came home with one. He's going to see how he gets on with the bridge and maybe change it at a later date if he needs to. At least he now has two guitars so he can half the amount of tuning!

Really chuffed for him as the guy in the guitar shop said it was great to see someone sit and play something "technical" rather than the normal riffs he hears every day from customers. The guitar man actually said to my lad "thank you, you've been inspirational" which is pretty cool coming from a guitar salesman.



















Just want to say thanks for everyone's help in this thread. :thumb:


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## tmitch45

The guitar looks great! Its nice to see he has something he really wants as this means that he will want to play it! However from what you say he doesn't any motivation to need to play!


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## Shiny

Lol, yeah quite the opposite, he even has an 8pm curfew, not that he abides to it.


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