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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on May 18, 2022 6:43:57 GMT -5
PRS Fiore. One of my goals working at PRS was to own a guitar I helped produce, and this model has been on my radar since it was released about two years ago. It has a swamp ash body, SSH passive pickups, a two-point vibrato, 25.5" scale, locking tuners, a fat nut like a Gibson, and a medium-chunky neck reminiscent of mid-50s Fenders. The weight of this one is 7.3 lbs and it plays great and stays in tune under heavy bar use. On the surface it looks like a Silver Sky with no pickguard and a humbucker in the bridge, but it is a very different beast. The body is shaped and carved differently, and the headstock is not reversed like on the Mayer guitar. The neck carve is different too. The transparent red nitro finish on the ash is beautifully done. The switching is a quite a bit off the beaten path; instead of having a humbucker coil split option, it goes from series to parallel. This helps preserve noise-canceling operation of the pickup. There's also the option to have the bridge and neck pickups on for a Tele-like tone, as well as all three. All this is controlled via a 5-way switch, a single volume, and two pull-on tone knobs. The neck and middle position sounds very Strat quacky, as does the bridge and middle position when the humbucker is in parallel mode. The SC pickups are beefier sounding than the ones in the Silver Sky. I QC'd this one on Feb 25 of this year; you can see my name in the side of the pickup cavity. There are only three people that sand these (including me) and it's extremely cool to have a guitar that my friends helped create.  |
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Post by Leftee on May 18, 2022 6:57:58 GMT -5
Very nice!
How did get your hands on it? Did you buy it directly from PRS?
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on May 18, 2022 7:06:09 GMT -5
Very nice! How did get your hands on it? Did you buy it directly from PRS? No, there's no way to buy directly from the factory. This one came from Sweetwater. |
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DrKev
Wholenote
It's just a guitar, it's not rocket science.
Posts: 418
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Post by DrKev on May 18, 2022 7:12:14 GMT -5
That's beautiful, Geno! Enjoy!
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Post by Leftee on May 18, 2022 7:39:46 GMT -5
So you chased it down by S/N?
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Post by Auf Kiltre on May 18, 2022 7:41:27 GMT -5
Very cool. I haven't seen a PRS with birds on maple before.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on May 18, 2022 7:54:22 GMT -5
So you chased it down by S/N? No, by production date. |
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Post by Lesterstrat on May 18, 2022 8:16:55 GMT -5
That’s my kind of guitar. Minimalist look, nothing over the top.
Btw, what do you do at PRS?
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woody
Wholenote
Posts: 245
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Post by woody on May 18, 2022 8:40:12 GMT -5
Congratulations on achieving a goal and acquiring a fine instrument. Inspirational.
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Post by LeftyMeister on May 18, 2022 9:31:57 GMT -5
Perdy!
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Post by Leftee on May 18, 2022 9:50:19 GMT -5
There’s just something about a nice HSS guitar with a wiggle stick.
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Post by LeftyMeister on May 18, 2022 10:04:28 GMT -5
There’s just something about a nice HSS guitar with a wiggle stick. Agreed! Aesthetically, I'd prefer an uncovered bucker, but we'll likely never see it in lefty anyway. lol! |
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Post by rickyguitar on May 18, 2022 11:45:04 GMT -5
Very nice.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on May 18, 2022 13:21:14 GMT -5
That’s my kind of guitar. Minimalist look, nothing over the top. Btw, what do you do at PRS? I'm a trainer and QCer. |
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on May 18, 2022 13:23:59 GMT -5
There’s just something about a nice HSS guitar with a wiggle stick. Agreed! Aesthetically, I'd prefer an uncovered bucker, but we'll likely never see it in lefty anyway. lol! It is odd that they used black covers on the singles and a nickel cover on the humbucker. I agree with you; it would've looked better with black squobbins (square bobbins) PRS uses on many of their models. |
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Post by Taildragger on May 18, 2022 14:14:41 GMT -5
•"I QC'd this one on Feb 25 of this year; you can see my name in the side of the pickup cavity."
Come to papa!
____________
•"...it plays great and stays in tune under heavy bar use."
One thing I've never been crazy about on PRS is the headstock shape. Then, I realized that the flared outline thereof is partly functional. When I was reading up on factors which affect tuning stability, tuning peg/nut slot alignment was mentioned. If you'll notice, one feature of the PRS headstock is that the tuning pegs align better with the nut slots than do those on many other makes of guitar. This means that the string angle "breaks" less (if at all) at the nut slots, thereby lessening the likelihood of friction and "sticking" there. Looks like a smart idea, especially if a guitar is equipped with a whammy bar.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on May 19, 2022 0:00:50 GMT -5
When I was reading up on factors which affect tuning stability, tuning peg/nut slot alignment was mentioned. If you'll notice, one feature of the PRS headstock is that the tuning pegs align better with the nut slots than do those on many other makes of guitar. This means that the string angle "breaks" less (if at all) at the nut slots, thereby lessening the likelihood of friction and "sticking" there. That is the reason why the tuners are laid out that way--for straighter string pull. Some Music Man and Peavey models have the same sort of geometry. The PRS headstock angle (compared to the plane of the fretboard) is also a little flatter than Gibson's 17-degree angle, to lessen downforce on the nut and allow the strings to move through the nut slots a little easier with less friction. |
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Post by Mike the marksman on May 19, 2022 8:08:32 GMT -5
I like it. I think uncovered humbuckers are ugly so I like that they used a covered one.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on May 19, 2022 10:57:20 GMT -5
The one thing PRS could improve is the headstock shape; there's barely enough wood on the end to allow us to clip a headstock tuner anywhere on it. Just about every PRS owner I know has commented on that.
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Post by Leftee on May 19, 2022 11:18:51 GMT -5
The one thing PRS could improve is the headstock shape; there's barely enough wood on the end to allow us to clip a headstock tuner anywhere on it. Just about every PRS owner I know has commented on that. The Warmoth Vortex has this issue a bit - although it looks like the PRS issue might be slightly more pronounced. |
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Post by Auf Kiltre on May 19, 2022 11:21:31 GMT -5
I like it. I think uncovered humbuckers are ugly so I like that they used a covered one. Its a funny thing. I got my first Les Paul back around 1977 and was convinced by a fellow guitarist to take the covers off. That guitar is now long gone but ever since I don't care for the look of uncovered humbuckers. |
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Post by Larry Madsen on May 19, 2022 19:17:34 GMT -5
Looks great! I can only imagine how nice it feels and plays  |
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Post by Lesterstrat on May 19, 2022 20:10:15 GMT -5
The one thing PRS could improve is the headstock shape; there's barely enough wood on the end to allow us to clip a headstock tuner anywhere on it. Just about every PRS owner I know has commented on that. You could always get yourself a John 5 signature Tele. Plenty of plank there! And, when you’re not playing it, you paddle your canoe with it! |
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on May 20, 2022 12:32:41 GMT -5
The one thing PRS could improve is the headstock shape; there's barely enough wood on the end to allow us to clip a headstock tuner anywhere on it. Just about every PRS owner I know has commented on that. You could always get yourself a John 5 signature Tele. Plenty of plank there! And, when you’re not playing it, you paddle your canoe with it! You'd think they'd take a clue from Božo ("BO-zho") Podunavac. You know--bling an' all...
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Post by Taildragger on May 20, 2022 13:10:45 GMT -5
The one thing PRS could improve is the headstock shape; there's barely enough wood on the end to allow us to clip a headstock tuner anywhere on it. Just about every PRS owner I know has commented on that. Agreed: keep the flare to accommodate optimal tuning peg/nut slot alignment and terminate the tip outline in a more pleasing fashion. I realize that that isn't likely to happen, given that the current outline has become kind of a "signature" after all these years, but, "in an ideal world". I was looking pretty hard at the PRS SE "Kingfisher" bass last month, but that headstock just kept hurtin' my eyes' feelings. I've only owned one PRS, an early, single-cut SE dual "Soapbar". Boy, what a value for the money: impeccably made with a chunky, "fat-wide" neck profile. The pots, jack and switch were *meh*, but that's pretty much always the case with guitars at that price point (I think I paid < $400 for it, new). The fretwork and finish were perfect. Much as I like that guitar otherwise, I always avert my eyes when tuning it... |
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Post by hushnel on May 20, 2022 16:47:35 GMT -5
So is it anywhere near as good as the ones you made in your garage “o)
I do get the “It’s cool’ perspective”
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on May 21, 2022 17:41:25 GMT -5
So is it anywhere near as good as the ones you made in your garage “o) I do get the “It’s cool’ perspective” The quality control is WAY better on this one because they market 'em. My personal standards for the stuff I make for me consists of, "does it work?" If it does--it passes the less-than-stringent garage QC! |
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Post by hushnel on May 22, 2022 10:58:19 GMT -5
I’m surprised, the stuff I’ve seen coming off your bench is up there. From what I’ve seen you were doing a good job of quality assurance, and, they did hire ya “o)
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Post by Taildragger on May 22, 2022 13:40:57 GMT -5
Next time you're at work and they ask you (as I'm sure they periodically do), "hey, Peegoo...what does Taildragger want us to change?" show them this: Bueno No Bueno
Even just making the "pointy" one symmetrical (by shortening the pointy side to match the short side) would be an improvement, in my ever-so-humble opinion.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on May 23, 2022 4:29:32 GMT -5
Next time you're at work and they ask you (as I'm sure they periodically do), "hey, Peegoo...what does Taildragger want us to change?" show them this: Bueno No Bueno
Even just making the "pointy" one symmetrical (by shortening the pointy side to match the short side) would be an improvement, in my ever-so-humble opinion.
I dunno, Taildragger. That headstock shape on the right is PRS. The one on the left is exclusive to the Santana model...and it does have a place for a clip-on tuner, so there's something to be learned from that!  |
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