The Man is a Genius. I am addicted to PRS Guitars. CE 22/24, Custom 22/24, Single Cuts, Tremontis. Etc.,I love the Older ones from the early 90s, and the Newer ones too. They all have some Magic to them. They are all works of Art
Gibson=profit, its all they really care about these days. PRS= pride, craftsmanship, quality control is leaps and bounds better, top notch tone, tuning stability, top quality tops, perfect fret work, better dried woods , the relentless pursuit of perfection.
I've been playing for 48 years and own many guitars. I bought a new 2022 Core 10 top custom 24 piezo from John Mann's Guitar Vault a month ago for $5470. It sounds amazing in the low-gain sounds, but it lacks deep low high-gain sound. (It Doesn't Chug) I hate the trem as it does not stay in tune when used, so I unfortunately decided to totally block it and use it as a hardtail guitar. It plays & feels alot like a gibson les paul, but sounds more angelic. I'm going to keep it, but I don't think I'm going to buy another one any time soon, especially for the money.
+1. PRS makes the best OEM bridges, and tuners, I've ever seen. As far as aftermarket stuff, I can't recommend the GraphTech NVS bridge highly enough. Besides it's tone, it adds such an amazing feel to the lay of the strings. It's hard to describe with words, but nothing else comes close. I wasn't expecting such great results. I wish they made complete NVS tremolo bridges for Strat-style. I now have GT nuts and bridges on all my LP-style stop-tailpiece guitars. The price is nice, as well.
To me the one piece bridge is the best sounding...I am tempted to try to put one on my les paul..the most lively guitars I've played have had the one piece bridge...to me I'd think the less that comes in contact with the string, it should ring more purely, to add the tail piece is another point of contact...I do like the new 2 piece with the tail piece that you don't have to feed through the hole...that's a time saver right there..I mean, a les paul standard has a 2 piece, so of course there are killer sounding guitars with that setup...I'm just going from my experience and loving my core prs guitars...I own 3...p22, custom 22, sc 250..the sc 250 is the best of them all, for me...but I'm a gain guy...it just sustains so beautifully and has character, while being just THICK
I have to say it took me 6 months to really appreciate my McCarty 594..at first I just couldn't come to terms with the pattern vintage neck but now it's the only neck that feels like home..if I had one complaint it would be the tailpiece.. but only when changing strings.. the ball ends want to slide out of the tailpiece string slots because it's not fully enclosed like traditional tailpiece.. other than that it's changed my tastes about short scale guitar
This is the perfect example of what PRS is all about. Attention to all possible details. From the materials to the construction to measurements. BTW what would be a proper way to clean and keep the brass saddles shiny? Just got my 594 WL 10 top few days ago. I am the first owner but guitar was made in 2018. Everything is perfect accept the saddles got bit tarnished and string got darker to. It sounds so good that I have not noticed it in the shop. Paint job and polish is just like it was made yesterday. Everything is working great. First time I have noticed that standard D'Adario strings might not be up to the task regarding to sound. Although old strings that came on the guitar sounded better. Also has anyone changed wraparound tail peace to one with brass saddles and studs? Theoretically it has a good chance to sound better specially in SE guitars. Brass bushings and studs plus brass saddles it should resonate nicer.
This is the most important piece of gear on a guitar. It all begins (or ends) with the bridge. The PRS tremolo bridge system is far superior to the standard Fender design. That is, the vintage six screws into the body design. The Fender synchronized trem, with the two post (like a Floyd) are really good, on par with the PRS design. But you can only get those on the American Standard. The PRS is available on the SE lines as well.
Is what he said about the intonation of the stoptail accurate? Do the other strings really fall into place once the high and low E strings are taken care of? He's inevitabely trying to sell these things and wouldn't point out any defects with these things.
Hello Paul. I recently purchased a Fredrik Akesson model which has a TonePros AVT-2 wraparound bridge. This bridge did not come with an adjustment wrench and is extremely difficult to set up, because the bridge pickup is in the way when I am trying to make intonation adjustments, and the nuts which are used to change the action height are not very wide and are therefore difficult to grip with any tool. I think that this bridge is absolute garbage and has ruined what would otherwise be a very good guitar. This is not my only problem thought. The stock pickup pole pieces were misaligned with the strings, and the strap broke on the gigbag! I am very disappointed with this purchase.
Hi ANDYB1478. We're sorry to hear you are having so many issues with your PRS. If you would, please contact our customer service department by calling (410) 643-9970 or by emailing custserv@prsguitars.com and they will do what they can to help. Thanks for reaching out.
One thing id love to see is a iteration of the baby grand bridge i can only imagine the quality not that hipshot doesnt do a good job but final fit and finish can be hit or miss tolerances dont match up to listed specs and such please please make one ☝️
I just bought a Paul Smith SE and I don’t have a tremolo like that. It looks completely different. I mean the design is the same but they’re using cheaper metals.
I'm a big fan of graphtech. I mean, it's their specialty, it's practically the only thing they do. Their ghost piezo system sounds amazing too. I'm not so settled on the zinc moldings...
Mr Smith doesn't exactly give away many secrets here, no explanation of why he uses so much brass, or if/why not chrome plating the saddle grooves is so important. He mostly rhapsodises about how wonderful his parts are, and at that price they should be! I can't help but wonder about the durability of brass knife edges against brass V bearings, and lining up all the trem pivot screws so those V's are all exactly at the same height must be a pain. He doesn't say so but I assume none of those parts are cast zinc alloy.
Paul knows the older MILCOM one piece trem assemblies were better. You can buy them from Mannmade now. I have an old MILCOM on my Strat and it is killer. My PRS has the 2 piece one like he is displaying and it is not as solid or stable. Funny thing and for the price of his guitars he should do the upgrade. Driskill makes his own stoptails but won't sell them.
I had my strat tremolo arm brake like that - decided I prefer a stopped bridge anyway - put a bigsby on my LP - I may put a bigsby on my tele - or I may just get a starla (I prefer the sound of Mira - but the strala is prettier and has a bigsby licensed tremolo!
My prs guitars wraparound tail polepieces are bending forward. How to solve that? Finnish luthier Ruokangas inserts the studs through the body on his wraparound bridged guitar models.
Hi ArtooDeetoo. We're sorry to hear there is an issue with your PRS wraparound bridge. If you would, please contact our customer service department by calling (410) 643-9970 or by emailing custserv@prsguitars.com and they will take care of you. Thanks for reaching out.
Would be nice if he talked about all the materials that are used to make the hardware tbh and how that effects guitar tone, it's not all just about longevity and it being machined well.
I've had two PRS guitars (a Custom 24 and a CE24, which I still have), and neither would stay in tune when using the tremolo. It wasn't the nut, which was clear from how bending strings never caused an issue. It was always the tremolo. I'd lubricate it, and it never made a difference. I read somewhere that the case was likely the break point over the saddle grabbing the string when the tremolo was engaged, causing the string to go sharp (always the problem). If anyone has any suggestions on how best to deal with this, I'd appreciate it. For now, I just do without the tremolo, which makes me wonder why even keep this model guitar.
Hi Kevin. If you would, please contact our customer service department by calling (410) 643-9970 or by emailing custserv@prsguitars.com and they will do their best to troubleshoot the problems you are having. Thanks for reaching out.
well now i know why i need to save my money and get a prs. they are well made. i tried one that an acquaintance had and i wanted to take it from him. LOL
Paul, I hear you talk sometimes about being a gear "junkie". Well I'm a 100% PRS "Junkie", and these videos make it worse. Keep up the good work and thank you for the videos.
The mounting screw holes are countersunk from underneath so it's a combination of the vintage style 6 screw system and the modern 2 post knife edge setups so that the bridge returns in tune every time
I bought a PRS Santana SE and love it. Perhaps Paul chose to have 6 screws for a traditional classic look? Or maybe he believes 6 screws transfer vibration to the body better than 2. Or maybe spreading the load stresses across 6 screws is better than those same loads in 2. I upgraded the screws on a couple 6 screw trem bridges I have with good success, far superior to standard trem screws. In fact I upgraded a standard 6 screw trem bridge with an all brass PRS trem made by Musiclilly. I wonder of Musiclilly is the OEM source for PRS. Their quality is pretty impressive for Chinese made. Gorgeous stuff.
Damn i love this guy!
The Man is a Genius. I am addicted to PRS Guitars. CE 22/24, Custom 22/24, Single Cuts, Tremontis. Etc.,I love the Older ones from the early 90s, and the Newer ones too. They all have some Magic to them. They are all works of Art
phallystorm I feel the same but unfortunately my wallet only enough for Ibanez prestige. It’s like craving for Lambo but can only afford Ford Focus.
Gibson=profit, its all they really care about these days.
PRS= pride, craftsmanship, quality control is leaps and bounds better, top notch tone, tuning stability, top quality tops, perfect fret work, better dried woods , the relentless pursuit of perfection.
"This time we're going to go over bridges." Pun intended?
The world will never know.
The two piece bridges are simply perfect 👍
I've been playing for 48 years and own many guitars.
I bought a new 2022 Core 10 top custom 24 piezo from John Mann's Guitar Vault a month ago for $5470. It sounds amazing in the low-gain sounds, but it lacks deep low high-gain sound.
(It Doesn't Chug)
I hate the trem as it does not stay in tune when used, so I unfortunately decided to totally block it and use it as a hardtail guitar. It plays & feels alot like a gibson les paul, but sounds more angelic.
I'm going to keep it, but I don't think I'm going to buy another one any time soon, especially for the money.
+1. PRS makes the best OEM bridges, and tuners, I've ever seen. As far as aftermarket stuff, I can't recommend the GraphTech NVS bridge highly enough. Besides it's tone, it adds such an amazing feel to the lay of the strings. It's hard to describe with words, but nothing else comes close. I wasn't expecting such great results. I wish they made complete NVS tremolo bridges for Strat-style. I now have GT nuts and bridges on all my LP-style stop-tailpiece guitars. The price is nice, as well.
To me the one piece bridge is the best sounding...I am tempted to try to put one on my les paul..the most lively guitars I've played have had the one piece bridge...to me I'd think the less that comes in contact with the string, it should ring more purely, to add the tail piece is another point of contact...I do like the new 2 piece with the tail piece that you don't have to feed through the hole...that's a time saver right there..I mean, a les paul standard has a 2 piece, so of course there are killer sounding guitars with that setup...I'm just going from my experience and loving my core prs guitars...I own 3...p22, custom 22, sc 250..the sc 250 is the best of them all, for me...but I'm a gain guy...it just sustains so beautifully and has character, while being just THICK
Gear that works on stage, every time. Thanks Paul!
I have to say it took me 6 months to really appreciate my McCarty 594..at first I just couldn't come to terms with the pattern vintage neck but now it's the only neck that feels like home..if I had one complaint it would be the tailpiece.. but only when changing strings.. the ball ends want to slide out of the tailpiece string slots because it's not fully enclosed like traditional tailpiece.. other than that it's changed my tastes about short scale guitar
This is the perfect example of what PRS is all about. Attention to all possible details. From the materials to the construction to measurements. BTW what would be a proper way to clean and keep the brass saddles shiny? Just got my 594 WL 10 top few days ago. I am the first owner but guitar was made in 2018. Everything is perfect accept the saddles got bit tarnished and string got darker to. It sounds so good that I have not noticed it in the shop. Paint job and polish is just like it was made yesterday. Everything is working great. First time I have noticed that standard D'Adario strings might not be up to the task regarding to sound. Although old strings that came on the guitar sounded better. Also has anyone changed wraparound tail peace to one with brass saddles and studs? Theoretically it has a good chance to sound better specially in SE guitars. Brass bushings and studs plus brass saddles it should resonate nicer.
This is the most important piece of gear on a guitar. It all begins (or ends) with the bridge. The PRS tremolo bridge system is far superior to the standard Fender design. That is, the vintage six screws into the body design. The Fender synchronized trem, with the two post (like a Floyd) are really good, on par with the PRS design. But you can only get those on the American Standard. The PRS is available on the SE lines as well.
The neck is the most important part of any guitar. Shit neck = shit guitar.
Put a Mannmade trem on your Strat.
He puts so much care into every little detail!
Howdy!!!
The greatest mainstream guitar builder of all time, straight up, love you so much dude
The BEST guitars!!
Is what he said about the intonation of the stoptail accurate? Do the other strings really fall into place once the high and low E strings are taken care of? He's inevitabely trying to sell these things and wouldn't point out any defects with these things.
Yes on my example yes 😁
Hello Paul. I recently purchased a Fredrik Akesson model which has a TonePros AVT-2 wraparound bridge. This bridge did not come with an adjustment wrench and is extremely difficult to set up, because the bridge pickup is in the way when I am trying to make intonation adjustments, and the nuts which are used to change the action height are not very wide and are therefore difficult to grip with any tool. I think that this bridge is absolute garbage and has ruined what would otherwise be a very good guitar. This is not my only problem thought. The stock pickup pole pieces were misaligned with the strings, and the strap broke on the gigbag! I am very disappointed with this purchase.
Hi ANDYB1478. We're sorry to hear you are having so many issues with your PRS. If you would, please contact our customer service department by calling (410) 643-9970 or by emailing custserv@prsguitars.com and they will do what they can to help. Thanks for reaching out.
One thing id love to see is a iteration of the baby grand bridge i can only imagine the quality not that hipshot doesnt do a good job but final fit and finish can be hit or miss tolerances dont match up to listed specs and such please please make one ☝️
I just bought a Paul Smith SE and I don’t have a tremolo like that. It looks completely different. I mean the design is the same but they’re using cheaper metals.
I've only tried the wraparound one but it's my favorite bridge of all time. Maybe my next will have a tremelo.
There are amazing job and quality!
I'm a big fan of graphtech. I mean, it's their specialty, it's practically the only thing they do. Their ghost piezo system sounds amazing too.
I'm not so settled on the zinc moldings...
I like prs parts I would like to have them on all guitars especially on gibson guitars I don't like gibson parts at all just saying.
How do you adjust the intonation on the stock bridge which is found on the McCarty? 1:36 in video
Hi Paul... I wish you would give your personal option on what the Floyd used on the Schon.. And what are the differences sonically
Mr Smith doesn't exactly give away many secrets here, no explanation of why he uses so much brass, or if/why not chrome plating the saddle grooves is so important. He mostly rhapsodises about how wonderful his parts are, and at that price they should be! I can't help but wonder about the durability of brass knife edges against brass V bearings, and lining up all the trem pivot screws so those V's are all exactly at the same height must be a pain. He doesn't say so but I assume none of those parts are cast zinc alloy.
Paul knows the older MILCOM one piece trem assemblies were better. You can buy them from Mannmade now. I have an old MILCOM on my Strat and it is killer. My PRS has the 2 piece one like he is displaying and it is not as solid or stable. Funny thing and for the price of his guitars he should do the upgrade.
Driskill makes his own stoptails but won't sell them.
Im putting the alan wrench into the hole below the tremolo arm and there's nothing for it to twist again so I cant tighten it, any advice?
I had my strat tremolo arm brake like that - decided I prefer a stopped bridge anyway - put a bigsby on my LP - I may put a bigsby on my tele - or I may just get a starla (I prefer the sound of Mira - but the strala is prettier and has a bigsby licensed tremolo!
My prs guitars wraparound tail polepieces are bending forward. How to solve that? Finnish luthier Ruokangas inserts the studs through the body on his wraparound bridged guitar models.
Hi ArtooDeetoo. We're sorry to hear there is an issue with your PRS wraparound bridge. If you would, please contact our customer service department by calling (410) 643-9970 or by emailing custserv@prsguitars.com and they will take care of you. Thanks for reaching out.
Hey me too, it makes me put vibrola on top
how is the stop tail for thick strings?
Nice to see the complete absence of replies to comments from Paul or his staff. Just goes to show how much they care about their customers.
I was just looking at this thinking the same thing. I just got theTone Pros AVT2M-C Wraparound Bridge for mine. maybe it'll make a difference on mine.
Yesssss, let the anger flow through you...
Thank you.
Would be nice if he talked about all the materials that are used to make the hardware tbh and how that effects guitar tone, it's not all just about longevity and it being machined well.
I've had two PRS guitars (a Custom 24 and a CE24, which I still have), and neither would stay in tune when using the tremolo. It wasn't the nut, which was clear from how bending strings never caused an issue. It was always the tremolo. I'd lubricate it, and it never made a difference. I read somewhere that the case was likely the break point over the saddle grabbing the string when the tremolo was engaged, causing the string to go sharp (always the problem). If anyone has any suggestions on how best to deal with this, I'd appreciate it. For now, I just do without the tremolo, which makes me wonder why even keep this model guitar.
Hi Kevin. If you would, please contact our customer service department by calling (410) 643-9970 or by emailing custserv@prsguitars.com and they will do their best to troubleshoot the problems you are having. Thanks for reaching out.
I have the same problem with my $5470 core custom 24 w/piezo!
What kind of guitar sociopath would use a wound G string?!
well now i know why i need to save my money and get a prs. they are well made. i tried one that an acquaintance had and i wanted to take it from him. LOL
The best guitar manufacturing belongs to PRS.
Left out the Acoustic bridges
I'm not native english speaker, didn't catch 2:03. Can someone help me? Unless what?
wound G string
"there's a lack of problems and it's beautiful"-PRSh
Paul, I hear you talk sometimes about being a gear "junkie". Well I'm a 100% PRS "Junkie", and these videos make it worse. Keep up the good work and thank you for the videos.
Thanks, Zephyr R&D!
WHY 6 SCREW POSTS INSTEAD OF 2 POINT?
The mounting screw holes are countersunk from underneath so it's a combination of the vintage style 6 screw system and the modern 2 post knife edge setups so that the bridge returns in tune every time
I bought a PRS Santana SE and love it. Perhaps Paul chose to have 6 screws for a traditional classic look? Or maybe he believes 6 screws transfer vibration to the body better than 2. Or maybe spreading the load stresses across 6 screws is better than those same loads in 2. I upgraded the screws on a couple 6 screw trem bridges I have with good success, far superior to standard trem screws. In fact I upgraded a standard 6 screw trem bridge with an all brass PRS trem made by Musiclilly. I wonder of Musiclilly is the OEM source for PRS. Their quality is pretty impressive for Chinese made. Gorgeous stuff.