Why PRS guitars cost so much

[firebirdV]

http://prsguitars.com/detail/

PRS has some interesting videos to watch (start with the neck series and work your way down).

This also really shows why they cost so much. The attention to detail and the hand crafted aspects of PRS really show.

[the guy who invented fire]

Ya know, I'll more than likely never own a PRS...I just don't care for the lighter than Gibson but thinker than fender aspect of them so they are just not for me but the truth is they are one of the highest quality guitars on the market today and have been for a long time!

Go to a shop and play one new PRS and you'll see what I mean!

Paul and crew are true craftsmen (and women) and it shows in the end product.

[firebirdV]

Yeah, I've never actually played one before. I tend to avoid trying guitars which I can't afford; I guess I'll make an exception.

[the guy who invented fire]

Yeah, I've never actually played one before. I tend to avoid trying guitars which I can't afford; I guess I'll make an exception.

I've played dozens of them over the years...I wanted to love them a few years back because they just looked so good but I never found one I loved playing as much as I loved looking at it...I guess I'm just a Fender, Gibson guy most of the time.

However, and I say this as a guy that owns 4 VERY nice Gibsons...I wish Gibsons were as nice out of the box as a PRS!!!

The fit and finish on a PRS is second to none, the fret work is amazing, thte factory set ups are killer...just all around great guitars!

A PRS is one of the only guitars I've ever played that I could see taking one out of the box and hitting the stage with little to no tweaking.

Oddly enough the only other guitar that comes to mind that's set up that well from the factory is a fraction of the cost...Reverend guitars!

[CTN]

Fantastic! thanks for posting this. Love seeing these kinds of vids.

Owning a PRS has been on my list of things to do for several years now.

[JOLLY]

I've played probably at least 50 PRS guitars, and I've only liked the way two of them played. I just can't play them. They just don't feel comfortable at all for me to play. However, they are an absolute work of pure craftmanship, and are some of the best made guitars out there. It's probably a good thing that I can't get along with them.

[jmh151]

I got a limited edition PRS made out ok Korina... New they were $2000, I got it on clearance as a slight dent and scratch for $1500. Plays and sounds every bit as good as their $3200 guitars if you dont need a fancy top...

If I was in the market for a fancy artist grade maple top PRS, I'd look at a Carvin though. Many members of the PRS bulletin board have both Carvin Carve tops and PRS, the consensus is they're identical, but the finish on the back on the Carvin neck is a little stickier than the PRS, if you got the satin or tung oil finish on the Carvin neck theyd be equal, with the Carvin getting more point since its much cheaper.

This is off the PRS board by some PRS owners. Personally I'm saving up for a PRS DGT model

[Ascension]

For many many years I have looked at and played many PRS guitars but never bought one. Last November I got an unreal deal on a near mint 2007 Custom 24 in a local Pawn shop and so I bought it to flip and make some $$. After I had restrung it and cleaned it up to list it on Ebay I took it to band practice and played it out in a full band situation and it floored me.
You see a lot of talk on these forums about the looks and detail on a PRS but you almost never hear folks talk about the tone and how they respond and if you do see it's normally someone who doesn't own on talking about how cold and soulless they are. However nothing could be farther from the truth in my own experience with owning one.
I was so blown away by how the guitar responded all over the neck and also at how much tonal ground it could cover that I have yet to play a single live event without my PRS. This is since November 2011 and I play out at least 3 times a week.
With the stock HFS/VB and the 5 way I am getting clean clear strat like tones, smoking hot thick lead tones, punishing heavy rhythm tones, and a nice smooth buttery bluesy neck bucker all from the same guitar on the fly with just a flick of the wrist on the 5 way.
I have owned just about every brand that you can name over the 40 or so years I have been playing and what this PRS does in the way it simply responds blows me away.
I really did not care much at first for the way it actually played because of the different neck profile (wide Thin) and the 10 radius from what I was used to but the tones were just too impressive to ignore. The action has always been very fast and low it was just that it felt so "different" from what i normally played. However now after playing it almost exclusively for a few months it feels completely natural and I am playing nothing else.
NOTHING from Gibson or Fender or Carvin or Jackson or the USA Washburns or Hamer or--- has EVER knocked me out as a stage guitar like this PRS has!!
Heck now I even love the 5 way rotary switch!

[Empty Pockets]

I love the quality.

I hate the designs.

If i could get PRS to make me a 59 reissue Les Paul i would. But his visual style absolutely conflicts with my idea of aesthetically pleasing.

[jmh151]

I love the quality.

I hate the designs.

If i could get PRS to make me a 59 reissue Les Paul i would. But his visual style absolutely conflicts with my idea of aesthetically pleasing.

The Stripped 58 is PRSs take on a 58 Les Paul, and gets the Les Paul tone. For much cheaper, the new SE245 s are excellent for the money.

I have a strat, Les Paul, EBMM Axis, Charvel Pro Mod, Jackson Soloist, and they've been collecting dust since I got the PRS. With the PRS I can coax, or cone close to, each of the tones that each of those guitars provides. The PRS is a pleasure to play, and I don't have to readjust amp settings that much as compared to when I'm switching among all the other guitars

[jmh151]

What I like aesthetically about my PRS is the heavily carved top- the workmanship it takes to carve and finish it, although alot of the carving is done by machine these days,surpasses the carved arch top on my Les Paul. Matter of fact the carved top on my Les Paul is more similar to the carve on the PRS SE budget line!

Not to mention the Korina is th lightest guitar I own

[DankStar]

I love watching these kind of videos, thanks!

I don't know how guitar companies can stay in business with all the overhead, the fact guitars last nearly forever so there's not a need to buy additional once someone has a good one, how poor most musicians are, the used market, etc.

That was better than Saturday morning cartoons, which are hard to top my friend.

[jmh151]

The video on the necks is impressive- especially in the end when one of the employees- back in 1990- is jumping on a neck trying to break it.

After watching those videos, if I buy another guitar, it's going to be another PRS

[ItsaBass]

The closest thing to a PRS that I've played and said, "Wow!" about was a Daisy Rock Stardust Retro H. Nowhere near a PRS (more like a POS), but it does take some styling cues from them. Pretty bad when a slapped together "girl guitar" speaks to me more than a finely crafted PRS. I don't know what it is about PRS guitars, but they just leave me totally cold and bored. I feel like I should like them, for many reasons, but I just don't. I've never once had one "grab" me. And for another thing, they are all pretty homely to my eyes. I just cannot pull them off.

[Empty Pockets]

The Stripped 58 is PRSs take on a 58 Les Paul, and gets the Les Paul tone. For much cheaper, the new SE245 s are excellent for the money.

I agree completely. They just have that horribly ugly PRS style.

The birds, the cutaway on the cutaway, the headstock, the faux binding... ugly.

Whats the point of playing a guitar if i hate the way it looks when i'm practicing rock poses in my bathroom mirror?

[UberMetalDood]

I've seen several of those videos before and agree that they're exquisite guitars, but I still think they could be cheaper. I don't care at all for the SE series, the Miras used to be affordable but I never cared for the style or the pickups they come with. PRS leaves me no affordable option. Their amps are just as good quality as their guitars, but they are also overpriced in my opinion.

[tone4days]

One gets a very similar vibe - but not identical - when hanging at the prs factory with Paul and the other leadership team and staff as when at the sd factory with Seymour, Evan, and the leadership team and staff .... Folks who know a ton, love what they do, and want to share that vibe with their customers for a first class ownership experience ... I am happy to own products of both for that reason

[That90'sGuy]

Most consistent guitars on the planet. Not unlike any other manufacturer you have to go through several dozen to find the ones that really sing, but once you do it's hard to not love them. I went through plenty of custom shop and boutique stuff before I picked up my McCarty and my Hollowbody Spruce. They're two of the best sounding, best feeling and non-temperamental guitars I've ever played.

[Ascension]

I don't know what it is about PRS guitars, but they just leave me totally cold and bored. I feel like I should like them, for many reasons, but I just don't. I've never once had one "grab" me. And for another thing, they are all pretty homely to my eyes. I just cannot pull them off.

Same here for many years and while I had played many a PRS one had never "spoken" to me. When I bought the custom 24 I had no intent on keeping it, fact is I got a steal on her and bought the guitar simply to flip and make some $$$. However the first time I played it on stage it floored me.
Nothing else I have ever played or owned in a real world band situation will do what this guitar does.
It's not the prettiest guitar I own nor the best playing but overall is so good as a pure instrument that all the rest of my herd are now backups on stage or simply gathering dust in the case!
That should tell you something!

[SlyFoxx]

Nothing else I have ever played or owned in a real world band situation will do what this guitar does.

This.