NGD: PRS SC245 Artist - WOW!!!!! (pics inside)

[Deaj]

I arrived home from work this evening to find a UPS package waiting for me - sweet!!! I've been looking forward to this for a week now though to be honest I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I made the trade decision for this guitar with my eyes mostly (though I was looking for a short scale guitar and I generally like PRS guitars - my #1 is a PRS I've owned for 22 years). I hadn't played an SC245 when I agreed to the trade. I did get out and play a couple SC245's while waiting for this to arrive though none with the 245 pickups. My hopes were that this guitar would be just as the early SC245 was described - 'similar to a 50's LP but more midrange focus and a more refined sound'.

After playing it for an hour or so all I can say is WOW!!!!! It's everything I'd hoped it would be and more! I think the description above fits very nicely. It's what I wanted the LP's I'd owned in the past to be. From shimmering blackface cleans to gained-out Mesa Mark lead tones this thing sounds beautiful!

I haven't played it enough to post any kind of a review but I can say I really like everything about it so far.

Here are some pics I took this evening:

 

[biazzaz]

Very nice axe. Is that the brass tailpiece? I really want that from my custom 22 ten top :'(

 

[Deaj]

Thanks!

The only description given is 'brushed gold finish'. It arrived with a fresh set of strings installed so I haven't had the tail piece off yet (don't know if it's aluminum with a finish or...). I'll see what I can find out about it and let you know. Whatever it is it sounds great!!

 

[biazzaz]

Yeah please let me know. Maybe my dream of it being brass was just that...a dream lol. I still like the look of it though. Amazing grab!

 

[Deaj]

I'm diggin' the 245 pickups a whole lot! They have a cool midrange character thats sweet and clear and they bark when I dig in!

 

[Deaj]

The bridge tailpiece is anodized aluminum - same lightweight unit they use on all their fixed bridge guitars with a different finish.

 

[biazzaz]

Thanks so much for the reply!

 

[Deaj]

Anytime Biazzaz!

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The guitar has settled into the climate here and required a quick neck adjustment so I decided to do a full setup with .09 gauge strings (I prefer .09's to heavier gauge strings for their tone, tension, and response to a heavy attack). The result is nothing short of amazing! I can't get over how great this guitar sounds and feels! The switch in string gauge from .10's was not a subtle change. For my ears (and hands) it was a significant improvement.

What's better than this is how effortless this guitar is to play - a really big deal for me as Psoriatic Arthritis has kept me from being able to play more than a a couple hours a week. I've been able to play daily since this guitar arrived, logging at least four hours, and the switch to .09's is sure to improve this further. I'm sure that I'm overdoing it a bit out of excitement but, excited or no, I've not been able to push myself to play more than three hours in any given week for almost two years now so this is a really big deal for me!!

I wasn't sure if the stock nut, cut for .10's, was going to work properly with .09's but it does and really well. It's not perfect but it's far and away better than most production guitars fresh off the rack. I'll eventually take it in to have a bone nut cut for it but I'm certainly in no rush at this point.

Man, I'm so jazzed about this guitar!!!

 

[Anonymous]

OMG!!!!!!!! that's a amazing guitar!!!!!! congrats

 

[Turumbar82]

that is definitely beautiful but to me, it really needs binding on the body and the neck. It looks great but it's like an ice cream sundae without whipped cream on top. It's just missing that one small thing to me.

 

[biazzaz]

Not to many prs with binding on the neck (there are a few though) but yeah I've had 7 differnet PRS guitars over the last 10 years or so and find myself drawn to the natural binding.

Gotta say for this one I'd make an exception

 

[dbone]

Gorgeous : )