I'm thinking about acquiring a black Torero. I find the neck thru body, bound fretboard, original Floyd Rose, ebony fretboard and active EMG's a very appealing combination for the price point of around $1000. I'd like to get input from Torero owners as to the pros and cons of this instrument. I would be running it through a 5150 combo as well as a Triaxis/2:90 rig. Any constructive opinion(s) would be greatly appreciated.
PRS Torero... is it worth looking into?
- Thread starter PG13
- Start date
Help Support The Boogie Board:
MesaENGR412
Well-known member
This is a pretty long post..sorry in advance lol:
I have two of these guitars and they are my main touring guitars. I really like them and think they are built really well.
I came from playing Ibanez RG's (I had two '00 RGs, a 520QS and a 470, with EMG's in both), and I also had an ESP/LTD
MH-1000 in snow white. To me the Torero is built just as good, if not better than either of the three guitars I played before
acquiring these instruments. I have recently gone back to guitar center and played guitars that, before I got these, I was
really into and wanting to get, and to be completely honest, I felt that I would not trade my Toreros for any of them (including a Charvel So Cal, Ibanez Prestiges (I can't stand any other new Ibanez model besides the prestiges...the edge III bridge and the "D" neck shape are atrocious!), LTD's and ESP standard series guitars).
The wide-thin neck shape is great, somewhere in between the ultra thin Wizard 1 that I had on the 520 (thinnest neck I have ever played on) and the thicker, but slightly narrower fretboarded MH-1000 neck.
They look truly stunning to look at, as well as play and I would highly recommend them. A couple things that are a little different with this guitar include the lack of inlays, the neck heel and the pickup selector location. Not having inlays wasn't a big deal for me since I had kind of grown accustomed to relying on the side markers of the ESP LTD I had, since the MH has those offset blocks that aren't visible when played standing up. However, it does take a little getting used to while in low-lit stages, but now I have no problems. To remedy my transition I put glow in the dark dot stickers over the dot side markers so I could see them on stage. No need for that anymore. The neck heel comes down a little bit different than on other neck-thru guitars, but I find that it does not hinder upper fret accessibility in any way for me.
The last thing is the pickup selector switch location. It is in a spot that is a little hard to reach when the tremolo arm is installed (i use the trem arm all the time, so I work around it). It's nothing that is a deal breaker for me, it's just a little different movement than the RG, or the MH. It is kind of like getting used to having it on the upper bout of a Les Paul or behind the bridge on a Custom 24, you just get used to it's location after a little bit and it's fine. Another thing is this guitar is pretty heavy. I think it resonates really well, and I use a wide leather strap and it doesn't hurt my soldier. It's no as heavy as a 9 pound Les Paul though.
I played this guitar through a Peavey 5150 II along with my Mesa, and it sounds great. I think EMG has re-worked their new-logo pickup preamps a little bit or something, because to me this guitar sounds fuller than my other guitars (and they all had 18 volt mods!). I don't feel it is necessary to modd these guitars to 18 volts. The sustain is really good, the Floyd Rose 1000 bridge stays in tune really well, and the frets and neck are well assembled and set up. No rough edges and the tremolo always returns to zero. Binding is done well, no weird spots, like the MH had on it in some places where the lines were a little..rough. The stock tuners are PRS designed, and they work just fine, but I swapped them out on both guitars for Planet Waves auto trem tuners (love these things!).
Below are some pics of the things I talked about.
Side markers and no inlays:
neck joint:
Pickup selector relative to the pick hand and whammy bar:
Contours (MH 1000 lacked the arm contour, this is A LOT more comfortable):
Flamed top:
(promo pic for PRS)
Hope this helps
-AJH
I have two of these guitars and they are my main touring guitars. I really like them and think they are built really well.
I came from playing Ibanez RG's (I had two '00 RGs, a 520QS and a 470, with EMG's in both), and I also had an ESP/LTD
MH-1000 in snow white. To me the Torero is built just as good, if not better than either of the three guitars I played before
acquiring these instruments. I have recently gone back to guitar center and played guitars that, before I got these, I was
really into and wanting to get, and to be completely honest, I felt that I would not trade my Toreros for any of them (including a Charvel So Cal, Ibanez Prestiges (I can't stand any other new Ibanez model besides the prestiges...the edge III bridge and the "D" neck shape are atrocious!), LTD's and ESP standard series guitars).
The wide-thin neck shape is great, somewhere in between the ultra thin Wizard 1 that I had on the 520 (thinnest neck I have ever played on) and the thicker, but slightly narrower fretboarded MH-1000 neck.
They look truly stunning to look at, as well as play and I would highly recommend them. A couple things that are a little different with this guitar include the lack of inlays, the neck heel and the pickup selector location. Not having inlays wasn't a big deal for me since I had kind of grown accustomed to relying on the side markers of the ESP LTD I had, since the MH has those offset blocks that aren't visible when played standing up. However, it does take a little getting used to while in low-lit stages, but now I have no problems. To remedy my transition I put glow in the dark dot stickers over the dot side markers so I could see them on stage. No need for that anymore. The neck heel comes down a little bit different than on other neck-thru guitars, but I find that it does not hinder upper fret accessibility in any way for me.
The last thing is the pickup selector switch location. It is in a spot that is a little hard to reach when the tremolo arm is installed (i use the trem arm all the time, so I work around it). It's nothing that is a deal breaker for me, it's just a little different movement than the RG, or the MH. It is kind of like getting used to having it on the upper bout of a Les Paul or behind the bridge on a Custom 24, you just get used to it's location after a little bit and it's fine. Another thing is this guitar is pretty heavy. I think it resonates really well, and I use a wide leather strap and it doesn't hurt my soldier. It's no as heavy as a 9 pound Les Paul though.
I played this guitar through a Peavey 5150 II along with my Mesa, and it sounds great. I think EMG has re-worked their new-logo pickup preamps a little bit or something, because to me this guitar sounds fuller than my other guitars (and they all had 18 volt mods!). I don't feel it is necessary to modd these guitars to 18 volts. The sustain is really good, the Floyd Rose 1000 bridge stays in tune really well, and the frets and neck are well assembled and set up. No rough edges and the tremolo always returns to zero. Binding is done well, no weird spots, like the MH had on it in some places where the lines were a little..rough. The stock tuners are PRS designed, and they work just fine, but I swapped them out on both guitars for Planet Waves auto trem tuners (love these things!).
Below are some pics of the things I talked about.
Side markers and no inlays:
neck joint:
Pickup selector relative to the pick hand and whammy bar:
Contours (MH 1000 lacked the arm contour, this is A LOT more comfortable):
Flamed top:
(promo pic for PRS)
Hope this helps
-AJH
Thanks AJH for this very comprehensive and unbiased review. I appreciate the careful thought and insight you have for this instrument. I was so smitten with the overall appearance that I totally missed the the fretboard inlays. (Your photos were very helpful too.) I've been playing EVH MM's and Strats religiously for many years. A PRS is quite a departure for me. Question: Does the guitar have a battery access compartment or do you have to unscrew the cover on battery changes? Also, in the neck a constant radius or is it compound?
MesaENGR412
Well-known member
you are very welcome. There are two screws that hold the battery compartment back, which is shielded, and there is a metal clip that holds the battery in place so it doesn't rattle freely inside the cavity, (just like the LTD had), and the screw thread holes have metal inserts so you won't wear out the wood.
The neck is consistent radius I believe, nothing appears to change as you go down the neck. It is relatively flat, but not as flat as my old RG I don't believe. Quite comfortable to me for both chording and soloing. String spacing is also comfortable.
-AJH
The neck is consistent radius I believe, nothing appears to change as you go down the neck. It is relatively flat, but not as flat as my old RG I don't believe. Quite comfortable to me for both chording and soloing. String spacing is also comfortable.
-AJH
I also have a Torero and *love* it.
Other guitars that I have/had:
older ibanez RG 550
EVH Wolfgang Special
ibanez RG 7420
home-made axe with Warmoth neck
Hamer Diablo II
I'd say the neck profile is similar to the old RG550, not as wide/thin. I think the 550 has the original Wizard neck on it.
Contrary to what AJH said, I love the placement of the pickup switch. I find that for my playing style my hand tends to hit the switch if it is in a position like the ibanez guitars have them or i hit the volume knob and turn myself down. The PRS has controls in a position that still makes them easily accessible, but out of the way.
For a MIK guitar, the build quality is seriously top notch. It feels rock solid. I'd even say that comparing the PRS to the RG550 is like comparing a BMW M3 to a Honda type R.
That being said, there are a few things about the PRS that bug me:
- I wish it had a natural finish on the neck. The EVH has it and it's at a similar price point.
- i think PRS cheaped out big time by only including a soft shelled gig bag. The EVH comes with an incredible molded hardshell case. even my Rg500 has a molded SKB style hardshell case.
- some kind of trem lockout of tremsetter would have been nice.
- EMGs. well, love them or hate them. I wish they had used the splittable EMGs, not the regular 81/85 combo.
These are by no means a deal breaker, tho. the Torero is an awesome guitar.
Other guitars that I have/had:
older ibanez RG 550
EVH Wolfgang Special
ibanez RG 7420
home-made axe with Warmoth neck
Hamer Diablo II
I'd say the neck profile is similar to the old RG550, not as wide/thin. I think the 550 has the original Wizard neck on it.
Contrary to what AJH said, I love the placement of the pickup switch. I find that for my playing style my hand tends to hit the switch if it is in a position like the ibanez guitars have them or i hit the volume knob and turn myself down. The PRS has controls in a position that still makes them easily accessible, but out of the way.
For a MIK guitar, the build quality is seriously top notch. It feels rock solid. I'd even say that comparing the PRS to the RG550 is like comparing a BMW M3 to a Honda type R.
That being said, there are a few things about the PRS that bug me:
- I wish it had a natural finish on the neck. The EVH has it and it's at a similar price point.
- i think PRS cheaped out big time by only including a soft shelled gig bag. The EVH comes with an incredible molded hardshell case. even my Rg500 has a molded SKB style hardshell case.
- some kind of trem lockout of tremsetter would have been nice.
- EMGs. well, love them or hate them. I wish they had used the splittable EMGs, not the regular 81/85 combo.
These are by no means a deal breaker, tho. the Torero is an awesome guitar.
MesaENGR412
Well-known member
zilla said:
I'm just curious, do you use the Tremolo arm? That is my only "complaint" (albeit no big deal to me) about the pickup selector switch location, is when the arm is installed. You have to reach around the arm to flip the selector switch if you use the tremolo, which I do all the time (see below). It only takes a couple times to get accustomed to it but had they used a three-way toggle instead of blade switch and placed it in or around the tone knob position, and located the tone knob where the blade switch is (where the pickup selector is positioned on their custom 22 and custom 24's with 3-way toggles) then this wouldn't be an issue at all, because it would be behind the tremolo arm. I completely agree that the volume knob is in a great location. Easy to access and I never accidentally hit it (I never use the tone knob, so...I could care less about it haha).
As for the neck, I have thought about sanding the neck down but, the paint never really gets "sticky" for me, so I don't think I'll risk screwing up the guitar or binding for an unfinished feel ( I loved the oiled RG Wizard neck feel as well). The gig bag is pretty nice for a bag-style case, with nice handle and backpack straps, but, to add a hardshell case would have been top notch. However, it would've taken the list price over that $1000 mark, and I think they were trying not to do that (the cases that I use are $198 from PRS :shock: yipes! )
Below is and example the sequence I have to do to change the pickup position switch, normally while also when going from distortion to clean on the amp (I primarily use the neck p/u on cleans):
Normal position of Trem arm while playing:
Going to switch Pickups:
If it were at the tone knob location, the position of the Tremolo arm wouldn't be a factor at all.
-AJH
I haven't really experienced any problems with the switch where it is now, but yeah, I think a 3-way toggle where the tone knob is would have been a better option.
As for a case, the price difference for a padded gig bag vs a lower cost hardshell would be maybe $50-75. Worth it in my opinion.
Are you using a hardshell for your torero? If so, what case are you using? How does it fit the body?
As for a case, the price difference for a padded gig bag vs a lower cost hardshell would be maybe $50-75. Worth it in my opinion.
Are you using a hardshell for your torero? If so, what case are you using? How does it fit the body?
MesaENGR412
Well-known member
I use the PRS Multi-purpose case. The Torero fits fine in it, although the headstock touches at the top, since it is 25.5" scale instead of the normal 25". I think that is why they say on the site that it won't fit, but...it will just fine.
http://stores.myregisteredsite.com/...e=PAS&Product_Code=ACC-4255&Category_Code=CAS
-AJH
http://stores.myregisteredsite.com/...e=PAS&Product_Code=ACC-4255&Category_Code=CAS
-AJH
MesaENGR412
Well-known member
Congrats man! Post some pics of it when/if you get a chance.
-AJH
-AJH
MesaENGR412
Well-known member
I thought about it, but I don't think this guitar really needed it. My other guitars that I sold once I got these were 18 volts, and these new logo EMG's sound pretty brutal just at 9 volts.
-AJH
-AJH
Hi,
I just picked up one of the new model Toreros in scarlet red. Fantastic guitar. It feels really nice to play. It has one of the most comfortable necks necks i have ever played. I also have an ESP KH-2. I performed the 18 volt mod on it. Personally, i don't hear a big difference in either headroom or tone. The new logo EMGs in the Torero definetely do not need the 18 volt mod. They sound fantastic. They seem more aggressive, but the overall tone is smoother. I was surprised at how much mids the Torero has, and i don't know if it is the guitar or the new logo EMGs. I may buy the new EMGs tobreplace the older EMGs in my other guitars.
I just picked up one of the new model Toreros in scarlet red. Fantastic guitar. It feels really nice to play. It has one of the most comfortable necks necks i have ever played. I also have an ESP KH-2. I performed the 18 volt mod on it. Personally, i don't hear a big difference in either headroom or tone. The new logo EMGs in the Torero definetely do not need the 18 volt mod. They sound fantastic. They seem more aggressive, but the overall tone is smoother. I was surprised at how much mids the Torero has, and i don't know if it is the guitar or the new logo EMGs. I may buy the new EMGs tobreplace the older EMGs in my other guitars.
adewsuisse
Member
Any Torero and ESP Eclipse owners here? How do the neck profiles/thickness compare? Thanks.
MesaENGR412
Well-known member
I am going off memory from playing our old guitarist's ec-1000, and my old MH-1000, but the ESP necks are thicker, with a larger "C" shape, while the Torero's neck is a little thinner, and perhaps a little wider. The MH's neck was pretty narrow up on the nut end of the neck. The upper fret access and body contours are much more comfortable to me on the Torero than the EC, but keep in mind this is coming from a person who does not find the EC particularly comfortable or favorable to play. The 25.5" scale length is also longer (Fender scale), so the bridge position is a little farther down the body. The neck heel on the Torero is shown in some picks above, and I find it quite comfortable to solo on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCWYeO8tFPY :twisted:
-AJH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCWYeO8tFPY :twisted:
-AJH
adewsuisse
Member
That's helpful, thanks.
I have an Esp Eclipse II and an EC-400. MesaENGR412 has it right. The Eclipse neck is not as wide at the nut. The Eclipse neck is the more rounded C as opposed to the Torrero' more oval shape. Also, the Eclipse II has 22 frets and thr Torero and EC-400 both have 24 frets. Also, the Torero is much heavier than either Eclipse guitar. I put a trem stopper and a big block from Floyd Upgrades in the Torero, and noe the guitar sustains better and it has a really beefy tone.
adewsuisse
Member
So, it seems that the consensus is that the Torero's neck is slightly wider and thinner than the Eclipse. Sounds good.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Kenjifujima
New member
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2011
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
I do not think, but I do not think this guitar is really needed. My Other Guitars sold once I got were 18 volts, and the sound of the new logo is quite cruel EMG exactly 9 volts.
