PRS chases the Strat market!

[1990hollow-t]

Seems like Mr Smith having pursued the Gibson route has now branched out firmly into Strat territory with a new bodied 'three single coil' guitar....

http://www.prsguitars.com/nf3/

and another variant...

http://www.prsguitars.com/dc3/

Lets hope for him its more sucessful than his early 90's EG series!

[Pietro]

A buddy just got a great deal on what I think is a Custom 22 with a maple neck and 3 P90s, wired really wierd. You get some AMAZINGLY strat-ty tones on it.

PRS makes an amazing guitar. I love mine.

[tom]

i guess now that fender lost their trademark application on the body shape we'll see even more strat shaped guitars. heaven knows we don't have enough already:D

[jbbusybee]

That just doesn't hang well together for me.

I think he does other 3 pick up models that work better.

Visually that is

[dannopelli]

Three on a side headstock looks awful on that body. Sorry, I have three PRS but that is just not doing it for me.

[tom]

interesting that they chose korina for the body wood too.

[markus]

Hmmm... not a big fan I have to admit. I'm with danno on this one, the standard PRS headstock just doesn't look right for that body shape.

[chriswhite]

doesn't Korina sound a lot like Mahogany?

[wolf]

PRS have totally sold out.

When I was a kid I had pics on my wall because they were so special and seemingly unobtainable.

Now he's bringing out new models every day of the week.
I think he must need a new house or a new Ferrari instead of focussing on the instruments... Money Money Money

I sold my PRS and everything associated with it.

[SonicGator]

interesting that they chose korina for the body wood too.

Tom, what are your thoughts on Korina/Limba as a body wood? Not specifically related to any one model, but in general.

[strat56]

They seem OK to me.

The headstock is their trademark, it identifies it as a PRS.

I wonder if this means they're going to discontinue the 305's? The DC3 is pretty much the same guitar with a slightly shorter scale and a pick guard.

[BFC]

Played a couple new ones the other day. I'll stick with Tom's guitars.

[1990hollow-t]

I've had loads of PRS over the years. Bought my first in 1987 in those pre Tom Anderson days. At the time they were a revelation in guitar building terms. I was always a Fender man and these offered me some great Fender tones back then...but I never really gelled with the guitar as a whole. Took me years to realise that it was the carved top cos I rest my spare pinkies on the top when I pick.I still have an old v.yellow 86 Custom gathering dust though.
Over the years PRS has gone off in search of that elusive Gibson 59 tone...his tonequest, now by his own admission he is about as far down that road as he can go, so I guess he's gone back to the well and is now going after Fender's market share. Can't blame him Strats sell ! Its the way of the manufacturing modern world....everyone makes everything....choice is infinite....you want it?.....We got it! Its good in a way.....progress,maybe.....but then brands get diluted.
However that body shape doesn't lend itself well to weird pickguards and three a side tuners in my eyes.Korina bodies? Thought that phase had passed once more. I'll stick with TA for the super St**ts and T**es. Good luck Paul.

[Pietro]

I'll stick with TA for the super St**ts and T**es. Good luck Paul.

Well, I can tell you I've played a lot of PRS's that I didn't like, but the one I own, and the 3 P90 one that my buddy just got are just about perfection. The workmanship on their guitars is stunning. The balance is great. the sound is great. They play like butter.

I think PRS does an AMAZING job of a big-production-run guitar. And I'd very much love to play one of these. I think they look great, and I'll be they sound great.

Yes, my main babies are still Andersons, but if there wasn't an Anderson Guitarworks (heaven forbid), there would be a lot of choice out there, and PRS would be near the top of my list for sure.

[rfmason]

I had a chance to play both yesterday and thought both sounded and played great. I preferred the DC3 (alder body w/single coils) over the NF3 (korina). The DC3 clean tones were nicer to my ears. Aesthetically, I don't have a problem with either the body shape or the headstock. But their proprietary single coil pickups don't quite look right to me. Can't say that either would surpass my trusty TA HTC, but these were both very nice guitars.

[dannopelli]

Hey don't get me wrong. I enjoy my PRS guitars. They play well and sound good too. Really dig my Hollow I, my Standard 22 is super versatile, especially since I had the five way rotary dial removed and installed McCarty switching, and my Singlecut sounds surprisingly LP like. So I am not in any way dissing PRS

More so, even though they are a high volume producer, Paul insures his products are excellent quality. You have to respect that too.

I just don't like that three on a side headstock on that body. That is all. I am sure they play and sound good. Just was commenting on my aesthetic preferences.

[octatonic]

To be fair PRS have done this sort of thing before.
The EG model from the late 80's or early 90's.

They aren't my favourite model but they are decent guitars.

I quite like the idea of the NF3.
The covered pickups do nothing for me visually but will reserve judgement until I hear them.
I do agree they need to rethink the headstock for this body style.

[GuitArtMan]

What's odd is they went with a 25 1/4" scale. What's up with that? The 305 has a 25 1/2" scale, but arched top and set neck. Weird.

[rfmason]

What's odd is they went with a 25 1/4" scale. What's up with that? The 305 has a 25 1/2" scale, but arched top and set neck. Weird.
Yeah, it's kinda strange that they switched from the 305 specs. I was told by a reliable source that PRS wanted to go with the 25 1/4" so that the new guitars would have a slightly slinkier feel when bending strings.

On another topic, I would really like to hear a side-by-side comparison with the PRS NF pickups and the TAG M series.

[Jason G]

Whoa! How can anyone here throw dirt at PRS for duping a body shape while alot of players here strap one on everyday... not because they are playing a Fender but because they are members here...you know what I mean? That just seems like a double-standard. Furthermore, the PRS is at least a 3x3 headstock not a 6 on a side. Nobody will buy that who wants a strat, but some folk most assuredly will buy a Classic T, Hollow T, Suhr, Grosh, etc, "tele" or "T-Style" over a Fender Telecaster. What's the difference? If a royalty is being paid to Fender buy these makers, please seriously let me know? Otherwise, just the hard, darn truth.

[tom]

i went back and read all the posts and only wolf's sounded offensive to me. others didn't care for the 3 on a side headstock, they're just commenting about their cosmetic like s or dislikes. your comments jason seem seem the most fueled. i got way more grief than this when i did a single cutaway guitar. people can like or dislike whatever they want. i think this thread is filled with plenty of prs likers. many here also own fenders. any time anyone shows a new model, whether it's a guitar or a car, you have to expect comments about how it looks wrong. we are creatures of habit and most new things don't look "right" to us.

[rfmason]

So any speculation as to why they chose alder for the single coil model, but chose korina for the narrowfield humbucking pickup model?

[tom]

i wouldn't speculate.
someone asked about korina. it seems to have mythical qualities if you read the forums, but that has not been my experience.
it varies quite a bit in weight, like many woods, and i find it hard to believe that anyone making a quantity of guitars could keep the weight down. the guitars i made consistently have a "ash meets mahogany" character to them. i bit more high top end than mahogany and maybe just a bit deeper lows. but it was a harder top end that i didn't find to be magical. i missed the warm middle of mahogany. i've been consistently more enamored with nice weight mahogany than any of the korinas i have made. i'll say that my favorite korina was the one that's for sale here on the forum.

[markus]

Not sure about the throwing dirt at PRS here... it's all just opinions for the most part, maybe some more outspoken than others. I read Wolf's comment as his opinion about PRS's expanding product line, not that particular guitar shape. Anyway, personally I simply don't like a 3-3 headstock on an S-shaped guitar - just as much as I don't like a 6-in-a-row headstock on an LP style guitar like the Atom. Luckily (for me) the Bulldog came along... :D


Whoa! How can anyone here throw dirt at PRS for duping a body shape while alot of players here strap one on everyday... not because they are playing a Fender but because they are members here...you know what I mean? That just seems like a double-standard. Furthermore, the PRS is at least a 3x3 headstock not a 6 on a side. Nobody will buy that who wants a strat, but some folk most assuredly will buy a Classic T, Hollow T, Suhr, Grosh, etc, "tele" or "T-Style" over a Fender Telecaster. What's the difference? If a royalty is being paid to Fender buy these makers, please seriously let me know? Otherwise, just the hard, darn truth.