Opinion on PRS acoustics.
 

I was wondering if anyone here has played the Private stock PRS acoustics and if so, what did you think about them?

They seem to have some great endorsers such as Tony McManus, who has some great guitars such as Greenfields, and he still plays the PRS often.

I played a PRS several years ago and compared side by side with several Collings. In truth I liked the PRS sound much better. I was truly surprised and amazed.

I've played several PRS acoustics, including a few Private Stock acoustics. In each instance I was impressed with the kind of attention to detail PRS is known for.

Along side great guitars by Froggy Bottom, Goodall, and others, the PRS' were comparable in every way.

Cool to hear that some have tried these and really liked them. Seems like they weren't received warmly when they were first introduced.

When the PRS acoustics first came out several years ago, I was living in a small town east of Seattle. One afternoon, I and a couple of friends went into a small store in Bellevue to try them out.

We all agreed they were, at once, one of the more mediocre sounding and best sounding guitars we had ever played.

By that, I mean that, while playing the guitar, I was thinking, “for $7k, this guitar doesn’t sound all that great.” My friends, on the other hand were saying it sounded fantastic.

So, we switched off. Sure enough, when seated in front the guitar, it sounded amazing. But, from the player’s perspective, not so much.

I’ve played other guitars that displayed this characteristic, but not to this extent. If the store owner had been willing to be the least bit flexible with the price, I might have left with one. I haven’t played or seen one since.

Very interesting, thanks for sharing!

The PRS really SHINE here with Martin Simpson
 

The Tonare SE 40 sounds great on their website. Never had an opportunity to actually play one though?

I commented on another thread, but I'm looking forward to seeing and playing the new PRS acoustics that were just shown at NAMM. These are priced below $1,000 and are the same size and shape as the more expensive Angelus models. I'm particularly fond and enamored about the A50E, which has solid spruce top and flamed maple back and sides. Check it out here:

http://www.prsguitars.com/index.php/...ics/se/se_a50e

The video of Bryan Ewald playing it sounds really great I think. I'll be checking them out once a local guitar shop here in DFW has them!!

That guy in the video is a wonderful teacher.

Yes, very interested in the SE T40E and where this new redesigned line of affordable PRS acoustics leads... I think this model might turn out to be one of the dark horses of winter NAMM 2018

This is a $700 guitar and it includes a hard case at that price. The biggest challenge PRS faces is getting retailers to buy these and take a risk. I live in the fourth largest city in the US and of the 20 or so PRS dealers within a 60 mile radius none of them have any intent on stocking the SE PRS line of acoustics. If people in major cities can't put hands on them word of mouth is not going to spread.

"That guy" is a legend....

I was at the shop that I frequent for fingerstyle instruction when Tony McMannus showed up with his signature guitar and gave us all an impromptu half hour concert on his Signature PRS, as he was promoting them. He was plugged into a fishman acoustic amp and it was of course an amazing experience. A couple of weeks later I tried one of those guitars. I found it to be kind of heavy and not as good as I thought it would be and in the 6K price range with Brazilian and Spruce. I heard that the PRS guitars are not his favorite either but loves to promote them. I felt that there were many other guitars in that range that were better. I also understand that Tony McMannus can make a plastic toy guitar sound good.

I've played 3 Tonare Grand guitars all Cocobolo back and sides and one Angelus. I really like the Tonare Grand model. I wish they made it with a cutaway. The Angelus is a bit small for my tastes.

I think the US built PRS acoustics compete very well in the $3000-$6000 range. I think there can be some better options for your money personally like Goodall, Froggy Bottom and Santa Cruz. But the US built Tonare Grand guitars are quite impressive. They are very versatile, loud and responsive. They have a rich dark voice that I really like. The Angelus I played was $12k and for that money I'd buy a Ryan or Olson personally.

I played three or four of the handmade Paul Reed Smith acoustics at the tent the company had at the Fretboard Summit a couple of years ago. Mr. Smith himself was in there, but there's another luthier on his payroll who was also there who's actually in charge of building their acoustic guitars. I'm sorry that I can't recall that gentleman's name, but Mr. Smith was quite deferential to him.

The guitars themselves were fine instruments, very even across the tonal spectrum. Their playability was great, as were the materials used to make them. The fit and finish were what you'd expect from guitars in that price point, which is to say excellent.

The tone was similar to guitars built by high end custom builders like Mike Baranik and Jeff Traugott, and all of the guitars were very responsive to a light touch.


Wade Hampton Miller