PRS P20e Parlor Mini-Review.........

[CASD57]

Just did a hour practiced plugged in... Very Nice!
Definitely sounds like a full-size guitar and I can't find a quack there or anywhere lol
This might just be a keeper...............

I need to lower the saddle a bit... but I'm worried with my heavy hand at times I might get a buzz with the shorter scale....

I loving it now for sure...

[darylcrisp]

Originally Posted by jimmy bookout

It's also a $500 guitar....$500 dreads sound OK until you put them in the room with a D28. Excuse the stating of the obvious but...there is no free lunch.

Listen to the wee Lowden!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoJ8YCce51k

It is notable that coaxing tone out of a small box is tough, the Santa Cruz Firefly was very disappointing IMO and Santa Cruz is a GREAT guitar company.

i agree with JB here. what we have to remember is how small these guys are. i've wanted a really small parlor size guitar for years, but they all have had too small fretboard widths or scale lengths, the size makes them comfortable, but the small boards really cramp me and i end up having more tension in my hands trying to play them-if you watch the guy in the video you can see his right hand movement, he's working to get it in that small area. and i am not a dedicated blues type player so the boxy dry tone never appealed to me.
this PRS is neat for me in that it offers a 24+" scale length, it offers decent space with the strings at the bridge end, the nut end string spacing can be opened up another 1/8" without sliding off either fretend side i feel pretty sure, hope to have time to cut a new nut and try that before this one heads back to its owner.
i also like the note quality of this PRS. it rings full and true going up the fretboard, so many of these little guitars sound dead once you get past the 5th or 7th fret.

now its a little box. its not going to outdo an 0M, and i don't think it can project as loud and clean as the Martin 00-18, but for $500 its a very cool vibe and couch guitar. can be made to play easy , clean with no buzzing, and a pretty note quality. packs easy, lightweight, you don't have to worry about it. and as i've been doing a little manipulation these past few days on this one, it reacts in a positive manner to some small hotrodding. you have some space to work with and the materials it is built with are very nice.

to expect more out of this small body guitar, it would be like hooking up a fully loaded utility trailor of firewood to my Scion Xa and complaining that it lacks in pulling capability compared to my Nissan truck that has a towing package.

d

[RP]

Originally Posted by darylcrisp

...To expect more out of this small body guitar, it would be like hooking up a fully loaded utility trailer of firewood to my Scion Xa and complaining that it lacks in pulling capability compared to my Nissan truck that has a towing package.

d

I've got to admit that this PRS Parlor is growing on me, and I'm even getting used to its tone and relatively narrow fretboard. I'm starting to rethink many of the songs that I play and those I'd like to learn in the way that ukulele players must rethink playing tunes on their instruments. Thanks to Daryl and others who led me in this direction...

[jpd]

Originally Posted by CASD57

Just did a hour practiced plugged in... Very Nice!
This might just be a keeper............... but I'm worried with my heavy hand at times I might get a buzz with the shorter scale....

I loving it now for sure...

There ya go! It's an adjustment that can create confusion when you change from a large acoustic to smaller...especially if you do not use a pick or finger picks. Now have some fun with all the strings you can try

[K20C]

Based on the strength of the YouTube reviews, I purchased one a couple of weeks ago. It’s the E version with natural mahogany top.

Those reviews touted how the guitar was in tune right out of the box and the action was so perfect, it was like playing an electric guitar. They hedged a little bit on the sound quality, but I kind of expected that. Years ago I had a small-bodied Epiphone guitar (so I could play like Keb Mo...lol). I didn’t keep it long. I didn’t care for the sound, at all. Compared to my larger Martins and Taylor’s....well, you can imagine.

The “influencers” must get special guitars that have been tweaked by the manufacturer before carefully delivering them to the artist. Mine came with the action uncomfortably high. A $50 set up cured that. The sound can’t be so easily fixed. It sounds like my Epiphone from years ago, compressed and brittle when played unamplified.

On the other hand, it sounds really good when plugged in. I ran it through a little Yamaha THR amp and it sounds excellent in both acoustic and electric modes. That, and the sub-$600 price tag saves the guitar for me. I think it’s a keeper, at least for now.

One other note, I had the pick guard removed. I think it looks better.

[CASD57]

Originally Posted by K20C

Based on the strength of the YouTube reviews, I purchased one a couple of weeks ago. It’s the E version with natural mahogany top.



Those reviews touted how the guitar was in tune right out of the box and the action was so perfect, it was like playing an electric guitar. They hedged a little bit on the sound quality, but I kind of expected that. Years ago I had a small-bodied Epiphone guitar (so I could play like Keb Mo...lol). I didn’t keep it long. I didn’t care for the sound, at all. Compared to my larger Martins and Taylor’s....well, you can imagine.



The “influencers” must get special guitars that have been tweaked by the manufacturer before carefully delivering them to the artist. Mine came with the action uncomfortably high. A $50 set up cured that. The sound can’t be so easily fixed. It sounds like my Epiphone from years ago, compressed and brittle when played unamplified.



On the other hand, it sounds really good when plugged in. I ran it through a little Yamaha THR amp and it sounds excellent in both acoustic and electric modes. That, and the sub-$600 price tag saves the guitar for me. I think it’s a keeper, at least for now.



One other note, I had the pick guard removed. I think it looks better.

I agree on everything, and it does sounds really good plugged in,