...and today's lesson is "never say never" ? I've never really gotten on with Les Pauloids and I've never liked any PRS enough to buy it. ...until now.
Doing warrantee repair work for the (then) local Gibson distributor for ten years or so kinda soured me on the whole Gibson thing. Plus I've never been comfy on a LP anyway - I play up high on my chest, with my forearm resting on the edge and often strum right next to the pickup selector - none of which are remotely do-able on a LP. Don't get me wrong, a good Les Paul is a wonderful instrument in the right hands, but I've long thought those hands belonged to other people (like Pagey, Greeney and Moore). ?
The first chinks in my armour came from the Tokai LPs I reviewed a couple of years ago. Well made, good sounding and purty. I started really appreciating what a good Les Paul can do that no amount of mods can make a Strat do. Still not quite my cup of tea though.
The next chink came virtue of a Vintage Paradise Les Paul that was frankly too cheap to pass up - one of my occasional forays into "other" guitars just for interest's sake. It turned out better than I expected, with a big beefy neck and surprisingly good build quality. Rotating the switch 90 degrees and playing a little lower sorted out many of my issues and upgraded pickups (Tonerider alnico IVs) took it up another level soundwise.
The final chink came when I fitted a Graph Tech Reomax wrap-around to a friend's PRS Singlecut for a review. I picked the guitar up (even before the Resomax was fitted), strummed it once and it immediately "clicked". I heard myself utter the words "if you ever want to sell this guitar, call me first". Six months or so later he did and did. So I did. Interestingly he kept the Resomax for another of his PRSi...
Anyway, here it is. His old photos of the guitar (I'll get some more pics of my own and post 'em soon).
[EDIT] NEW PICS:
http://www.guitarforum.co.za/your-gear/ngd-prs-sc245-singlecut/msg229467/#msg229467
It's not a Les Paul, but is in the same vein. For my tastes, it's better than a LP. ? Wide fat neck profile, McCarty burst finish, 245 pickups (for those that pay attention to these things). One of the most resonant, acoustic-sounding guitars I've ever owned (only beaten by my Sanox). Sadly nothing's ever perfect out of the box for me - I'll likely change the pickups soon for something a bit more vintage voiced (the 245s are very modern sounding to my ear) and with less potting. The tuners are low ratio and non-locking, so I'll probably change them soonish too.
