Hi,

I have an itch for a Les Paul shaped guitar ( currently have an Ibanez, strat style, wizard neck ) I have been studying Ebay and have found some good deals on the following..

PRS SE Mark Tremoli's
PRS SE Soap bar 1 and 2's
PRS SE 245
Vox SC-33 and SC-55's
ESP Ltd EC-10 and ESP Ltd EC-256P
Michael Kelly Patriot

Do any members own any of these guitars? I want to keep my guitar collection to a minimum and don't want to piss off the wife by spending a fortune on a real Gibson :) .

Hate to say it... but go to GC and see if there is a guitar that speaks to you. I had this same urge, was going to go w/ an Epi standard LP and ended up walking out w/ a Gibson Studio because the tone and playability were just out of this world. Cost about the same too ($700), so I'd say go in and try a few and see which ones speak to you.

I got my 2nd Carvin shipped to me on 2/1 and am absolutely in love with it.

http://www.carvinbbs.com/viewtopic.php?t=35099

WOW! those carvins look awesome..

Those PRS SE's are very good value for money. They are very well made.
Not my thing though, I play Jackson's & Ibanez. None of my guitars are stock. All of my guitars are heavily modified.
I only use EMG & DiMarzio pickups also. I don't like any other kind of pickups.

Those PRS guitars are nice & IMO are better than Epiphone

That Frank Gambale Carvin guitar is a real looker:-). I saw him demoing it on youtube.
It sounds really nice, it has a very rounded tone. My 2 main guitars are my custom modded
Jackson Dinky DK2(Best guitar I have ever played) & an Ibanez Paul Gilbert(hardtail).

The Ibanez is also a really nice guitar(It's very Eddie Van Halen/Malmsteen sounding).

BUT......."It's not in the equipment, it's in the fingers" - Eddie Van Halen.

I can pick up an SE for around £300 on the bay, there are also a lot of the Vintage V100's that come in a few nice flavours like a Peter Green modded lemon drop or a Slash look'a like for around £200! They have good reviews but the guitar shops round my way don't stock them so I can't give them a try... God this LP itch is getting worst...........

£300, Not bad at all!!! Are you looking at one with a trem?. I don't really use trems that much.
My Jackson Dinky has a Schaller made Floyd Rose Tremelo. But it isn't floating.
I hate floating trems. You lose alot of tone with a floating trem.

My Ibanez Paul Gilbert has DiMarzio PAF Pro's. They have that Gibson kibd of tone.
The fretboard is Maple, so it also has a very bright tone.

Get a PRS SE.........way better than an Epiphone.

My Jackson Dinky sounds and plays better than a Les Paul.
I don't like Les Pauls. I really like Gibson SG's. Les Pauls are to
heavy for my liking. SG's have great Sustain and I like the neck on them.
The neck on Les Pauls doesn't feel comfortable to me.

... My Ibanez has a floating tremolo which I have never used.
The electrics used to buzz like crazy, even after improving grounding/shielding ect eventually, last year, I fitted a set of EMG's in her and took the Duncan Designed pup's out along with everything else, now she is sweet, its my shred rig ( for when I learn how to shred),

Recently took her to a local Luthier to set the bridge up as I was struggling to set the action correctly and he found a couple high frets around 12th so I had all the fret leveled and dressed, guess the guitar always had that problem but as I had my action set high I never noticed..

Yeah, I like the PRS's over the Epiphone just based on the look of the headstock ( don't like the design or something :/ ). A friend of mine owned an Epi years back and had issues with the frets so traded it in for a pacifica, also when he compared it to other makes of LP's he found the Epi to feel "clunky", his words. Maybe they have improved since then?

Guitars are one of a kind. There are $3000 Gibson Custom Shop lemons and there are $100 Epi's that have tone and sustain for days. I have learned that you simply cannot judge an entire line or brand of guitars on a few samples, or even a stores worth of guitars. As soon as you write it off you won't even pick up that gem that will truly speak to you. Who cares how the headstock looks if it feels right in your hands and you find that it's easier to play than any guitar you've ever played? I don't even plug it in when I'm trying out new guitars... I just want something that feels right in my hand and has good acoustic tone... everything else can be changed (pups, hardware, pickguard, etc...) or fixed (tuning issues), but if it feels right and has good acoustics... that's all that counts for me.

I tried like 10 PRS SEs (at shops) and they all felt & played like dogsh!t. I also played the $4k PRSs at the same shops, and they were incredible. But, spending/saving that much doesn't match my skill level or patience level. Plus, I loved the idea of being able to spec out every piece of my guitars.

My advice to anyone is to only buy a guitar that you think is 'perfect' in your current mind's eye. If that means you need to save up more money for longer, then so be it. Otherwise the initial 'love it' period will only last a few months and you'll be looking to sell it and get something else.

Just bought a PRS SE soapbar locally for cheap :). Body has no major damage, little fret wear, crackle from the volume pot... I'm a sucker for something that requires some TLC...

I like the wide fat neck, seems to fit my hand well and my fingers don't feel so cramped up when pulling chords...

Finding it cheap means that I can afford to tinker with it a little, also when/if I wish to sell later on I should get close to what I paid for it back.

It also sounds really nice :D

Should stop my guitar buying itch for a while ;)

I had a PRS SC245 when they first came out. PRS makes some very beautiful production model guitars. The craftsmanship is excellent. Still, they all have this weird upper midrange bite to them that you just can't dial out. I've never been a fan of the tone.

The ESP's are ok, but I think they are ugly and I hate the fretmarkers, and the neck feels weird.

A nice Les Paul Standard or custom is the way to go if you want an LP shaped guitar.

... You will get no argument from me, I would love a nice les Paul standard.

On the bay I have watched a few go for a bag of sand but I would really like to play the one I plan to buy first plus I really can't pull the trigger on one until my playing is way better than it is now as I think les would turn in his grave if he heard me play :/ I suck!

"I really can't pull the trigger on one until my playing is way better than it is now"
I wouldn't let this hold you back. I was of the same mind, then a couple of years ago bought myself a nice Jackson custom for $2k. Whether or not I 'deserve' the guitar, I've played it most every day for the last two years. I justify it in terms of entertainment. $2k for 2 years of enjoyment for an hour or two every night seems like a bargain to me.

Hey diraben,

Nice pics. Damn it looks nice. You working on making a vid to demo the sounds?

:D

No pressure...... What was your first Carvin? Was that the HH2 that you sold?

Eh, I fizzled out on a demo. Shoot me 10-30 seconds of something you'd like played and I'll do my best with it on various clean settings.

I've owned 3 Carvins. My first was the red quilted CT624M that I used in the 'posting videos' thread. You know, the video where Ursin tore me a new one with his feedback (that I'm still trying to comprehend). Now that I think about it, the 2nd was a used HF2 (not HH2), and aside from the inlays it was the default specs. I really, really, like the feel of a tung oiled neck, so I wanted to sell it a month or so after I got it. But, instead of getting a custom holdsworth (which to be honest I don't think look all that attractive), I opted for the FG1. I was going to get the comparable SH model (675?), but since I already had the c22n/c22b combo in my solid body, I wanted the FG neck pickup in the semi-hollow.

I don't see myself ever parting with the CT624 or the FG.

Ok John, I felt guilty for saying yes and then no... I'm too much of a hack to give a proper demo, but here's something. You asked for clean so I set a channel on my amp to drive & master of 3 so as to not push the tubes. I ran it directly into Reaper. No effects outside or inside the box.

If you PDF me something to play on a particular setting, I'd do that for you at some point. Also, I was too lazy to add captions, so here's the order of the phrases. Both tone & volume knobs were max'ed.

1. Split coils - Neck.
2. Split coils - Middle.
3. Split coils - Bridge.
4. Humbucking - Bridge.
5. Humbucking - Middle.
6. Humbucking - Neck.



Sorry for the black screen pops. First time using Reaper for video so I probably chose bad render settings.

Hey diraben,

Thanks dude. They really sound sweet. I always like to hear the pickups clean. Again, big thanks.

John

I have a prs custom 22 that I paid $380 for at Guitar Center online and I like it a lot. My amp is a Fender blues jr . Mine was made in Korea great tone no dead spots.

Wenn Sie hier auf Links zu eBay klicken und einen Kauf tätigen, kann dies dazu führen, dass diese Website eine Provision erhält.

After having the soapbar about 2 months I have sold it to fund a mint condition PRS SE245 that I bought off Ebay...... I loved the feel of the soaps neck and shape so much that I couldn't resist the upgrade.

The 245 is a very nice guitar, the poor guy who sold it to me had hurt his hand badly in a circular saw accident and was selling his right handed guitars off so that he can buy a lefty and learn how to play it!..... Man, I can't even imagine how difficult it would be to start over left handed, the guy deserves a bravery award!