Notes from a trip to the local guitar shop today : )

[Lucien2]

Headed over on a whim since the got in a PRS...DTG 10 Top and here are my musings after picking up about a dozen things:

Some PRS SE's play as well as, if not better than, some of the USA examples. If I were still working a lot, I'd be tempted to take the SE of my choice and swap in kickass pups and wiring and call it a day. Taken together, I was quite disappointed with the consistency and overall feel of the USA PRS instruments, especially the necks

To my hands, all the EBMM's were way more consistent and playable, regardless of model or nut width or radius

I kind of fell for the JP neck, although again, I liked them all

Schecter offers a hell of lot of guitar for $800. Most of the Fenders in this range felt like garbage.

Ibanez AZ Prestige necks surprised me, in a good way.

TLDL I went to fall in love with a PRS and instead went home to my used $1600 Luke 2 and will wait for the right Pink Champagne Valentine to come my way LOL

 

[racerx]

Nice, enjoy - they're all great. We're fortunate to live in the golden age of guitars and basses. There is tons of value and quality everywhere to be found.

The Luke is my favorite guitar too, must be some mojo left over from the Mesa Racks.

 

[Lucien2]

Nice, enjoy - they're all great. We're fortunate to live in the golden age of guitars and basses. There is tons of value and quality everywhere to be found.

The Luke is my favorite guitar too, must be some mojo left over from the Mesa Racks.

you can say that again; if you're starting out (or even if you're not) and you have $500, you can get a really good guitar. Can't say that was the case 25 years ago, adjusting for COL. and to be fair to Fender, I played a couple decent ones, just that the consistency from one example to the next was noticeable. I wouldn't love ordering one online without playing it first but hey, some of them were fine.

I'm not even a year in to my EBMM after 25 years of just strats, so maybe I'm still in the honeymoon but I gotta tell ya, every single one in there was a great player. 4 JP's, an AL, and a Luke III.

 

[msquared]

I agree with everything in the OP 100%. I've owned a few US made PRSes and they're great guitars but great googly moogly they have hit on something special with the SE line now that they've got their own factory over there. I went the route of getting one and swapping out some things (pickups, tuners, bridge) and was blown away at how much guitar I got for having spent so little.

I have since sold all my PRSes for EBMMs and some other things but the Hollowbody II SE and the Fiore are on my radar for sure.

I've also really been impressed with the Schecter instruments lately. I've almost pulled the trigger on a Cutlass because I really want a HSS with a roasted maple neck but I can't get behind the V profile. I think Schecter is going to carry the day for me there.

 

[Lucien2]

Schecter was actually my gateway drug to EBMM, believe it or not. I had 2 Strats for 25 years and then during lockdown decided I wanted a tele. Wife said "You can have a new guitar, but it can't be another vintagey variation of what you already have. Get out of your comfort zone. Oh, and try to keep it around a grand" LOL

so it's lockdown, can't go try anything, just a zillion video reviews and ended up with a PT SLS Elite- tele body, ERNIE BALL compensated nut 24 SS jumbo frets, Wizard-style neck, Fishman Modern HBs. It...yea. It opened my eyes. Never quite bonded with the pups until I swapped them for Classics (and since they are solderless that was literally a 3 minute affair) and that made the thing damned near perfect. Then I was like "WHOA what else is out there under the radar that I am missing out on?" and that exploration led me to EBMM. Aaaalmost bought a Valentine trem from Chuck Levin's but the color was just so drab...natural satin with a tortoise pickguard (almost 2 years on and it's still there) and then this Luke II Piezo popped up at my local shop and that was that. I traded in my '94 RI and haven't looked back.

Aaaaanyways, yea Schecter isn't just pointy guitars for pimply kids. I think they get in their own way with the marketing bias in that direction, but the Retro series has a ton of cool stuff in it. And then there is the American made range but now you're getting into Anderson/PRS/custom boutique builder territory which is not a place to experiment unless you're a dentist LOL

 

[peterd79]

been a long time since I’ve posted.

Home with Covid so might as well catch up some.

I played EBMM and SBMM guitars for nearly 15 years. Love them to pieces. I took a trip to Nashville and went to “the garage” got my hands on a “59 and was floored. Nothing I had compared to it… at the time I had a ‘52 Custom Shop T and a ‘54 Custom Shop S and figured I’d sell those and try to pick up the reissue ‘59.
But run across a used PRS SE single cut and tried my luck there. Dropped in the set of Dragon II pickups I had layin around and upgraded the electronics with what I had on hand and was floored. The amount of guitar I got for relatively little was impressive. I bought a 10-top McCarty single cut and can’t say it’s any better than my SE.

 

[Astrofreq]

When I bought my first EBMM in 1992, it was between an EVH model and a PRS. I have never regretted the decision to use EBMM guitars.

 

[coreytree]

Schecter was actually my gateway drug to EBMM, believe it or not. I had 2 Strats for 25 years and then during lockdown decided I wanted a tele. Wife said "You can have a new guitar, but it can't be another vintagey variation of what you already have. Get out of your comfort zone. Oh, and try to keep it around a grand" LOL

so it's lockdown, can't go try anything, just a zillion video reviews and ended up with a PT SLS Elite- tele body, ERNIE BALL compensated nut 24 SS jumbo frets, Wizard-style neck, Fishman Modern HBs. It...yea. It opened my eyes. Never quite bonded with the pups until I swapped them for Classics (and since they are solderless that was literally a 3 minute affair) and that made the thing damned near perfect. Then I was like "WHOA what else is out there under the radar that I am missing out on?" and that exploration led me to EBMM. Aaaalmost bought a Valentine trem from Chuck Levin's but the color was just so drab...natural satin with a tortoise pickguard (almost 2 years on and it's still there) and then this Luke II Piezo popped up at my local shop and that was that. I traded in my '94 RI and haven't looked back.

Aaaaanyways, yea Schecter isn't just pointy guitars for pimply kids. I think they get in their own way with the marketing bias in that direction, but the Retro series has a ton of cool stuff in it. And then there is the American made range but now you're getting into Anderson/PRS/custom boutique builder territory which is not a place to experiment unless you're a dentist LOL

"Aaaalmost bought a Valentine trem from Chuck Levin's but the color was just so drab...natural satin with a tortoise pickguard (almost 2 years on and it's still there)"

hahahahaha - I bought the very guitar you're talking about from Chuck's yesterday and absolutely love it. So glad you passed on it! haha And I love the wood look. ;-)

 

[Fusionman]

"Aaaalmost bought a Valentine trem from Chuck Levin's but the color was just so drab...natural satin with a tortoise pickguard (almost 2 years on and it's still there)"

hahahahaha - I bought the very guitar you're talking about from Chuck's yesterday and absolutely love it. So glad you passed on it! haha And I love the wood look. ;-)

View attachment 40129

My favorite valentine finish by far. Classic and simple. I’d wager that gtr is far more open sounding than a heavy poly finish.

 

[jayjayjay]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I think EBMM guitars are about the best value on the market these days. I'd put them up against any guitar from any boutique shop, and wager they play comparably, including models going for several times over the asking price of an EBMM.

 

[Lucien2]

"Aaaalmost bought a Valentine trem from Chuck Levin's but the color was just so drab...natural satin with a tortoise pickguard (almost 2 years on and it's still there)"

hahahahaha - I bought the very guitar you're talking about from Chuck's yesterday and absolutely love it. So glad you passed on it! haha And I love the wood look. ;-)

View attachment 40129

the neck on that one is AMAZING.....I'm glad it found a home, I was thinking if it was still an orphan after the holidays I was going to have to go back LOLOL