He says in the video it can/will continue to get worse and even exhibits a guitar he has named "Ghost", which is actually pretty cool once it's progressed that far.
Your '94 would've predated the ghosting problem which emerged in the late-90s and supposedly it's been fixed as of about 2015.
Blue Matteo is such an awesome color.Yep to clouding - a friend had his Blue Matteo 513 Rosewood refinished for this reason. What can also happen with V12 finishes is that it delaminates from the edge of the rosewood fingerboard - this is what is happening to my DGT. PRS said that in some rare instances the V12 finish just didn't like the oily nature of Rosewood and didn't adhere too well. It's not an issue as of yet, but PRS said to me when it becomes a problem they will refinish the guitar free of charge..... mind you that was now ten years ago.......
They refinished it under warranty.
I am pretty sure there were some clouding issues before the late 90's. It has been an issue with a small percentage of guitars for a long time. It also seems to happen to finish colors that have natural backs like Blue Matteo. My guitar that had the issue has a natural back.
They will fix it for a secondary owner but they charge for it. The last price I saw for this was around $700.
Send it here and I'll happily dispose of it for you, free of charge.I own a top10 2005 PRS McCarty 20th Anniversary with clouding. It's been my main axe for years, it's been through many gigs, pubs, rehearsal and van trips but it doesn't have a single ding so it really pisses me off to have this issue not caused by me.
It's not terrible but to be honest I'm really disappointed that such expensive guitar can have this kind of problem. I'd even feel better if it was just natural aging and fading/relicing but it's not natural looking at all. It drove me crazy at the begining, thinking I did something wrong while conserving my guitar, but I own others from different brands, kept in same conditions and none had this issue. Then I read about it in several places and realised it was just a PRS issue that will happen to any guitar around these factory years regardless of how careful you are.
I can't send it back to PRS as I bought it used 15 years ago, of course way before the problem started and they only cover it under warranty to the original buyer (I don't know why, I understand they are not forced by law for second hand but... they should be really embarrassed of this issue and offer a solution, doesn't have to be a free one but also not as expensive as it is).
It has also damaged a lot any potential resale value of this guitar, that otherwise could have been high with the years. Anyway I have just accepted it will be buried with me one day
I'm considering sending it to a third party luthier but... I'm scared they could ruin the guitar.
Other than that cosmetic issue, this is a really awesome guitar, so confortable and with a dream tone so I'm still a PRS fan... that pisses me even more as I don't think we deserve this.
Here are some pictures where you can see the white clouding, it's only really visible at the back of the horns and around the neck joint. You can also hint it at the horns front, specially at the long one, but it's way less noticeable luckily depending on the light. You can appreciate it more on the first and third pictures.
View attachment 140770View attachment 140771View attachment 140772View attachment 140773
Me first.Send it here and I'll happily dispose of it for you, free of charge.
Limiting warranties to the original is pretty normal, but I agree that as well documented as this problem is you'd think they'd be embarrassed by it and try to rectify it (sort of like product recall). If you ever decide to get it fixed, I'd probably inquire with PRS first though.
I have heard of PRS PTC doing work for owners who were not original buyers, but it is not a set policy. So yes, certainly run it by them before you make other decisions about how to resolve!
PTC will charge to refinish, and the cost will get you another used core iirc.
