icarri
Member
I have just purchased this PRS Vela to complement my 2005 20th Anniversary McCarty (modded with \m/ bridge pickup) and my SE Zach Myers (modified with the McCarty bridge pickup, cream pickup rings and switch and chrome covers).
To be honest after buying the Zach Myers past year as backup to with the McCarty I had my guitar GAS cured but... of course it just laster another year.
Despite being mainly a hard rock/metal guy, a few months ago all the sudden I felt the need for a single coil guitar, specially for that neck single coil for cleans or edge of breakup tones (I'm about to be 50, that might be it). My first idea was to go for the "single coil brand" and buy a Telecaster. For a few months I checked different places for used teles, added some to my watch list and even negotiated with a few guys and when I was almost sold on one then a barely used 2021 Vela appeared listed in a second hand app in my country (Spain) for $1k. He claims purchased it because he was joining a band with friends but finally he didn't and left the guitar untouched for three years until the decided to move to a new house and to sell it.
I just couldn't resist. I have always liked offset shaped guitars, it has a single in the neck and double in the bridge, both low output, all black, satin finish, low weight.
I checked some youtube videos about it, read this forum and the FB prs group etc and it all just confirmed that I had buy it and I did.
First impression when receiving it was a disappointment, not because the guitar as it was really brand new as he claimed, not a single sign of being used ever, but because the guy didn't send the cardboard tag with the guitar serial, year, tech that reviewed it etc that all PRS come with. I phoned him and he looked surprised and said that he never got it from the shop where he purchased it from, showed me invoice on his name etc so it all looks correct but... I would have offered him maybe less for not having the guitar docs as it can lower the guitar value. I don't plan on selling it but still bothers me a bit to not to have it. The rest of things came in the bag, the adjustment tools, warranty etc.
Now the interesting part, the guitar impressions. Simply WOW!! Love the shape not only because the look but also because how confortable it is. The low weight is incredible, feels like a fake guitar. I used to own a Les Paul 20 years ago that sold because it was killing my back. Then moved to the McCarty that felt much more confortable, then a year ago I got the Zach Myers than is already way lighter than the McCarty but now the Vela is much much lighter. It feels weight wise like an SG or even lighter but totally balanced not diving to the neck like SGs do. In fact i'd say that the Vela is like the evolution of an SG inbreed with a Tele, with the best of each. Masterpiece by Paul!
The bridge is like the Tele one but with 2 brass saddles instead of 3 and more adjustable and the strings look like if the were going through the body but they do not, it's a really smart system, going through the bridge but staying there. Along with the locking tuners it's so easy to restring and its stays in tune perfectly.
While my original idea was to keep it to play at home when I don't want to go heavy, after seeing how confortable it is, change my mind and decided to try using it my main axe at least for rehearsal. I put my usual 10-52 strings, tuned to Drop C# that my band used and plugged it into my Fractal FM3 band patches (Archean, 5150 Stealth or Mesa Mark IV for high gain, Fender deluxe for cleans) and WOW again. Clean sounds are so... clean, the neck pickup is so warm yet sparkling, no surprise here, I knew I would love it and it was what I was looking for, kind of a powerful single or into P90 territory. The bridge one surprised me, even in humbucker mode it has the sparkle of a single coil but of course with no hum a more power despite being fairly low output. Then for high gain I had to raise the gain a bit in the amps models with the bridge pickup but the low output ads clarity, again like playing a single coil or P90 instead of a humbucker. This bridge pickup has really surprised me. I know it's Asian made (PRS S2 series are USA made with imported electronics) but I don't see myself replacing it anytime soon. The neck pickup is also Asian but it's the best thing of this guitar, no way I would replace it either. The negative point is the pickup switch, it's really bad, it already fails from time to time when switching to the neck position, I need a replacement asap as I can't risk using it live, might also change the Volume and split Tone pots in the process. Not sure if to order original PRS ones or just switchcraft switch and some quality pots I can find in Amazon Spain (we don't have that many options here for replacements).
I really love it much more than expected, the McCarty is my heart, it's been with me for 15 years, in live gigs when I was younger and nothing can beat it's top 10 look and with the \m/ at the bridge is a rock machine, but... the Vela is more confortable, weights less and it's going to become my main guitar at least for a while. I guess I'm getting old and wiser and I'm starting to enjoy more low output pickups (I also own an ESP Viper with emgs 81/85 from my youth but barely play it) so I might put the McCarty bridge pickup back in the McCarty so the output difference with the Vela is not that big so I don't need different patches in the Fractal.
Sorry about the long post, I'm really really excited about this and GAS is cured... by now, what else do I need? (NF3... NF53... explored shaped PRS...**** here we go again)
Here is a family picture I just took, the ESP Viper is missing but wanted to keep it PRS only for this pic:
To be honest after buying the Zach Myers past year as backup to with the McCarty I had my guitar GAS cured but... of course it just laster another year.
Despite being mainly a hard rock/metal guy, a few months ago all the sudden I felt the need for a single coil guitar, specially for that neck single coil for cleans or edge of breakup tones (I'm about to be 50, that might be it). My first idea was to go for the "single coil brand" and buy a Telecaster. For a few months I checked different places for used teles, added some to my watch list and even negotiated with a few guys and when I was almost sold on one then a barely used 2021 Vela appeared listed in a second hand app in my country (Spain) for $1k. He claims purchased it because he was joining a band with friends but finally he didn't and left the guitar untouched for three years until the decided to move to a new house and to sell it.
I just couldn't resist. I have always liked offset shaped guitars, it has a single in the neck and double in the bridge, both low output, all black, satin finish, low weight.
I checked some youtube videos about it, read this forum and the FB prs group etc and it all just confirmed that I had buy it and I did.
First impression when receiving it was a disappointment, not because the guitar as it was really brand new as he claimed, not a single sign of being used ever, but because the guy didn't send the cardboard tag with the guitar serial, year, tech that reviewed it etc that all PRS come with. I phoned him and he looked surprised and said that he never got it from the shop where he purchased it from, showed me invoice on his name etc so it all looks correct but... I would have offered him maybe less for not having the guitar docs as it can lower the guitar value. I don't plan on selling it but still bothers me a bit to not to have it. The rest of things came in the bag, the adjustment tools, warranty etc.
Now the interesting part, the guitar impressions. Simply WOW!! Love the shape not only because the look but also because how confortable it is. The low weight is incredible, feels like a fake guitar. I used to own a Les Paul 20 years ago that sold because it was killing my back. Then moved to the McCarty that felt much more confortable, then a year ago I got the Zach Myers than is already way lighter than the McCarty but now the Vela is much much lighter. It feels weight wise like an SG or even lighter but totally balanced not diving to the neck like SGs do. In fact i'd say that the Vela is like the evolution of an SG inbreed with a Tele, with the best of each. Masterpiece by Paul!
The bridge is like the Tele one but with 2 brass saddles instead of 3 and more adjustable and the strings look like if the were going through the body but they do not, it's a really smart system, going through the bridge but staying there. Along with the locking tuners it's so easy to restring and its stays in tune perfectly.
While my original idea was to keep it to play at home when I don't want to go heavy, after seeing how confortable it is, change my mind and decided to try using it my main axe at least for rehearsal. I put my usual 10-52 strings, tuned to Drop C# that my band used and plugged it into my Fractal FM3 band patches (Archean, 5150 Stealth or Mesa Mark IV for high gain, Fender deluxe for cleans) and WOW again. Clean sounds are so... clean, the neck pickup is so warm yet sparkling, no surprise here, I knew I would love it and it was what I was looking for, kind of a powerful single or into P90 territory. The bridge one surprised me, even in humbucker mode it has the sparkle of a single coil but of course with no hum a more power despite being fairly low output. Then for high gain I had to raise the gain a bit in the amps models with the bridge pickup but the low output ads clarity, again like playing a single coil or P90 instead of a humbucker. This bridge pickup has really surprised me. I know it's Asian made (PRS S2 series are USA made with imported electronics) but I don't see myself replacing it anytime soon. The neck pickup is also Asian but it's the best thing of this guitar, no way I would replace it either. The negative point is the pickup switch, it's really bad, it already fails from time to time when switching to the neck position, I need a replacement asap as I can't risk using it live, might also change the Volume and split Tone pots in the process. Not sure if to order original PRS ones or just switchcraft switch and some quality pots I can find in Amazon Spain (we don't have that many options here for replacements).
I really love it much more than expected, the McCarty is my heart, it's been with me for 15 years, in live gigs when I was younger and nothing can beat it's top 10 look and with the \m/ at the bridge is a rock machine, but... the Vela is more confortable, weights less and it's going to become my main guitar at least for a while. I guess I'm getting old and wiser and I'm starting to enjoy more low output pickups (I also own an ESP Viper with emgs 81/85 from my youth but barely play it) so I might put the McCarty bridge pickup back in the McCarty so the output difference with the Vela is not that big so I don't need different patches in the Fractal.
Sorry about the long post, I'm really really excited about this and GAS is cured... by now, what else do I need? (NF3... NF53... explored shaped PRS...**** here we go again)
Here is a family picture I just took, the ESP Viper is missing but wanted to keep it PRS only for this pic:
