Stratocaster - Try again? Or punt...

Heh. Interesting story.

I ran up there around 10:30 (they open at 10). They set me up with the guitar and a PRS 15 watt amp (pretty kick ass little amp BTW.) I wanted to be deliberate and spend an hour playing before making a decision, but they damn thing played so well I decided not to waste any more time. Lance up there gave me a help on the price, and the deal was done.

Not 30 seconds after the card went through, one of the other sales guys asked Lance "Did you take the Gold one?" Yep, a couple was in there looking to play/buy.

Whew.

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I spent quite a few hours last night placing it through it's paces. This is the most versatile guitar I've ever played. Other Strats I've played, I had trouble finding a great sound based off of PUP selection, now I'm in the position where I have to decide WHICH great tone I want to use.

So, I guess I am a PRS guy now.
 
I spent quite a few hours last night placing it through it's paces. This is the most versatile guitar I've ever played. Other Strats I've played, I had trouble finding a great sound based off of PUP selection, now I'm in the position where I have to decide WHICH great tone I want to use.

So, I guess I am a PRS guy now.
Just curious, with a 7.25" non compound radius, can you do bends on the high E string above the 12th fret without it choking out? I remember on old strats you had to set the E string action pretty high.
 
Just curious, with a 7.25" non compound radius, can you do bends on the high E string above the 12th fret without it choking out? I remember on old strats you had to set the E string action pretty high.
What is "choking out"? I can bend as easily above the 12th fret on this guitar as any other guitar I own. Weird question.
 
What is "choking out"? I can bend as easily above the 12th fret on this guitar as any other guitar I own. Weird question.
Vintage strats with that radius impede the vibration of the high E string (B string to a lesser extent) when you bend, making the string sound weak & thin or even choking the string out completely. This is the exact reason many guitars now have a compound radius. Even the description on Wildwoods site refers to this but stops short of actually saying you can bend without the typical issues of a 7.25 radius: For additional vintage vibe, they gave the fretboard a 7.25" radius, which makes this guitar play like no other PRS on the planet. Guitars with 7.25" radii are usually easy to chord on, but a bit difficult to play leads and do big bends on. But, this is not your usual vintage-radius guitar! Paul Reed Smith took pains to make sure that the Silver Sky plays as beautifully as any PRS with a flatter radius, and discerning modern players will be amazed at its buttery handfeel.
 
What is "choking out"? I can bend as easily above the 12th fret on this guitar as any other guitar I own. Weird question.
Small-radius necks can present problems when bending the outer strings on the upper frets. The strings can fret out as they “climb the hill” of the radius. This problem doesn’t show up on higher-radius necks, because the “hill” isn’t so high or steep.
 
Small-radius necks can present problems when bending the outer strings on the upper frets. The strings can fret out as they “climb the hill” of the radius. This problem doesn’t show up on higher-radius necks, because the “hill” isn’t so high or steep.
Not a problem. People are weird.
 
Heh. Interesting story.

I ran up there around 10:30 (they open at 10). They set me up with the guitar and a PRS 15 watt amp (pretty kick ass little amp BTW.) I wanted to be deliberate and spend an hour playing before making a decision, but they damn thing played so well I decided not to waste any more time. Lance up there gave me a help on the price, and the deal was done.

Not 30 seconds after the card went through, one of the other sales guys asked Lance "Did you take the Gold one?" Yep, a couple was in there looking to play/buy.

Whew.
Congratulations for your new baby!
 
The trem bar is not something I've played with that much. I appreciate that it's basically a hard stop and can only drop. I like the design on the trem bar as well, can tighten it so it stays out of the way until you need it.

You're right @iaresee the guitar almost demands to be played. It's annoying since I didn't think I could burn through my finger callouses....yet I have over the last day. (Not that I'm going to actually stop playing.) It's 2 times more comfortable to play standing or sitting than my LP or Tele...good design. And it plays REALLY well with my short stature (5'6'' in wet socks.) And it's damn'd attractive. Pictures don't really capture just how nice the finish is. I went over it meticulously at WWood and could find no inconsistencies/dark spots/flaws. I'm not the type who would care about that should I find something, but to me it's an indication of just how much QC at PRS sweats the details.

Lance had mentioned that I should play it for a month, let it get worn in a bit, then bring it back in for a setup. The setup out of the bag was pretty much perfect. No hint of metal hangers on the frets (very smooth across the edges), intonation was 99% there, action not ridiculously low. I could hear some VERY minor fret buzz on one low string acoustically (A string, 4th fret I think), but it didn't translate to amplified behaviour.

Now I need to get off my @ss and start playing with a band again.

If anyone is considering one of these, don't hesitate.

R
 
What in the world is weird about asking if this guitar has the same problem as pretty much every other guitar has with a 7.25" radius??? If it's not an issue, that's great as I am interested in this guitar.
This is the signature guitar of an artist known for massive bends. Do you really think he’d spec it to make that kind of playing hard to impossible?
 
This is the signature guitar of an artist known for massive bends. Do you really think he’d spec it to make that kind of playing hard to impossible?
I have no idea what he would do (nor do I care. The fact that it’s an artist signature guitar has no bearing whatsoever on my interest in it! ) but I did notice on his demo of the guitar that he did not do any massive bands anywhere, let alone above the 12th fret! In fact he made a special point about saying that he plays out of tune all the time and showing very minor quarter tone bends. All I know is every other guitar I’ve ever played with that kind a radius chokes out big time bending the high Estring above the 12th fret and it gets worse the higher up the neck you go. Unless they have figured out a way to defy physics I’m guessing this guitar has exactly the same problem. It would be a simple yes or no answer. Yes it is an issue, no it isn’t. I don’t need the major attitude towards me for having the audacity to ask a logical question so I’m guessing the answer is really yes, it is a problem. No need to answer, at this point, I don’t really give a darn what your response or opinion is. I’ll find one and play it myself. If you want something done right, you got to do it yourself!
 
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Choking out on the "E" string on 7.25" and even 9.5" radius necks is absolutely a "thing" and has been known to be an problem for eons....hence the development of the compound radius neck.

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http://guitarless.com/2009/10/how-to-fix-buzzing-and-choking-string-bends-on-fender-guitars/

The advantage of a 7.25” radius is that it’s very comfy to play on – especially to fret chords. The disadvantage is that when you bend a string more than a tone or so, the frets further up the neck get in the way and choke-out/kill the note or the note buzzes.

If your bent notes are choking or buzzing on your 7.25” fingerboard however, you can try to adjust the action selectively. Basically what we’ll do is to ‘flatten’ the radius down at the bridge by raising the action of your top E and B string. This compensates (slightly) for the board’s radius and it may be enough that you can get away with your string bending. You’ll probably want to raise them so they’re as high as, or even higher than the G and D strings.

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Years ago the "12th Fret" in Toronto strongly recommended flattening my '76 Strat from 9.5" to a 12" radius to fix that known play-ability issue which allowed me to get much better action on the high "E" string in particular (as well as the "B" and "G" strings) so it wouldn't choke/buzz out during bends. They did just that and I've been enjoying a guitar with noticeably improved action/bending/ringing for decades because of that.

@electronpirate It's very cool your guitar doesn't exhibit this issue and they've worked around it somehow...awesome axe!
 
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