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1957 GT, 59' Burst compared to 2019 PRS by Tim Pierce & Howard Leese

Classic

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The Les Paul has a more exciting and complex sound than the PRS, which has a different eq (albeit slight) and less output.
 

Fried okra

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.............I was surprised to learn that Paul Kossoff's '59 Les Paul (owned by a private party) has an original old Seymour Duncan pickup installed decades ago in England when Kossoff owned the guitar. Howard Leese said that SD pickup is very hot.


I was even more surprised when I heard this farce. I immediately said WTF? Was Howard smoking pot when he spoke this nonsense. I emailed Tim and corrected this, which he gladly edited the video. Below is my email and his response.

Tim, Hello, my name is Kris Blakely I own the Kossoff burst. I let Howard play the Kossoff burst in Houston earlier this year. Howard is a great guy and fun to hang with. But he is wrong about Seymour. When Paul Kossoff broke the neck of the guitar in October of 1972 at the last Free concert, he had Sam Li (the same guy who repaired Greeny) repair the neck. At that time he also repaired the bridge PAF. Sam using a turntable, wound it backwards and then had to flip the magnet to correct the polarity. Kind of the same way he goofed up Greeny. Seymour never worked on the Kossoff burst. This is straight from Sam Li, Bharat and Phil Manzanera. Phil got it right after it was repaired and used it briefly with Roxy Music while Koss recovered, before giving it back. We found out all this info when Jon and I started working on the Koss prototypes. PS: The one I let Howard borrow is considered the Kossoff burst he used it from late 1970 till the day he died in 1976. The "all right now" burst was only used up until he acquired the Koss Burst. Koss did not use the one Howard played to record "all right now."

"Hey Kris thanks for your nice email, we are going to slice out the Seymour Duncan section of the video right now. We almost left it out just on instinct but, now we can be sure.. YouTube has an editor now that allows us to do this and it comes in very handy at moments like this. Thanks ! nice to meet you Tim"
 
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blewsbreaker

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Well, it's good to know that a new PRS can sound as good as a fake burst! :laugh2:
...And probably a fake goldtop. Finish doesn't look right to me on that one either.
This video reeked BS from the start.
 

Dave P

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You have to take YT videos with a grain of salt. Tim has the mission control setup going on there for recording, so who knows what the signal was going through, with outboard gear, pedals, IR's and whatnot...
Why not go to a PRS dealer and try one out and decide for yourself? I've met Paul a couple times, years ago I mentioned to him something about the pickups in the McCarty not sounding very PAF-like, and he told me that Ted McCarty told him how to make PAFs and they are exactly the same. LOL!! I remember checking out one of his amp demos at one of the TX shows, where he went on this long schpiel about reverse engineering some famous guy's old Marshall. He proceeded to demo the amp, which sounded nothing like an old Marshall. So, forget about what people tell you, and use your own judgement.
 

El Gringo

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Well, it's good to know that a new PRS can sound as good as a fake burst! :laugh2:
...And probably a fake goldtop. Finish doesn't look right to me on that one either.
This video reeked BS from the start.

Out of curiosity when you refer to a "fake burst" do you mean a chibson ?
 

Ace139

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I’m not able to compare my experience to real Bursts. But I have purchased a Suhr and PRS. They were both perfect and soulless, if you know what I mean. I love my CS Strat and Nicky CC. Returned the PRS and sold the Suhr after about year.
 

J.D.

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This is almost as bad as the curmudgeons on the Harley site talking about the new Indians.
 

Maxmc

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I listened to the vid through ATC's in a treated room and also though reference electrostatic headphones. Both I'd consider accurate transducers. The first clips sound overly processed and lack any kind of depth. The later clips are a little better. Bottom line the guitars sound more similar than not. Interesting video I guess.

What I don't understand is why some people get so defensive when videos are posted that don't seem to vindicate a point of view that there is some great tonal chasm either between Les Paul and PRS or new and vintage Les Pauls, etc. As if is wasn't about Jimmy, Duane, Eric or Pete but rather the tool they used.

Back to the video, while each guitar in that video has its unique tone, there is no easily identifiable qualitative difference between them. I could make stuff up, attack the recording gear, the amp, pretend my ears or so cultured that they can discern nuances that even elude canines but I think I'd just be kidding myself.

And really, what difference does it make anyway? I like Les Pauls, I like my Les Pauls. I don't want a PRS. No video will persuade me otherwise. I don't feel my Les Pauls are less good. I'm not threatened by some video that I feel a need to discredit it. At the end of the day, maybe the PRS aren't tonally as shallow, flat, uninspiring and derivative as I liked to believe even if their styling still is.
Well said. I own a strat, a Les Paul and a PRS. In the past I have owned a genuine burst. They are all different breeds of the same animal. I like them all for the variety of music I can produce with them. A burst is only as good as the person that plays it. ANY guitar is only as good as the person that plays it. We are talking about guitars here, not football teams. To start questioning the credibility of people like Howard Leese and Tim Pierce just to protect a sacred cow is a bit grimy I think.
 

57Strat777

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I own a PRS CE22 and CE24 from the 90's and these are really great guitars. These two are definitely keepers.

In the last 5 years I bought a PRS DGT, PRS NF3 and PRS DC3. All three of these were made either in 2011 or 2012. All three were complete duds. They lacked harmonic complexity, were unresponsive and dull. I would pick them up and play for 5 minutes and put the guitar back in the case because no magic ever happened on these guitar for me. I sold all three and I'm pretty much in the camp of I'll never own another PRS.

For me it is not so much about how the guitar sounds, but how it responds to varying input.
 

marshall1987

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I own a PRS CE22 and CE24 from the 90's and these are really great guitars. These two are definitely keepers.

In the last 5 years I bought a PRS DGT, PRS NF3 and PRS DC3. All three of these were made either in 2011 or 2012. All three were complete duds. They lacked harmonic complexity, were unresponsive and dull. I would pick them up and play for 5 minutes and put the guitar back in the case because no magic ever happened on these guitar for me. I sold all three and I'm pretty much in the camp of I'll never own another PRS.

For me it is not so much about how the guitar sounds, but how it responds to varying input.

Polyurethane finish is probably the culprit...I will not buy a polyurethane finished guitar ever again.:dang
 

57Strat777

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Curious if Tim was sponsored by PRS?


There are federal laws that require disclosure if the reviewer is compensated/sponsored in anyway for conducting the review/article/video. If Tim got free stuff or was paid by PRS for conducting the video, by law he should disclose that info. I didn't watch the whole video, so i don't know if he disclosed it. I didn't see anything about disclosure in the text below the video.

The world of product reviews is changing drastically over what it used to be. Many product reviewers are no longer unbiased because they are being paid or they receive free stuff from the manufacturer. Since they are being paid by the manufacturer there is going to be a predetermined outcome to the review. Be wary of any product review you see.
 
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boogieongtr

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May 16, 2006
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I also owned a couple of PRS guitars in the early 2000's. They played great but there was just a sterile feel, sold them within a month. I posted this video as an example of IMOP how the vintage market is loosing ground. The younger players who have never played a Burst see a video like this and may reply "I can spend $4K and get the same sound as a $400K Burst". One thing's for sure, there's a lot of PRS guitars being sold.
 

roxrob

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Mar 15, 2003
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I had a 2001 PRS Singlecut and it LOOKED beautiful and was brilliantly set up etc....but, do you know what, I never connected with that guitar. I gigged it extensively and it always stayed in tune etc etc, BUT it never sounded as good as my 2000 Gary Moore Signature. I really wanted to love the PRS and met up with Paul at a PRS event in the UK. He's a lovely guy and has a real passion for his craft,, but PRS guitars are not for me. Traded it in for a James Tyler Variax!!



Rob
 

marshall1987

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IMO Paul Reed Smith made a significant error in judgement with his decision to utilize acrylic and/or polyurethane finishes on his standard model line. PRS does finish most of their Private Stock guitars with lacquer.

Given that he was marketing his guitars to buyers who would otherwise buy a Gibson, he should have embraced nitro-cellulose lacquer just like Gibson has used all along. He should have obtained the appropriate air emission permits from the Maryland DEQ to allow PRS to spray lacquer finishes (which emit VOCs) on their entire model line. Sure, he would also have to incorporate air emission controls for his spray paint booths that sprayed acrylic and polyurethane, but so what!

Loyal Gibson players have never fully embraced acrylic/polyurethane finished guitars. And there's a good reason for that....they don't sound or look the same!
 
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