Not For The Birds

Though there *are* birds fluttering around on the fretboard

Ah, I got to admit I’ve GAS. Don’t worry, no proctological details here, it’s “just” gear acquisition syndrome. Stupidly sold my Epiphone Les Paul Ultra III and had to get get a new Les Paul consequently. Chose a PRS SE “Bernie Marsden” signature guitar. Yes, he of Whitesnake. Never heard of them, actually. Read of him and the guitar in a magazine, though. He’s a cuddly bear now, no longer a Spandex-clad, long-haired rocker. He still has quite a hand with a guitar though, plus he has in his possession one of the legendary ’59 Gibson Les Pauls. A beauty of a ‘burst with the ominous name “The Beast”. In the Youtube videos about his signature PRS guitar, Bernie’s schtick goes like this: He told Paul (Reed Smith) to copy The Beast, if not literally then at least in spirit and in tone, and he told him to keep it affordable. Paul again goes to his Korean manufacturing contacts, they get to measuring and copying and changing and fine-tuning and lo and behold: something good comes out of it.
I’ve had this guitar for a few days now, here are some bullet points about what I like about it.

The neck profile is substantial and fits my hands quite well.

The (laminate, come on now, do be reasonable! There is a rather thick maple top beneath the veneer though.) flame maple top is a beauty. Indistinguishable from a Faded Vintage Sunburst with rather wild tiger stripes. Top borders are cleanly bound in cream plastic.

The bevelled cutout looks neat, helps while fretting high up the neck and distances the guitar from a pure ‘burst copy.

The neck pickup is growly and voluminous, the bridge pickup isn’t too nasal and I’m ok with the single tone pot.

It has the proper sustain for a Les Paul type guitar, it sings.

More to come.

About these ads