Artist or PRS Hollowbody?

[Patzag]

Yes I know, not much of a debate, but still ... Anyone here play a PRS Hollowbody? I'm a little torn right now.
Of course, this is the wrong site to ask, but you guys are my buddies and I need some help.
It's not like I can even try the guitars where I am!

So I'm being tempted by the PRS Hollowbody. I love the tone of jazzy/bluesy guitars and these sound - what I've heard of them - quite amazing.
Im afraid to once again find myself confronted with a plank of wood feeling and have a short 3 week honeymoon phase and go back to playing my Classic full time!

Help!

(I don't even have the cash for either right now so it's almost moot. But dreams are extremely inexpensive and are the basis for future creation.)

[vjmanzo]

I have not played a PRS Hollowbody, and, despite my best efforts, I seem to have developed the biased opinion that I can dial in any guitar sound on a Fly (whether it’s true or not) So…having said that: a Fly Deluxe, with these flatwound strings (or similar), the piezo dialed up just right, and the right amp and reverb—and ya know: I think you’re there.

A Fly Artist might get you a little closer to the acoustic side of a Hollowbody sound, but if I was looking for that sound I’d be looking to strong-arm a Fly into sounding like a Hollowbody before I opened myself up to other non-Fly guitars and their seductive but commonly unfulfilling idiosyncrasies! #GuitarRelationships

[jester700]

Other than my MaxxFly guitars, my fave player is a Cort M800 - similar to the PRS hollowbody (I think it wa Cort's attempt at a copy before PRS contracted them to build the PRS import versions).

Very different beasts - and I think that's why I like it, for the variety. I also love the responsive, woody nature of the hollow. Lightweight, responsive guitars like Parker are as good as solidbodies get, but... the hollow is still better in this regard. I'm keeping both.

[Musikron]

A client of mine had a hollow body McCarty that is quite a nice instrument, and I'm not a PRS fanboy. They're nice and all, just not for me. I recall it being pretty light as well.

[syncopa]

Probably not a lot of help... But I have a PRS Tonare in parlor size, fully acoustic and it's an amazing guitar for its price point. It doesn't compete with my Taylor 712 CE, but again, at its price it definitely has the bang for the buck.

[Patzag]

I'm very undecided at this point.
I sold my Ibanez AS73 which was getting very little play time.
I still have a fully Hollowbody jazz box from Ibanez, JB style but not same price category. Sounds pretty good. A little hard to play. But it has that nice woody tone.

The Cort is intriguing. I'm sure they had to stop making them to get the PRS deal.

[chrissie_c]

I have a PRS Hollowbody II SE Piezo and absolutely love it, it's probably the most versatile guitar I have. I got a tech to add a pull-pot to give me a coil-split (dead easy - according to him!) and it does almost everything from soft jazz to metal. The build quality is superb too, I highly recommend it.

[Patzag]

I ordered a (used) Hollowbody SE. Arriving tomorrow. I'll report back.

[mmmguitar]

Congrats. Looking forward to reading about it.

[Patzag]

Well, it arrived, I played it and .......

The PROs. It's pretty, pretty well made, finish is a 4/5. Some small flaws on the inside of the f-holes otherwise very well finished. Nice fret job. Mine came upgraded with locking tuners and is stable as a rock tuning-wise, so that's very good. It's also very light (6 lbs) for a non-Parker.
Sound-wise, it's very dark, but very pleasant. So basically, it's a jazzy guitar. Not sure yet it I will keep it because:

The Cons:
It's a little top heavy and dives slightly with a nylon strap. It stays put with a strap with some grip, like a leather one. The neck is interesting. It's fat, but it does not bother me. I'm not sure its a con or a pro. What is a definite con is the frets. Although it's a perfect fret job, once you're used to Parker frets, these are like playing with sand. I will try polishing to see if that helps. It's dark sounding, s can't use it for much else than jazz, at least not without creating sounds for it.

Like I said, the verdict is still pending. I'll know in a few weeks. Do I play it or not? That's the final test.

[mmmguitar]

the verdict is still pending.

Thanks for updating us. Your impressions are in line with what I was expecting, and parallel my own experiences with "jazzier" guitars (including the sentiment of having been spoiled by the Fly).

[Patzag]

Funny enough, this experience kind of defused my obsessed lust for a Fly Artist.
The only problem is that it stirred an unhealthy desire for a Ken Parker Archtop.
Mostly unhealthy because I'll never be able to afford it. Much to my chagrin!

[mmmguitar]

Funny enough, this experience kind of defused my obsessed lust for a Fly Artist.
The only problem is that it stirred an unhealthy desire for a Ken Parker Archtop.
Mostly unhealthy because I'll never be able to afford it. Much to my chagrin!

FWIW, I’ve still got an eye out for an Artist, and cope with the lack of Parker arch top funds by playing my Flys through a Roland COSM model of a jazzbox. In this case, the Fly is the poor man’s Parker

[Patzag]

To add another chapter to this:

I took a few minutes to polish the frets and put on some new strings.
No change.

Nice guitar, but no cigar.

I'm now thoroughly disabused of looking for something else than a Fly. No matter how pretty, NOTHING PLAYS LIKE A PARKER!

It's just a fact.