Has anyone purchased or tried one of the new PRS Grainger production models? I'm looking at new basses and have always loved the finish on PRS guitars. I would like to know peoples thoughts on sound/playability before looking into it more.
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PRS Grainger Bass
- Thread starter Slpbass81
- Start date
Just got the new 4-string model. It came from Sweetwater yesterday, so I haven't had a chance to put it through its paces yet. I can tell you that it's a gorgeous instrument, extremely well built, very resonant unplugged, with an amazingly comfortable neck, nice low action, and easy fret access all the way up to the 24th fret. I'll know more soon...
RedLeg
Supporting Member
meh. must be nice to have a sig line, but a jazz bass will always be enough for me. that active passive layout seems a tad convoluted though.
BassHappy
Supporting Member
I went to Experience PRS this week and I bought one while I was there. Got a great price, 45% off list, on a 5 string and I got the back of the head stock signed by Gary Grainger, he plays in Paul Reed Smith's band and was there so I figured what could it hurt to ask. Nice guy, great player.
I used on a gig last night and here are my impressions:
Playability: Excellent, fretwork is great, neck radius, width and thickness is comfortable. The string spacing is good for me. The set up from the factory is pretty good, neck is very flat and action at the 12th fret is 3/32 on the B and 5/64 on the G. The edges of the fingerboard could be rolled a little more, they're a little sharp. The guitar is very responsive to right hand position and attack.
Fit and finish: Typical PRS for the most part, I have a little issue with the neck attachment, which I'll attach some pictures of. The body doesn't seem to be shaped correctly for the neck and the joint is not very tidy.
Electronics: The pickups and pre-amp sound great. The frequency sweep of the bass, treble and mid controls is very musical and is broad enough to be effective.
Sound: Acoustically this guitar is very lively and has great sustain. Plugged in, the tone of the guitar is very full and round and cuts thru the mix well. I'm playing it thru a Markbass Jeff Berlin combo and I had the EQ on the amp set flat and cut the bass and boosted the treble on the guitar just a little bit to get a good punchy sound out of it. I'm not the best at describing tones but I was very pleased overall with the tone of the guitar. I didn't try the passive mode.
Here are some pictures of the guitar. I took some pics of the bridge because I read somewhere on here that someone thought the bridge looked a little "cheap". Not the case, I think it's very substantial and is fastened to the body with 7 screws to give it good solid contact.
That neck joint looks pretty sad, really. Especially on an instrument in this price range.
Nice looking bass besides that.
Nice looking bass besides that.
I think I'm going to send them these pictures and see if they can do anything about it. Too bad I didn't notice it when I bought the guitar.
Might have some thing to do with the 45% off. Doesn't look like any shielding in the control cavity either. Otherwise, very nice looking instrument, and the actual selling price on this is in the low $2,000's, assuming the fit and finish on this one is a one off prototype or something sold at a steep discount, they seem appropriately priced, and something a bit 'different'. Cool.
Firstly, congrats looks great, all the best with it.
Bummer about the neck joint, looks like it would be a pretty big undertaking to fix it, but if it was sold as a new bass I would push for it as they do have stellar customer service.
I think the long bridge screws are a little odd but certainly not a deterrent from buying one.
Could you address how it sounds in passive as not having a tone control in passive is a head scratcher for me.
Also do you know what the string spacing is ?
Bummer about the neck joint, looks like it would be a pretty big undertaking to fix it, but if it was sold as a new bass I would push for it as they do have stellar customer service.
I think the long bridge screws are a little odd but certainly not a deterrent from buying one.
Could you address how it sounds in passive as not having a tone control in passive is a head scratcher for me.
Also do you know what the string spacing is ?
I've decided I'm not going to pursue the neck joint, It's hardly noticeable unless you really look closely at the area, a little touchup paint may be all that's needed to make it look better.
I think the long bridge screws are to give better string break angle over the saddle but they don't bother me.
I tried it briefly in passive mode just to see how it sounded and the tone was quite different than the active tone, more middy and not as loud. I'm sure in a pinch it would work and you could get a decent sound by adjusting the tone and volume controls of your amp/preamp but it seems to me the bass was not really designed to be played that way, it was just an emergency thing in case your battery died unexpectedly. Maybe even an afterthought.
I've never been really sure how to measure string spacing. I measured from center of string to center of string between the 4th and 5th strings. At the nut it's ~8mm and at the bridge it's ~18mm.
I find it very comfortable to play. I weighed it on my bathroom scale it said 11 lbs. I have a nice hefty Brookwood Leather strap that I use and it's not a chore to wear it for 4 or 5 sets. It balances very well. I was a little worried because the upper horn seems a little too short but the balance is very nice. If I had a slippery strap it may dive a little but not with the one I'm using.
In comparison on the weight, I recently also bought a Squier Vintage Modified Jazz V with a soft maple body and it weighs 14 lbs. My Ibanez SR505 weighs 8.5 lbs. and my Pedulla Thunderbolt 5 weighs 9.5 lbs.
Is shielding needed with active pickups and electronics?
The selling price for this guitar at MF is ~$2900, where do you see them in the low $2K's?
I love the looks of these basses. But, if there's ever a bass that would benefit, looks-wise from a painted, matching headstock, it's these basses.
I sent PRS the pics of the neck joint and they gave me an RA number to bring it in for repair. I'm going to take in it in next week.
Wouldn't be worried about the joint, bass looks very pretty, and signed by Mr. Grainger, that's fantastic!
I saw him once with the PRS band in a small venue, he sounded HUGE, what a stage presence without even being flashy!
I saw him once with the PRS band in a small venue, he sounded HUGE, what a stage presence without even being flashy!
so, looking at the two joint pics, seems that the below cutaway body side edge is completely white while the upper cutaway has sort of a wooden large binding? Uh?
Yeah: it's the typical PRS top stylings I come to think
I tend to recall Santana's and Mark Tremonti signature guitars.
Cheers,
Wallace
We have them at our store. They are nice playing and great looking basses. The eq section is a bit different. With how they do the active passive thing.
Beautiful tops.. We don't have that many of the basses in stock at this moment but we have over 400 USA prs in stock right now
Beautiful tops.. We don't have that many of the basses in stock at this moment but we have over 400 USA prs in stock right now
