Some models of electric #guitar are known for having a signature sound that they define. Everyone knows what a #strat sounds like & the same is true of a #LesPaul. Would you define a guitar which isn’t known for it’s signature tone as “sterile”? Some people say this about a particular brand and I’m curious why.
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41 Comments
You hear so many bizarre justifications online for dissing all sorts of stuff. "Inverted headstock, I just cant play that" (but they already switch between inline6 fender and 3+3 gibson). "No fret markers, I'm out" (I stopped looking at fret markers about 3 months into learning to play). "Only a 10 inch radius, I cant play less than 14". Cant? Or just looking for an anti-GAS reason to wont? I might have personal sweetspots and ideal preferences, but often insignificant deviations dont put an instrument in the "cant" category. So to me the "sterile" accusation is more of the same – a self erected mental barrier to prevent you even experiencing something mildly different, often in fear that it might be better in some regard, but your unconfessed biases dont want it to be.
We all have them. I dont want to like music man because the 3+2 headstock looks stumpy and ill proportioned to me. I struggled with silver skys cuz a prs headstock on a strat isnt what Ive looked at for decades. Weirdly I prefer the functional Heritage headstock to the unnecessarily flamboyant Gibson, though many dont. I'm missing out on great guitars unless I overcome my own (often completely illogical) biases.
Because PRS are expensive while you can get copy of the others relatively cheap.
I have an SE Starla , this has its own sound which is definitely not sterile , a brilliant ,versatile guitar which is a definite keeper !
The PRS controversy is ridiculous in my opinion. If you don't like them, for any reason, whether rational or irrational, then why buy one or why even concern oneself about it? It's as though everyone is trying to play guitar marketer. Guitar players, God bless em, but really seem to suffer mental illness when it comes to gear.
I own several prs guitars myself. Most of the people i hear that say prs has no soul are just not capable of making them speak. Ive got a 245 that is a full rock machine, while my 594 is a nearly do all. A nf3 or silver sky can do some great blues/jazz. I summarily disagree that prs are just too vanilla. And yes, i own fender/squiers and gibson/epi’s, as well as other brands. Most guitars sound as good as the player.
You make a good argument, John. There are lots of popular brands that don't attract that criticism. I hadn't noticed it myself, to be honest, but people constantly repeat nonsense they see online, thinking they'll sound knowledgeable. (They don't). Because I know nothing, I wouldn't be able to pick out a PRS from a Suhr or an Ibanez in a blind test, and I suspect the 'knowledgeable' critics wouldn't be able to either.
Time for a blind test video, I think!
Far from sterile John as you clearly demoed . I’ve got an old 245 SE which is a belter and a Silver Sky SE which if asked to bring along to a session ( unlikely at age 67 ) I’d happily drag it along – even having a couple of Strats at home .
Every guitar made in Texas either down south in the brazilian part of it or up north where Canada and Portugal meat is a great Texan guitar.
Well, you certainly proved that the PRS has a multitude of very tasty flavours, both clean and with a little bit of dirt, John. Personally, I think it is like any art form, you are going to get a plethora of differing opinions but as long as the artist is happy with his sonic palate that is all that really counts. Yes, the Fenders and Gibsons do have an instantly recognisable and distinguishable sound … and aesthetics ( the Telecaster being my personal favourite guitar ) so they can be an instrument many will gravitate towards ( and having one of each of these is always a great idea ). I also think the 335, the Epiphone Casino and a Gretsch semi hollows have their own thing going on. Also, the player him / herself has a major role in the sound and feel ( feel can be key to someones sound, I think ) … Great video content as usual JR 🙏
The thing is With guitars whether you're into , or you like the image of a certain brand
that you want to be associated with , is inconciquential to the music that you produce 😂 on that instrument.As a good guitarist can make a cardboard box with elastic bands sound great 😃.
The only thing I find lets a PRS down across the board is the pickups, but that's just personal preference.
They're built very well and are incredibly stable. They also play nice (even better after some fettling of the SE models).
Great vid as ever sir 🙂
I've got two PRS core guitars, and they are the best guitars I have! It's only the jealous idiots that think they sound sterile!
Not sterile at all, thank you very much. I particularly liked the pinch harmonics, it nails all the tones you could possibly want.
No misgivings, they're great guitars and this video proves it. I don't even mind the birds. My pet peeve … bound necks. Cracking track today, John.
Martin Barre with PRS and Soldana amp covers every Jethro Tull song ever recorded irrespective of what he played on the record or the live shows. The Martin Barre Band are Jethro Tull without Ian.
Oh, and to those who use the word " sterile " when talking about a PRS 🙂……… : https://youtu.be/nbVet-Z5sng?si=72A-9agqyrxDRiBE
Call me old-fashioned (I’ve been called worse) but it’s the sounds of those original American made electric guitars for me, every time – Les Paul, Tele, Strat. I would say there’s a PRS sound – it doesn’t sound sterile to me but I don’t like it.
Here’s the thing though – for me anyway, John – you always make them sound great and not like others I’ve heard – live, or elsewhere on YouTube. 🎸🙂👍
Hello John.
Would you be so kind as to make a video on guitar amps? For example what is best in your opinion. Fender, Vox, Marshall, etc?
I was thinking more of a budget of around £300 for the amp as well?
many thanks in advance.
Coming from a later generation, the “PRS sound” was always familiar to me, I was in my teens in the late 90s so I grew up on bands like Incubus and Primus and they almost exclusively used PRS back then, even a lot of the numetal and hard rock bands in the late 90s used them. Maybe it’s subtle and borrows from other older brands but PRS really do have their own vibe (depending on the model, I find their hard tails to be more distinctive). I recently acquired an SE McCarty 594 and I absolutely love it. Definitely not sterile to me.
It's really simple. Play the guitar(s) you like, and stop caring about the guitars that others play. If you don't like the sound or feel, who cares. Guitars are very personal items. If a particular guitar brings someone joy, regardless of brand or style, it is a good guitar.
Hi John, IMO a guitar played with a bit of feeling by the player can't possibly sound sterile. I think the thing with a PRS like this one is it does it all so its not the first choice for anyone who keeps within a certain genre, whatever that might be. If you played the PRS "Strat" type, I think its called "Silver Sky" I might be wrong. You might say it's like a Strat only better, but with this nobody is going to claim that it sounds better than a Strat, Tele and Les Paul all rolled into one. In about ten weeks from now I'm going to treat myself to a decent guitar with a designer badge on the headstock. The reality of it is one of these would suit me well. I don't gig anymore just record at my dining room table and with this guitar I could get just about any guitar tone I wanted all in one package and have a great guitar that played well, the thing is I just don't want one. Maybe the "Sterile" thing comes from players like me who justify paying more money for an instrument that won't do as much by saying that.
I was glad to hear you say you enjoyed playing the PRS you have, because I remember selling your previous favourite PRS, the Mira, was a wrench, and only happened because of last year's finger injury, and subsequent healing. I was also glad to hear it because of what I'm going to write next, so hold on!
PRS guitars are described as sterile because the people who describe them as such have less musical talent than they imagine. These guitars are researched into the ground: bronze filings in the carbon/Tusq nut; brass saddles; steel saddles with a brass coating; unique headstock design, to maximise string tuning stability; and more besides. They are designed to allow the guitar not to get in the way of creative players, to be neutral, to allow the personality and creativity to flow out. Players with less talent, creativity and personality sound more boring and conventional, er, because they are. I have to 'fess up here and say that I am one of those players, and, in my hands, a PRS would sound dull and sterile – simply because I'm NOT Carlos Santana or John Mayer (or John Robson!). In the hands of those players, PRS guitars sound elegant, eloquent, haunting and expressive – of their talent. In my mind, they are a triumph of design, a unique group of guitars which sound exactly like you – what you put in, creatively, IS the sound of the guitar, so if you're unoriginal, predictable and sterile, that's what comes out.
Hope you're well, John, and hope you're finger continues to heal, and you continue to adapt to the change.
John, Thank you for regularly challenging convention and being the needed contrarian. In my humble opinion the guitar sounds very nice in this demo. I have some history with PRS and I can say that my PRS Santana from 30 years ago and my PRS SE Standard 24 of today are / were very different guitars. However, the biggest changes in that 30 years were (to name a few) my understanding of guitar amps, pedals, settings, pickup types, and moderate improvements in my playing. My main guitar 30 years ago was a 67 Gibson SG Custom so the Santana was a completely different animal (as was I LOL). I really didn’t like the Santana and I love the SE. Today I also have a few other guitars I play (choices) so the PRS fits nicely in the mix. Also, I wonder how many people who think sound is sterile have owned or used a number of PRS guitars and for how long? Lastly guitar sound is subjective (the player, the listener, the venue, the settings and so on). I guess its like anything else – if you don’t like PRS there are plenty of other guitars out there – if you don’t want tacos, have fish and chips! I did go into Guitar Center a few months ago and play the exact model you have in this video and thought it was very enjoyable. All the best!!
Hi John, Regarding your prs question, Nik Kershaw has been using his prs for years, so it's more than good enough for me! Cheers Stephen
Basically any tranny amp will destroy the soul of any guitar you put thru it.
There is only one way that I can distinguish a PRS solid body electric guitar with humbuckers. That is when it is played clean without effects. Their open strings ring clearer than most guitars. There are other guitars that can have such a sound, but not consistently. Stock Les Paul humbucking guitars and SGs have a nasal dip in frequencies; not the Burstbuckers, but their chrome covered pickups. If that sound is heard, even with clear ringing open strings, it won't be a PRS.
Paul Reed Smith guitars humbuckers don't really stand out from other established aftermarket humbuckers. Playing lead with gain in the center of a Stratocaster neck, and often a Telecaster, has a specific sound. Doing the same on a Les Paul neck (and sometimes other Gibsons) has a specific different sound. When a PRS is in that range it just sounds different, but not special, because all other guitars sound similar.
I've owned a Stratocaster, a couple of Les Paul copies, Juniors, a hollow body, and many other shapes. My only electric guitar now is an inexpensive Donner DJC-1000S Thinline Telecaster style with two Gibson style humbuckers. It's still new to me and I'm enjoying it. It doesn't need to sound like other guitars and I'm fine with that. Like John, I don't think of it as sterile because it doesn't have a famous recognizable sound. It just works and that is good enough for me and anybody who would hear it. It does what guitars do. With some adjustments it will be perfect.
Great demo of the versatile 85/15S pups! Not sterile just their own PRS sound, maybe not what people expect since PRS are not a guitar that saturated the zeitgeist like GIbson, Fender, etc. I've had 3 PRS, an 1992 EG-2 HSH, a 2008 Korean SE and the 2024 SE Swamp Ash Special HSH and they're all great instruments. Yet after only PRS for years I went back to Fender and Gibson past few years. Nothing like a chimey Fender single or any Gibson pickup, even the dual rail minis have a bassy timbre to them that PRS pups never get IME. Probably nostalgia in old age…
Nice work Mate! I love my PRS SE CE 24. I have no idea what a sterile guitar sound is. I’ve never ever heard of that. Actually it sounds like a bit of malarkey. A great deal of tone on solid body guitars comes from the amp and pups. Any doubt about that, just change either one of them or both. Hum bug. 😳😂 cheers
Very strange that people think PRS don't have their own sound. Actually, I don't like PRS guitars, BECAUSE they have a particular sound. Mr PRS worked very hard to formulate a humbucker pickup that sounded noticeably different from typical Gibson pickups, and he succeeded. Many guitar players that I respect swear by their PRSs, and that's fine. It's just not for me. But to say they have no sound of their own is ridiculous.
I certainly hope I'm not getting infected when playing a guitar.
Seriously, the moment I hear some guitar wanker use words like "sterile" to describe sound, I know none of their babble is worth listening to.
Never played a PRS.
I'm sure they are great guitars but they always look a bit too MODERN for me… I'm such a traditionalist 😊
I think you make a good point, John. We, or at least I, have been largely conditioned to the Gibson PAF, Strat & Tele Single Coil, Gretsch, Rickenbacker 'sounds'. Let's face it, from the mid '50s thru into the '70s they more or less defined what electric guitars sound like. All the brands you mentioned came later and it's true that no-one I know at least chases 'that Suhr sound' or 'Ibanez sound' or whatever. After my '68 LP Custom & '80s Strat' the guitar I have played most in the studio and, occasionally live, is my 1992 Roger Sadowsky NYC S Style HSH – it is extremely versatile and I love it, but no-one is chasing 'Roger's sound' – at least not with guitars – basses, absolutely! I think PRS are a victim of the brand's success to an extent + the fact that PRS came along a coupla decades after 'the classics' and also the marketing and the fact that Agent Smith puts himself out there seemingly relentlessly for better or worse. I bought the SE Custom 24-08 not long ago to see what the fuss was about, an on-sale toe dipper really, and I have come to really like it. It's versatile and the 8 positions cover a lot of ground – absolutely a live back-up to my Sadowsky. I'm also planning on buying the SE Black Tremonti to mod a bit – an eminently playable super cheap LP with a Trem – what's not to love? And I like the birds – so shoot me now! 😅If I were a rich man I'd be happy to own a Suhr and a Strandberg – have tried a couple of lovely ones . . . they have their own character. The John McLaughlin PRS Ltd. Edition has also just turned up here in HK – will try it altho way too dear for me, he asked for some customised EQ switches . . . good enough for our Johnny tho, so . . .
PRS absolutely has a signature sound, but I guess people lack the wording for it. Paul Reed Smith even describes what he is going for in a video about how they "tune" their pick ups. They almost all have a very high, slightly triangular overtone. I could easily pick out the PRS in the screaming guys vid (contrary to the others) who only ever is interested in speakers. I also did not like that sound in the beginning. I absolutely changed my mind after hearing it in a mix with other instruments. Btw, I modified a L Style guitar with the pick ups from the Chris Roberts signature, and the 57/08 "s" when split at the brigde delivers a Telly sound which made my jaw drop (nice P90 at the neck and really great humbucker in the back when not split)
From Texas to the swamps fo Florida…. and on and on from there. 🙂
Oh, that I had a Gretsch,Burns, Rickenbacker, Danelectro in my collection to lend you to review.
I'm not sure whether it's the guitar or the player, really. (And that's not besmirching your sublime playing, my friend)
But some people have changed guitars and did it affect the sound and style etc? ?
Hank will forever be linked with the Strat. But for years in the mid 60's he played a Burns. Surely The Shads wouldn't have tolerated losing their unique selling point. So, was it that different?
Hendrix played a flying V sometimes. Did that change much? Clapton has played everything (including a Beatles wife) but it's still Clapton.
Some of the younger Blues guys John Mayall, Jeff Healey (R I P brother) rated Squier; and they're seen often, as entry level guitars.
So who knows? Sterility comes in from the music I guess. (Beware of The Corrs) lol 😮
Guess you can't polish a turd
Every guitar player sounds different and we expect every guitar that tries to break away from the norm
to have a different sound.
Some do and some don't, as for PRS they seem to be a guitar that your either can or can't bond with.
A few years ago you told us that this was why you sold the one you had, now a few years later it seems
that you have now taking a liking to them.
As we age our tastes and expectations change, i have sold all my Fender guitars due to pains in my
hands trying to play their thick narrow necks.
Today i mostly play Ibanez or Schecter their slim wide radius necks are far more comfortable for me.
Each to their own.
I genuinely hate the aesthetics of 99% of PRS guitars. I hate the birds, I hate the pimps' toilet seat tops. I am a bit biased against humbuckers too, so that doesn't help, and there's not the fender jangle there for me. I know looks is a terrible reason to dislike a musical instrument, but they are the BMW of guitars – too many w*nkers own them. No Offence John!!
Hi John, just listening to your opener regarding ‘we all know what a Strat sounds like ‘, well each player you mentioned had a completely different and unique sound, I’d argue that we don’t know what a Strat sounds like.😊 from super clean to down and dirty…. surely the ‘only’ guitar that you would ever need ? and you’d actually only really need one of ‘em 😮!
errrrrr……. I’ll get me coat 😉
Great commentary!
People have the same criticism about Taylor guitars. I like and own both PRS and Taylor so maybe that says something about me. 😎
I have always thought that there are actually only 5 electric guitars that all others aspire to be or cross over between 2. The only addition i would make as an 'original sound' would be a 335 as in 'the jazz box'