Fender Lite Ash Strat -vs- PRS SE Custom (both are made in Korea)

[LaLa900]

I currently have the Fender Lite Ash Strat and a Gibson Les Paul. I really like humbuckers. Recently, I've been having thoughts on whether I should trade in my Fender Lite Ash Strat for a PRS SE Custom.

 

The Fender neck feels nice, but there are times I feel the distortion from the Seymour Duncan single-coil pickups to be weak, compared to my Gibson humbuckers. As for cleans, I guess this is where the Fender does a really good job, but it's not like the Les Paul can't do cleans well either.

 

So I was thinking, would the PRS SE Custom be a better back-up guitar to my Gibson and possibly threaten the Gibson's 'gigging job'? What do you guys think? Should I trade in my Fender or keep the Fender and have more variety?

 

Here's a link to the Fender I have, mine is black:

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0265002506

 

And here's the PRS SE Custom:

http://prsguitars.com/secustom/index.html

[-todgemistro-]

How about getting new pickups for your Fender?

[LaLa900]

But then I'd have to add cash.

 

Of course, if I can trade my Fender straight up for the PRS, that'd be ideal, but if I have to add cash, I'll probably pass.

[Norcal_GIT_r]

The PRS Singlecut SE might be a better back up to Les Paul.

The Custom is still a nice guitar.

[LaLa900]

Yeah, I actually like the Custom a bit more. They feel pretty nice as well. I'm just not sure if I want to rid the Fender. The Fender isn't a bad guitar, but I'm not really satisfied with the distortion at times and I don't want to tinker with the electronics when I have the possibility to just swap guitars.

 

I only plan to have 2 electrics right now and the Gibson is a keeper, obviously. It's really between the Fender and the PRS right now.

 

Another thing to note is that, my Gibson is used and the jack plate is a bit loose now. This got me thinking, if the Gibson ever had some problems, would the Fender do the job or a PRS?

[aloha]

The obvious answer here is that the PRS would do a similar sound to the Gibson more completely than the Fender.

 

But, that shouldn't be your only consideration. You could get a guitarfetish single space humbucker or strat/tele overwound for the bridge position and get more defined overdrive. You'd only need one pickup for that solution and they aren't that expensive.

 

The jack plate on the Gibson is super minor, as well. You can get that fixed quickly and simply with a trip into your local guitar store (mom & pop with tech). Then, the whole dilemma become moot.

 

You may be very interested in one style of music right now. That's healthy, but not forever. Because you have a humbucker rig and a strat rig, you have your bases covered in the event that you want to try some new directions. This push may not happen this week or this year, but buying that strat back will be punishment to your conscience. There's no doubt about it. I know this one all too well.

 

Besides, those lite ash strats are no slouches. Shoot, I'd give a couple of my humbucker guitars to get my mitts on one.

 

Good luck with your decision.

 

Aloha

[slvrsrpnt]

Keep the strat and trade the les paul for the PRS

[Norcal_GIT_r]

Keep the strat and trade the les paul for the PRS

 

Words of wisdom..

[odo]

I like the PRS SE I was looking at it last night, look's pretty good too me, I would take the PRS over the Gibson any day the prs is a better built guitar.

 

good luck

[IvIark]

I have a Lite Ash Strat and a Gibson LP too and although they compliment each other well, they are definitely two different sounding guitars. I found the Strat isn't as versatile as the LP in terms of the amp I'm playing into. The LP sounds great with everything, the Strat sounds brilliant in my Marshall 6101, OK in my F50 and like ass with my Engl. The PRS is definitely more of a Gibson-esque guitar so it maybe closer to what you're looking for.

 

But don't swap an LP for a PRS. You'd have to give me a frontal lobotomy first!

[jamesclark]

Some real good advice here. Les Pauls are terrible. The build quilty is total {censored}. I'm sure glad you let everyone play your guitar.

[LaLa900]

aloha, you made a pretty good explanation on the gear selection. It may be an 'infatuation' right now. And the Fender would probably be better long term. I think I have more bases covered if I have a humbucker guitar and a single-coil guitar. Versatility is key and in the future, I probably would want to play some jazz or some clean stuff and the Fender would be ideal for the job.

 

As for the comments towards trading the Les Paul for the PRS, I hope that was sarcasm. Then again, everyone has their own opinion. And here's my opinion. I like my Gibson a lot (it's not an Epiphone) and a Les Paul is arguably one of the most versatile guitars made. A Les Paul trying to sound like a Strat is way easier than the other way around in my opinion. I see the PRS SE Custom as an between the Les Paul and Strat.

 

Lastly, a clarification I wanted to make in my previous post. I did say 'when I have the possibility to just swap guitars', but after careful consideration, I probably have to dish out some cash for a new one at the local music shop. So it probably won't be a straight up trade, since mine would be considered used. If that's the case, there's a better chance I'll stick with the Fender.

[aloha]

Thanks for your response.

 

I often get sarcasm around here; so, chalk the PRS thingies up to that.

 

If you want to have only one guitar, then: try to put push/pull coil splits into your Les Paul. In this way, you can get some fender-ish tones without screwing up your LP and/or trading guitars during a gig.

 

Hold onto both of those guitars, though. You have a winner collection in the making. Dollar for dollar, yours is a collection that you will feel good about years from now.

 

You may get bored from time to time, but selling is not the answer. Play around with pickups and wiring or whatever. Change the pickguards or tuners. Don't sell those.

 

You'd quickly regret it.

[-todgemistro-]

I'd say its worth spending a bit of cash on new pickups for the strat. At least they're replaceable, and if you go off the sound you can change them easily for something else, instead of having the PRS then wishing you had singlecoils or something.

[Wyatt]

 

But then I'd have to add cash. Of course, if I can trade my Fender straight up for the PRS, that'd be ideal, but if I have to add cash, I'll probably pass.

 

 

If you are trying to make th trade at a store, you'll probably have to add cash. Stores stay in business by making some profit on *all* transactions. If the trade value is straight up for the cost of the instrument, most stores I have dealt with will turn me away, because to make the deal profitable for them, they would have to really low-ball me.

 

Otherwise, many people gravitate toward only HB's or SC's. HB people often find SC's too thin and unforgiving and SC people find HB's too muddy and unfocused. If you really aren't happy with the Fender, trade it. You may never grow to like the SC tone.

[aloha]

You know,

 

The Lite Ash already has Seymour Duncans in there. If you try new ones, then make sure you keep those. They *may* sound better to you in the long run, especially if/when you come to play cleaner styles.

 

Z

[GarysBlues]

Leave the Duncan's be, they are Alnico IIs and very decent pups. I would concentrate on a PRS SE Soapbar more than a Custom. You have two electrics to cover Humbucker and Single-Coil mode. You should be looking at that which you don't have? The PRS Custom is a Humbucker guitar that will never sound as good as your LP. Thats just GAS..........let it be for some time. You will regret selling and altering the Fender. Just my 2-cents! BTW whats the weight on your Lite Ash?

[strat6866]

LaLa, here is the scoop.... and i owned a version of all the guitars you are discussing at one time.

You obviously love the LP and dont want to get rid of that one. I am partial strats because they give you a tone you will not get fronm any other guitar. The PRS SE custom will give you a completely different tone than either the strat or the LP, but a little closer to the lp so why bother duplicating your sound with another dual humbucker guitar.

Also, i LOVED the PRS tone, much better than the LP in my opinion but the guitar NEVER stayed in tune and had terrible intonation problems so i got rid of it. Too bad cuz it was a nice looking and sounding guitar with a nice feel.....when it was in tune which wasnt often.

My advice for what it is worth, keep the strat and put an inexpensive HB in the bridge if you must. The GFS lil killer can be had for about $25 i think and sounds good. I had one of these in one of my strats at one time.

Good luck!

[LaLa900]

After some thought, I am beginning to think it is just GAS. I mean, the PRS SE Custom looks really unique and was quite fun to play, but I already have a humbucker guitar. I doubt the PRS would be any better than my LP. I like to simplify my rig to just 2 guitars and a humbucker and single coil would give me more variety now and in the long run. By the way, I should check the tuners in my Fender. It doesn't sound in tune sometimes.

 

I guess my decision is made. The Fender is designed well and the quality of the fretboard is really nice. It's time I gave the Fender a second look.

[Ancient Mariner]

I'd suggest doing a little re-wiring of the strat, if you're up for that. I have my strats wired so that the first tone control is a master, and the second blends the neck PU with the middle and/or bridge in pos 4 & 5 of the selector. In pos 5 I have a widely spaced humbucker, and it gives the strat a lot more power and fatness. The great thing is that the guitar stays completely stock in appearance, but has 2 more sounds you don't normally expect.

[Burningleaves]

 

I currently have the Fender Lite Ash Strat and a Gibson Les Paul. I really like humbuckers. Recently, I've been having thoughts on whether I should trade in my Fender Lite Ash Strat for a PRS SE Custom. The Fender neck feels nice, but there are times I feel the distortion from the Seymour Duncan single-coil pickups to be weak, compared to my Gibson humbuckers. As for cleans, I guess this is where the Fender does a really good job, but it's not like the Les Paul can't do cleans well either. So I was thinking, would the PRS SE Custom be a better back-up guitar to my Gibson and possibly threaten the Gibson's 'gigging job'? What do you guys think? Should I trade in my Fender or keep the Fender and have more variety? Here's a link to the Fender I have, mine is black: http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0265002506 And here's the PRS SE Custom: http://prsguitars.com/secustom/index.html

 

 

 

The strat has a 25.5 scale and the PRS has a 25" scale. The PRS has a little bit of an edge when it comes to coping the short scale LP tones but neither are going to cop the LP tone to the point that your confused if you are hearing your LP or not. If you are serious about needing a backup to sound as close as possible to your LP but are on a budget then you prol' should sell the strat and buy a used LP vintage mahogony or some other kind of H-H SHORT scale guitar.

 

If not then just stick a humbucker or humbucker sized single coil in the strat bridge. Put one in the neck if you want too. In the end it's a backup. I dont know what your gig situation is but when I was giging 99.9% of the time the only reason why I played my backup was because I felt bad for it just hanging around all the time not being played. Mabye the gigs were just tame...IDK.

 

Thats my take on it anyway...YMMV

[GothicLlama]

I wouldn't trade my single coils for the world.

 

Maybe for the world... because I could make new single coils.

 

but you know what I mean.

[LaLa900]

The back-up to my LP doesn't necessarily have to be a Les Paul type guitar. My back-up can be any guitar really.

 

The PRS gets a closer sound to the LP.

 

The Fender is a different animal altogether compared to the LP and allows me to be more diverse, which is why I've decided to keep the Fender.

 

Though, I might think about getting a humbucker pickup in the bridge of my Strat, but for now, I'll leave it stock. I don't have any experience with wiring and I'm really tight on cash this month and the next month after a purchase on eBay and buying a used tube amp a few months ago.