I've played guitar for 27 years now and have always been a fan of Paul Reed Smith guitars. It takes a lot of guts to make an electric guitar and take it to market right up against Fender and Gibson, with their long and storied history, not to mention their dominant position in the electric guitar market since its inception.

I've always been a Strat guy. 25.5" inch scale, single coil neck pickups, SRV, Hendrix, Clapton.... I'm sold. But in the past few years I've been practicing and working on my sound (yes after 27 years I still practice and still am look for tones that grab me). My first foray outside of the Strat world was my EBMM reflex. I love that guitar and still play it often. It's 25.5" scale felt right at home, but it had two humbuckers - something very different for me. Switching from primarily a single coil guy to a two humbucker guy has been like falling in love with the guitar all over again. I still love Strats and single coils, but this is a whole new tonal spectrum to explore.

I've noticed an undercurrent of 'hate' for lack of a better word against PRS guitars of late. "They're too expensive" "They're ugly" "They're not worth the money" etc, etc, etc. I simply do not comprehend this. Take a look at what a Gibson Les Paul Standard costs and you'll see it's about the same as a PRS Custom 24. I've played many Les Pauls and they are simply not for me. They don't balance well, don't feel right in my hands, and the 24 3/4" scale length feels downright small to me. Fenders are more attainable price-wise, but they offer that classic Fender sound. Cool if that's what you're looking for, but if you want to expand your tonal horizons, you need to look elsewhere.

Was this guitar expensive? Yes. Did I pay retail price. Absolutely not! I bought it used for about half of what a new one costs. It's two years old and in immaculate condition. Would I pay full retail for a PRS? I don't know, certainly not as long as used ones in great shape are readily available. Is it worth the full retail price? Definitely. If you have the means, I highly recommend PRS. The PRS SE line is of excellent quality and their new S2 line is also very very good. Hate on PRS if you want. You're only depriving yourself of the chance to play a fine instrument by every measure.

I played this test clip through my Axe-FX II (Euro Blue patch) the first night I got Scarlett. The dynamics are amazing. This little ditty is my take on John Frusciante's infamous "bedroom lick" that has been made immortal by YouTube.