IN-DEPTH: DIY Paul Reed Smith - PRS Style Full Guitar Build (Part 1)
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- Опубликовано: 15 ноя 2017
- Looking to get that authentic PRS look, style & sound but don't want to spend thousands of dollars? Wondering if this is even something you could do? This was the challenge I set out to accomplish.
In this 3-part series, using a variety of parts from China, eBay, Reverb etc., I was able to produce a killer clone that plays and sounds just as good as my old Standard 22 for well under $1000. I encounter many unexpected challenges and hiccups along the way while taking you through the process step by step just as I experienced it, saving you the hassle of running into these problems yourself!
In Part 1, we will cover sourcing your parts, quality control, options, the China import experience, finish prep/selection and everything else leading up to beginning the finishing process.
Part 2 covers the finishing process, setting the neck, pickup mounting/alignment and other final construction.
Part 3 will cover the electronics & wiring, final and full parts list and the custom rear cavity cover. We'll also explore how the finished guitar sounds!
All background songs are my original instrumentals, from an album to be released in 2018 by my band called Sleep Alive. Check out one of our music videos here: • SLEEP ALIVE - Lights, ...
I am a full-time professional recording/mixing/mastering engineer, musician & vocalist. For top level quality that rivals the big dogs at a price you can actually afford, visit: www.ericmitchellaudio.com
PART 2: • IN-DEPTH: DIY Paul Ree...
PART 3: • IN-DEPTH: DIY Paul Ree... 
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Great video of the process, looking forward to watching part 2&3....thanks for sharing your experience.
shedstudios Thanks man, and my pleasure! Appreciate you following along.
Great vid! just what I was looking for
Been looking for a video like this for a while thanks really enjoyed it
My pleasure, thanks for watching and the kind words!
Great vid man!
Thanks a ton, Wes! Appreciate the comment and you watching!!
I think I bought from same manufacturer
Inlays are a bit sloppy done on mine as well
Why didn’t you tape over the binding? Surely you didn’t want the stain on the binding and it would have given more protection to the mahogany. Plus less cleanup.
Watch episode 2. ;)
On any wiring diagram that I've seen for a prs they all use a .033 cap not .022 as you have. How much of a difference will this make to the tone if any?
As I mentioned, I purchased an "upgrade" wiring kit from eBay. I had a genuine Standard 22 for almost a decade, I did not hear any detectable difference in the direct recorded tone, considering this is an entirely different guitar of course.
Tiny bit of thinness not as much of an impact on tone in the sense of like if you do a mod on EMG actives 18v mod in which the tonal difference is huge and I only know this because one guitar I have has EMG's wired standard and another I have uses an original Seymour Duncan livewire before Dave Mustaine was associated with it which requires two batteries and the 18v mod is the only way to wire it so it can live with the EMG in the same guitar.
That small of a difference in cap is negligible and anyone who generally claims a cap can matter that much with such a difference is either hearing a tonal difference based on quality or psychological and not really humanly noticeable.
I thought when you use a water based stain or finish you pre raise the grain with distilled water, so the fibers are already raised and sanded down. You had mentioned that your finishes/stains were water based.
I had raised the grain multiple times before dying as mentioned, but used mineral spirits because it evaporates and allows you to work faster. Both mineral spirits and water are fine for raising the grain.
What size bridge 52 or 54 ? Pots long or short shaft? And tuners 10mm? I'm gonna try a build! Any info would be appreciated! Thanks!
If you watch the other 2 videos in the series, you'll find all the info you need/want! Thank you for checking out the series and good luck with your build!
The backplate. I just bought a chinese prs style kit...same thing, much more narrow than a prs backplate. Going to have to cut one out like you did
That was one of my biggest complaints; at least route it in a shape for an existing cover, or include one with it haha.
Can you provide links to where you got your body/neck? I'm getting into lutherie and this would be the perfect place to start.
Full parts list and links coming in episode 3!
You can make a neck and body. Get some tools or take a class at your local junior college or maker space. You can even wind your own pickups. It’s fun. Assembling a kit is not really lutherie. A fret job is a good place to start.
Could you send a link to where you bought this kit?
Hey Joe, thanks for watching. It wasn't a kit in the typical sense of the word, I sort of formed my own. Part 3 (linked in the description) includes all the specifics of what parts I used, and where/who I bought them from.
Found this series worth a 2nd viewing. Inspires me to tinker with my own modded babies.
Thanks a ton, appreciate the kind words!
Hey man. Looks good do you think this could be made into a short scale bass? With a different neck?
I'm not sure man...cheap enough for the parts that you could certainly try!
What seller did you purchase the body and neck from?
Full parts list and links coming in episode 3!
Episode 3 with all parts and prices is up, Gene.
man this video made me so happy. What was the total you paid?
Jayden Valentine Haha, thanks for watching! Glad to know it made your day. :) The total was $845, I just posted episode 3 a couple days ago which lists all the specific parts and prices and shows how the finished guitar sounds. The link is in the description!
Very cool idea, and I'll never bash someone tackling something like this.
Having said that... wouldn't it have been easier to just buy an SE, and swap the pickups? My SE Custom 24 is straight-thru, maple top, Mahogany body , etc. New they're like 750-800, but i grabbed mine on line "used" (was purchased new by the seller a month before, looked brand new) for $425. Throw a pair of Dragons in it and you just saved your self a ton of time, receive better, straight-thru construction and stellar paint/finish work from PRS.
My SE Custom 24 sounds as good as my $3,600 single cut PRS after a pickup swap.
Thanks man, appreciate that! Same reason I personally wouldn't buy a Squier and do a pickup swap; it's a cheap-o version of their actual instruments with corners cut all over the place. I don't like the SE bridges, or the SE finishes, or the giant SE stamp on the headstock. I felt like it would be both fun and far more rewarding this way, as well as a final instrument more "of my hands".
@@EricNUFO No corners cut actually, you clearly don't know what you're talking about. That's not what SE guitars are. They are built in a factory hand picked by Paul himself and he wouldn't accept cut corners, it's that the labour and materials are cheaper where the SE's are made.
@@TheDyingScotsman My man, there's plenty of corners cut on an SE, which is why they're cheaper. The top is broadly shaped not carved like a non-SE, cheaper hardware, no locking tuners, cheaper/different electronics inside, cheaper/different pickups, nearly all are suspended bridge and I wanted wrap-around stop-tail, etc. etc. That's great that you're a PRS mega-fanboy, but you're off base, here. Besides I already said, this was rewarding and I did it because I wanted to.
John B But your missing the fun of putting it together and playing a guitar you've made yourself...
Nice job man but it's not a scratch build it's an assembly of prefabbed parts. A scratch build is when you take raw materials and create a guitar.
Pretty much what I did here minus carving the wood and setting the frets/truss. Tomato, tomahto; everyone breaking my balls over the fact I didn't carve the wood lol. 99.9% of people watching this are looking to do what I did, not carve their own. This was more from scratch than a "kit" build, and that was the point in using that terminology.
@@EricNUFO unless you are starting with raw lumber it isn't a scratch build. You haven't cut the shape out, done any carving, you haven't routed the cavities or the neck joint. You haven't glued to book matched top halves together or glued the top to the body, you haven't cut the fret slots, radiused the fret board, or fitted the frets, or carved the neck. But you call it a scratch build lol
@@EricNUFO Nope that's not "pretty much" what you did. It's not what you did at all.
@@Mr986Willis It's more of a "scratch" build than a kit is; I sourced all the parts, not all of the woodwork was complete, significantly more work was required to do this than a standard all-in-one kit. Also true on your behalf, it's less or not "from scratch" compared to carving from a block; it's somewhere in the middle of that and a kit, so that's the word I used. It doesn't really matter because this video is meant to help someone trying to do exactly what I did. Not someone trying to complete a kit, not someone trying to borrow grandpa's F-150 and chainsaw, go on out into the woods out back and cut down a nice big 'ole tree because you know, if you really want it to be from scratch..... ;) Stop watching the video if you don't need or appreciate the help. You too @TDS.
This is comparable to the world of firearms in which a person makes one from an 80% but some have completed one from a block of steel. This is pretty much the 80% build in the world of guitars. It's not an insult and not bad in any way to do this as it still reflects creative control and the ability to produce something unique to you. It is still quite a bit of work involved in putting together 80% build of anything.
I would have given more shit about it but you said from scratch and that is a term that is debatable to how far from scratch and is defined differently among people. You didn't say 100% raw build which would have reflected you did the carving as well. You labeled it properly with DIY build of PRS style guitar. I personally don't think that reflects in any way you did the carving from blank wood. It is a kit if viewing overall however each part of the kit was sourced individually and so no kit exists that will give the same result. I think people just like to argue semantics and thats why people are down playing the work here. Personally, I think you should tell them to fuck off and it is your guitar bought with your money so unless they are blind then you didn't mislead, they simply misunderstood the title. It's a them problem.
I don't understand people. PRS pump one of these things out an hours from a machine but gets all the credit for the work machines do and is reflected by people paying stupid amounts of money when you literally did more work hand work than PRS and get shit for it. I have a theory that is proving to be credible, as soon as an idiot says something God does a facepalm, so if one day you are hearing an exuberant amount of thunder then think about what you just said. I think the people who are telling you this stuff hear an awful lot of thunder in their area of the world. You did a good job dude be proud.
Who was the seller?
TupolevPilot All part purchasing information is in Episode 3!
That's a pretty fine kit. BUT for 100 $ ???? Never saw these kits anywhere below 180 $ ? Good deal. That flaw in the fretboard,..i would have chisseled it a bit out with a halfround chissel and glued another piece of maple in it with PVA and used a cabinet scraper or a shaving blade.
Ahhh experience...........no substitute for it and is invaluable, truly the only priceless thing in the world.
Check out John Mann for your parts...www.guitarvaultusa.com
So what part of this is building from scratch? You just assembled some parts! Watch crimson guitars videos and get a block of wood.
I'm not a luthier. The title says DIY, which would indicate that this is for the average person aka not a luthier. But I pretty much did everything else except carve the wood, cut and set the frets and glue the fretboard, though. Damn, dude lol
Leon Montfrooij I was thinking the same thing.just putting together a jigsaw puzzle for the most part. One with big pieces.
Krusty Buzzard 😂🙈 Ok man...lol.
Eric Mitchell I wasn't being a smart ass it's the truth.im not trying to toot my oun horn because I did buy some assemblies for the strat type build I'm working on curently.but the stuff that your so tentative about are the things that have to be hand fitted anyways for the most part.
I bought a pre-wired pick guard saved a lot of money not knowing which ones to buy. I spent less on that assembly than 1 pick up costs.and the fret board because I didn't have a saw with the right kerf.otherwise it's following your gut.
Krusty Buzzard For sure man. But this is a very specific video series with a very specific goal: mimicking my $2000 PRS Standard 22 for much less, which I successfully did for $845 and these videos are meant to help anyone else who wants to do the same accomplish it while avoiding the mistakes I made. I never claimed it was meant/for/intended to be anything else. It will help some people, not others. That’s RUclips. ;)
Regardless, thanks again for watching!
Hey dude boy U do have a lot of complaining
call it taking crap and making a functioning guitar . Wasn’t too big of a deal.
We all have made beautiful guitars from low budget kit!
So suck it up buttercup! Bet it will be amazing!
solid contribution to the comments, thanks man. lol
What's funny is you're the same buffoon who misunderstood a simple towel for the American Flag and made a ridiculous whiny comment 2 years ago. You rightfully got laughed out of the room for being the "patriot" who couldn't tell the difference between the flag and a towel, so it took you over a year to think of how to post a SECOND stupid comment? Massive irony in Patrick Kem telling other people to "suck it up" when you threw a tantrum over a towel a few comments down. "Dude what is your problem with laying all your stuff on our American flag. What a douche. If you don’t like it here you should move!🖕🏻" Forgot about this buttercup? Or are you just senile?
Um this is not a scratch build, you bought a kit
Not a kit, a bunch of separate parts. It's from scratch minus carving the wood and setting the frets...quit busting my balls over word choice. ;)
You won't get an authentic PRS look style and especially sound, without buying a PRS
@TDS False.
This is actually false. Reasoning is that he is building a guitar for himself. He has a specified singular interest in creating it and is not doing it for monetary gain but for love of playing the instrument. If his attention to detail is high enough it will produce either a carbon copy of a original first series PRS and quality was measured by humans and not a machine who can't tell tonally the difference between what wood you chuck into it or he will produce a better version.
This guy selected wood that was proven to be tonally good choice regardless of what magical part of the globe it came from, where PRS and any company for that matter can bury a bad version in a sea of mass produced guitars you think are somehow special.
I have a high end Schecter which has EMG's in it and I have a 60 dollar BC Rich Warlock that sounds equally as good as the Schecter. The reason for it is the BC Rich I refinished to the standard of a higher quality, knocking down uneven frets polishing them and crowning them, adding a set of pick ups with custom wiring in them and only I know what is in it and the sound my amp produces between the guitar and the amp is passed through a homemade freidman BE-OD box that has certain values of resistors, caps, pots, and diodes changed to my liking but the based layout is the same and still uses the 4 gain stages and same 3 chips the mass produced one has. Between a original Livewire (not Dave Mustaine's version) and EMG that run at 18v, the 4 gain stages then filtered to a boost into a Blackstar tube amp clean channel with tubes I still have Soviet Boxes from 80's for I can comfortably say I dare anyone to produce the level of gain I can pull from this setup. The point being is it will not be the same because only I know what I did to it and only I configured this simple looking but complex system (under the hood) based on the fact I bothered to sit down and do it. I am one of the few who can use a BE-OD layout and get comfortable gain from my Fender for 60's and 70's Rock due to my own component values intended to do it but still crank it past a point that would make Lamb of God's Mark Morton happy.
Point being how do you know if you've never tried? BTW I am in the process of picking wood for making one of these but I am doing it from raw wood to have complete creative control over it and I have made a 1911 pistol that had someone I know ask to trade his Colt Gold Cup 1911 for and I said no because it is mine and I made it for me not to trade. The guy who offered the trade didn't know a 1911 pistol can be made where it doesn't rattle until he saw one that didn't rattle.