A Full Review of the PRS P20 Parlor / The Guitar Breakdown
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
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PRS P20-E Guitar:
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Driftwood Guitars performs a thorough review of the Paul Reed Smith P20-E Parlor guitar. The "Guitar Breakdown" is a revolutionary way of reviewing guitars, and offers potential customers the ability to see if the instrument will live up to their daily lifestyle, as well as hear how it sounds, and if its constructed properly.
Chapters:
0:00
0:55 - Features
2:45 - Playability
4:35 - Sound Quality
8:00 - Case Quality
9:14 - Scratch Resistance
10:25 - Dent Resistance
11:10 - Liquid Resistance
12:40 - String Tension Resistance
13:27 - Drop Test
14:40 - Trim/Joinery Quality
14:55 - Finish Quality
15:15 - Fret Quality
15:30 - Cut It Open & Look Inside
17:10 - The Results 
Хобби
“We’ll be doing a lot more of these in the future.” - Please and thank you. Well done gentlemen.
You guys are off the hook, love it!!!! This has to be the BEST guitar review that I’ve ever seen, can’t wait for the next one!!!!!
This is the most thorough guitar review process I've seen. I love it! Even though watching the guitar drop on the concrete is heart wrenching :) (funnily enough more than sawing it in half)
Finally! I forgot that you mentioned you were going to get into a dissecting some commercially made guitars. All expectations have been surpassed. I haven't seen anyone on the internet anywhere do any kind of intensive inquiry like this and it will bring so much value to the whole guitar community so I must graciously thank you
I freaking loved this test! Great idea you guys and unbelievably well executed! Bravo!
I’ve watched all 3 of the review series. Love how you cut em and give us a view that we normally don’t see. It certainly is an education.
Man guys your bringing the content ! From building acoustic and electric guitars, diy amp builds , a Woodstock guitar coming soon , tiny bench concerts and now cutting guitars open! You guys never disappoint !!!! Keep up the great job!!!! Can’t wait for the next video.:)
This series is fantastic! Love how thourough you are. This is the standard for instrument reviews.
Please do more of these! Im here after watching your gibson G00 and can't beleive how much better quality this PRS seems to be. Unreal!
Wow! No one can say you guys hold back! I domt think ive seen a more thorough test of a guitar! Well done!
I'm completely impressed with this video and the torture test on the guitar was amazing! I've never seen any of your videos until now so I'm gonna go check out some more of your stuff 👍😀
Best guitar review I’ve ever seen. Just top notch. Thanks!
Every time I see back bracing appreciation it takes me back to my favorite beginner game of guitar pick hide-and-seek... Always good to know someone else spent some time in this cavernous sound hole before myself.
It’s easy to forget that you guys only have 16K subscribers. With all the excellent production and new and unique ideas, I’m sure that 16k won’t stay 16k for too much longer. Keep it up!
These series are extremely helpful! Especially for all of these guitars in this price range!
I have to admit it's hard to watch some of the tests, but the video did not disappoint. Very thorough and informative tests. Thank you. I'm a new player and I enjoy educating myself about guitar construction and quality.
pretty interesting rundown, certainly looking forward to more of these
Havent even really started the video yet and I already love it! Great intro and great video series concept!
@driftwoodguitars WOW...that was one thorough examination. As a builder/craftsman yourself, your opinion and insights make this very valuable. I think many of us experienced a little anxiety watching the "torture tests", but not as bad as the sleepless nights Paul Reed Smith is going to have once he sees this video. I can imagine he is going to take everything to heart. He is an amazing contributor to the instrument. Thanks for an interesting, educational, and entertaining video.
What a review! Your raw treatment of that tiny little guitar almost brings me to tears. But at the end I'm sure: I have to own one!
That's a great review, very thorough and objective.
Well done!
I own one of these and i will add this to it:
1. The case zippers are ok, the attachments to the zippers break easily. I think one of the 3 or 4 are left to pull on.
2. The pickup does a lot of heavy lifting for depth on it if you want to swing over to open mics or play for friends.
I wanted a parlor and got a parlor. Definitely glad i purchased it
I have one of these and haven't been disappointed yet. Though I did get the action lowered.
@@chasemorace4916 The action height has been the one thing I’ve been displeased with as well, but it will be getting adjusted soon! Overall for $459 I’m very happy with the playability as I’m just starting to get back into the swing of things
Ya great guitar actually and thought to get one in each color for various Ready to Go tunings
That series has the potential to be absolutely awesome! Great Idea!
Probably the best Guitar review ever! You know what is important to know as a customer!!! Great!
This is a fantastic review. Driftwood Guitars , nice gear for measuring. And yes, I really enjoy the look inside by cutting it in two; it's not a prewar Martin. Really nice review.
It sounds so strange to me for a Luthier to say "it doesn't sound great because it's a parlour guitar." I'm not a huge fan of the shape, but to imply they are automatically a bit inferior because of the shape and size. Kinda odd
Agreed
Yeah, I listened to the entire video just to fully realize how lacking in objectivity he was for this entire review.
Really unprof. by the reviewer imo
You can tell he’s still fairly green to performance/production.
That doesn’t mean he can’t still build a nice parlour despite lacking an understanding of how to use it!
A good catch. I think it's just a basic idea that only the big guitar sounds full, and all the little ones are baby toys. From this point of view, it's really not a good-sounding guitar, as much as any upright piano would never sound like a grand piano, but it's not the point.
You really put the guitar through a lot of stuff. Things I would never do to mu guitars. Thank you so much for all you do.
awesome review. can't wait to see more.
I love this in-depth review. What a true review should be. I was a bit surprised to see you didn't pull the fretboard to examine the neck construction. Given the performance of the strong tension test, that would have been a nice deep-dive. I mean, once you saw the body in half, what's pulling the fretboard at that point? lol
Nice and very detailed review. 👍🏼👍🏼
I've owned this guitar and for my entry level skills, this guitar has sold me on parlor guitars. Knowing beer will not hurt the finish now is good for me too.
Really great concept, I'll stay tuned
This video was extremely satisfying for me. I was is in the market for a small guitar last winter and was taken by the looks and specs of the P20. I already own an Indonesian-made PRS electric and find its build quality to be excellent. I didn't even flinch when I finally found an all black P20 and ordered it. When it arrived I found material sticking out of the sound hole. There was a gash under the sound hole and so I stuck a camera inside and was shocked to find the amount of material sticking out underneath the sound board and beneath braces. I'm quite certain that this would inhibit the sound board from functioning as it should - kinda nullifies the benefits of having a solid mahogany top, right? I couldn't believe that a PRS could leave the factory that way (and the dealer whom I bought it from didn't take the time to set the guitar up either. First time I played it the fingers on my left hand were black - no hyperbole) I sent it back and purchased a Mexican made Taylor from another dealer instead. Very happy.
I demo this and it's decent but ended up getting the Guild m240 troubadour and have no regrets sounds great for the size. The action is a little high and intonation off a few cents. It is perfect for slide. So I'm keeping it as is. Nothing a pro setup couldn't fix. I love the pickup.
Keep moving forward with this quality content and you'll be rewarded with huge audiences and great income. Enjoy all your offerings. Keep up the good work guys.
Agreed with huge audience, not sure about great income. But good video, keep doing these reviews please.
I just purchased one on sale for Black Friday. It's a sweet little guitar. I love playing it and I'm rather surprised at how it sounds. The stand out features are the ebony fret board and bridge, the cream binding, the nice gig bag and the sustain. I did lower the action some via the truss rod, but I consider that regular maintenance. Thanks for the great review of this funky little parlor!
I'm no acoustic player, but never heard of parlor guitars
Wow, you are the Consumer Reports of the guitar realm. Nicely done.
I have to subscribe over the amount of time you put into editing these videos wow you will grow fast like this
What a great video, I was listening in the car not sure if I missed it but it would be nice to know how much saddle was left once an ideal action was achieved. However this is a fantastic idea and thankyou for doing it, you have a new subscriber
I have one of these and am very pleased with it. I would consider myself more of an advanced beginner in terms of ability. I traded in a Taylor GS Mini towards it as I felt that one did not fit my hand size as well. The PRS definitely fits me better. I would consider it to be a step up from the GS Mini for sure. Thanks for the review.
This is probably the first PRS guitar I genuinely like and don't think of it as overpriced bullcrap...they should be well known for their acoustics it seems to me xD
Funny that you should say that Dude. I played BOTH of these guitars THIS AFTERNOON. I went with the thought that I’d get the Taylor Mini too. Played with both and went with the PRS. I like….I LIKE IT A LOT.
At the end of the day, the PRS works for me and as much as I enjoyed this review…..I don’t care. I really really like the new PRS and that’s all that matters.
Cheers Buddy.
Stay safe.
Peace
Haven't seen your videos in a while, love this idea
Oooh, I like this. I have an Epi DR-400 that I would love to see put through this, but no matter how that turns out I love mine :) On the other hand, I have been eyeballing parlor's, this one in particular as well as the Guild P-240. These reviews are awesome, thanks for this!
Just bought one. IM FLOORED! Fabulous setup right outta the box. Previously tried a Martin Parlor (fretted out at 13th fret) - played every Martin X series i could find locally and they ALL did it. Stickin w my P20- WARNING…💥 Dont get baked and order the p20 !!! Only p20 e has pickups!
I loved this video. Love to see you do these test on a Orangewood Melrose collection guitar.
Instant fan! Please keep making videos!
Only just found your channel and I'm loving it
These are great videos man keep up the good work! I would love to see you review and cut open a seagull guitar someday! 🙂
I would love to see you guys buy another one of these and do a before and after of voicing the braces
Nice review. Would be interesting to see you use a fret rocker. I put one on my PRS Angelus SE and found 14 rocking spots or uneven frets!
Hey PRS people. For you $500 is called a mid-line guitar. But for many people $500 is called a major investment. No excuses for that sloppiness on the inside top. It doesn't cost more to just do it right. Thanks for keeping them honest, Driftwood.
500$ is a week of work.. and not even a 40hr work week.. so no 500$ is not a major investment when you are working..
@@Pleasestandby_bmx Okay, so long as a person is working, $500 isn't a lot. Doesn't matter if the person is a student, or has a low paying job, or has a family to support, or has bills to pay. And anyway, PRS can make junk guitars, since everyone who buys them has a job and can throw away 500 on a piece of junk. Also doesn't matter if there's a slew of better guitars for the same money. GOT IT! Still not gonna waste my money on a PRS. Thanks for the info, though.
@@derrickd3gmail just because you have priorities before a guitar, that doesn’t make it more or less.. 500$ is thought of in most states and even most country’s as vary little.. 500$ is again I say this a part time job worth of money in a week, sure priority’s come first, but 500$ is 500$ and it’s not an “major investment” amount of money.. it’s a beginner guitar amount of money lol
@@derrickd3gmail t
Wry no vin no u z
@@derrickd3gmail where I live, 500$ is pretty much the basic monthly salary. It doesn't matter, for example, whether you work as a construction worker or just as a delivery "boy", that's what you're going to get. I guess I have to find more jobs to do if I want to buy a real instrument, or just shut up and stick with my 500$ wooden box (which I love so much) that I like to call guitar
I build pre-war style parlor guitars, quite a few of them. I’m not sure if you mean to say parlor guitars don’t sound great, because they are parlor guitars, or whether you mean that a fair comparison to a full sized guitar would be like comparing apples and oranges. But being “parlor” is not a detriment to the instrument in the least. There is a tonal quality to a well made parlor guitar that you just don’t get with a full sized instrument. And that preference by some has more to do with what the player is seeking tone wise. A parlor guitar isn’t a lesser guitar in the least. So I would say it isn’t a fair, general characterization of parlor guitars.
Other than that, the craftsmanship on that top is atrocious and the review was great!
I agree. I’ve made a few parlors myself. I only mean that it’s not a fair comparison to a full sized guitar. No offense was intended.
@@DriftwoodGuitars oh I don’t think the guitar will be offended 😁
It’s a great review. I nearly cried when you dropped it and then cut it, but as a luthier I appreciate the fact that you cut it open and showed the world what a buyer gets from a mass produced instrument vs. a luthier made instrument. That was just sloppy and the fact no one ever bothered to voice it, it left a lot of guitar potential, unexplored on the table
100%
I too appreciate these videos...though I’m still not sure how you scored tone. The top bracing is a mess of hastily thrown together crap. Parlours, and small bodies in particular have a real place in the spectrum beyond being children’s toys. Are you grading it 3 because it’s a parlour, or does it grade 3 in comparison to what a good parlour should sound like? And what about plugged in tone? PRS with on board electronics sounds like it’s aiming to be some sort of stage instrument. These vids are awesome, btw, but I missed your point here. I’m guessing it’s a 3 because it’s poorly braced, thickly finished with a tank like construction, mahogany top, lam sides, 14 fret join... what were they thinking? Yamaha makes a decent parlour, all solid in this price range, and the MacKenzie Marr Opeongo, at the same price without electronics, is all solid and exceptional.
I agree that the top construction may not be to a builder's standards, however, I think you'd agree it would be exceedingly difficult, if not outright impossible, to build it better and maintain its current selling price.
Great channel! Keep up the great work! I would love to see a video like this done with an upper lever Blueridge Guitar. A BR-160 or BR-180 range. I think those guitars punch way over their weight class!
This was brutal, but I appreciate that you guys tested the durability of the guitar, and even gave us a look inside! That front bracing was sloppy and I’d imagine it had a negative impact on the tone of the guitar… Even so, it sounded pretty decent, which is rare for a parlor-sized guitar at that price point. Great video!
Brilliant concept and one which will no doubt be copied by others. I hope that later in the series that lesser known brands will also be featured just so we can also see if they are as tough,or not,as the big boys. Very educational,fascinating and informative channel.
First time visitor, here, but I gotta say - do more of these! The breakdown and rigorous test bench system is really interesting to a nerd who likes hard data, and I'd love to see more of these breakdown videos on other guitar models.
Thanks a lot!
@@DriftwoodGuitars To add some detail - I've been debating whether to get an SE acoustic or not. Having seen the test-bench report you put together here, I have ordered one.
I appreciate that you would rather sell me your guitars than Paul's, but otoh I'm in England and am not a good enough guitarist to justify something as high-quality as your work. ;)
Maybe once gigs are a thing that happen again, but not during the zombie apocalypse at least. Your own luthierie is absolutely gorgeous.
When I got mine last year it also had a very high action. .140 to be exact. PRS wanted me to send it to check out and adjust, but I just sanded down the saddle and have had no issues since. I went from hating it to loving it. I think I’m currently sitting in the .80-.90 range if I’m remember correctly.
based on those number its big difference..
I had a PRS shipped from jersey to New Mexico, and the action was too low. I couldn't play anything past the 14th fret. Added a small strip of mahogany (maybe .080") and got it perfect. Now, I have moved the Florida, and I will be sanding that mahogany strip back off the bridge to lower the height back. I knew humidity could make the wood move, but I was surprised at this.
nice review ,I have a Guild 240E parlor guitar and it sounds amazing has its own sound ,I would love it if you did a review on it or recording king ,the guild came with bone nut and saddle decent action and intonation was pretty good,people just starting out playing need and love reviews like this keep them coming Chris
I appreciate the recommendations and watching!
@@DriftwoodGuitars what do you guys do after you break apart the guitar? Donate? Make improvements to the guitar? Just curious. I love this new series!
love your reviews. would like to see you do a breakdown of recording king guitars.
Hey Chris - Well thats an interesting concept but I do think in this day and age you could have inspected the inside using a camera as you have just destroyed a half decent guitar which would have served someone very well to learn on. The rest of the testing is ok and I would not have expected much change to the neck relief using heavier strings as the modern trussrod is very strong but I would have thought you should have measured any change in action at the twelth fret as this would have given insight into not just the neck but the strength of the guitar, particularly the top. I hope you will change the testing in future using cameras for the internal inspection as there will be some beginers who will be crying at the sight of guitars being destroyed. As usual great video though.
Great video, not reviewing 514 comments, but if mentioned before ... at 20:27 the drop test cracked the nut. That really stood out.
Amazing video. Thank you for this. Though I don't think I could watch if it was a D-41!
I love this series. Please keep them coming. Any chance you can look into the Breedlove Discovery or Pursuit guitars. Maybe even the new Eco Line with triple hardwood laminates. Thanks!
I plan on it.
Really glad I passed on this guitar when I was looking for a parlor. It sounds like a Kleenex box.
Thank you for this excellent breakdown video. I am a beginner acoustic guitar player, and was considering this exact guitar because I really enjoy the sound and size of a parlor guitar, especially this one as I have seen it reviewed on other RUclips channels. I have played on a Taylor GS mini, and like that one a lot and I also like the sound and size of the Baby Taylor. Anyway I was hoping you were going to touch on the bridge pins as this particular model is notorious for having a very poor bridge pin design in the way they are countersunk and glued onto the body which make them extremely difficult to remove when you want to change the strings using a pin remover which can't get under the pins. I was told you need to use needle nose pliers which nick and marr up the pins themselves. Also I have heard from more than one person that the tuner pegs snap off if you look at them funny, and are very cheaply made.
Nice! Hope to see one video on the Yamaha Transacoustic Guitar.
Wow!
Very, Very hard test!
Congrats for your iniciative!
I guessed you took a page out of Jerry rigs everything reviews. I liked this video, loved EVERYTHING about
I picked up one of these P20e models out of curiosity. Outside looked great and the inside just the opposite, glue EVERYWHERE. Your rearview pretty much mimics my own findings but a couple additional notes I made: The bridge pins are the worst; thin and molded with 'holes' and I was unable to lift them out with the pin recessed into the bridge and when I tried to push the pins out from inside they bent over! I had to reamed and replace with standard size good pins. The Fishman pickup control is 'glued' inside the sound hole. I intended to replace with another pickup so it was much more difficult to get that control off the underside of the soundboard. Should have used 3m vs glue. The tuners on my guitar didnt hold tune. I got rid of that guitar.
Great review. I would love to see you guys do the Faith Venus Full Blood Moon. I bought one about a month ago and cannot put it down even with a much more premium guitar to hand. It is also made in Indonesia, so a good comparison.
Nice review. I'm a musician from Maryland (home of PRS) and I play a lot. I actually own two of these guitars now and I kind of consider them "disposable" (because they're cheap). But I do love the way they play once you adjust the truss rod a little bit. I can tell you from experience a couple things that may help. The tuning pegs are problematic and break on a regular basis. PRS will send better tuning pegs as needed. I have needed that on both of my guitars. The gig bag is nice but the stitching is actually NOT very good. Both have torn at the top of the part where the arm straps come together. Parlor guitars are certainly midrange instruments but you can EQ them to fill things out a bit. I generally use a TC Electronic BodyRez pedal through a Fractal FM3 and get plenty of workable tones.
The tuning pegs that come with this guitar was terrible. I couldn't put in a new guitar string because one of the tuning pegs couldn't hold the string tension and kept letting it go. It ended up putting in cheap locking tuners for about 30 USD and it's been fine so far. For reference I change strings for classical guitars, electric guitars, saz baglamas, and ouds. So I'm not a newbie in that regards.
PS ... thank you for this great review. A parlor guitar has a particular tone and I've been delighted with it... I guess it's just a personal thing but it's there all the time for me and keeps practice going ... again thanks 4 review
Was waiting for this video for ages
Fantastic series. Thank you. When I watch the ball bearing 18 inch drop test, it might bring increased accuracy if the guitar was securely anchored somehow so that the inevitable rocking of the guitar body doesn't deflect some of the impact. This would remove the rocking movement of the guitar as a variable. Again, great series. Keep up the good work!
Interesting observation, but then in the real world, would the guitar be anchored if something dropped on it like that?
I have one of these in Natural mahogany finish. I love it.
This video is actually professional as f*ck. So well done. Awesome job.
I couldn't decide between this and the a55e. I went with the larger one in blue, and it is gorgeous!
Hi, I really dig the series. Maybe I'm asking too much, or some asked before but: Could you make a series, where you review/showcase guitars, that in your opinion are timeless classics and inspired you? I think it would be great to see some examples of historic great craftsmanship, like if you can get your hands on a vintage acoustic
What a good channel. This is a fantastic idea.
I bought this nine months ago. The vendor (gear4music) claimed they had done a setup prior to shipping and I found the playability as received was perfect for me. However this week the butterbean tuner on #6 snapped. With no screw fitting (are these just glued to the metal ??). Vendor honored a warrantee (tho not shipping) for replacement.
I'd love to see this with a seagull s6! Amazing series keep it up^-^
I hope you guys do an Alvarez Artist Series. These tests are awesome!
Amazing video guys!
Hey had a ? Can you guys offer the acoustic guitar shirt in a round neck in 2xl Black and Navy like the telecaster shirt?
You guys are killing it!
The guitar was not flat on its back during the ball bearing drop test. It's movement absorbed some of the impact.
Just recenty found your channel and I love all the content. This series is espeically fun and informative - looking forward to the next one. Any chance you want to do a full breakdown of a Furch?
I’d love to do that!
@@DriftwoodGuitars - awesome! Uh.... I'm not volunteering my Orange Master's Choice for it though. 👀😋
Awesome work!
Painfully wonderful review. Can't wait to see the leaderboard 👀
Would love to see you review one of the full-sized, midrange PRS acoustics and see what you think. A50E or A60E. This was helpful as I've been looking at getting one of these... After this I think I'll just get another A50E.
Wowwwww! PRS made a Milspec acoustic guitar. BTW, superb content. Informative and fun to watch. :)
Great video and editing
It would be interesting if you guys did this with some of the catalog guitars from the days of old, like Stella, harmony, stuff like that. It would be interesting to see how good the build quality is. Also if you did that it might be better to cut it open right where the back or top is glued to the sides. This way you could just glue it back on. Some of these old catalog guitars are also great guitars especially when it's solid wood and when they are not using heavy finishes. You can also rebrace them and then they sound more martiny. Even if you did cut it in half like you did I wouldn't be offended. Just thought I would offer the best compromise between seeing everything and making the guitar unrepairible.
Pretty cool review!
Absolutely love this. I watch a channel that does this with shoes.
This is amazing! Do you think you guys could do this to a Martin SC-13E next?
I'd love to see this test done on something like an Ovation Balladeer. I'd like to see how they're braced on the inside. Nice review though!
Thanks to this review..I purchased 1..its everything you said it was
..love this thing
How was the action? How does it compare to a GS Mini?
@@Hal-fz1em the action on mine was spot on
Cool idea for a series...have a look at the Guild D-140, one of the best budget guitars I've seen...
I grabbed on of the limited blue ones and I love it
This video was very informative. My P20e tuners need replacing. Do you know what higher end tuners that are a drop in replacement?
Excellent reviews, very informative. Could you please state where the guitars are manufactured, it does matter to me whether or not it is offshore. I recently passed on a Recording King parlor because it was made in China.
Really interesting review! You did tests I haven't seen anyone else do, from dent and drop resistance to liquids and scratches. My one comment on tone comes from watching a number of other reviews, which is the strong midrange of this parlor guitar actually fits well in a band mix. Edit: OK, so I got one online, and while it is a well made guitar and visually attractive, I was initially disappointed. Acoustically the tone is definitely "midrange", seemed dull at first; a change to a different brand of strings (these are new PRS bronze midweight) might help. Playing harder brought out more tone. Plugging it into an amp definitely brings it to life. While the fretwork wasn't bad, it isn't up to the standard I have on several PRS electric guitars. Overall, though, it's what I got it for - a tough little guitar that could go places I would never carry my vintage Martin 0-18. Initial impressions aside, it'll probably be a keeper.
Fantastic! It would be great if you could do this same test on one of your guitars.
That would be awesome to see the durability comparison. I’d imagine it wouldn’t hold up as well, but that is part of the charm of nitro finish so I’d almost hope for a low score 👍🏻
He's not going to do this to a $20,000 guitar.
@@xdoctorblindx then destroying a guitar is useless for comparison.
Great review and I did appreciate the reviewer's objective comments. A couple things of note, though. I own this guitar. With a minor tweak of the truss rod the action is as good as my 500 series Taylor and as good as it gets for an acoustic. The sustain is good but it sounds like a parlor. It is a parlor. Shouldn't it get a high score for that? As far as the sloppy work under the soundboard, I really don't care if there is a bit of glue squeeze out as long as the braces are in the proper place and well bonded. Mine looks better inside than the example in the video. That's mass production, I guess.