The new PRS neck heel (redesigned in 1995) has been the topic of many webpages and blogs. Its critics insist that its extra bulk restricts access to the notes in the second octave. PRS maintains that they changed the design to "improve the strength and tone of the guitar."
The three guitars pictured (left to right) are:
Just in case you don't know what a heel is - its the part of the neck where it meets the body of the guitar. You can see that the pre-1995 neck heel is definitely smaller.
However, you can also see how much more accessible the high register on the newer 2004 PRS model remains when compared to the profile of the Les Paul, a classic choice of high note riffsters for decades.
Simply put, we don't feel a huge difference between the two neck heels. If you're changing between one and the other and you are really thinking about it... OK, you can tell. Does it impeed your playing? Every musician has to make that decision for themselves.
Because PRS saw such a dramatic increase in production there will always be those who yearn for the old days. Certainly a factory built-guitar will have disadvantages when compared to a hand-built. But we are talking about factory built guitars in both cases here. The older (1985-1994) Virginia Ave PRS factory used a duplicarver. The new Stevensville (1995-present) PRS factory uses more modern and expensive CNC technology. As Paul Reed Smith said himself when discussing CNC, "Robotics are like going to heaven. No back problems, it does the same motion day in and day out, it doesn't have a bad day."
The three guitars pictured (left to right) are:
- Gibson Les Paul Studio
- 2004 PRS CE 24 (new neck heel)
- 1994 PRS CE 24 (old neck heel)
Just in case you don't know what a heel is - its the part of the neck where it meets the body of the guitar. You can see that the pre-1995 neck heel is definitely smaller.However, you can also see how much more accessible the high register on the newer 2004 PRS model remains when compared to the profile of the Les Paul, a classic choice of high note riffsters for decades.
Simply put, we don't feel a huge difference between the two neck heels. If you're changing between one and the other and you are really thinking about it... OK, you can tell. Does it impeed your playing? Every musician has to make that decision for themselves.
Because PRS saw such a dramatic increase in production there will always be those who yearn for the old days. Certainly a factory built-guitar will have disadvantages when compared to a hand-built. But we are talking about factory built guitars in both cases here. The older (1985-1994) Virginia Ave PRS factory used a duplicarver. The new Stevensville (1995-present) PRS factory uses more modern and expensive CNC technology. As Paul Reed Smith said himself when discussing CNC, "Robotics are like going to heaven. No back problems, it does the same motion day in and day out, it doesn't have a bad day."
