PRS Private Stock 8-String Custom 24: How low can this go?
Periphery’s Mark Holcomb has helped design this low end beast
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August's guitar. The PRS Private Stock Custom 24 8-String designed with Periphery’s Mark Holcomb · Source: http://www.prsguitars.com/gom_august/
PRS Private Stock has announced a new Custom 24 8-string guitar that’s been designed in conjunction with Periphery’s Mark Holcomb. Due to ship in August, this low-end behemoth of a guitar is strictly limited to only eight guitars worldwide and is sure to split opinions.
The Low Down
This bad boy is tuned – F#, B, E, A, D, G, B, E and I expect it will play beautifully the whole way across that scale and range, as PRS really know how to do fretwork, every PRS I own has been immaculate in terms of setup straight from the factory. I expect as this is a Private Stock instrument that it will be set up to perfection.
I usually call 8-string guitars ‘harps’ as to me they are a completely different instrument to a regular 6-string guitar, so I am not the target audience for this style of, ahem, instrument. It looks really nice, though, and the Frostbite Glow finish in the promo shots looks sublime. I am not normally a fan of fancy tops, but I think it’s a good looking guitar-stroke-harp.
August’s guitar. The PRS Private Stock Custom 24 8-string designed with Periphery’s Mark Holcomb · Source: http://www.prsguitars.com/gom_august/
How low?
Very, is probably the answer to that question. The guitar has a low F#, which requires some good quality pickups or it will sound like mush. PRS have loaded a set of Holcomb’s signature Seymour Duncan Alpha and Omega pickups, which I imagine will be perfectly up for the job what with Mr Holcomb’s renown for a thumping low end style. Remember that this guitar has a 26.5″ scale length, so it is a whole one and a half inches longer than a regular PRS Custom 24. It can, in theory, knock out some serious low end, far beyond what you could achieve just by down-tuning a regular six-string guitar.
Practical
I will probably never get to try one of these out. I like the idea, and it looks well executed. I can only hazard a guess at what they will cost (I’m sure you’ll need to spend around £7-8000 on one). I think it could be something that filters down one day into the regular PRS lineup, so from that point of view, it’s interesting. No, I don’t think it is practical in this format, but maybe one day its offspring might well be.
Price: TBC
For more on the PRS Private Stock Mark Holcomb Custom 8 24, check out their site.
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