I received the PRS Johnny Hiland guitar this afternoon and I'm absolutely thrilled with it! I remember very much liking these guitars when I demo'd them a few years ago and I was sure it would work out. Still I didn't expect it to be as great as I'm finding it to be. It's a fusion of all of the things I like dig about Strat's and the traits I love in my '88 PRS CE24. The pickups are fantastic! They're very much like low output PAF's - bright but full sounding, and great overtones. The bridge pickup response to volume pot settings is very cool - goes from Tele twang to a great old-school bridge PAF rock tone. The guitar has spank and twang!! This makes for one of the best full output bridge humbucker clean tones I've ever used.

I spent a good bit of time setting it up this evening. The previous owner had it set up for 10's - I play 9 gauge strings so a setup was necessary. The nut was never cut for 10's but it's been strung with 10's for long enough that the nut really needs to be properly cut for 9's again. The trem doesn't hold tuning perfectly and the nut is the culprit. For the way I use a trem it's not really an issue but I want it resolved. I'll take it into Mike Lull's shop and have him install a bone nut and do a full setup when time allows.

It's just day one and I know I'll be high on this guitar for a bit. It's different enough from my Strat and my CE24 that it won't sit idle. It's such a great match for me that it wouldn't surprise me if it eventually becomes my #1.

I took a few pics with the guitar hanging in my music room. The light is terrible in this room so the pics aren't that great. They do show the guitar pretty well though. It's a looker!

Thanks!

...and warning appreciated. I've overdone it before and it's costly.

Thanks!

Here's an update after several days and a few hours playing...

This guitar is loud and full sounding when played acoustically and I can feel the guitar vibrate against me when playing - it's a lively, vibrant guitar that sounds and feels like it's had decades to dry out and countless hours played improving its natural tone. I have another PRS that had similar qualities off the shelf when I bought it new 22 years ago and it's been improving with the passing of time. This guitar is starting out new sounding and feeling more seasoned than my old PRS! The 245 pickups seem to be a perfect match for the guitar. They have a cool midrange character thats sweet and clear and they bark when I dig in! Both pickups sound fantastic clean and they're well suited for blues, classic rock, even metal tones with a suitable amp. The voicing definitely leans hard towards early Les Paul territory (vintage sounds). Tone-wise it's a great fit for me as I am primarily a blues / classic rock player.

After a couple of days the guitar has settled into the climate here and required a quick neck adjustment so I decided to do a full setup with .09 gauge strings (I prefer .09's to heavier gauge strings for their tone, tension, and response to a heavy attack). The result is nothing short of amazing! I can't get over how great this guitar sounds and feels! The switch in string gauge from .10's was not a subtle change. For my ears (and hands) it was a significant improvement.

What's better than this is how effortless this guitar is to play - a really big deal for me as Psoriatic Arthritis has kept me from being able to play more than a a couple hours a week. I've been able to play daily since this guitar arrived, logging at least four hours, and the switch to .09's is sure to improve this further. I'm sure that I'm overdoing it a bit out of excitement but, excited or no, I've not been able to push myself to play more than three hours in any given week for almost two years now so this is a really big deal for me!!

I wasn't sure if the stock nut, cut for .10's, was going to work properly with .09's but it does and really well. It's not perfect but it's far and away better than most production guitars fresh off the rack. I'll eventually take it in to have a bone nut cut for it but I'm certainly in no rush at this point.

Man, I'm so jazzed about this guitar!!!

I arrived home from work on Tuesday to find a UPS package waiting for me - sweet!!! I'd been looking forward to this for a week now though to be honest I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I made the trade decision for this guitar with my eyes mostly (though I was looking for a short scale guitar and I generally like PRS guitars - my #1 is a PRS I've owned for 22 years). I hadn't played an SC245 when I agreed to the trade. I did get out and play a couple SC245's while waiting for this to arrive though none with the 245 pickups. My hopes were that this guitar would be just as the early SC245 was described - 'similar to a 50's LP but more midrange focus and a more refined sound'.

After several hours playing this guitar all I can say is WOW!!!!! It's everything I'd hoped it would be and more! I think the description above fits very nicely. It's what I wanted the LP's I'd owned in the past to be. Played through shimmering blackface cleans to gained-out Mesa Mark lead tones this thing sounds beautiful!

I haven't played it enough to post any kind of a review but I can say I really like everything about it so far.

Here are some pics I took this evening:

Woohooo!!!!! That's awesome!
           

   Thanks a whole bunch!!!