NGD: Prestige NYS Standard

Say hey,

I just picked up this guitar from a local jazz teacher this morning. Great guy and got to talk Frisell, Scofield and Joni Mitchell for a while. I don't always have time or inclination to seek conversation with strangers so it's nice to fall into a good one.

I polished it and changed out the flats it came with immediately, but this guitar sounds and plays fantastic. It's got a relatively flat radius (my preference) and Duncan P90s which I haven't played before. I'm a huge fan of even bad P90s, but these pickups in this body are both the woodiest and most articulate I've played. Really nice. Finish, fretwork and the neck are flawless. There is always some honeymoon but this is a really inspiring, lively guitar to play.

Prestige was previously unknown to me, they're Canadian and somewhat cagey on their website about where their guitars are "made." Reading between the lines I would guess it's Canadian design and maybe materials, assembled in Korea, and set up or otherwise "finished" again in Canada. I really can't justify a Gibson or Heritage ES-type, and have cycled through enough Artcores already, so had been shopping Peerless and Eastman and that class.

Cheers,
Drew

 

Good to hear your experience, thanks! I am typically not into instruments that are flashy or gilded, so the notable thing to me about very good instruments to me is that they sort of disappear. The notes fall to hand easily, the fretwork's perfect which means it's unremarkable, it doesn't sound in ways I don't expect. So far, this guitar sounds very nice and otherwise disappears for me, which is great.

 

That is gorgeous. How do you like the JB? I've used it with the Jazz HB neck in a couple guitars, but in hindsight I think it's because I'm "supposed to," that combo never actually felt like a good balance to me. I like the Jazz on its own but it sounds decidedly not like a normal humbucker to me, more like an SDS-1 or something.