<taken from the PRS forum>
Last Friday morning, I did a very silly thing.
To be clear I was primed for the moment. I had not bought a guitar for many many months ( Had just bought and renovated a house).I had a long and hard earned bonus coming in. I was planning to get a guitar but I didn't quite know what.
Another back story. About two and a half years ago, PRS had launched the Modern Eagle V, and while it had piqued my interest, I wasn't quite sure what I would getting over the 513 beyond the unique nature of the narrow Paul's guitar pickups. Nonetheless I heard enough about the model since then, including on this forum, which did put it on my 'one day' list.
A few days before the Friday, I was browsing the Andertons website during my usual sojourn through the usual spots, sorting guitars from high price to low just for fun and day dreaming. However out of nowhere, appeared one of most beautiful Private Stocks I had ever seen. A ridiculous quilted top, quilted maple fretboard, Frostbite fade colour, all black hardware. I clicked on that picture faster than a dog to a bone and found out more. It was a Modern Eagle V, the perfect Modern Eagle V. At an outrageous price, but more importantly I immediately noticed it was out of stock. I cursed and shut the page, trying not to look at the guitar again, because it had been the perfect guitar but I had missed it.
Friday morning I got up, a little spent after a long run the previous night. As I was setting up for the day and had run through the basic early work email, I was doing a little side browsing to check if my salary had come in (It was pay day and also the one time annual bonus day). It was all good. Since I was taking a small break anyway, something told me just to open my facebook. And there happened to be a little post from Andertons that caught my eye.
And lo and behold, it was that same guitar all over again. A work of art they called it and while normally I am not receptive to marketing spiel, I did agree. I was a little surprised why they were advertising a guitar that had already sold out so I went to their website.
And it was in stock.
This is when things become blurry. I have a vague recollection of quickly devouring all the words I could. The specs. Noticing that it was stained by Paul Miles during an Andertons live or some other session of the sort. And the deciding factor. 24 frets. (Side diversion: I have recently fallen in love with 24 fret guitars because they make playing the higher register much easier and the les paul neck tone that I love so much, can be approximated with the right pedals and rolling off the tone knob)
I thought for a second. Even though I felt temporarily flush (there are a lot of bills to pay. It was just a illusion), it was an insane amount of money. I own Private stocks but I'm a bit of the deal hunter (as we all are) and I have never really payed full dollar for something this expensive . Even the 594 Graveyard which I bought new.
Then I thought again about how this guitar was the perfect spec, almost as if it was designed for me. How quilt tops of this quality are getting rarer by the day and how much I liked this particular top. How I had never seen a modern eagle V with 24 frets before. How I thought I had missed this guitar the first time.
A few minutes later the deed was done. I told my wife right after and she was incredibly okay. Helps that I haven't bought a guitar since Jan and if anything this year, I am cash positive on the guitar end. And so the wait began. Till this Thursday evening, till the friendly DHL guy arrived at the door.
So without further ado, here we are folks. The details are
Modern Eagle V 24 fret
Swamp ash body, Ash neck, Quilt maple top and fretboard and matching headstock
Frostbite Glow High Gloss Nitro
Smoked Black Hardware
Abalone birds with Mother of Pearl Outlines and Purfling
Standard ME V Electronics (read two narrow 408 pickups + single coil middle pickup) and 17 possible combinations X 2 pot resistances
The video of me getting and unboxing the guitar are here and the photos are below
Most of the pictures are in yellow light (since it was evening and most of my house's lights are yellow). But here's one in white just to give you a more accurate feeling for the shade
All sorts of quilt in this picture
I do wish that the case was fancier (It's a standard Black Paisley, reasonably similar to what you can get in Wood Library) but that is my only gripe. The interior of the case is much better than the wood library case though.
Love this angle. Also reminds me that this guitar is in a way a fancy 'Silverburst'
The Money shot
The back is as stunning as the front. A lot whiter in real life, just the yellow lighting shading it here
Can't go wrong with a matching Headstock
Another angle of the guitar I really love
Close-up of the work of art that is the fretboard
One more for good measure
Okay folks, I hope this was a tantalizing taster. I shall have a full detailed video and review up, hopefully sometime in October. In the meantime, mind me, as I put some miles on this thing