Desdemona | soldguitars

2007 Paul Reed Smith Hollowbody '10-Top'

"Desdemona"

This was one of the select few brought in during my major reshuffle in 2018. I sold LOTS of gear in an attempt to rationalise an out-of-control collection, but promised myself that funds could be used to bring in a few guitars that made me tingle. And this is one is appropriately tingly. Very tingly indeed, actually.

This is a 2007 Paul Reed Smith Hollowbody, often called a 'Hollowbody 1', given that it pre-dated the introduction of the Hollowbody II, but prior to the Hollowbody II this was officially just a 'Hollowbody'. Kinda like how Back to the Future became 'Back to the Future I', once parts II and III came out. You know.

Anyway ... the guitar. it has the general shape of a PRS, but is thicker, with a lovely violin-carve to the top and the back. The back and sides are gnawed out of a single, huge hunk of mahogany, with most of the internal lumber hollowed out and made into sawdust. Internally, this isn't like a 335/355, with no centre-block to muffle vibrations, but is pretty much entirely hollow, apart from the bits and pieces needed to hold it all together. The top is two chunks of 10-top flamey maple, with two (very nicely done) f-holes to let everything breathe nicely. They also allow you to peer inside with an iPhone camera, which is going to be fun for years to come.

The neck is mahogany with rosewood, carved into my favourite 'wide fat' profile (25" scale length), which provides a lovely handful, and the neck joint stretches way back under the whole neck pickup (much longer than the fabled Gibson long-tenon, which is interesting). Unlike any other PRS I've owned, this one doesn't have bird inlays, but rather has PRS's 'moons', which look just like clay dots until you get close, then you see that they're split into crescents, which is quite pretty. I'd have happily taken one with birds, but I'm perfectly happy with the moons, thank you. As the rest of the guitar is pretty busy and fussy, I think that the moons help to keep it look a little less ostentatious ... like it's trying NOT to be a dentist's guitar. That isn't helped by the 10-top and the achingly pretty 'vintage natural' burst, but I think that it all holds together beautifully.

The hardware is as solid as you'd expect, with the Phase-II low-mass locking tuners treated to ebony buttons. The two visible pickups are PRS 'buckers (a McCarty Archtop Bass at the neck and an Archtop Treble at the bridge, both of which are pretty low-output), and there's an L.R.Baggs piezo pickup tucked away inside the bridge assembly. The noise gets out of the magnetic pickups via a three-way, volume and tone, and there's a blend-pot to wind in increasing amounts of the piezo signal (and a three-way mini switch for piezo on/blended/off). If you want, you can route the magnetic pups through one jack socket, and the piezo signal through another, or they can both go through the same output. With a multi-amp setup (like mine ...) you can have the magnetic signal going through your snarling Marshall stack, and the piezo going to a clean amp with chorus and stuff. Sounds odd, but it is VERY pleasing. And it feels kinda naughty.

In use, this is STUPIDLY light-weight. My 355 was a huge chunk of guitar, but THIS actually needs to be tethered down in case it floats away. Seriously. OK, not seriously, but it IS pretty light. There's enough volume if you aren't plugged in (you know ... fiddling around in front of the telly) to generate cross looks from your other half when she can't hear Masterchef properly. Not only is it acceptably loud, but it is also a thoroughly pleasing tone ... not bright and shimmery like a good flat-top acoustic, but warm, full and solid.

So. It's pretty as a picture, is lovely to play, sounds great and is probably the most versatile guitar I've ever played. I wonder if I could get a Floyd put on it?

In case you're wondering by the way, 'Desdemona' is also the name of one of the moons of Uranus. Moons. See what I did there.