Click here to view the P22 on the PRS web site - scan down to the bottom of the page for 2 or 3 excellent video/demo clips - well worth watching

Click here to read an excellent copy of the review taken from the USA Vintage Guitar Magazine

Overview - The tonal package of the new PRS P22 is mighty impressive - Today we tend to take it for granted the attention to detail, impeccable build quality, seductive finishes and enticing figured maple tops, as well as a fluid playing action that ensures that a PRS Guitar is the ultimate playing experience - We might even take it for granted that a new PRS model, or indeed and update to an existing model, is going to raise the bar a touch further and maybe that is, or was, the case with the P22 - Prior to first getting my hands on a P22, I had read the press release, seen various youtube style clips and thought, yes this looks interesting - Yet that first test drive required me to add a number of exclamation marks after WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - The new PRS 53/10 pick-ups on their own, makes this a very desirable guitar - Indeed the LR Baggs/PRS designed active piezo package makes the guitar almost worth £3000 on its own, so put them into one package and all I can say is 'give it a test drive asap, as it is mighty impressive

Spec and details are as follows
Weighs in at a touch under 7lbs and 12oz
Flamed maple '10' top
V12 black gold burst finish
one piece mahogany body
One piece mahogany neck
22 fret rosewood fingerboard
25" scale length
Pattern neck profile
Bird inlays
Nickel/gold hybrid hardware
Fully adjustable PRS wrapover bridge/tailpiece, that incorporates the piezo saddles
PRS 53/10 humbuckers
5 way selector switch
Master Volume + tone control Blend/volume control for the piezo
3 way mode switch - piezo only, humbuckers only or both
Set-up with 10's
Includes deluxe PRS case

Feel/playability - As usual, the feel and playability of the PRS P22 is nice and slick - A set of 10's still feel slinky, yet well balanced, so only a few will feel the need to drop down to a set of 9's - String bending is effortless, even beyond the 12th fret - You'll notice that every string on every fret rings true and the intonation is excellent, so much so, that even fancy jazz based chords played beyond the 12th fret sound in tune - Furthermore each note of the chord is cleary audible - The neck has a very comfortable amount of girth to it, which will enrich the tone and sustain, but no way can it be considered chunky - Furthermore, if you wish to play in the fast lane and rip into your array of guitar gymnastics, then this guitar will allow you to do so with the greatest of ease

Tonal experience - The guitar is equipped with two jack socket options - This allows you to either still use your regular lead and as such both the humbuckers and piezo will operate through one amp - This works well, but it does not bring out the best of the piezo - Therefore, send the humbuckers down your existing lead into your regular amp, then run the piezo down a regular guitar lead and into a dedicated system - This maybe a recording package, computer/studio monitors, pa system, electro acoustic amp, or even try a keyboard amp - Effectively any amp/speaker package that is flat response and full range, so it will handle the depth and clarity that the piezo will deliver - Inconjunction with the 3 way mini toggle switch, you can then select humbuckers only, piezo only, or blend the two together - Some players might not have even considered a piezo electro-acoustic system as a priority option on their guitar, but once you have tried it and used it, you'll find it could well become a permanent fixture in your guitar collection - Strumming big Pete Townsend style chords and it is so effective - Think classical, or arpeggio style introductions along the lines of Hotel California, Stairway to Heaven and Sting's Fragile and you'll get the drift of how useful the P22 can be - Play some fingerstyle chord/melody arrangements and you'll see how much it can enrich your performance - It even does a nice job of handling some gypsy style chord work - One big adavantage of splitting the piezo and humbuckers through different amps is that you can add some overdrive on the humbuckers, then blend in the clean electro-acoustic tone of the piezo package until it adds clarity - It then sounds like 2 guitars in the mix - Excellent for both recording and live work

Tone without piezo - Now let's leave the piezo system behind for now and try out the new PRS 53/10 humbucker pick-ups - Controlled via a 5 way blade or Strat style switch which gives you 3 humbucking voices plus 2 excellent single coil voices - The neck pick-up is smooth, rich and warm with excellent articulation - Full clear lows, plenty of body with mids that do not clutter up the overall tone and sparkling highs that possess just enough snap - Very responsive with excellent dynamics - The overall tone is probably more 335 than that of a moody Les Paul, but roll off the tone pot a touch until you find a 'darker' voice - The bridge pick-up bites, but in a warm musical way - Tight lows and plenty of punch in the mid range area - It almost has a vintage Tele flavour to it, but bigger and fatter - Again, for a softer lead tone, roll off the tone pot a touch - In fact both the volume pot and tone pot work well over the whole 1-10 range, which allows you to set up the amp with some overdrive and then control the level of gain that you require, even cleaning up the tone, as required - Hence lots of control, soul and emotion directly at your fingertips - On clean or subtle overdriven amp settings, as your 'roll off' the volume pot, the neck pick-up even possesses a nice hint of a single coil vintage Strat tone, with a touch more snap - Do the same on the bridge pick-up and you might even think you are moving into a good vintage Tele or NoCaster land - in short, the P22 will respond to your needs and works well on clean, blues overdriven or hi-gain amp settings - Playing just the piezo or humbucking options you'll appreciate the quality of the P22, but use them together and you'll fully appreciate the benefits of an award winning package - If there was an Oscar, or Grammy for guitar of the year, then this will win by a clear country mile

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