PRODUCT REVIEW
305
PRS
BY GARY GUZMAN
For many players, PRS has always represented an ideal convergence of the
design concepts that made the Les Paul
and Stratocaster great. And the new PRS
305—with its three single-coils, alder body,
5-way switch, 25. 5" scale, and tremolo—
flirts more overtly with the Stratocaster
design than most of the 6-strings currently
coming out of the company’s Stevensville,
Maryland, factory. But it’s a guitar that
remains unmistakably PRS in terms of
aesthetics, quality, and execution. And
combining so many distinctly Fender-esque
design elements with a set neck gives it
a resonance and tonal signature all its own.
Familiar Curves
You can spot a PRS at a
hundred paces, and the
305 is no exception. The
carved alder body makes a
beautiful canvas for the ele-
gant tri-color sunburst, which
fades from a deep chocolate
brown to orange-ish hues and
then to amber. The rock-
maple neck and fretboard
(a rosewood fretboard is
optional) runs a stan-
dard Fender 25. 5"
scale length and fea-
tures 22 frets of DGT
fret wire, and signa-
ture PRS bird inlays.
The guitar’s top-
quality hardware,
which is available
in nickel and gold,
includes PRS 14: 1
Phase II low-mass lock-
ing tuners and a tremolo
bridge. The electronics,
meanwhile, are configured in a manner
that would be familiar to any Strat user:
three 305 single-coils and a 5-way blade
switch toggle between bridge, bridge-
middle, middle, middle-neck, and neck
selections. The only other controls are a
Volume and a Tone knob.
Immediately Apparent Quality
When I initially picked up and played the
305, the guitar felt very solid and comfortable—no surprise there. Before I even
plugged in the 305, its impressive, ringing
resonance was plain to the ear, and single
notes happily sustained without the assistance of an amp.
The neck’s slick satin finish felt great and
played fast, and the large frets were perfectly shaped at the edges. Getting up
to the highest frets unimpeded was no
problem, thanks to the rounded heel and
substantial cutaway. Intonation and action
were also perfect right out of the case.
Strings run through the back of the guitar
and then through the bridge—which isn’t
too chunky and is set up perfectly for deep
tremolo bends or mellow vibrato textures.
There’s also the usual thoughtful PRS
touches, like the ridged no-slip nut and
tuners that are designed for easy string
installation and exceptional tuning stability.
Spectral Sound
In a fitting start to my evaluation of the
305, I plugged it into a PRS 30 amp set
to a clean tone. Toggling through the five
pickup configurations quickly revealed
the 305’s potential stylistic versatility. The
305 neck pickup has smooth warmth that
is good for jazz, and combining the neck
pickup with the middle pickup results in a
