Prestige Classic, Heritage Standard, and Musician Pro
Tested by Michael Molenda
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RIGHT NOW (MEANING FEBRUARY 2010), all eyes are on Vancouver because of the Winter Olympics, but if you’re into cool solidbodies and semi-hollows— instead of luges, skates, and skis—then the real thrill ride in this city is at Prestige Guitars. We first brought Prestige to the attention of the GP community last year, when the company’s Musician model scored highly in our semi-hollowbody Fight Club. Since then, Prestige introduced the Musician Pro, so we wanted to check out the new model, as well as evaluate a couple of the solidbodies. The guitars are manufactured in Korea from woods cut in Vancouver, and then the Vancouver shop takes on the wiring, final assembly, and setup.

I was able to test the Musician Pro at a couple of gigs, but the Heritage Standard and Classic were put through their paces at rehearsals. Every model was plugged into the same reference amps: an Orange Tiny Terror and Mesa/Boogie 1×12 cabinet, a Blackstar Series One 45 2×12 combo, a Fender Blues DeVille 2×12 combo, and a Mesa/Boogie Stiletto and Marshall 4×12 cabinet.

CLASSIC
At first look, the Classic seems like a rugged gigging guitar with a lovely flamesunburst top, while the Heritage Standard struts a more uptown quilted maple or ebony finish. There’s also a difference in construction, as the Classic lays its maple top onto a carved mahogany body, but the Heritage Standard puts a carved maple top on a flat mahogany body. Pretty much everything else about the guitars is the same—from pickups to hardware—except for the fact the Classic seems significantly lighter than the Heritage (even though there’s less than a pound difference between them). But the Classic doesn’t really give up much snarl, sustain, roar, or chunk to its heftier sibling, and it definitely sounds heavier than it feels. Clean tones possess a nice, fat resonance and pop, and overdriven sounds are tough and articulate. Even when strummed acoustically, the Classic is a lively guitar with a lot of shimmer and zing. Turning down the Tone knob reduces some of the midrange snap, but the sound never gets wooly, flabby, or flat. Because of its versatile tones, you can definitely pull off a fair amount of stylistic meandering with this guitar—from fusion to classic rock to blues to punk and R&B—although its resonant lows and low mids aren’t quite round enough to deliver sophisticated Benson-esque or old-school jazz sounds.

Construction is flawless—no paint or finish gremlins, no binding glitches, and no hardware issues. The fretboard inlays are set precisely with no signs of fill-in work, and the frets are, Paul-inspired solidbodies for the most part, well polished and smooth. (I did feel a sharp within Frisbee-tossing distance edge at the fourth fret.)

The only problem—and it affected all three models—was in the setup department. There was some slight buzzing at vari- ous positions on the fretboard, and, every once-in-a-while, an aggressive bend would simply fret out. It’s entirely possible this is a weather/humidity problem, and, in any case, a few setup adjustments will likely solve everything. There are other Les Paul-inspired solidbodies within Frisbee-tossing distance of the Classic’s price tag— including some from Gibson itself—but the Prestige’s combina- tion of sound, workmanship, and back-nurturing weightlessness make it a “must consider” model for those who play a lot of gigs.

I tried the same test after plugging in the
HERITAGE STANDARD
The Heritage’s sunburst, quiltedmaple top is stop-you-in-yourtracks stunning, so if you’re a slave to beautiful things, you’ll think nothing of paying $200 more than the Classic to call this beauty your own. Its gorgeous glow might even make you forget its weight—which may put gravity to work on some player’s shoulders a bit more than they’d like. In any case, I wanted to see what the Heritage’s extra beef proposition brought to the tonal table. Acoustic sustain between the Heritage and Classic was about the same. I fretted and picked a few notes around each guitar’s neck with a 1mm pick—trying to keep the attack the same—and the notes would ring out for around six to seven seconds on each guitar. Draw. I tried the same test after plugging into the lead channel of the Mesa/Boogie Stiletto, and the Heritage consistently out-sustained the Classic by just a couple of seconds. Nod to Heritage. Frequency-wise, both guitars are lively and articulate, but the Heritage has an ever-so-slightly darker timbre to its mids, while the Classic’s mids are a tad airier. No winner—totally up to user preference.

So, as the Heritage boasts the same excellent workmanship as the Classic, choosing between them really comes down to whether you dig the Heritage’s ultra-luscious top, and whether you can comfortably sling the heavier Heritage around your neck for long sets or torturous rehearsals. Happily, there’s no right or wrong answer, as both models rule.

M US I C I A N P R O
The original Musician is almost as wide as the The Classic’s back-side flight deck on an aircraft carrier. That didn’t contours. bother me at all, because I dig big boxes (even though my 5′ 6″ frame is often amusingly dwarfed by such monsters), but Prestige felt the line needed a more conventionally shaped semi-hollowbody—hence the slimmer, trim- mer Musician Pro. The Pro is definitely a little easier to wrap your arms around when you’re playing sitting down or standing, but it’s also about a pound heavier than its wide-load-styled sibling due to its solid center block (the Musi- cian is a true hollowbody).

Compared side-by-side to the Musician, the Pro sounds quite similar. There’s a tad more snap to the Pro’s midrange, and a per- ceptible extra sparkle to the highs, but, otherwise, you get most of the warm, artic- ulate tones produced by the big boy. The Pro is better at delivering jangly acoustic-like strums, but it can’t uncork the meaty, Duane Eddy-style resonance that the Musician throws down.

The Pro’s construction quality absolutely matches the sterling level reached by its mates—the wine-red finish offset by the gold hardware is a thing of beauty. The Bigsby delivers gorgeous vibrato without tossing everything out of tune, and I tend to really yank that sucker for the occasional flutter effect, so trust me, it’s one tough unit.

I think the Pro is a good move. It looks and sounds great—you can cop warm jazzy tones, and then kick in the overdrive and distortion for everything from flute-y fusion sounds to psychedelic blues—and it will feel marvelous to anyone who goes for slender semi-hollowbodies. Call it a “kinder, gen- tler” Musician, or just call it a fabulous guitar, because the Pro is one slick machine.