WE SAY

Paul Reed Smith-designed guitars look set to become the flavour of the late 1980s. These extremely expensive American originals are already popular with the wealthy cognoscenti (Gary Moore has one identical to our review sample), and are now gleaning the sort of praise that will turn them into cult objects.

Paul Reed Smith has revised the basic elements of the Strat and the Les Paul and combined them with his own innovations in a new and deeply satisfying guitar. The construction is Les Paul: the neck leans back from the body, the rounded maple top on a mahogany body, one-piece glued neck, two humbuckers, and the three-aside headstock. But the back of the body has been contoured and the bridge/tremolo system — though PRS's own patent — is a refinement of the old Strat design.

To this we add Mr Smith's developments: a wide, flat neck accessible right to the 24th fret, superb locking tuning pegs (designed by PRS, made by Schaller), a five-way pickup selector knob (not a switch), and the electronics themselves, which give the Paul Reed Smith a range of tones I've yet to hear bettered in a single guitar.

The extras and attention to detail partly explain why this guitar costs more than my MG (and has better acceleration). The finish is perfect, each of the abalone flying bird inlays (£120 extra) is different, strap buttons are big, the controls are recessed (like the Aria PE series), and you get a range of PRS plectrums.

The neck is so true that it's an effort not to play fast. It even overcame my prejudices against flat necks and jumbo frets. The tremolo is firm, responsive, and loads of other adjectives that make you think 'good'. And it stayed almost perfectly in tune with the help of those dreamy machine heads. These clamp the string as it passes through the post, doing away with the need for windings and locking nuts — simple and effective, and destined to become standard fitting for new guitars in the 1990s. Betcha.

That back knob is a pickup selector. Its five positions give front pickup, Stratty out-of-phase, both pickups together, genuine out-of-phase (a thin and aggressive nasal sound), plus back pickup. Throw the 'sweet' switch on any of these settings, and the treble is cut, without reducing the level of the lower tones.

I wasn't hugely enamoured of the sound to start with; it sounded quite like a Les Paul, and a bit like a Strat, but not enough to really enthral. But give the AC30 a little edge and the PRS really begins to come alive, from the warmth and sustain of a good Les Paul to the wiryness of a cranked-up Strat, taking the most important parts of each sound and adding to them.

One measure of a good guitar is how it reacts to being plucked hard — with the Paul Reed Smith there's that slight compression and swelling sustain of a Gibson, plus the underlying tautness of a Fender. Couldn't be better — almost. It did need to be loud. I know fuzzy guitar is very 1980s, but I'm wary of the PRS' abilities at low volumes, and a possible lack of character. But who wants to play quiet anyway? Woooaargh.

Two complaints: firstly, I can't afford one. Secondly, it's impossible to tell which pickup you're using from the position of the knob — it should either be a different shape, or there should be some calibration for it on the body.

WE SAY

From the pointy headstocks of the Hohner and the Washburn, it's obvious that these guitars are not exact copies. The similarities are body outline, double octave fingerboard, and construction (maple/mahogany), but that's where it stops. The Washburn has simple electronics, and the Hohner even has an extra pickup. Both guitars have plastic fingerboards, enormous tremolos, locking nuts, plus very different and distinctive individual feels.

The blonde Hohner first: "Lovely bit of wood," we all said. Good robust construction, but the rough pickup holes, sloppy star-shape neck inlays and scruffy plastic nut aren't so impressive.

And then there were clunky sounding frets just above the octave, ropey chroming on the bridge saddles, and worst of all, a middle pickup which was set too low, and turned out to be impossible to raise as it had no springs beneath it.

The Lion's body is considerably fatter than the real thing, which makes it feel slightly clumsy to hold. However, it hangs well and the back-angled neck is comfortable enough. The shallow profile matches the flat wide fingerboard and the frets are high but slightly flattened.

There's a design problem inherent in having on/off pickup selectors, as it's very easy accidentally to turn the whole instrument off. Furthermore, the switch for the Hohner's rear pickup is three-way, changing between single-coil, humbucking, and off. 'Off' is in the central position, and is horribly easy to click to by accident. Providing you can get your fingers round such awkwardly placed fiddly little items.

Given that the middle pickup was dodgy, it was only to be expected that the out-of-phase positions should sound undistinguished. Front and back pickups on their own were warm and full, sounding as the guitar felt — big and fat. Overall, the Lion had a tolerably wide tonal range via the various pickup combinations, but there was nothing to suggest possible romantic involvement on the player's part.

This particular instrument was rather a mess, though the design is basically sound. Hopefully, most of my complaints (with the exception of the switches) wouldn't apply to models going into the shops. It does look good, though.

WE SAY

The Washburn RS10 is really a very simple guitar, with its two pickups, small three-way selector, and basic volume and tone knobs. The first impression you get is of its giraffe-like neck — a 25¾in scale length against the 25½in of the Hohner and the 25in of the original. To compound this impression, the Washburn's fingerboard joins the body at the 22nd fret, one fret higher than the Hohner (but the same as the PRS)

The 24 frets on this flat neck are exceeding high and round, particularly the 16th which is considerably higher and rounder than it ought to be. Buzz, rattle — naughty Mr Washburn, I thought this guitar had been set up.

Once you get over the railway sleeper frets, the long neck makes this guitar seem pleasant to play. As well as having a charming slim profile, the neck isn't angled back from the body, which makes the hand naturally fall higher up the neck — you start off with the feeling of being half way to a solo. The trem is suitably aggressive (as was the Hohner's), though a bit proud of the body for my tastes.

Surprisingly, the Washburn doesn't sound as dense as the cheaper instrument, being rather rattlier and more Fenderish — a factor of scale length, perhaps? And there were rather fewer twangy harmonics to be had.

DECISION

I'd always wanted to do a comparative copy/original test, and now I've cocked it up — the Hohner SG Lion and Washburn RS10 may look like Paul Reed Smith copies, but they lack the new features that make the PRS such an exciting and innovative instrument.

The price difference between the RS10 and the Lion seems justified: the Washburn is better finished, and rather more tidily designed. Even though the Hohner does have a wider tonal range, I'd argue that the slimmer feel of the Washburn is rather more exciting — matter of taste?

Then there's the PRS, How can anyone justify spending that much money on some wood and wires? Well, if guitar playing is your trade, it's reasonable to use the best possible tools; and you have to pay for perfection (after all, it is tax deductible). Meanwhile the rest of us should be grateful to Paul Reed Smith for the thought he puts into his guitars — it's ideas like his that determine what sort of instruments the rest of us will be playing in three years time. The best yet.

HOHNER SG LION GUITAR £299
WASHBURN RS10V GUITAR £349
PAUL REED SMITH CUSTOM GUITAR £1314