So while many of you know me and know my live Stick show, I generally like to do a lot of studio stuff and while I'm pretty set with my Grand, my Alto, and basses, I haven't had a really nice electric guitar in quite some time (I have a very old one that's seriously beat up and usually borrow my wife's). So I've been considering picking up a really nice electric and and looking at many of the usual suspects (Strats, Teles, Les Paul, various PRS, etc).

Question though ... how do you folks find the NS in respect to substituting for an electric guitar? I mean ... if I'm looking mainly to do picking and fingerstyle but add some harmonic range, how does this instrument stack up to ... say ... a high end PRS?

I don't play guitar, but I'll toss out my opinion. The NS can be a good substitute for an electric bass but I don't think it would be a good guitar substitute. Sure it could fill in as one in a pinch, but it sounds like you want a real guitar.

The lower tension strings means you couldn't "dig in" as much with a pick as you might on a guitar (although raising the string would help somewhat.) With the longer string length you aren't going to get as much of a real guitar sound. With the string length and wider fret board, guitar chords are going to require more of a stretch than on a guitar. If you want to play in guitar range you probably won't be on the 2 (or 3) lowest strings. You'll have to make sure to mute those lower strings with your hand (if you want to have the mute off in order to play other open strings.)

It seems to me like you want a guitar so even though I am a huge NS/Stick fan, I'd recommend a guitar.

You're welcome to come over my house and try both The reason I own a PRS is it's one of the few electric guitars I could fingerpick at the time. I never warmed up to traditional electric guitars like Fender and Gibsons, other than maybe the Gibson SG. The only other one I could easily fingerpick was the Steinbergers that had the normal guitar bodies, which oddly two years later I picked up an NS Stick.

The newer NS I replaced the first one with I found to be much better at fingerpicking. The fret rails are fantastic and the gap between the 4th and 5th string has a more uniform feel than the first one did. I also like using standard tuning which gives me some higher pitches compared to the old BEADGBEA tuning I used to use.

I see the NS as more of a substitute for a bass guitar. I hardly ever play my bass anymore, other than when i want that familiar sound of Rototsound bass strings. With the addition of multi band compressors and multi band parametric EQ's coming out of the Helix, I can now get a much fatter sound out of the thinner NS strings. But due to the longer scale length of the NS it can never quite be a replacement for an electric guitar.

About two years ago I switched to .011-.048" strings on the PRS, and had it worked on locally by Tom Pellerito. It's now 16 years old and plays like a new instrument. The heavier gage strings give me some better tones out of the first string with less twang and overall play better for fingerpicking. Thanks to Oz's various benefit projects, I've performed with that guitar more than any of my other instruments, all within the last three years.

The NS is a great instrument to bring if you have no idea what to expect if you go to play with a group of people where you are uncertain of who will show up. Do you need a bass? Should you bring a guitar? Bring the NS and you can go either way, but I'd compare the capability more to an acoustic guitar than an electric.. I'd have to show you the reason in person as words would not explain it appropriately, Once you start running effects, amp simulators, etc, you start noticing the difference in sound between the NS and an electric guitar.

Glenn, I'm not a guitar player, and only a year with the NS/Stick in February, but I'd agree with Russell and Steve's assessments of it: it's more an extended-range bass than a guitar, although it can serve as that as well.

It sounds like you need to take Steve B. up at his offer and try out both his NS/Stick and his PRS. I do love my NS, though. And I've got a decent electric guitar, in that it's got a cool dipped paint job, and locking tremolos, which is about what I need out of an electric guitar. (And a couple of more years of practice on it that I won't put in on it. Haven't touched it in years!) The NS/Stick works for my guitar needs, but I'm a crappy yet enthusiastic player and I suspect the PRS is more what you're looking for.

But try both out and let us know! And good luck with that! It's always fun getting new gear!