The PRS Modern Eagle V in Charcoal is one of the most sophisticated electric guitars in the PRS Core range, combining premium USA construction with a remarkably flexible H-S-H electronics platform designed to move convincingly between humbucker and single-coil territory.

Its mahogany back is topped with carved figured maple, paired with a Pattern mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard and 25" scale, while TCI humbuckers flank the NS-01 middle single-coil. The result is a Modern Eagle designed not just around luxury appointments, but around an unusually broad selection of genuinely usable sounds for stage and studio work.

This particular guitar has another major attraction: its exceptionally attractive bookmatched figured maple top.

It is not factory classified by PRS as a 10-Top, but every now and again a regular-grade PRS emerges with figuring that visually punches far above its official designation. This Modern Eagle V typifies exactly that. The two halves are beautifully bookmatched, with a refined flame that forms a subtle chevron as it moves away from the centre seam. Under the Charcoal finish it creates a sophisticated, understated appearance rather than an overly dramatic stripe.

Offered in Mint condition and supplied with a hardcase, this is an especially appealing individual example of an already exceptional PRS Core model.

At A Glance

Pre-Owned Condition Report

Mint Condition

This PRS Modern Eagle V Charcoal is offered in Mint condition.

Mint condition means the guitar is virtually indistinguishable from new, with little to no meaningful evidence of previous use and an exceptionally clean overall presentation.

No faults, repairs or modifications have been supplied for this listing.

What’s Included?

✔ PRS Modern Eagle V Charcoal
✔ Hardcase

✘ No Additional Accessories Included

Condition Notes

This individual Modern Eagle V has been graded Mint, making it particularly desirable for someone looking for an exceptionally clean Pre-Owned PRS Core guitar.

Its most immediately striking feature is its individual piece of figured maple.

Although not officially designated a PRS 10-Top, the top has beautifully matched figuring across both halves, with the flame forming a subtle chevron around the centre joint.

It is less about exaggerated, ruler-straight flame and more about depth and movement – particularly effective underneath the darker Charcoal finish.

An Exceptional Non-10 Top

PRS grades figured maple before it becomes a completed guitar.

An official 10-Top is selected according to specific visual criteria and receives PRS's corresponding factory designation. This guitar does not carry that designation and is therefore correctly described as a standard or non-10 Top.

However, PRS itself acknowledges that standard-grade tops can still be striking and unique.

This guitar is a perfect example.

Rather than strong horizontal figuring alone, its bookmatched maple displays a very subtle V-shaped or chevron movement, giving the top symmetry while retaining the natural variation that makes figured maple so appealing.

Under the Charcoal finish, the flame moves between dark and light as the guitar is viewed from different angles.

It is the kind of non-10 PRS that makes you look twice at the headstock to check.

Fair Deal Quality Control Assessment

This Pre-Owned PRS Modern Eagle V has been inspected and assessed by the Fair Deal Music team before sale.

Our checks include:

• TCI bridge pickup
• NS-01 middle pickup
• TCI neck pickup
• Five-way selector
• Push/pull tone function
• Mini-toggle switching
• Master volume and tone controls
• Output socket
• Frets
• Rosewood fingerboard
• Neck condition
• PRS locking tuners
• Gen III tremolo
• Saddles and hardware
• Intonation
• Tuning stability
• Overall playability

The supplied hardcase is also checked for basic usability.

Service / Setup Work

All Pre-Owned electric guitars at Fair Deal Music are set up and checked before leaving the shop.

Our assessment includes action, neck relief, fret condition, intonation, tuning stability, electronics, pickup balance, tremolo setup, hardware and overall playability.

Please note that wooden instruments can respond slightly to temperature and humidity changes during transport, so minor setup movement after delivery is normal.

Why Choose The PRS Modern Eagle V?

Five-Coil HSH Pickup Platform

At the heart of the Modern Eagle V is an unusually flexible five-coil HSH arrangement.

PRS combines TCI humbuckers at the neck and bridge with an NS-01 single-coil in the middle, providing sounds that range from full-bodied humbucker tones to brighter, more articulate combinations.

This gives the guitar considerably more tonal breadth than a conventional twin-humbucker PRS.

TCI Humbuckers

PRS's TCI – Tuned Capacitance and Inductance – approach focuses on carefully controlling the electrical characteristics of each pickup.

Rather than simply chasing additional output, the Modern Eagle V is designed around clarity, balance and usable tonal differences between its pickup settings.

Push/Pull Electronics

The push/pull tone control expands the five-way layout by bringing the outer pickups into additional combinations.

That opens up sounds not normally available from a conventional HSH guitar, including configurations involving all three pickups.

Dual Mini-Toggle Controls

Two dedicated mini toggles provide further control over the voicing of the outer pickups.

This is a major reason the Modern Eagle V can cover so much ground while retaining a relatively straightforward physical control layout.

PRS Pattern Neck

The Pattern profile provides a substantial but refined neck feel derived from PRS's traditional neck geometry.

Combined with the 10" fingerboard radius and 25" scale, it provides a comfortable middle ground between vintage-style and overtly modern guitar designs.

PRS Gen III Tremolo

The patented Gen III tremolo is designed around smooth operation, accurate return to pitch and strong mechanical contact between the bridge and guitar.

Combined with Phase III locking tuners, it provides a highly capable system for expressive vibrato without resorting to a double-locking tremolo.

What Makes The Modern Eagle V Electronics Special?

A traditional HSH guitar normally uses a five-way selector to provide several predetermined pickup combinations.

The Modern Eagle V goes considerably further.

Its basic five-way arrangement provides intuitive bridge, bridge-plus-middle, middle, middle-plus-neck and neck selections.

The additional push/pull and mini-toggle functions then open up further pickup and voicing combinations.

The result is a guitar capable of covering the territory of several conventional instruments without becoming dominated by switches and controls.

For a studio or working guitarist who regularly moves between clean, edge-of-breakup and driven sounds, that breadth is one of the Modern Eagle V's strongest advantages.

Comparison Against Popular Alternatives

Modern Eagle V vs PRS Custom 24

The Custom 24 is arguably the definitive PRS all-rounder, with 24 frets and twin humbuckers. The Modern Eagle V has 22 frets and introduces a dedicated middle single-coil plus considerably more elaborate electronics, making it the more expansive tonal platform.

Modern Eagle V vs PRS Studio

Both use HSH-style concepts and target versatile players. The Modern Eagle V moves further into the premium Core specification with its dedicated TCI/NS-01 electronics, Modern Eagle appointments and broader switching architecture.

Modern Eagle V vs PRS DGT

The DGT is deliberately focused around David Grissom's live-playing requirements, with two humbuckers and relatively direct controls. The Modern Eagle V is the more electronically expansive choice for players prioritising maximum tonal variety.

Modern Eagle V vs Fender HSS Stratocaster

A Stratocaster provides the familiar bolt-on snap and three-pickup character. The Modern Eagle V approaches similar versatility from a PRS set-neck, maple-over-mahogany foundation, adding substantially more tonal weight and switching flexibility.

Who Is It For?

Professional Working Guitarists

The ability to cover radically different sounds from one instrument makes the Modern Eagle V extremely useful for musicians playing varied set lists.

Studio And Session Players

This is where the extensive switching architecture makes particularly good sense. Different pickup combinations can provide contrasting layers without requiring several guitars.

Rock And Blues Players

The TCI humbuckers provide the weight and sustain expected from a carved-maple, mahogany-backed PRS while retaining excellent articulation.

Funk, Soul And Pop Guitarists

The middle pickup and brighter combinations provide considerably more rhythmic clarity than a traditional HH guitar.

PRS Enthusiasts And Collectors

The Modern Eagle name has historically represented some of PRS's more ambitious instruments, and this example gains additional individuality from its unusually attractive non-10 figured maple top.

Suitable Genres And Uses

The PRS Modern Eagle V is particularly well suited to:

• Rock
• Blues
• Blues rock
• Pop
• Funk
• Soul
• Fusion
• Country
• Alternative
• Progressive rock
• Modern worship
• Session work
• Studio recording
• Lead guitar
• Rhythm guitar
• Professional live performance

Why A 25" Scale?

PRS's traditional 25" scale length sits neatly between the two most familiar American electric-guitar standards.

It is longer than the 24.75" scale associated with many Gibson designs but shorter than Fender's traditional 25.5" scale.

That gives the Modern Eagle V a familiar yet distinct string feel: enough tension for articulation and clean definition while retaining a comfortable response for bending and vibrato.

Combined with the 10" radius and Pattern neck, it is one of the reasons PRS guitars can feel immediately comfortable to players coming from very different instrument backgrounds.

Story & Context: The PRS Modern Eagle V

The Modern Eagle name has long occupied an important place within PRS history.

Rather than describing a single permanent specification, Modern Eagle instruments have traditionally represented opportunities for PRS to combine high-grade tonewoods, premium construction and new technical ideas.

The Modern Eagle V concept first appeared publicly as an Experience PRS 2020 limited edition, with only 200 instruments produced in Charcoal and River Blue.

Its defining feature was the sophisticated five-coil electronics platform.

PRS later developed the concept into a regular Core Series Modern Eagle V, retaining the 25" scale, figured maple over mahogany construction and HSH architecture while refining the electronics and hardware.

The result is a guitar that embodies the Modern Eagle philosophy particularly well: recognisably PRS in construction, but designed to explore sounds beyond the conventional twin-humbucker formula.

Technical Specifications

Specification Note

No serial number or production year has been supplied for this individual Modern Eagle V.

PRS has revised the functionality and terminology of the two mini-toggle controls during the Core model's production. Earlier specifications describe individual humbucker coil-tap switching, while newer versions use tuned high-pass EQ functions.

The exact production-year switching arrangement has therefore not been assumed in this listing.

Likewise, this guitar is not officially designated as a PRS 10-Top. The description of its bookmatched chevron figuring relates specifically to the appearance of this individual guitar and does not represent a factory top-grade classification.

Power Requirements

No battery or external power supply is required.

The Modern Eagle V's pickups and switching system operate passively.

Connect the guitar to an amplifier, pedalboard, modeller or recording interface using a standard 1/4" instrument cable.

Why Buy Pre-Owned From Fair Deal Music?

When buying a premium figured-maple guitar, the individual instrument matters.

No two maple tops are identical, and two examples of the same PRS model and finish can look surprisingly different.

That makes this Charcoal Modern Eagle V particularly compelling.

Its factory designation may be non-10, but its beautifully bookmatched flame and subtle chevron give the guitar the kind of visual identity that simply cannot be recreated by ordering another example of the same model.

At Fair Deal Music, every Pre-Owned guitar is individually checked and assessed before sale.

Fair Deal Music Verdict

★★★★★ 5/5

The PRS Modern Eagle V Charcoal is one of the most complete electric guitars PRS produces.

Its carved maple and mahogany foundation delivers the familiar Core PRS experience, but the TCI/NS-01 five-coil pickup layout and extensive switching make it dramatically more versatile than a conventional two-humbucker instrument.

Then there is this particular top.

It is important to be precise: this guitar is not officially a PRS 10-Top.

Yet it is exactly the sort of non-10 example that makes that fact difficult to believe at first glance.

The bookmatch is particularly attractive, with a refined, subtle chevron running through the flame rather than a simple straight horizontal pattern. Combined with the Charcoal finish, the result is elegant and understated rather than excessively flashy.

For us, that individuality makes this guitar considerably more desirable than simply choosing another Modern Eagle V from a specification sheet.

Best suited for: Professional players, session guitarists and PRS enthusiasts wanting one exceptionally versatile premium instrument.

Customers usually upgrade from: PRS CE and S2 models, Custom 24s, Fender American guitars, Gibson Les Pauls and other professional-quality instruments.

Most commonly paired with: High-quality valve amplifiers, amp modellers, compressor, boost, overdrive, delay and reverb.

Our tip: Spend time learning the pickup combinations rather than treating it simply as an HSH guitar. The additional switching is where much of the Modern Eagle V's real value lies.

Showroom feedback: It is rare to find a guitar that combines this degree of electronic flexibility with such a traditional premium build. The individual flame pattern on this example then gives it something a specification sheet cannot reproduce.

Why Buy From Fair Deal Music?

When you buy from Fair Deal Music, you're choosing one of the UK's most established, independent family run music retailers since 1987.

You can buy with confidence thanks to:

• Expert advice from knowledgeable musicians
• Carefully checked new and Pre-Owned musical equipment
• Birmingham showroom
• More than 6,000 Excellent customer reviews
• Secure ordering
• Fast UK delivery
• Friendly support before and after your purchase
• Decades of experience with new and second hand musical equipment

Trade In. Trade Up. Save More.

Thinking about upgrading? Your next guitar could cost less than you think.

Fair Deal Music buys and part-exchanges a wide range of guitars, basses, amplifiers, keyboards and other musical equipment.

Your existing gear could help reduce the cost of this PRS Modern Eagle V. Contact our team for a no-obligation valuation and we'll be happy to discuss your options.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this PRS Modern Eagle V a 10-Top?

No. This guitar is not officially classified by PRS as a 10-Top.

However, its figured maple is particularly attractive for a factory non-10 example, with a strong bookmatch and subtle chevron-shaped flame.

What makes a PRS 10-Top?

PRS states that an official 10-Top has clearly defined figuring without visible knots or significant areas where the figure disappears.

The grading is assigned by PRS at the factory and cannot simply be added retrospectively because a guitar happens to have an exceptional-looking top.

What is unusual about this particular maple top?

The two pieces are beautifully bookmatched, with the flame subtly angling away from the centre joint to produce an understated chevron or V-shaped appearance.

Is the Modern Eagle V an HSH guitar?

Yes. It uses two TCI humbuckers surrounding an NS-01 middle single-coil, giving it a five-coil HSH configuration.

What scale length does it use?

The Modern Eagle V uses PRS's familiar 25" scale length.

What neck profile does it have?

It uses the PRS Pattern neck profile.

Does it have locking tuners?

Yes. The Core Modern Eagle V uses PRS Phase III locking tuners.

Does it have a tremolo?

Yes. It uses the PRS patented Gen III tremolo.

Is a hardcase included?

Yes. This Pre-Owned example includes a hardcase.

What condition is the guitar in?

It is offered in Mint condition, meaning it is virtually indistinguishable from new.