Double PRS NGD

DefaultM · September 2013

I've always wanted a PRS guitar but I'd never even touched one, so went to PMT in Leeds to try out a Custom 24. Absolutely hated the thing and left feeling really disappointed. Wouldn't have paid £500 for it let alone £2500.
The next week I was round at my guitar tech's, and he said he had a customer's CE22 in the back that I could try out as he was selling it. I loved that one and made an offer but unfortunately I was too late.

2 weeks and 2 ebay listings mysteriously ending early and I'm the owner of these CE22's.
Funnily enough the copper one is actually the same guitar I played at my tech's.

Not bad for half the price of the Custom 24 I first played.

ICBM · September 2013

I love the copper one! The sunburst one is not my thing, but I'm sure it's nice.

Funnily enough I'm like you in that I can't get on with the 24-fret models at all - I wouldn't even own a PRS if that's all they made - and love the 22s. Such a big difference half an inch of neck length makes...

DefaultM · September 2013

I prefer how the sunburst one looks, but I think I might prefer how the copper one plays and sounds. Might be the difference in string gauges. I'll see when I get 10s on both.

Deijavoo · September 2013

Is the copper one that went for a steal a few weeks ago?

Deijavoo · September 2013

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Prs-Ce-22-Usa-Made-/330991337931?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4d109f01cb

DefaultM · September 2013

No, but I got it for pretty much the same price if I had to take petrol in to account.

Adam_MD · September 2013

Good work I'd love a copper one to go with my goldtop

dindude · September 2013

Love the copper one, amazing value if you got it around the price of that ebay one.

mart · September 2013

That sunburst one is gorgeous - exactly the sort of look I'd want from a PRS. Unfortunately I can't stand their headstock design, so I'd be tempted to re-shape it if I ever owned one.

ROOG · September 2013

I've not tried a PRS, but I like the look of the sunburst one, very nice good GAS.

PS. carpet could do with a vac.

>:D<

fretfinder · September 2013

I love that sunburst one, beautiful. Solid coloured PRSs normally go for a fair bit less than the flame tops, and that copper colour is not to my taste but it's certainly striking. Hope you get loads of fun out of them.

DefaultM · September 2013

Haha I was thinking the same about the carpet when I saw the picture.

BigBearKris · September 2013

Love them both - copper one is my favourite though. Enjoy!

DefaultM · September 2013

They were £750 and £625, which I thought were good prices.
I was looking at the eBay copper one but I'd have had to spend a fair bit in petrol to get it. By coincidence I happened to work right next door to the owner of this one.

vasselmeyer · September 2013

Can someone enlighten me as to the difference between a Custom 22/24 and a CE 22/24 guitar. I've been vaguely considering trading my Les Paul in for a PRS (as long as it's lighter) and the general consensus seems to be that a McCarty, a DGT or a Custom 22 would fit the bill. However, I am confused by the naming.

GuitarMonkey · September 2013

"Customs" have a set neck; "CE" a bolt on.

guitarfishbay · September 2013

Congrats! I really like the CEs. I agree, the copper one looks ace.

GuitarMonkey said:

"Customs" have a set neck; "CE" a bolt on.

Also, the Customs have a mahogany neck and the CEs have maple.

@vasselmeyer - the PRS site has an overview of model history, here http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/models.html

daveyh · September 2013

ICBM said:

I love the copper one! The sunburst one is not my thing, but I'm sure it's nice.

Funnily enough I'm like you in that I can't get on with the 24-fret models at all - I wouldn't even own a PRS if that's all they made - and love the 22s. Such a big difference half an inch of neck length makes...

I didn't realise PRS was one of those 'girl' guitar companies.

Think about it .......

vasselmeyer · September 2013

guitarfishbay said:

@vasselmeyer - the PRS site has an overview of model history, here http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/models.html

Very useful. Thanks for that. It looks to me as if Id be happiest with a Custom 22, a DGT or a McCarty. I'd prefer a wide-fat set neck but am ambivalent about a vibrato. I should probably get of my arse and go and look at a few.

Love the copper finish. Outstanding.

DefaultM · September 2013

I would try them all out first if possible. I was set on a McCarty or Custom with a stoptail, but when I played the custom I hated the neck. It almost felt hollow.
I'd always thought of the CEs as 'not as good', but I soon had my opinion changed when I compared.
They're perfect for me because they don't look like a guitar a dentist would hang in a glass case in his living room, and they play and sound awesome.

guitarfishbay · September 2013

If you played a new custom they've changed the necks since the CE days. The old profiles were wide fat (which is possibly what is on your CE22s as they eventually made that the only option) and wide thin. Most standard models used one or the other (CEs, Singlecuts, CUs etc). Now they use Pattern Thin and Pattern Regular, which are evolutions of the original designs as far as I'm aware.

Usually you see the 22 fret models with the thicker of the two profiles and the 24 fret models with the thinner models, but there are examples of each with either. Personally I think the old style wide fat on a 22 fret PRS is my favourite, they're very comfortable for my hands.

I do think there is a difference in feel between the mahogany set necks and the maple bolt ons too, all other things being equal. You get a much more percussive and immediate attack with the maple bolt on CE. It is worth trying both for sure if you can find a CE. It is a shame they no longer make them.

ICBM · September 2013

daveyh said:
I didn't realise PRS was one of those 'girl' guitar companies.

Think about it .......

I did, but I restrained myself

.

Also note that PRS think of their necks as "wide and fat", but no-one else does

.

Adam_MD · September 2013

guitarfishbay;28707" said:
If you played a new custom they've changed the necks since the CE days. The old profiles were wide fat (which is possibly what is on your CE22s as they eventually made that the only option) and wide thin. Most standard models used one or the other (CEs, Singlecuts, CUs etc). Now they use Pattern Thin and Pattern Regular, which are evolutions of the original designs as far as I'm aware.

Usually you see the 22 fret models with the thicker of the two profiles and the 24 fret models with the thinner models, but there are examples of each with either. Personally I think the old style wide fat on a 22 fret PRS is my favourite, they're very comfortable for my hands.

I do think there is a difference in feel between the mahogany set necks and the maple bolt ons too, all other things being equal. You get a much more percussive and immediate attack with the maple bolt on CE. It is worth trying both for sure if you can find a CE. It is a shame they no longer make them.

Paul has said many times that he loved the ce models but they didn't sell in enough numbers to make it worth producing them so it was purely a business decision.

One of the things I like about prs is they are always trying something new, change models etc as they're not tied to the same history/heritage as the big F and G. Unfortunately the lines which they dropped were also my favourite models. Apart from the dgt my favourite era of prs is 22 fret models from late 90's early 00's I.e. ce 22, custom 22 and the standard. My favourite neck profile of any guitar brand is their wide fat.

guitarfishbay · September 2013

FWIW they have started producing CU22s again, albeit with a few changes. http://www.prsguitars.com/custom22/

They have the new neck shapes which are nice, but I agree wide-fat is my favourite too. The other changes are 5 way blade switching in a new location compared to the old style, and phase III locking tuners (my CU22 has phase IIs, not sure when that switch happened). They also now come with HFS/VB as standard now, I thought CU22s usually had lower output pickups unless I'm assuming that because the McCarty did.

Adam_MD · September 2013

You can also order them with 57/08 pickups instead of the hfs/vb

ICBM · September 2013

guitarfishbay said:

FWIW they have started producing CU22s again, albeit with a few changes. http://www.prsguitars.com/custom22/

They have the new neck shapes which are nice, but I agree wide-fat is my favourite too. The other changes are 5 way blade switching in a new location compared to the old style, and phase III locking tuners (my CU22 has phase IIs, not sure when that switch happened). They also now come with HFS/VB as standard now, I thought CU22s usually had lower output pickups unless I'm assuming that because the McCarty did.

They originally came with Dragons - Is until about 1998, then IIs.

I don't like the new switch - type or position.

Adam_MD said:
Paul has said many times that he loved the ce models but they didn't sell in enough numbers to make it worth producing them so it was purely a business decision.

In my opinion they made a mistake with the marketing of them - because they were priced lower, they were perceived as being inferior. They also must have made less money on them because they probably cost almost as much to produce but sold for less, so I suspect that may have been part of the 'business decision' too.

I always thought that was why they concentrate on the fancy models - they cost barely any more to make than the plain ones, but they can rip off the buyer charge much more for them. (In particular a '10' top costs exactly the same to make as a non-10.)

They should have made it clear that there was no quality difference between the CE, Standard and basic Custom by giving them the same appointments and options, and pricing them the same - then it would have been clear that it was purely a tone difference.

Adam_MD said:
Unfortunately the lines which they dropped were also my favourite models. Apart from the dgt my favourite era of prs is 22 fret models from late 90's early 00's I.e. ce 22, custom 22 and the standard. My favourite neck profile of any guitar brand is their wide fat.

Same here. Those will always be the best ones, for me. I'd also add the Swamp Ash Special and Custom 22 Soapbar into the list.

There's really nothing in the current catalogue that interests me.

guitargeek62 · September 2013

guitarfishbay said:
They also now come with HFS/VB as standard now, I thought CU22s usually had lower output pickups unless I'm assuming that because the McCarty did.

No they don't, a new one will ship with 57/08s - unless you pay for an artist package and swap something else in, or it's part of a limited run/special order etc.

As IBM said, the early CU22's had the rather lovely Dragon 1s, which were also what shipped on the earliest McCarty's too but in covered form. These were much higher output than either McCarty pickups, or the Dragon II's that succeeded the 1's on the CU22. The D1's were around 9/15k (neck/bridge) and used ceramic magnets whereas the II's are alnico based and had lower outputs.

The 57/08s are typically a similar output level to McCarty pickups, but are generally regarded as an improvement on them in all areas.

guitarfishbay · September 2013

guitargeek62 said:

guitarfishbay said:
They also now come with HFS/VB as standard now, I thought CU22s usually had lower output pickups unless I'm assuming that because the McCarty did.

No they don't, a new one will ship with 57/08s - unless you pay for an artist package and swap something else in, or it's part of a limited run/special order etc.

Honestly, it says so on the PRS site. The 57/08s are the alternate option, HFS/VB are the standards. Either the website is wrong or the dealers you go to are picking the 57/08s for their stock. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter, the new pickups feel more appropriate for it, a HFS is pretty hot and an acquired taste.

http://www.prsguitars.com/custom22/specs.php

Not sure if this copy paste will work - >

HARDWARE/ELECTRONICS
Bridge	PRS Stoptail or PRS Tremolo
Tuners	PRS Phase III Locking Tuners
Truss Rod Cover	"Custom"
Hardware Type	Nickel
Treble Pickup	HFS
Bass Pickup	Vintage Bass
Pickup Switching	Volume and Tone Control with Redesigned 5-Way Blade Switch
OPTION
Top Option	Flame or Quilted Maple 10-Top Flame or 10-Top Quilted Maple
Neck Option	East Indian Rosewood
Hardware Option	Gold
Finish Option	Special Order Finish
Other Option	Uncovered 57/08 Treble & Bass Pickups

SimpleSimon · September 2013

Nice score

I've been eying up several copper CE's on ebay recently, for those prices you cant fail to go wrong.

Adam_MD · September 2013

[quote="ICBM;28876"]

Same here. Those will always be the best ones, for me. I'd also add the Swamp Ash Special and Custom 22 Soapbar into the list.

Dude I completely forgot about the SAS and custom 22 soapbar. I had serious gas for the custom soapbar for years. I must have a look on evil bay to see what they go for these days.

ICBM · September 2013

I had a really nice Custom Soapbar - black with maple fingerboard - and I loved the way it looked, played and sounded... on the front two pickups. I disliked the bridge pickup quite intensely! Nasty all-mid nasal honk. I tried a lower-output one and it made a difference, but not much - it still had a really nasal tonality... I guessed it might be because the P90 was screwed into the very thin layer of wood above the trem cavity - so much so that the holes stripped and I had to fit brass inserts. I did think about putting a Firebird pickup in it with a mounting ring but I didn't want to spoil the look of it.

In the end I wasn't using it much, and when that ^ Rickenbacker came up for sale and I couldn't afford it, I swapped the PRS for it. (Straight.) Given what's happened to the relative values of both guitars that turned out to be a very wise move!

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