Paul Reed Smith Guitars CE 24

PRS CE 24 fret made in 2002, traded a Rivera 100w Knucklehead amp. You should pretty much know the skinny. Curly flame maple top dyed emerald green, bolt on rock maple neck with rosewood fingerboard and moon inlays. Locking PRS tuners, PRS tremolo, standard tone, volume, 5-way rotary control. Came with original PRS case - very heavy, I like that + it has solid leather work.

Let me start by stating that I play every genre of music, literally. From hip-hop to bluegrass, country to polka, jazz to rock, classical to folk and world. I play everything. I'm a professional guitar instructor, repairman, and novice luthier by day and a professional entertainer by night. It is very important that I have gear that can stand up to the rigors of playing clubs and bars every other night. My rig is always changing, being refined, however right now I'm playing through a Mesa Nomad 55w through a pair of Celestion Vintage 30's in a custom box. The effects board consists of a Morley Bad Horsie II wah->Analog Man Bi-Comprossor->Maxon OD-808 (the original tubescreamer if you haven't heard one-get one)->Boss CE-5->Boss OC-3->MXR Phase 90->Line 6 DL-4->volume pedal. All powered by the silent voodoo labs II. Up until this PRS I've been playing a custom built G&L s-500 w/ flamed maple & Birdseye. The sound of the CE through the Mesa is very dynamic. I feel like I have overall better control of the tone and volume of this guitar. More so than any other instrument, the slightest adjustment has a cascade effect on the tone and it is drastically changed. That plus the fact that the rotary switch in combination with the tone woods used creates total sonic freedom. It is like you have three guitars in one and there all incredibly responsive and playable. Amazing. 3 of the 5 pickup selections are the sounds found on a Les Paul. The neck, Bridge, and a combination. (This is where the single volume knob is especially useful. If you are like me and you like the middle position on your Les Paul but hate having to do volume swells with 2 volume knobs, problem solved). Think about it, the guitar has 2 humbuckers mounted on a maple capped mahogany body... sound like any other guitars you may own? The beautiful aspect of this guitar is that the two remaining pickup selections give you the authentic sounds of a stratocaster in its neck/middle position, as well as a telecaster in its bridge position. Of course these are all observations I am making based on some aural tests I ran with my Silverburst Les Paul Custom, my G&L and my Fender Custom Shop Birdseye Ash Tele. But listen to the guitar yourself I'm sure you will find some tone you will like. I found all of mine. The thing that I believe is interesting to point out about these CE's is that they have maple necks. Really bright maple necks in fact. Similar to Fender guitars, maybe brighter than some I've played. This neck in combination with coil tapping is what allows the CE to come so close to mimicing the sound of a Fender guitar. People that say PRS has come close need to put down the artist series solid mahogany guitars and pick up a musicians instrument. The CE is the only guitar you will need if you properly care for it and have maintainance performed regularly.

Guitar was poorly setup and needed cleaning, but this does not represent the way a PRS arrives from a store. Having worked in a Guitar Center unloading PRS guitars I can tell you that they come out of the box and on to the wall without ever having to be tuned. Just kidding, the strings are loose when they ship. But I can attest that the action and playability are always amazing right from the factory.
The finish was a bit chipped, again it was used. The guitar that traded it told me it was a 10 top. Sadly it was not, however it is still a nice piece of flamed maple and I can't help but gush over the green.
No flaws other than cosmetics.

Again let me point out, this is a guitar players guitar. It is not some relic you hang on a wall and take photos of. This guitar will be in the **** getting dirty!

Absolutely a rock solid instrument. I stuck strap locks in her. Thats about it, this guitar is tough as nails. I could throw it at some one in the audience it would stay in tune. I never gig without a backup guitar. Strings break.

I think I pretty much summed it up at the beginning. This guitar is great. I can't stop playing it! Try a CE if your going to try a custom, cosmetics get in the way of playing guitar-isn't that what we're trying to do?
If it were stolen? I have a pretty big insurance policy on all of my instruments so I imagine I'd get another one. But I'd do it right again bide my time on craigslist until someone upgrades and gets rid of the old bolt on...

9 because no guitar is perfect.

1998 Maple top I won't go over the features everyone knows what these are and the features I'll be reviewing my 98 and a new one a 2007 simultaneously, so this will be a funky review. but the numerical rating scores will reflect my 98. my 98 was converted to the 3 way toggle... alot better that way IMO. I bought my 98 well used so I'm not sure what it was like brand new.

I play in a rock cover band and my 98 does everything i need it to, and sounds awesome doing it. I didn't keep the 07 for very long as I felt it was junk compared to my 98! I know... A junky PRS? how can that be you say? I'll elaborate in another section.

I bought my 98 used but I could tell that the finish wasn't perfect as you could see the flaws in the "natural binding" style look but I didn't care about that as the guitar fit in my hand so awesomely... (Is that a word, awesomely? It is now...) and sounded so sweet It's pretty much the only guitar I play now. completely differnt experience with the 07 that I bought and quickly returned, the finish work on a brand new one was just okay, and the b string had a wierd buzzing, and some of the screws were in crooked... WTF

my 98 has been beat to hell and still keeps ripping, I trust this guitar to hold up on me but i don't like to go without a backup but have been forced to a few times. I didn't keep the 07 long enough.

I've rareley delt with the PRS customer support but the few times i've talked to anyone over at PRS they seem to have a "our S@#t don't stink" kind of attitude over there... (kind of like the dingleberries over at Line 6) I don't dislike them or feel that they don't know what they're doing. Just don't like thier attitude.

I've been playing long enough to know the difference between a quality guitar and a over priced, over hyped boat anchor... it just blows me away to get 2 totally differnt guitars that essentially have the same build process. who knows what was going on when they built that 07.

Let me start by saying I have bought 2 used CE 24s one is a 1996 ($1500) with the regular carve short heel neck (slight dead spot on g-12 but nothing to cry about) and a 1999 ($1150)with a wide thin neck. In the past 6 months. The tremolo works great, but doing serious dive bombs will put it out of tune in my experiences. The 5 way rotary control is great, I thought I would switch it out for the mccarty style, but realized this suits me much better. both guitars have solid locking tuners, the only gripe i have is that they are very sensitive, d and e tunings are about half a turn away. the 96 has a beautiful faded purple quilt top and bird inlays and the 99 has a less-figured turqouise top with dot inlays.

I tried most other models, customs, mccartys, singlecuts, sc250, sc245, korina mccarty, hollowbodies, and nothing but the CE could get the agressive rock sound i was looking for, most likely because of the hot pickups (HFS and Vintage Bass) and the maple neck. I run it through a 2 channel dual rectifier and a 4x12 cab with vintage 30's, for effects i use a ts808 clone, a compressor, and a delay/reverb pedal. the sounds i get are amazing, it does very will with all styles, using treble pickup only i get a great heavy rhythm sound, i can get a creamy lead on the neck, the middle position is great for santana-ish sounds, and the 2 parallel positions sound great combined witha compressor pedal for cleans. there is no noise in any of the positions. it is a fairly bright sounding guitar with lots of attack.

Its a Paul Reed Smith... not much else i can say other than the 96 has an amazing quilt top (it was signed on the electronics plate by prs himself saying "congratulations on the killer top CE") the 99 has a slightly better than average top for a CE

very reliable guitar, i would bring a backup just becaseu it has a tremolo and stuff can go wrong, these guitars will certainly take a beating though. i replaced the strap buttons with straploks, mostly becasue thats what i have on all my guitars.

no repairs or anything but they answered my questions about some of the writing codes under the pickups and things like that.

its a great prs, they are made just as well as their $3000 brothers, do not let the bolt on neck and low price fool you (it fooled me for a while and when i finally picked one up and played it... well i have 2 now) i have been playing for about 5-6 years and this series is definitely my favorite out of anything i have played. if it was stolen i would do my best to recover it or buy another CE

Mahogany double cutaway body painted in Dupont "Hot Hues" metallic Indigo Blue. Lovely carve to the top and ribcage comfort cut around the back. Treble side cutaway makes hitting the top E a breeze. Quarter sawn (grain runs perpendicular to the fingerboard) 24-fret, Wide Thin profile, 25" scale, satin-finish maple neck - showing quite strong tiger-stripe flame on the back. Rosewood board with abalone dots. Phase II locking tuners, PRS floating trem. HFS (bridge) and Vintage Bass (neck) pickups. Vol, Tone, 5-way rotary selector. Hardware chrome, plastics all black.
Neck plate indicates built 2006. Plush lined, black Tolex oblong case.

Five of 'em - all great!
My live rig is as follows Digitech ToneDriver, keeley Java Boost, Marshall Vibratrem, Boss BF3 Flanger, Boss CH1 Chorus, Boss DD6 Delay straight into the -6dB input of an EL84 Class A Laney VC30 valve combo with 2x10" Jensen speakers.
I play in a rock covers band, doing a diverse set of classics and crowd pleasers. I was using a maple neck bitsa Tele and a PRS SE Soapbar before trying the CE24.
I wanted a trem-equipped guitar with 'buckers for some more varied sounds. I'd sold a Lonestar Strat earlier in the year because it didn't record or hold tuning well, but missed the versatility when playing live.
The CE24's Bridge pickup does exactly what it says. It's Hot, Fat and it Screams! Not Les Paul fat admittedly, but it makes a bloomin good fist of Classic Rock raunch. Pinch harmonics and pick squeals are an absolute doddle. The 3 "mixed" positions mimic 1 Tele and 2 Strat tones. They don't hum through my gear and I'm a fan of all 3, clean or overdriven. The Neck pickup is the peach though - Clean, it's rich and full without any muddiness. Dirty, it sustains forever and has so much clout. This isn't a dark sounding guitar by any stretch of the imagination. The smooth pots are nice and linear, so there's no nasty leap in volume or treble. Doesn't have a coil split version of either 'bucker - but that's the trade off for those 2 "in-between" tones.

I'd heard and read about PRS finish quality, but was a little sceptical. IT REALLY IS GOOD. Even inside the control cavities, everything is pukka. The wiring harness is first class.
A couple of minor niggles - the action was set a tad high with 9's, I assume this is to get a full tone upbend on the trem. A couple of turns on the bridge screws was all the tweak it needed. The nut is some black man-made material (unobtanium?), but was cut to perfection. After sorting the action, I fitted 10s and the intonation was still spot on, even at the 2nd octave - that's the sign of a well sorted neck.
The 5-way rotary switch takes some getting used to after a toggle or lever switch, but once you're comfortable with where it is and what it does, it's second nature. Took me a couple of rehearsals to work out which grip worked best with it.

I've gigged the CE24 as my main live guitar and have had no major gripes. The tuning takes just as much time as anything else I've played to settle down to a room's temperature and humidity, but once there it's solid. The tuning holds up even after repeated dive bombs and behind the nut bends. I have yet to break a string playing this guitar!
The 5-way and the tone pot worked loose by the third gig I played with it though. Removing the knobs to get at the retaining nuts was quite a chore. They put 'em on to stay! 3 dabs of PTFE and all is well. The chrome on the bridge is starting to dull from palm-muting after only a month or two - I must have acid sweat.

12 month warranty through my dealer. PRS had a stand at the Music Live Show at the NEC, so I stopped by for a gaze and a wonder.
I liked the clear knobs on the Z06 Custom, so asked how much? ??15 per knob! ??22 each pickup ring if you want to change those. Gulp! As far as I can tell, Gibbo knobs won't fit, 'cause the pot shafts on the PRS are longer, so anything non-PRS stands proud. the rings are shallow and flat, so if you fancy something different be prepared to dig deep folks. The guys were friendly enough, but seemed more interested in selling me another PRS. You can't knock a salesman for trying!

I've been playing over 20 years. Fenders, Gibsons, Epiphones, Martins and Takamines have all come and gone. I tried this CE24 along with 5 or 6 others (22 and 24 fret) at Sound Control Birmingham over a couple of hours and this one just about nudged it. To be fair, they were all extremely well made and for under ??1k, great value too. I wouldn't hesitate to replace it as I love the way it makes me feel when I play it. I'm sure my playing has improved since buying it as well. If it loaded itself in and out of the car at gigs or made the tea, maybe it would get a 10

2006 carved solid mahogany, blazing copper finish, 24 fret bolt on maple neck with rosewood fretboard with abalone dots, locking tuning pegs, tremolo, HFS bridge and Vintage neck pickup, 5-way rotary switch, tone and volume controls. The PRS tremolo is by far the best one I have used to date! You can't dive bomb it but it is the most stable I've encountered.

The sound of the HFS is what sold me on this model. I have one installed in my Deluxe V-neck strat with the Deluxe fat strat neck and middle pickup. The HFS is a great sounding, well rounded pickup. Almost has a vocal quality to its tone. Great output, a little on the high side, not much more than you would expect from a good bridge pickup. Cleans up nicely by rolling of the volume. Awesome when driven. Just enough highs and great midrange that really cuts through Vintage bass pickup also sounds great. It is a great match to the HFS. The thing that gets me regarding these pickups, or any other PRS pickup, is the clarity when the are driven. I am all about sounding unique but am not willing to compromise on tonal quality to sound different. I've played numerous guitars and used several different pickups and configurations. Tonally, this guitar does it for me. The only thing I will change is the rotary switch. Some guys love it and for the versatility you get it can be useful. I will be converting to the McCarty switching to get the true coil tap which is an area that other pickups can't touch. I believe that PRS specifically designed his pickups to be tapped, not just wiring them for that option, except for the #7 pickup which cannot be tapped.

Bought it "used" but there was not a mark or scratch anywhere on it. This is my third PRS (1998 CE-22 and a 2003 McCarty Brazilian, both of which I have sold at different times for different reasons). The reason I am writing this review is because of the attention to detail and the consistency in quality PRS puts into their guitars.
This guitar was setup great! As with all guitarists, I have my own preferences as far as action, pickup height etc.... It was setup very neutral and I did not have to do anything to make it playable. The blazing copper finish is incredible!

There is nothing about this guitar that I would cause me to be uncomfortable about it that would require me to have a backup. The only thing I have done to this point is add Schaller straplocks, I have them on all of my guitars and wouldn't use any other system. However, the stock strap buttons are a little larger than most and would probably do a better than average job of keeping the guitar around your neck.

Asked them about the tuning pegs for my McCarty at one time and they responded quickly giving me all of the information I needed. Very professional, not like they were looking for a new friend or anything, just to the point.

I had played primarily acoustic for my first twenty-five years and only started getting into electric the last ten. I got serious about my playing when I joined the worship team at my church four years ago. We play progressive, contemporary music and is very guitar driven. I use the PRS, Deluxe V'neck strat and a Gretsch Powerjet as well as a Breedlove acoustic. I play through a PODxt Live which is another fantastic piece of equipment once you figure out how to use the parametric EQ.
The more I play PRS's, the more I am tempted to find other models that could replace my other guitars. I would not hesitate to buy another PRS, they blow away any other guitar I have heard or played.

Features were already described here extensively. Mine is a '96 model with the mahogany body. It has a nice flame top and a cherry red finish with a black back. I replaced the 5-way rotary switch with a 3-way toggle and a split on the tone control. Basically the McCarty conversion. That gives me a total of 6 sounds and the toggle switch is easier to use live than the rotary switch.

I play it through a Mesa Mk III and a few pedals, it is the most versatile guitar I've ever owned. I used to bounce back and forth between Gibsons and Fenders but this guitar covers all bases and it has its own unique voice as well. The HFS pickup is a little on the bass-y side but sounds really good. I've been thinking about getting a SD Custom Custom for the bridge position, which is my favorite pickup. But this would basically be personal preference as there is really no need to change anything. The vintage Bass pickup is incredible, it is my favorite neck pickup ever.

I bought it used and it has set up with 12s and tuned down when I got it. I put a nice set of 10s on it, tuned to pitch, did some minor adjustments on the trem and truss rod and the guitar was ready to go. The tuning stability is impressive even under heavy trem use. I decided to buy the CE over the set-neck models because I hate the way a painted neck feels, its gets too sticky when you are playing live and sweating. I prefer a "raw wood" or satin finish in the back of my necks, and the satin finish on the CE felt much better than the high gloss finish of the Custom. But I still sanded down the finish and then applied a light coat of tung-oil to make it even smoother. There is no way to do that on a painted set-neck without ruining the appearance of the guitar but on the CE you can't even see it.

I think it is very dependable. I never broke a string or had any problems with it. I would gig without a backup if I had to. I normally take a backup to gigs just to be safe but so far I haven't needed to use .

I bought it used so there was no warranty. I called PRS once to get a truss-rod wrench and they gave me the information I needed real quick, but then again it was an easy question. Since my experience with their customer support team is very limited, I will not rate this category.

I've been playing for 28 years and I am a professional player. I spent most of my life I was switching back and forth between Gibsons and Fenders and sometimes Ibanezes as well. I always had in the back of my mind I needed to try a PRS, but never did until recently for some reason. I'm glad I finally did, because this guitar covers everything I used to get from the my others guitars. It has a fast 24-fret neck, fat humbucking tones and nice clean tones when the pickups are split.
This is one the few guitars that fit in any gig you may think of: shred, pop, blues, country etc etc, this guitar looks and sounds at home in all kinds of situations. Ever since I bought this guitar my collection went down from 6 electrics to 3, because this guitar covers so much sonic ground. I recommend this guitar for professional musicians who need a variety of high quality tones into a single guitar. This is truly a professional instrument and it is clear that the mr. Paul Reed Smith listened to a lotof pro musicians and created guitars that address their needs.

finish- flamed top, cherry sunburst
bridge- trem
tuners- prs locking tuners
neck- rosewood
accessories- hard case
year of manufacture- 1990
controls- 5 way selector
pickups- hfs bridge, vintage neck.
body- alder, neck rosewood, top maple.

this is one of the early ish 1990 models, and i have to say that it sounds and plays so much better than any of the new guitars (2 us strats and a gibson les paul) i have owned in the last few years. in fact, this one is the nicest electric guitar i have ever played. I HAVE NEVER WRITTEN A REVIEW BEFORE, SO THIS TELLS YOU SOMETHING ABOUT THIS GUITAR!! i am only reviewing MY GUITAR and not prs models in general! you gotta try a few before you buy remember!

i love the way this guitar has been built, it is exactly the way it was when it left the factory, apart from strings (!), and the set up is amazing. no buzzes, easy to play, pickups (hfs bridge and vintage bass) are superb, full and articulate, and very well defined. this guitar is extremely versatile, i cant imagine any style of music you couldn't play with it. tone is fat but not flabby like my les paul, lovely raunchy overdrive and a sweet clean.

set up is perfect, hence the reason no one has messed with it in the last 17 years. action is low but doesnt buzz, more than could be said for my last strat which buzzed like a tea trolley being pushed down a flight of stairs. finish after 17 years IS SUPERB. and, thankfully, this guitar has been played, so the wood is nice and vibrant. DONT BUY A GUITAR AS A COLLECTORS ITEM. buy it cos you wanna play it!!
top bookmatching is very good, very little oxidisation on the bridge, everything looks good.

dont like the prs strap butons, they are wierd! too wide to fit my moody strap on, so i put dunlop lockers on and they are great.
finish is superb, this guitar has been played and well loved, and the finish shows no signs of real wear, particularly on the part of the top where your strumming arm rests. on my les paul that part started to go thin after about 8 weeks! would depend on it, but never gig without a backup if i can avoid it. its more professional.... but if i had to choose one guitar to rely on, its this one.

out of warranty, but shawn at prs answered my emails WITHIN AN HOUR! when my s-1 switch on my fender strat failed (after eight hours) it took me and the retailer three days of phoning around to be told "we dont sell the s-1 as an after market part". so what do i do if it goes wrong in 2 years?? prs customer support is EXCELLENT. fenders sucks.

its brilliant. i love it. wasnt cheap (hence the 9), but for the first time in a long time i am happy with my sound and the guitar. i dont look at guitars as works of art, they are tools, and they should do thier job properly. this particular one does, but TRY BEFORE YOU BUY. IF YOU BUY A GUITAR COS OF THIS REVIEW OR ANY OTHER YOU ARE A MUPPET. GET WHAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU AND YOU ALONE. my mate has an old epiphone les paul, with stock pickups, and it is brilliant. nicer than my gibson LP. go figure.

Maple topped, 24 fret bolt on neck, 5 way switching, twin humbucking pickups

Well here we are and this is the reason for my placing a review, I have since owning this guitar gone through something of a sonic experience. I always thought that perhaps they could be more hype than substance and I own high end Fender's, Gibsons et al. I have played for 30 years and well .. now a thing or two !!
The PRS is beatifully designed , built and finished, but the most important factor of all is the sound and the CE is outstanding in sustain, accuracy, clarity, resonance, what more can you need. They are awesome and I now don't seem to play any of my old guitars any longer.

Beautifully set up out of the box, I felt like this had been done by our own band tech. Mine isn't a ten top but so what it looks nice, that said I don't look at it I play it !!

Hard to comment as I have not owned for long. It will get knocked around but hey ho ! its a guitar and I rock, perhaps I'll revise this section in a couple of years.
I'm in the process of buying another just to have a spare, the problem is what to sell as I love all my guitars (yes we are all like that I know !!)

Website is great for setup guides etc: Lifetime warranty. Contacted only once, very helpful

Playing for 30 years (oh God !)I own Fender 50th Ann Strat (wonderful guitar) Fender Double Fat Strat, Fender Strat Plus Deluxe, Yamaha SG700 (the original Les Paul beater), Gibson Les Paul Std ( i never play it but i'll never sell it!) Marshall JTM amp, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Boss Delay, Small Stone, Cry Baby, a few other bits not worthy of a mention.
Anything else I'd like to share, YES, if you want to be a really good guitar player, learn the piano at the same time and find your own sound. I'm still learning and i'm 40 odd years old.

CE 24 model coming from the latest gold era of the PRS production, 1991. I Purchased the instrument new for the italian equivalent of aproximately 1500 dollars (but, in Italy, this was really expensive at that time). I was young and not experienced. The instrument looked pretty an comfortable and bought it without knowing so much about the manufacturer.Simply it sounded so good in the shop. Till then, this wonderful thing has given me my best emotions as a guitar player. Color is cherry burst with an awesome flamed maple top, with some un-regular particularities that contribute to distinguish my instrument from the others. Apart from maple top, the body is alder, wine red. 24 fret maple neck with satin finish and bazilian rosewood fingerboard, mother of pearl dot inlays, copper dots on the edge of the fingerboard itself, self locking tuners. PU are regular HFS and vintage bass with the classic 5-way rotary switch.

many users compare or try to couple the sound with that of les pauls and fenders. in my opinion this is an immense mystake. i own stratocasters and les pauls but every time i spend some time playing those instrument, i return back to my CE and every, every time, i fall in love with it. This guitar sings its personal voice whatever style or music you play. In the past i played classic rock, funky, progressive and also metal and troughout the years never thought about selling it. Moreover, the sound is mostly dependent on how you play. Smooth and sweet when you are in the bedroom or in front of a fire in a cold night, jazzy with a groove when you convince yourself of being a good an virtuoso professional, huge, ballsy and cutting edge when on a big stage with a wall of Marshalls behind. In a word, very epressive and touch-mood sensitive. HFS trebe PU is awesome, full and powerful but very ARTICULATED, chords seem to be played as single notes bacause every note is well represented, screams but without the roughness of a LP sound. The bass PU is beautifully balanced, but a good high end that becomes woody if you want of even twangy if you desire...Sounds good with every amp, fenders,marshalls, orange, VHT, no matter, great personality.

never had a problem. Set up made by myself...

I have been playing for about 20 years, my personal music mainly. I own also LP and Strats. Love everything about my baby. My recurrent nightmare is that I brake the neck while sitting down in a drunk night or other similar situations...changed many girlfriends over years but I still have my PRS and never had the idea of selling it. The instrument is a part of my body, of my soul and my mind. I use to compare it as a daughter. Now that she is 15 years old is blowing as a rare flower in spring. And the sound changes, grows continuously, accompanying my experiences and maybe because of them...If it were stolen? You can imagine...seek and destroy my reason of life. Buy again? Yes, but new, like a virgin girl for the marriage.

metalic blue
1996 USA
24 fret

I play a lot of different styles of music but mostly blues and rock. My main amp setup is a Marshall 9100 dual monobloc power amp and a Carvin Quad-X preamp. My effects are numerous but I mainly use Peavy Addverb II processor for reverb and delay etc.. and dbx 266XL compressor/gate. I also use a homebrew distortion and Boss MT-2. My sound is piped to two sets of vintage fender 212 cabs and two 210 homebrew cabs with Tone Tubby speakers. This set up along with this guitar is quite inspiring and quite versatile.

I bought it used and it had minor wear from normal use. The action and feel is why I bought it. It's one of the finest instruments I've ever played. The quality of PRS is hard to beat.

Everything about this guitar is top notch. I'd put it up against any solid body bolt neck guitar on the market. Past or present.

Never failed me. So I would'nt know.

I've been playing since I was eight and I'm forty one now. I own several vintage and custom amps- Fender Vibrolux, Fender Deluxe Reverb, Fender Blues DeVille, Fender Concert, Fender Bandmaster Reverb, Matchless DC30, Sunn Beta Lead, Mesa Dual Rec. If it were stolen I'd do such dastardly deeds to whoever stole it that they'd probably make a movie about me and my efforts to get it back. I like everything about it. It's the guitar I always dreamed of.

Nice and simple mahagony body and maple neck with rosewood fret board. The tremolo arm is wonderful - no nasty screw threads to fiddle around with. Wonderfully balanced and contoured body which makes for a very comfortable instrument. The neck (wide and thin) is very easy to work with and feels 'natural'.

Great variety of tones. The pups via my fender blues deluxe sound very rich and varied. The tone and volume pots are (tonaly) smooth and responsive, as well as the quirky rotary pickup selector - which I'm not entirely sure about. The strangely entitled bass pup produces a rich and full tone, much fuller than my Gibson LP and ESS - a point of comparison and not a value judgement!!

Perfect - though I did have to drop the action from what was set up in the shop. But this was wonderfully easy and could get down very low without any buuzzing much to my delight. The frets are very well finished, so to is the 'paintwork'; in all perfect.

Who knows I've had it a day!

Not yet needed any, but the supplier, Elderly Instruments are to be recommended for their efficiency and support.

I've been playing about 3 years and developing a guitar fetish! I wish I had bought one of these sooner. I have a US strat and a couple of Gibsons. All are very fine instruments but the PRS is highly impressive. I spent a long time debating about whether to get a PRS or not as they are not cheap even for this so-called 'entry level' model. But the sheer quality of the instrument (build, sound, etc) persuaded me to take a chance as opposed to get another more traditonal maker.

1990 PRS CE24 with an alder body and flame maple top in "honeyburst" (kinda like a Jimmy Page Les Paul) with natural binding. The top has "10" flames, but is not perfectly bookmatched, so can't be called a "10 top". 25" scale, 24 fret, quartersawn maple bolt on neck (more like bolt in), PRS wide/thin profile with a brazilian rosewood fingerboard and abalone dot inlays. Has the original PRS wing style locking tuners and a graphite nut. Bought it used and the original owner swapped the original pickups out with a Dimarzio zebra PAF in the neck and a DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge. I'm disappointed that I don't have the original pickups, but I do like the combination that is in it. Had the PRS 5 way switch and a common volume and tone control. Has the original Micom solid PRS trem and arm.
It did come with the original PRS case, hang tags and PRS instructions.

I play through a Mesa Single Rectoverb into a Marshall 1965B cab with Eminence Ragin Cajun speakers. I use a Line 6 delay, Line 6 MM4, CryBaby Wah and a DOD Chorus.

I would like to have the original pickups for historical value, but I love the combination of the Tone Zone and PAF pickups that are in it. The Tone Zone is one of my favorite pickups anyway, so it suits me fine. Very clear and has a wide frequency response, and is hot without being muddy. Fits the tone of this guitar perfectly. Can go from a Les Paul ballsy output to a more Strat like tone by backing off the volume knob. The PAF is what PRS was going for in the Vintage Bass p/u and it works well in the neck position here. Hit the clean channel on your amp and roll off the tone knob for a jazzy tone, hit the distortion and turn everything up for the throaty lead tone.
The guitar itself is very resonate and sustains forever. I read a previous review and the guy was bitchin about the bolt on neck ruining the tone, but I think it IS the tone for the CE's. The way PRS attaches the neck is not your standard Fender connection and actually resonates as much or more than the fixed neck models. Plus, I love the feel of the maple with the flat finish.
This is my main live guitar and I use it most of the night for all varieties of music. This is definitely my #1 axe and I have a lot of guitars, from Les Pauls to Ernie Ball to Parker. But this one gets the most work.
I did change out the 5 way rotary for a 3 way Gibson style switch for ease of switching pickups live. Just my preference, although the 5 way was more versatile. Also, the tuner take getting used to, but when you do, there is none better.
There is nothing that I don't like about this guitar. :o)

I bought it used, so I can't give an opinion on this one from the factory. I will say however, that I worked a Guitar Center for a while and played alot of PRS's. They are always setup well from the factory, although they do take some abuse in the store.
I did a full setup on this guitar when I got it and adjusted trussrod, intonation, action etc... I try to set all my electrics the same and this one worked out perfectly. Action is set to 2/32 at the 12th fret and has no buzzes even though its 16 years old. The original frets are still in great shape even with all the playing I do on it.
The maple top is not perfectly bookmatched, but has outstanding flames. There are quite a few nicks and battle scars, but I bought it to play, not to look at. I take it to ever show my band plays.
The perfect guitar for me....

This guitar is gigged constantly and I used it at every practice. It has been dropped and knocked around more than I would like, but still plays without a hitch. The finish has a bunch of nick and dents, but has not worn thru anywhere. I depend on this guitar more than any of my others (20 of them), but I never gig without a backup.

Have never had to deal with them, but their website has a ton of info on it.

I've been playing for 33 years and have or have had all kinds of guitars. I currently have a couple Strats, a Gibson and an Epiphone Les Pauls, An Ernie Ball Petrucci, an Ibanez JS1000 and RG350 dlx, a custom made 2 Humbucker Tele and std Fender Tele, Parker...... The list is long. The point is, with all the high end gear I have sitting around, this is still my #1 axe. It is my sound, my tone, my feel...

2003 CE24, new, from Ed Roman Guitars. Rosewood body, Maple top, maple bolot-on neck. Locking tuners, HFS and Vintage Bass PUPs, Cherry Sunburst color. PRS Tremolo. I haven't been a big fan of the five-way rotary PUP selector, but I'm getting used to it. I'd rather have a switch.

This guitar sounds, on the whole, super. It has an innately bright sound, and without the proper settings on the guitar and amp, it can get too bright, meaning that you can hear the pick popping off of the strings, like a "clucking" sound. When everything is properly adjusted, it sounds fantastic, very clear with a lot of sustain. It's a rocker.

Perfect. The nut, the bridge saddles, the tremolo, the finish, it's all perfect. It's beautiful.

I have had two practices and one gig with this guitar. It has held up well so far to some pretty hard rocking. It seems very sturdy, and the bolt-on neck has very little play at all in it. No creaking, etc.

N/A

I wanted a professional-grade instrument, and that's what I got. It's a beautiful, great-sounding guitar, with a tonal/timbre range all its own. It will go from just as round and full a sound as you could want to a squawking trebly spank. It took some adjusting to, but I am finding lots of great sounds. The hardware is top-notch, and setup is easily adjustible. It is supposedly the "bargain" PRS line, but it doesn't look or play like a "bargain" guitar. This is my first 24-fret guitar, which took some getting used to, but not as much as you might think, and now I love it.

1992 PRS Classic 24, before the CE designation. HFS and Vintage Bass pups, moon inlays, wide-fat neck,5 way selector,stock features

Clean its quite full and complex thru the hum positions, beautiful thru my marshall dsl 210 with el-84s, played thru a Budda Superdrive clean and that was heaven! OD sounds are equally complex on chords, single notes are Santana-esque or 90s Alex Lifeson for sure, very pronounced for soloing which is why I think this guitar was created, Hfs is VERY high output, too high in IMHO, it overdrives my clean channel if the level is too high and can push my OD channel too much if my gain is past noon. Stiil great for soloing, would prefer more of a PAF sound.

Here's where PRS earned its rep, flawless construction, feel, and playability. I've never felt a more comfortable guitar that looked as good, played as easily, or stayed in tune as well as this. I can't speak for the post 95's but this thing is a work of guitarmakers art. Just feels tight and quality made. Finish is not a ten top, but still has a beautiful quilt and finish, no paint bleed, overspray, imperfections at ALL. Inlays are beautiful, like em better than the gaudy birds (okay I thought they were cool when I was a teenager!) More of a form follows function kinda guy...

Everything is solid, though like others have pointed out, the chrome on the bridge is tarnishing, point off here, the plastic collars to lock the string in place seem like theyed break, but had it 13 years and no problems, have cracked a few pup selector knobs though, still not too fond of that thing, looks sleek w/o a toggle though...Strap buttons are perfect, oversized w/o the hassle of locks. Still looks new, finish is perfect still.

Never dealt with dirctly, though they have many resources available online should I need them.

Been playin for 20 years as a hobbyist, have a G&L Leagacy (1993) that has great acoustic tone, playability, and feel as well, but the PRS is definitely in a different league as far as refinement. Stiil, the Legacy has a certain amount of soul to it, the PRS can be somewhat sterile and almost generic while stiil soundind amazing, weird...Was gonna buy a Les Paul and thay sold me on this things versatility, construction, and all the hype back then about them, true it is a remarkable instrument, maybe some Fralin PAFs would do the job, though the Vintage Bass does a great Sweet Child O' Mine impression, like that pup alot...Just can stand to part with this beautiful guitar, it does play like butter, stays in tune like no other, feels great, sustains very well, just doesn't sound like a LP! Split coil sounds are nice, esp clean but still no Strat, very versatile but no replacement for those two holy guitars...

1996 USA
24 frets
solid mahogany back and flame maple top
1 volume with a 5way selector
2 humbuckers
came with vintage bass and hfs in bridge
passive electronics

Great on solos but it leaves something to be disired on the rhythm.
I use a 73 fender twin with jensen speakers, gt3, gt6 processors and a variety of stomp boxes

excellent setup, plays really good, fast neck, the guitar has a light
lively touch.

The guitar has a really good bridge that stays in tune pretty well, great sustain but lacks power. The truss rod works excellent, locking tuners are also good.

never had to call

playing guitar for 22 years, have owned everyting from strats to les Pauls and everything in between, I wished I knew more about the neck pickup before buying, the bridge pickup is good. If this guitar was lost or stolen I would not buy again but I would buy a custom 22.
I love the way the guitar plays, I hate the thin sound resulting from the 24 frets also causing a tight sound, my favorite thing about this guitar is the lead sustains well on solos.
I did not compare this guitar at first but I think a Gibson SG would be a better sounding guitar, I chose it because of the body style and wood combination of mahogany and maple and the tremolo system, I wish it had a better neck pickup with more balls. Nice paint job prs.

Mine is a 95' CE 24 with the Mahogany body and Maple top in black. It has the HFS bridge humbucker and the Bass pickup in the neck position. Standard volume, tone and five way rotary switch. Prs locking tuners which stay in tune very well. The neck on this thing is a beautiful piece of quartersawn and I mean quartersawn perfectly with a nice dark rosewood fingerboard. The frets are medium and are very nice. It has the PRS tremolo bride. My only minor quibble is that the tuners aren't the easiest things in the world to use and the five way rotary switch isn't either. I will probably be switching it out for a 3 way toggle switch at some point here.

Well this is one of the main reasons I picked this guitar up. Both the bridge and neck humbuckers sound amazing and are probably my favorite passive pup's I have ever used. I have been an EMG guy for years and these are the first passive's I didn't want to replace immediately. The neck humbucer is very clear sounding and has a really nice bitting fat sound to it with excellent string definition. The neck humbucker sounds simply beautiful and is perfect for lead work or clean passages. I have wanted a PRS for years and this is the first one I found that actually sounded as good as it looks.

This thing is put together like a brick shithouse. The neck plays like an absolute dream and it stays in tune very well. It is actually one of the most stable guitars I have ever played. This is right in line with my EBMM luke as far as quality goes and that guitar is PERFECT.

this thing is already 10 years old and is in excellent shape so I have to believe it is very solid.

I fell in love with this guitar the second I picked it up. It sounds amazing, plays just as well and is beautiful to boot. Like I said earlier I don't really care for the rotary switch or the tuners but those are my only minor quibbles. With that in mind I will give it a nine because a ten would denote that it is perfect.

Well my PRS CE24 is a 2003 ruby red model. Of course it was made in the US that why it costs so damn much. No need to go on about the particulars. It came with a nice case that is very durable. First, off I love the neck. It is as if it was custom made. If you palyed one you know. Know I tend to change lots of stuff on my guitars. and I have this one set up a little improperly, but it still plays well. i have the brigde angled so that I can pull notes up at least 1 step. and I added a pick up in the midd position

Actually, the sound is fine. but I moded my PRS. giving it a middle pu, and had to push pull pots added to 1) split the humbuckers and 2) activate the mid pu. so now it reacts more like a swamp ash than a CE. DO NOT BUY A 1700.00 guitar to change it though. It fits every musical style I play, but not perfectly. The neck picup (vintage bass) could have more ouput. See, the thing is I was in lots of chorales and chamber groups. I tend to match guitars to my singing voice. so it can not be to overly bassy or too bright.

Given the fact that it was on display it still looks flawless. You know how PRS guitars look. Nuff said. No set up problems. These guitars dont really contain flaws and they better not for the price

I will always have a back up because the treble strings are very expendible. I changed the strap buttons, because I do a lot of moving while playing (stupid Stuff) Finish is like teflon!!!! it is road worthy. They might be handsome enough to be displayed, but they Are MEANT to be played.

I get on Jim Cullens Nerves. Good Guy though

What do you think?

This is a brand new, black, 2004 PRS, made in the USA. It has a 24-fret, rosewood and maple neck, with flame top and two screamin' humbuckers. Everyone here knows the electronics and what not, so read theirs. The guitar is bad ass, and it came with a hardshell case.

My style of music is mainly melodic hard rock, and Mudvayne like metal. My setup is extremely simple. I have the PRS through a Boss ME-50 effects board (sweet), to my super cheap Crate half stack. It seems like with my setup, that this guitar would sound like crap, but I was extremely suprised. For my style of music, the Bridge position is really cool. At times, the sound can SEEM thin, but its usually because I have to play quiet in my house (what am I going to do with my 100 stupid watts?). When a distortion is dialed in, I can rock out all night long sweet Susie. Its pickup variation can give you Beatles to Black Sabbath. Santana to Slipknot. All of which I am fans of. There is nothing about the sound that I dislike. Except the hum. I could probably fix that with a Furman Power Conditioner. Not the guitar's fault.

Perfect, little worried about the paint, it seems a little fragile.

I've played this guitar a one gig, and it help up great. You just have to keep up with polishing the guitar, because the finish obtains fingerprints real easy. the strap buttons are cool too. Very reliable. NO NEED FOR A BACKUP!!

NO NEED!

If you have the money, which I didn't, and I am still paying it off, buy it. Although extremely pricey. This guitar deserves a friggin' 10. The only reason its a 9 is because of the price. I searched forever for this certain guitar. eBay, Musicians Friend, and guitar center. GET IT NOW!!!!

The amp was made in 1991. It was one of the 'pre-..' PRSes. It is a a solid top in tobacco sunburst. It has a 5-way selector, HFS and Vintage Bass pickups. A very versatile guitar.

IIt sounds unbelievable. I've had it for about 6 monts now, and it is great. I have been playing trough a Laney LC 15, and even though this amp is not on par with this guitar, it still sounds very good. Also, as mentioned above, it is a very versatile guitar which can do the fat lead work or chimy rhythm guitar; even good for twang country. By far, the best sounding guitar I've played.

Built to perfection. Perfect!

Very solidly built, heavy, but I don't see anythinig major happening witin the next 20 years or even longer. The finish is greata, strap buttons are solid, and the case is very good.

In my opinion, one of the best guitars ever made.

2002 in Ruby Red, tremolo. I got the 3-way switch with the coil-tapping tone knob. HSF and Vintage Bass pickups. All CE24's have the Wide-Thin neck. I prefer the CE guitars because of the brighter-sounding and not-so-glossy maple necks. I'm also the only person I know who's not a fan of the obnoxiously flamed 10-tops and such. I like the finish to be a bit understated, and it took me a while to find one i liked. Its a maple top, but its kind of the regular maple wood figuring, with the bright red glossy finish. Took me a little while to find one where all this stuff came together, but it was worth it.

I have 13 guitars, and this one stands out from the crowd without question. It is the most versatile guitar I have, but its not meant to copy both the Fender and Gibson sounds. Thank goodness it has the sound that it does. This guitar is super-articulate, You hear the clarity of each string. The HSF is slightly brighter than my gibsons, but cleaner. My gibsons tend to bit a bit more raw and gritty, where these are just as huge, but slightly more refined. The vintage bass pickup isnt quite as big on the low-end as a gibson, but then again, its not a huge chunk of mahogany like a LP... Still a great jazz tone, but wont rattle the room with the low-end. Coil tapped single coil sounds are also great. Not really the SRV sound, but a great low-output single coil sound. These guitars are always compared to the Fender and Gibson sound, but guitar in general is good enough to justify ITS OWN SOUND.

action and everything was perfectly set up. I would not change a thing about this guitar, which is unusual for me. You dont buy a PRS to rip out the pickups the first week, or to change out the tuners. Somebody else likened it to the interior of a BMW, and that anaology is spot on. These things are made like this for a reason. Hardware, especially the bridge, is more bomb-proof than any guitar I knew existed. Finish is amazing, with a ridiculously heavy, super glossy bullet-proofness. I changed my strap buttons to Straploks, and I was amazed that the original PRS screws were longer and the same thickness as the new straplok screws. That never happens. Dont listen to Ed Roman, you wont even notice the heel. If the heel on a LP or a strat bothers you every day, then maybe you'll have a problem. Even if you've been playing something with a neck-through design (aka no heel), this is still the most comfortable guitar you'll find. Case was super-heavy duty, 3 times heavier than my leather gibson case. Only thing was there's no metal 'feet' on the case, so you lay it directly on the leather to open it. Wont last very long that way.

Alien anthropologists in the year 2814 will use some kind of mysical brainwave super-computer processing to analyze what function this weird piece of metal served in our feeble society. Well, here in the year 2004 it was the bridge to a PRS CE24. Or the tuners. Or the *fill-in-the-blank*. Getting the picture? The hardware and the finish are hardcore. If you could buy these tuners separate, i'd put them on all my guitars. Scratch that, I really haven't played my other guitars that much anyway...

Haven't dealt with them, so have no idea.

Been playing for 9 years. Have a gibson LP, a gibson flying V, a fender MIA ash strat, a fender Tom Delonge, an epiphone SG, fender tele FMT, ibanez RG-whatever 7-string, blah blah blah. This beats them all. Even with a garage full of Toyota's, once you get that Corvette, thats kind of it. I cant really see myself taking the Toyotas out, unless its just a nostalgia joyride. Its my number one guitar by a long shot. I play a Mesa Subway Rocket or a 1996 Dual Rectifier into an Avatar 2x12 cab. Fits perfectly. I've wanted a PRS for a while, and not that I have one, I'm kicking myself because its exactly what I didnt know I wanted when I was going through all those other guitars. The other ones are good for their respective 'thing', but the PRS is an all around fabulous guitar. I'll be suprised if i ever spend good money on another guitar thats not a PRS. That is, unless I find something better, and to my knowledge, there's nothing like this.

2004 CE24 PRS in Cherry black. Maple top 5 way selector, HFS and vintage bass pickups. Neck is wide to thin, came with the case. The guitar comes standard with PRS strings 0.09 which are bright. I found the action nice and smooth. The tremolo is a feature that I particularly liked. You can hammer on the whammy bar as much as you like, and the guitar still stays in tune.

This is an awesome guitar. It gives you a full range of sounds from Les Paul to Fender Strat. The tone control works well without the sound ever getting dull or muddy. I play this guitar through a Mesa Boogie Lonestar ( head with 2x12 cab) and the sounds I can achieve cover everything from blues to heavy metal. Great sustain.
Paul Reed Smith guitars just have an amazing clarity of sound.

I got this straight from the Dealer with the strings still wrapped to the finger board. It was extremely well set up from the factory. There was absolutely no buzzing. The action was smooth and easy like butter. I love the feel of the neck, nice and natural, not like you have a ton of varnish or lacquer on the neck. I found the frets a little sharp at the edges, but these will soon wear in.
I know some players thought the bolt on could have been firmer, but I found it perfect. Nice tight fit...no complaints.