Paul Reed Smith Guitars Custom 24

1987 CUSTOM 24 (SERIAL#2051):I PURCHASED THIS GUITARA FEW YEARS AGO FROM A LOCAL COLLECTOR. HAS ALL THE VINTAGE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARLY PRODUCTION MODELS (HAND-CARVED CANADIAN FLAME MAPLE TOP, BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD FINGERBOARD, SOLID ABALONE BIRD INLAYS, ONE PIECE TREMELO TAILPIECE, SWEET SWITCH, SHORT NECK HEEL, SMALL HEAD (WITH SMALL PRS SIGNATURE),LOCKING TUNERS, DUAL OPEN-COIL HUMBUCKERS, 24 FRETS, 5 POSITION PICKUP SWITCH, ETC.).THE GUITAR CAME WITH AN ORIGINAL PRS HARDSHELL CASE (AND A NEW LEATHER LEVI'S GUITAR STAP).

THE ROTARY PICKUP SWITCH PRODUCES A VARIETY OF TONES THAT CAN RANGE FROM A LES PAUL SOUND TO A STAT/TELE SOUND. ALTHOUGH, THE TONES ARE UNIQUELY THAT OF A PRS. THE SWEET SWITCH DOESN'T HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY OF A REGULAR TONE CONTROL BUT, IT DOES GIVE THE GUITAR EXTRA TONAL OPTIONS (AND THAT EARLY PRS VINTAGE LOOK AND FEEL). THE GUITAR SUITS ALL MY NEEDS FOR THE TYPES OF MUSISC I PLAY (ROCK AND ROLL, BLUES, JAZZ).

THIS GUITAR IS ABSOLUTELEY AN AMAZING INSTRUMENT. IT'S ERGONOMICALLY DESIGNED BY GUITAR PLAYERS FOR GUITAR PLAYERS. THE ACTION IS EFFORTLESS AND ALMOST FEELS TRANSPARENT WHEN PLAYED. I'VE NEVER EXPERIENCED A GUITAR THAT ALWAYS SEEMS TO PROMPT ME TO A NEW LEVEL OF EXPRESSION AND CREATIVITY.
THE CHERRY SUNBURST FINISH IS INCREDIBLE. THE HAND CARVED FLAME MAPLE TOP "DANCES" NICELY AS THE ANGLE OF VIEW CHANGES. THE OVERALL FEEL IS SMOOTH TO THE TOUCH AND A JOY TO PLAY, WITH OR WITHOUT AMPLIFICATION.

I'M NOT HARD ON ANY OF MY GUITARS, SO THIS ISN'T A MAJOR CONCERN FOR ME. HOWEVER, I'M CERTAIN THAT THIS GUITAR WOULD "WEATHER THE STORMS"
OF LIVE PLAYING IF CALLED ON TO DO SO. IT'S DEFINITELY DESIGNED TO BE PLAYED TO THE MAX!

I CONTACTED PRS BY TELEPHONE FOR ASSISTANCE ON SOME REPLACEMENT PARTS. THE ADVICE WAS ACCURATE AND HELPFUL, AND THE PARTS WERE DELIVERED PROMPTLY.

I'VE BEEN PLAYING FOR 40 YEARS AND HAVE COLLECTED ALOT OF GUITARS OVER THESE YEARS. MY CURRENT COLLECTION INCLUDES THIS 1987 PRS CUSTOM 24, A 1967 GIBSON ES335 (W/ BIGSBY TAILPIECE), A 1975 GIBSON LES PAUL STANDARD, A (RARE)1966 HOFNER VIOLIN GUITAR(MODEL 459), A 1939 EPIPHONE TRIUMPH, A 1971 MARTIN D18, AND A NUMBER OF HIGH QUALITY ASIAN-MADE GUITARS(IBENEZ, YAMAHA, EPIPHONE, CARLO ROBELLI, SAMICK, CHARVEL).

This is a 2002 USA-made Custom 24 Artist Series in Tobacco Sunburst. It has got a striking highly figured matched maple top. This was a Custom ordered guitar which came with two tone zebra pickups. The Artist designation means that this is a very select "10" top that has a transparent back finish, and added decorative features. The fingerboard has the bird inlays from Paua shell. The Artist series also has a headstock that matches the fingerboard, and Paua Paul Reed Smith logo on the headstock which matches the bird inlays. The "24" is for the number of frets on this model. It has a one-piece mahogany body a mahogany neck, a carved highly figured, matched maple top, two humbucking pickups (Zebra HFS bridge & Zebra Vintage Bass neck) proprietary redesigned 2002 Sperzel locking tuners, a tremolo with pop-in arm, one volume / one tone, and a 5-way rotary switch that gives you: the neck pickup ("5"), inside coils in parallel ("6"), inside coils in series ("7"), outside coils ("9"), and the bridge pickup ("10") This came with a fiutted case and all accesories.

I am a guitar-a-holic. I have a large guitar collection, with the majority being Stratocasters. I also have Les Paul and Humbucking guitars. This PRS was the culmination of my dream to find a PRS that suited me. This guitar offers great tones and multiple sounds from one of the prettiest guitars that I have ever seen. I find that the body is comfortable and offers easy playability, and the pickups offer a range of sounds, bridging an audio range from Strat to Les Paul.........although it never sounds exactly like either. You can get the harmonic cutting lead tones that I love, a bit hotter and more cutting than my other PAF LEs Paul. And, you can get a mid blend Stratty sort of sound too.

Perfect. Prefect bookmatched top. Perfect finihs. This is a flawless instrument. The set up was perfect for me..which is rare.

I just got this guitar so I cannot vouch for its long term durability. I am sure that is would be dependable.

This is my holy grail so I will probably use this mostly at home,or studio, unless I am playing in a safe controlled situation. To tell you the truth, I will probably continue to jam and gig with my Strats.

I do not know ...I just got it, but they answered general Email questions in less than 4 hours...

Love it.

This is a follow-up review to my previous one. Call it the "older and wiser" review, if you will. Anyway, I won't bore you with all the specs, but just to differentiate mine from others, my Custom 24 has a non-10 top w/ "black cherry" (i.e. "blood") finish, and it has the bird inlays. No other upgrades.

This category is the real reason I wanted to write another review. I've done a lot of thinking about the sound of the Custom 24, and the sound of PRS guitars in general, and I've arrived at a few conclusions. Of course, none of them are earthshattering, and you'll see the same sentiments echoed throughout this page, but here we go anyway.

I bought this guitar because I wanted a more versatile version of a Strat / Les Paul. Which is, I suppose, the reason why many people buy these guitars. I absolutely love the sound of a great Les Paul - clean or dirty, and the same is true for Strats. Though I must admit I "grew up" with Strats, or at least guitars on the more Strat end of things. Anyway...

Here's how the guitar matches up against a Les Paul. As you may know, the Custom 24 is considerably thinner than a standard Les Paul. Add to that the floating tremolo bridge, thinner neck and straighter headstock, and you end up with a guitar that will never sound like a Les Paul. Never never never. It just doesn't. (I emphasize this for the sake of those looking to purchase a "lightweight" Les Paul- my advice to you is, save your money and buy a Les Paul DC Standard.) Comparing pickups is not so cut-and-dried, but I'll just compare the standard Custom 24 pickups to the standard Gibson pickups they install in most of their guitars (the 498T and 490R... I think?). The Custom 24's neck pickup (the "Vintage Bass") has a much clearer or cleaner tone to it, if that makes sense. It's not so fat around the low midrange, but it is a very bassy and dark pickup. However, as I said, it doesn't at all sound like the sound is "spilling out" on the low end, if you know what I mean. The Vintage Bass also does not have the sweetness of the Gibson bass pickup, though. There is a certain EQ difference around the upper freqencies that, while giving you greater clarity, does so at the expense of some of that classic alnico sparkle (though I understand that the Vintage Bass is an alnico pickup). As for the bridge, PRS's "HFS" bridge pickup (which definitely is a ceramic magnet pickup) really does live up to its "hot, fat and screams" acronym. Most of the defining differences between the HFS and the Gibson pickup come from 1) the ceramic bar in the HFS, and 2) the extreme high output of the HFS. Though it is also a darker-sounding pickup than you may expect. The HFS, because it is a high-output ceramic pickup, has that unmistakable extreme clarity to it that picks up every little finger slide and pick scrape. (You notice this most on the inbetween sounds.) It also (unfortunately) has that annoying ceramic pickup tendency to fart out (rather than "belch out", I suppose) notes on occasion when you dig into the strings hard enough (like when you biff an artificial harmonic, for example). But you really only notice that when you're playing clean. Of course, PRS says that this pickup is best suited for "rock" (as opposed to their somewhat questionable claim that their other pickups are suitable for "all styles"), and if PRS is telling you it's a rock pickup, you best listen. If you love Les Pauls, don't buy a Custom 24. This is where PRS started out and they've been going more towards Gibson ever since (22-fret model, McCarty, Singlecut). Also don't buy this guitar if you're into bluesy or jazzy stuff, or if you like "brown sound" rock. If that's your angle, you really should buy a more traditional 2-humbucker guitar.

Now let's compare it to a Strat. This is a bit trickier sound-wise, because you're really only getting one "Strat-y" sound. But it was pretty cool how Mr. Smith figured out how to emulate the quacky bridge-mid inbetween sound. Since the Custom 24 (the original model) had, as the name suggests, 24 frets, the bass and treble pickups are close enough together that selecting both inside coils could give you a reasonable approximation of the cla

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."

This is a 2002 Custom 24. It has a cherry sunburst finish with an absolutely perfect 10 top by my standards. Just the right amount of flame without having those obnoxious zebra-like stripes that some of the more aggressive 10 tops have. It has 2 pickups, a PRS Vintage Bass in the neck and a PRS HFS (Hot Fat Screams) at the bridge. There is a tremelo with a pop-in bar. The neck is wide-thin and has bird inlays (gotta have the birds :). There are 3 controls: volume, tone, and a 5 way rotary pickup selector. It has a maple top, mahogany body, and maple fretboard.

In all honesty...I could not ask for a better sounding guitar. I have been playing for 4 years now, playing a Mexican Strat for the greater majority of that time. Over this past summer (2002) I began considering buying a new guitar that would be better for lead, so naturally I began considering a Les Paul. And as a life-long Fender player, of course I ran into the usual issues. Singlecut body (difficult access to upper frets), weighs a ton, digs into your arm and ribs, etc etc etc...Don't get me wrong, the sound was great. I mean, who can resist the sound of the Les Paul? Well....for beefy sounds anyways. The problem I had with the sound was that it simply wasn't versitile enough for me. If I'm going to pay more than a grand on a guitar, it better be able to play more than one or two styles of music. So then I started to look at upper end Fenders, and though they had the feel I love, they didn't have the versatility I was looking for. At this point I pretty much gave up, thinking that I was being too picky with my decision...and then I tried a PRS Custom 24. It felt like this guitar was built for me. It was just the right weight, just the right size, just the right feel, and most importantly, just the right sound. Unlike most newer guitar companies that 1) deliver for limited musical styles 2) try way too hard to copy the classics and 3) just plain suck, this guitar had all the vintage sounds I wanted with the feel that felt right. It does not directly copy a Strat or a Les Paul, but is heavily influenced by them. You can go from the neck pickup which has the "ku-chunka" sound of a Les Paul to the bridge pickup where you have a wail similar to a Strat, though neither sounds just like it. The magic with the Custom 24 is that it takes the good things from Fender and Gibson and tweaks any weaknesses of the two into a style all PRS's own. I mainly play classic rock, and the Custom 24 is absolutely perfect for it with no flaw in the sound that I can.

Perfection is a strong word that I use sparingly, but it is the only one that describes this category of my guitar :)

It has that feeling of a Fender...like you're holding something solid. In Avril Lavigne's video "Skater Boi" (I swear I didn't mean to see it! I was flipping channels, ok?) she puts a PRS through a car window. At first when I saw this I was near tears...then I looked up and realized that the guitar didn't have a scratch on it. This beast is made like a rock!

I haven't had the misfortune of needing their support yet, but I hear that PRS has fantastic customer support.

If you like the sounds of Les Pauls and Fenders, but you want something new that blows both of them out of the water (here come the arguements from all you "NOTHING will ever be better than the classics" people) the PRS Custom 24 is for YOU *points at reader of review*. This guitar is surely going to be a classic in years to come, and it is about as close to perfect as a guitar can possibly get.

2002 Paul Reed Smith Custom 24. 5-way rotary switch (nice tones). One Volume and One tone knob (That's all you need). Abolone bird inlays, locking tuners (VERY quick restringing), Nice tight tremolo. Whale blue flame finish. Mid weight guitar. HFS and Vintage pickups. Wide thin neck. 24 Frets. Maple top with mohogany body and Rosewood fretboard. Comes with standard Hardshell PRS Case.

I play rock and classical and run the guitar dry into a Trace Elliot 100w Bonneville head, which is in turn run through a Hughes and Kettner 412 cab. This guitar has a very sonic appeal. The HFS and Vintage pickups sound very nice and resonate through the body very well. It even has a nice audible sound when it is not plugged in. I have never heard such a sparkling distortion on a guitar before. I am a very picky player and have gone through Marshall, Mesa, Hughes and Kettner, and VHT heads before settling down with the Trace and Elliot. I have used Fender, Ibanez, Schecter, Brian Moore, and Gibson guitars until I found this PRS. It's tones are unmatchable. My '98 Gibson Les Paul DC Standard and Les Paul Studio are now on ebay, as well as my Fender Custom Shop. The tone on the PRS is simply outstanding. Like I said before there are glittering distortions and the Clean tone, which I feel is ludicrous to talk about, is by far the most fat, evenly distributed tone out of any physical instrument that is humanly possible.

The Action - Perfect
The Pickups - Perfect
The Top - Not necessarily the best I've had, but beautiful nonetheless
The Bridge - Nice tightly fit trem. Great intunation. Nicely Done!!
The Frets - one dead spot 12th fret G (very minor) which still sustains better than any of the other guitars I have owned.
Locking Tuners - All you need to do is pull the string through, lock, and then tune it up!! AWESOME!!! Very tight tuning pegs to boot!
Set neck - Almost perfection = the heel is a bit large..
The Volume - Never before have I seen a volume pot as sensitive as this one, yet it keeps the same intensity at any level
The Tone - The tone pot works wonders as with any guitar, but the pickups and the 5 - way rotary selecter is so nice, you may not even need to use it!!
The 5-way selecter - Its a know and I have heard of many who switch to a 3-way switch or a push pull, but honestly with the sound that it is packaged with, I don't even know why they would spend the money.

First guitar I have ever owned in which I don't not break a string in two weeks. I make it a point to play at least two hours a day on my own, so throw that in with a gig or two a week and two more hours of full band practice - - A LOT OF HOURS. Finish is very good at hiding normal wear and tear. The strap buttons are the widest I have ever seen and have flat tops, so I threw in my straplocks with the guitars that I am selling. After depending on this guitar, it would be a nightmare to work solidly with anything else.

Never had to deal with Customer Support - That's a good thing. The lifetime warrenty is great. I've had this guitar for a little over a year now and it Looks, Feels, and Sounds like it did the day I recieved it. I take good care of it, and I suggest the PRS polish and cleaner to keep the it looking fresh.

I have been playing for close to eleven years and I rely on the music that I play as a partial income. I am doing this as a career and my weapon of choice is definately a PRS. I went into this purchase after finding out the facts and trying out a couple, so I suggest you do the same if you are looking into getting one. I even looked upon this board for help in determining what was right for me. If this guitar were stolen I would definately buy another one, only in a violin amberburst finish. If I knew who stole it I would also kick ass and take names. It is the sweetest sound in the world, and to those who said it was too bright -- Maybe you should invest in some new amp technology or stop relying on effects so much. It has the most natural tone on it that is possible. I love it the way it is. So, if you want the standard instrument, go get a Les Paul, otherwise invest in this wonderful piece of equipment and get something truly special.

1992 Hand Made, took out the 5 way selector and put in a 3 way selector just for the pickups cuz i have my fender for the single coils.

I play a lot of funk/r&b and rock, this guitar is very bright, sometimes it hurts to play it is so bright. The p/u's arent noisy but i just cant get a nice full sound out of the guitar. I dont know what i was expecting but I know this wasnt it. Im the sure the 22 fret version is much fuller but o well.

neck is too damn skinny and thin

never used it

if you are looking for tone, you will not find 1800$ worth in a PRS 24

Mine is a 1994 model which i feel are superior to the modern made ones for several reasons. Among them are a smaller neck heel, and hand-made presicion as opposed to the modern CNC machine made ones. 24 frets (duh) with a nice top. (Not a ten, but still a great whale blue color.) Has a HFS (hot-fat-screams) in the bridge and a Vintage Bass in the neck. The locking tuners, are supposedly superior to the ones they use now, but ive heard a lot of different stuff. Tremelo bridge. Standard stuff.

I use a Mesa Nomad 45, a Kitty Hawk M1 (great amp if you can get it to work!), and occasionally a Peavey 5150. Great sounds can be accquired through all three; you just have to be willing to fiddle around with settings. No noise at all from pickups. Although it has coil taps, it will not sound like a strat, but its still a great sound. Many peopl buy this guitar because the think they can get the Strat/Les Paul configuration, and although it does a decent imitaiton, it is neither. It sounds beautiful in its own way. I play many styles of music and it handles most things great.

Bought it used. Set up fairly well. Need to adjust stuff, but you should anyways to get your own feel. Pickups were a good height, but i might play around with that later.

So far, very reliable. Keep yall updated

made in1995
Custom, 24 frets
10 top amber, very nice
Volume, tone, 5way
Duncan '59, Neck, Duncan Pearly Gates, Bridge
Passive
Mahogany neck + body, Maple top
Trans amber w/ natural edge
Solid body
PRS Trem
Locking Tuners
Fat wide neck , w/ moons

I play blues, R+B, and some modern rock. I use it with a custom built made 4-10, 40 watt combo with pedals or a pod in front. I don't have a problem with noise. I find the sound to be very bright, not something that I can stand all night. I got it used and the pickups were changed to Duncans, I found the 5 way not too useful, I only liked neck or bridge and they are 4 clicks away from each other which is a pain. I changed the pickups again to Harmonic Design, Humbucker size single coils. I also put a mix pot in place of the 5 way. I liked it a lot better, but it was still lacking a nice round tone. It was still too bright. Then I bought some Gibsons 490, 490T, Nickle covers, still not home with the tone. What I was looking for was a Les Paul type tone with a nice trem. Definitely not happening. I've gone back to the Les Paul.

It was set up very nicely
Pick up were in a good spot
Beautiful top (10)
Flawless construction

Built Ford Tough
Good hardware
Hard finish, and thick
Good strap button design
It's a good solid guitar
I never play without a backup

Great to deal with, I asked for a schematic and they sent it right out. They also told me the year of manufacture,( serial #).
No repairs needed

I'm 48, so I have been playing for 40 years, I wish I had gigged with this guitar before I bought it. I may sell it. I may try some tone shaping stuff, I have Gibson Original Hubuckers in it now. If it was stolen, I would buy a Reverend and bank the rest. I love the feel, the weight, the trem, and the finish, but I hate the sound. I take 3 guitars to every gig, A 2001 Les Paul Classic, a '94 G+L Asat. and a '97 reissue Firebird V. I always wanted a PRS, I thought it would be the ultimate, but I just don't like it. When I used it at a gig, I would switch to the LP or Firebird after a break, and these guitars would blow the PRS away. The Gibson tone was rich and strong, very full. The PRS, bright and thin. I don't know, maybe I got a bad one?

'96 PRS Custom 24 (USA)
24 frets
Quilted maple top, whale blue
1 volume, 1 tone, 5-way "sweet switch"
Vintage bass (neck) HFS (bridge)
mahogany bdy and neck, maple cap, rosewood fretboard
poly finish, quilt top
PRS trem
PRS/Schaller locking tuners
wide-thin neck
hard-shell case, strap.

i play all styles, and this guitar suits them all. the 5-way selector gives insane versatility, and each notch on the tone-knob creates a different sound, so it's like having 50 guitars in one! for blues, jazz, and mellower stuff i use it through an old Vox AC30 and it sounds like heaven, and for heavier stuff, i use it through a marshall AVT 30, and that sounds great too. i can get any sound i want out of this axe, and i love it. there is a slight hum on the single-coil settings, but nothing drastic, so i don't care. I love evrything about the sounds of this guitar.

the action was perfect for me, not too low, but easy. the pickups i tweaked a little to get my own sound just right (i prefer them closer to the strings for a slightly higher output and better sustain and bass response) the top is beautiful, the bridge is one of the best trem systems i have ever used, it doesn't even go out when i pop a string, it's crazy. i haven't found any flaws with this guitar.

this guitar is built like a tank. it's pretty, so i wouldn't want to hurt it, but it's had a few bumps here and there, and come up unscathed. the poly finish is TOUGH, i don't think i'll be getting rid of that without steel wool and turpentine.
strap buttons are big, and very solidly screwed in, i feel secure.
i can depend on this axe come hell or high-water.
i have used it on a gig without backup, and i was playing "money" by pink floyd as the first track. now, in case you don't know, the final solo for that contains two step bends... now, i think that's confidence if i'm not scared of two-step bends... this guitar is incredibly dependable.

i've been playing about 5 years. i own a epiphone les paul studio, a musicaman stingray bass, a martin 001 acoustic, a vox AC30 tube combo, a behringer kx1200 keyboard amp/pa, and a marshall avt50 hybrid combo. i'm happy with every aspect of the guitar. i love evrything about it, the weight, the feel, the sound. everything. my favorite thing is the sweet switch... the versatility is unreal. if it were stolen or lost, i'd be really pissed, then i'd sell a kidney on the black-market to buy another one. i compared it to other prs's and to many, many les pauls, but this just came up trumps on all fronts. i kinda would like the bird inlays, but maybe i'll wait for the next prs i get... this is the best guitar i have ever played. i love it. there is no better guitar, in my humble opinion. if it cost $10,000 i wouldn't be able to afford one, but it would still be worth every red cent.

Just to correct the previous reviewer: PRS does not use nitro finishes. They use a polyurethane lacquer which allows them to buff their guitars to the high level of shine they are famous for.