Paul Reed Smith CE Bolt-On

I bought this guitar new in 1990. I used it mainly for classic rock and recorded a CD with it. Let me say first; this is a great guitar.It stays in tune without a locking tremolo and has great tone when used with amp or pedal distortion.Here's the down side. In my opinion using it with a clean sound position one three and five are brash sounding loud but no great tone, and position two and four are nice but the sound is too thin. Also there are a lot of dead spots on this guitar. The lack of sustain on these notes is unacceptable. It is a great effect when you use distortion and the bar and you hit one of the deadspots (it gets really great feedback). I finally switched to a Eric Clapton Strat but still own the PRS.I need clean tones and the strat has it with little hum. I highly praise this guitar as a rock guitar. If you use distortion the sound can't be beat. If you play clean you may want to look for a strat or tele or 335 gibson.

I also used a Paul Reed Smith combo amp that I still own. These are great but you may never find one. There were only a few hundred made.
Also sounds good with Boogie and some fender amps.

As usual the guitar came with 009 strings so I had to set it up with 10's. Plays great and always has. Stays in tune for days.The only physical flaw is the 5 way plastic knob. I have had to change it three times in about 8 years it does wear out quickly.

I would and have played this guitar many times without a backup. I've never broken a string on a stage or had tuning problems.

I've never dealt with the company.

I've been playing for many years lets just say over 30 years.I would probably buy a higher scale PRS if I lost this one. Although it is a versatile guitar, my style of music has changed and double stops are hard to do on a floating tremolo.I thought about changing the pickups but I hate to alter a guitar in any form. I think it's great that PRS now has a fixed bridge guitar. Like many other guitarists I got into the whammy bar thing, but it's grown old now. I didn't like locking nuts and strat tremolo bridges didn't stay and tune.This was the answer for me and a good one.

This is a '97 PRS bought with insurance money to replace a stolen '85 LP. A pretty average sunburst maple cap over a mahogany body. Vintage bass and HFS pickups, but you know that already. A terrific and comfortable guitar that feels a little closer to a strat than a Gibson because of its slightly raised action. I have nothing but praise for this instrument aside from the fact that the high E string is hard to get up to tune without twisting the wing on the tuner all the wat to the inside of the headstock. Case was included in the sales price.

The CE24 has a very articulate sound; every note stands out beautifully. The lead tones are very crisp and fusiony. Position 2 is a quieter, almost Tele like tone with enough bite for rhythm, so that when you want to jump to a lead you can simply snap to position 1 and rock out. I play expressive rock and blues with a Mesa Mark III or DC3, and this guitar can sing or scream. It sounds boxy at bedroom volumes, but live with some push behind it blossoms like somebody's prize rosebush. The sound is a little tight and focused, so I opt sometimes for my Standard or Hamer Daytona for a little looser, open sound when I need it, but for focused and ferocious leads or rhythm this is the oneI grab.

The guitar was perfect from the get go. About a year after I got it the tuner caps started rusting badly; I called PRS and they shipped our no cost replacements almost before I was off the phone. Action was a little high, but certainly well within tolerances and I kind of enjoy it this way. A 9 here because of those oxidizing tuners.

No question about this guitars durability. I won't go on and on, but I play live 20-30 times ayear; I'm not tough on my guitars, and I anticipate years of flawless performance. I replaced the original tuners with Dunlops, but PRS's concept for strap buttons is good for a non locking system: install saucer sized buttons and then take your chances. I never gig without a backup, but if I had to bring only one guitar I wouldn't worry too much about grabbing this one.

Great support. They replaced those rusty tuner caps and sent me out a new whammy bar for my Standard (even though that on was bought used)with no questions and very quickly. Exenmplary.

Playing for 27 years now, I use Mesa and Fender amps along with another PRS and a '94 Hamer Daytona. I have all the instruments I need to cover my bases now. I'd replace this guitar with another one in a heartbeat if lost, stolen, or destroyed. These three instruments far outstrip the three I had stolen in '97, although I still miss my '69 SG from time to time. Something to share here: Insure your gear! And get as portable as you can so you won't be tempted to leave it overnight in some less than secure rehearsal place or bar.

1990 PRS CE Bolt-on with 24 fret wide-thin neck. PRS HFS humbucker (hot fat sweet) bridge pick-up. PRS Classic humbucker neck pick-up. Volume, tone, and 5-way pick-up selector switch. I bought this guitar new in 1990 and had been using it as my main stage and studio guitar for almost ten years. I pulled out the 5 way p/u selector knob and replaced it with a 3-way Les-Paul style toggle (like they use in the McCarty's) because it was too hard to switch p/u's on the fly while on stage with the original knob. I'd often end up in positions 2 or 4 rather than where I wanted to be, and wouldn't know until the first bar of a solo got lost because I was set in position 2 or 4 with phase-cancellation. The PRS locking string tuners, graphite composite nut, and vintage style tremolo still keep this guitar well in tune after 10 years of use and abuse on stage. I can restring the entire guitar in less than 5 minutes (try that with your Floyd Rose!) I have stopped playing out with this guitar because I have started to worry about some catastrophe happening to it (and its irreplaceable). I've learned that PRS has switched to all mahogany construction and a different tilt on the headstock of the newer models. I've never picked up a new PRS that felt (or played) as good as mine does. You may want to check out vintage used PRS's if the new bolt-on's don't do it for you. The bolt-on maple neck with rosewood fretboard is confortable and sleek. Mine doesn't have the bird inlays, but I only care about features that relate to tone and playability. When PRS is ready to sponsor me and give me a guitar, then I'll ask for the birds too! The neck (I'm told) was modelled after the Gibson ES 335 dot neck. It has a lacquer finish on the back, which has gradually worn through in the spots that I most frequently play. As a result, picking up and playing this guitar feels like laying down on a spongy sofa and having it mold to your body. New owners might consider sanding the lacquer with 2000 grade sandpaper (if you have the nerve if you don't want to wait 10 years for this process to occur naturally). Also, the heel on the back of the bolt-on is the smallest of all the PRS guitars, allowing unfettered access to all 24 frets. I played some later McCarty's and didn't like the heel extending so far past the neck-body joint. One thing that no one seems to mention (and I love) is the PRS volume pot. Smooth as silk and perfectly tapered for cutting back the volume just a bit or for doing volume swells. The volume knob was so much better than the one that came with my Custom Strat, that I ordered a replacement volume pot from PRS and installed it into my Strat. This might seem trivial, but think about it. When you're playing live, what do you touch more than the neck, strings and volume knob? The standard PRS case wore out about a year ago (after 9 years of abuse) and I bought a second one for $90. Other than that, this guitar is playing better and better every day. I give it a 8 for features only because I don't have the optional sweet switch (a tone shaping toggle) and my guitar doesn't have a "10 top" although it sounds like an "11".

I know a lot more about guitars now (10 years later) than I did when I first bought this PRS. At the time I purchased it, the bolt-on PRS guitars had just come out. I didn't want a set-neck just in case I needed repairs to be made, although it's never been an issue. As far as tones, this guitar perfectly straddles the nether-region between the Gibson Les Paul and the Fender Strat. I freely admit that it was EVH that set me off looking for this tone (full and round, yet cutting) and although I wasn't conscious of it at the time, I guess that's what led my ears to this guitar. The two standard PRS pickups are well voiced, with the output of the bridge pick-up being especially hot (even hotter than a Seymour Duncan JB). This guitar really loves distortion (from mild to molten) and lead tones cut right through in live situations. The neck pickup produces some warm clean sounds, but for my taste, is a little too bassy (muddy?). For club dates, the range of sounds was more than sufficient. I had a little trouble in the studio where the overall bassiness of the guitar (combined with the voicing of neck pickup) made it difficult to get good shimmering clean tones. That's why I say this instrument is between a Strat and a Paul. I bought the Strat so that I could produce those glassy shimmering sounds in the studio (although even with a JB Jr. in the bridge, the Strat can't touch the PRS's distorted bridge tone). Also I love maple necks (for the spank and bite they give to notes) and wish that PRS would make a maple neck bolt-on. Looking at my two guitars, I see the PRS more as a '69 Camaro with a 454 big block. Great for high-power rock and roll, but lacking a little refinement for finesse parts (although if you're limited to one guitar, this would be a good one, and hardly a "limitation"). Finally, the guitar is very quiet (but that's expected with 2 humbuckers).

I've had to do the occasional set up on this guitar, but it played great from the day I got it. Intonation occasionally veers (as with all guitars I've owned), and I've had the frets crowned twice. One of the main reasons why I've retired this guitar for a while is that the frets are still good, but with my increasing amount of professional play, will need to be replaced before too long and I don't trust anyone to refret this guitar. I bought a 57 RI Fender Strat which I've now been using as my main guitar, but again, that's not to say there's anything wrong with the PRS. I just wanted some back-up insurance for this irreplaceable axe. The grain on the tobacco-burst maple top isn't perfectly matched (which saved my $500 when I bought the guitar) but the paint finish is awesome. Other than the grain of the top, the construction was flawless. I've had to tighten up the input jack a couple of times over the years and the wiring looked very tidy when I got into the back of the guitar. The chome hardware hasn't oxidized in 10 years.

10 years on stage and in the studio and it sounds better than ever. I came to love this guitar so much than I became too afraid to continue to play out with it and have it stolen or lost. I do take it to the studio and frequently pick it up to play for enjoyment because I actually feel guilty if I don't give it (her) enough attention. It plays better every day.

Never needed support - see durability section. When I ordered a second volume pot for my Strat, it took about 2 weeks to arrive.

I'm 29 and I've been playing now for almost 20 years. I made one modification to this guitar (the Les Paul toggle), but other than that, this thing is the same as the day I bought it. If you're considering buying a PRS but fearful of the high prices they command, keep in mind that I've had ten-years of enjoyment from this instrument with no end in sight. Like a good lover, I get to know her better every year, and she's getting easier and easier to play. I'm sorry that they changed the construction of the CE model or I would probably have bought a second one for a back-up rather than the Strat. Although, I happy to have the Strat to broaden my tone pallet (another great guitar) and am gradually making minor modifications and wearing it in so that it's comfortable. If you're looking for an instrument that you'll love for a lifetime, try playing a PRS.

My PRS is an early model, I think made in 1991. I bought it used (new ones were out of my price range). The guitar is totally standard with 5-way switch.

Great range of possible sounds with this guitar. This is the overwhelming beauty of PRS. Great sounds, and versatile. the 1 position gives you a vicious barking humbucker, the 5 is a lush, bluesy neck humbucker. 2 is a nice clean middle-of-the road single coil sound, and 4 is a pretty good comparison to a country twanging strat sound. I never use position #3. This guitar gives a surprisingly-good deep jazz tone which when given some overdrive, really sings the blues. There is very little compromise to the classic Les Paul sound, and it can emulate a strat almost as good. All in one guitar!

It had seen plenty of use and had just come into the store when I spotted it. It needed lots of detail cleaning. I think I got an excellent deal because of this. Once I got it cleaned up, though, it looked great. I managed to get a new PRS case with it, too. The action is very good, and I've since had the frets dressed. The fit and finish is superb. Mine has had just enough bumps and nicks so that I don't have to baby it for fear of ruining it. I also prefer the feel of the bolt-on neck to the glued neck of a regular PRS. The neck is very thin and easy to work your hand around it. I have had some problems with a noisy volume pot, and a noisy jack. I owned a PRS copy before made by Epiphone, and there is a huge step up in fit and finish. I also had a Gibson ES 330, which had a great neck, and the PRS is just as good, or better.

This guitar has withstood nine years of live playing and has stood up well. I dont like the locking tuners ? they are tricky to use. The strap buttons are small and I have to be carefull ? I've almost lost it a few times.

bought it used. No opinion.

This is a great guitar for those of us who can only afford to have one. The flexibility of tones, and the playability, fit and finish make this the only electric I would consider again if I had to replace it. I love the looks of the flame maple in clear blue. Their other colors are great, too. If you can find one used, they seem to hold up well, and should be taken care of properly, as they are quite expensive to begin with. Even though this is the least-expensive PRS, it is equal to the others I have played. If you prefer the feel of a bolt-on neck, this is the choice. If you want all-out Les Paul sound, get a Les Paul. If you die for Strat tone, there is no substitue. If you love both, get a Paul Reed Smith.