Paul Reed Smith Custom 22

This is a stunning 2007 Ann. model. Dragon II pups. Natural finish 10 top.

This model has the five way selector and many beautiful sounds can be selected. The sustain is beyond belief.

The action is perfect. I did have the prs set up by a pro before leaving the shop. I own 2 Prs guitars and they are perfect in fit and finish. I moved towards them after wrestling with other guitars that needed constant adjustment every time the weather changed

Other than breaking the odd string, I have no worries about playing out with this guitar. PRS guitars are built like tanks without being too heavy.

I have never dealt with them directly. I purchase my guitars from a shop that excells in professional set ups and if needed they have a plek machine

I have owned so many guitars over the years I have lost count. I am 55 and have been playing since 4th grade. I own some gibson and fender custom shop pieces and use a boutique amp as well. If this guitar were stolen I would definately replace it with another PRS

2000 quilted amber 10 top w/ stoptail and birds. I give it 8 because I'm not fond of the lack of shine on the PUPs and tailpiece.

Wow. I own and have owned a lot of good to what I thought were great guitars. Nothing touches this thing for versatility and touch. It is so sensitive to the way I pick, strum or jackhammer on it. Every little nuance shines through the amp. It has really changed the way I play for the better and I look forward to many years of getting better with her. The variations between pickup settings is awesome as is the difference with volume and tone settings. I'm doing things with the volume knob I have always relied on effects for.

It's beautiful despite the cloudy PUPs and bridge. The neck is the best without question. My American Fenders, Gibsons, Parkers, ESP, Taylor and all the rest feel like sandpaper now. I bought it used and strung it with D'aD 10s. The G string seems a little off sometimes so I will try it with 9s as it was originally equipped next change.

I would definitely depend on it. The only reason to bring a backup would be a broken string but even that with the locking tuners might be a non-issue.

Don't know. But I live close to the factory.

I played a few PRSs while trying out the Line 6 XL 3 and fell in love with the complexity of the tones. My Les Paul was my old favorite and I plugged in an identical model at the store just for the side by side comparison. There is none. Even the SE models rock. I found an old Santana SE on Craigslist for a couple hundred and it was going to be my main guitar as it played like butter with big tone. Then I found the 22 at a good price--it's been a great year. With the exception of a Rickenbacker 12 I don't know what else a guy could want. I give an eight because the new price is still ridiculous and I want to keep Paul humble in that regard.

2005 model. Made in USA. 22 Frets, 25" scale wide fat neck, mahogany body with carved maple cap, mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard, moon inlays, solid black finish with natural flamed maple edge "binding". PRS Dragon 2 pickups, five way rotary switch, one volume, one tone. PRS trem bridge, phase 2 locking tuners. Came with a very nice form fitted hardshell case, vinyl covered with leather bound ends and handle.

The five way rotary switch was the only feature I wasn't completely sold on when I purchased the guitar. Completely clockwise (position 10) is the bridge humbucker. From there, counter clockwise, you get the outside coils in parallel, the inside coils in series, the inside coils in parallel, and finally the neck humbucker in full. I'll talk more about these tones in the sound section, but my only complaint about the guitar after a full year playing it is the lack of real tonal difference between positions 9 and 7, outside coils in parallel and inside coils in parallel. They do sound slightly different, but for my style (hard/indie rock) they are similar enough that I never use position 7 (inside coils parallel). It would have been better if they had wired it such that position 7 gave you both humbuckers full, in parallel. This would have given a completely new tone and added to the already wide versatility of the guitar.

I am a guitar modder, and have assembled quite a few parts guitars, modified others to the point where they were a shadow of their former selves, so take this paragraph with a grain of salt. I changed out a few components over the last year for various reasons. First, within the first 48 hours, I installed Dunlop straplocks. I do this for all my guitars. There wasn't necessarily anything wrong with the PRS strap buttons. second, this being my first floating trem guitar in about 15 years, I bought a Tremol-no and installed it to block the bridge and fix it in place. When I switched back and forth between Drop D and standard tunings, I would have to retune all the strings with the floating trem. I tried some stoptail PRS models but found the stoptail uncomfortable, and opted for a blocked trem instead. Third, all of a sudden last August I started having problems with breaking strings, so I put Graphtec Ferraglides on in place of the stock saddles. I have since only broken one string. Finally, my wife bought me some flame maple humbucker mounting rings for Christmas, which match the flamed maple edge binding and look very classy compared to the stock creme plastic rings.

Given a 9 for this category, because of the small complaint about the rotary. If I could give it a 9.5, that would be more accurate.

This guitar suits my musical style very well. I play with a medium amount of gain most of the time, and a majority of the time on the bridge pickup. I tend to do a lot of chord variations and tend to shy away from leads/solos, so the big thing for me is having clear and consistent string-to-string clarity while using distortion. This guitar delivers in that regard. I was strictly a single coil player for many years because I thought no humbucker guitar could give me the definition I desired to hear. The PRS delivers that clarity along with a fullness I couldn't get with single coils. Since all rotary positions are hum-canceling, I no longer have to deal with single coil hum.

As mentioned before, positions 9 and 7 are so similar that I only use position 9 out of the two of them. However, positions 10, 8 and 6 all give me useful tones as well. Having four very different and equally useful tones from one guitar makes for a very versatile instrument. Positions 9 and 7 are also slightly quieter in output than 10, 8 and 6, which makes for additional clarity under gain, but makes me avoid these settings while clean due to the slight volume drop. I have read many players use a small amount of compression to correct for this. It hasn't been much of an issue for me.

This guitar was made in May or June of 2005, but I bought it new from the store in December 2006. The guitar was in perfect condition, as was the case.

As far as finish flaws, the only thing I noticed was the finish had settled into the wood a bit over the year and a half it was in the store. With the correct lighting, you can see the figuring of the flame maple and how the finish has settled in differently depending on the figuring, if that makes sense. If this guitar was any color other than solid black (which shows every flaw and speck of dust), this wouldn't be noticeable. This certainly does not affect playability, nor can I feel it when rubbing a finger on it. Other than that, the finish is perfect.

I believe it was set up with 9s from the factory, and was very playable. I prefer 11s and had to do a setup on it after restringing. I had played more hardtail guitars before owning this trem-equipped model, and as such the trem added a degree of difficulty to the setup I was not accustomed to. But once I got everything correct, it played perfectly, and has continued to for an entire year with no adjustments.

The last remaining thing I haven't changed (but might) is the pickup height adjustment screws. They're a bit short, and in lowering the pickups, unscrewed it too much, dropping the pickup down into its cavity and forcing me to take all the strings off to put it back together. From the factory, there is a very narrow range between where the pickup drops off the end of the screw, and when the pickup is high enough that it contacts the strings during palm muting and such.

I use this guitar live and have played about 30 shows with it in the last year. Shows can range from 30 minutes to two hours, depending on where we play and how many other bands are on the bill.

The longest tour we did was a nine show trip, during which I broke strings at three shows with no backup guitar. This was prior to switching to the Graphtec Ferraglide saddles as mentioned in the features section. I was incredibly frustrated with the string breakage specifically because we had limited space in the van and I opted not to bring a backup. The guitar had performed flawlessly prior to this, and string breakage has not been a problem since installing the Graphtecs.

I wear jeans pretty much all the time and the pocket rivets have cause some worming on the back of the guitar. Nothing through the finish, but obvious when looking at the back. No biggie. This guitar was meant to be played and that's a side effect of jeans on guitars.

There is a small piece of finish that flaked off on the bass side of the neck around the fourth fret. I don't know if it got knocked into something or what, but it's there. It isn't huge and does not affect playability. You going to gig with a guitar? Don't expect it to stay in mint condition.

After a couple hundred hours of play time, the frets are beginning to show very slight wear, and I mean very slight. I have worn out frets on guitars before, it took a few years. These frets seem like they'll last longer than that.

Aside from breaking strings (which I corrected), these are minor issues. The important thing is the guitar is stable, stays in tune better than any guitar I've ever had, the setup doesn't change when the weather changes, and I haven't had a single issue with any of the electronics going out on me. I feel confident with the guitar but since the string breaking problem, always bring a backup.

Haven't had to deal with customer support.

I have been playing for about 19 years, and currently own four other guitars. This guitar is my #1, and has been since the day I bought it. It was immediately my best playing and sounding guitar. My others are all Fender-style parts guitars, so the PRS was quite a bit different, but in a good way.

At first I had trouble bonding emotionally with it, and felt like since I hadn't assembled it or modded it significantly that it wasn't "mine". The more I play it, the more I like it and the more I bond with it. Admittedly, I was exceptionally nervous spending the kind of money I spent on it, having never paid that much for any single piece of gear previously. In hindsight it was a very good investment. It has changed my outlook on what a good guitar should be.

When I was shopping for this guitar, I played many others. I compared this to quite a few Gibsons (Les Paul standards, SG standard, Firebird) and the only one I thought came close was the Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul 1958 Historic reissue, which cost $1000 more. Surprisingly, another guitar which was similar in quality and tone was a $900 Epiphone Elitist Les Paul which was a great guitar but had a very skinny neck, and that's a deal breaker for me every time. My big hands need a fat neck. I also played several other PRS guitars, and when I was down to the final few guitars to choose from, one of the others was a PRS Standard 22 with the all mahogany body. The maple top of my Custom 22 added a brightness and snap to the tone that was more pleasing to my ears.

Great features; three tone/volume knobs allows for a wide range of sounds. Wish there was a 3 or 5 way selector on it. Mahogany top and maple back with a rosewood neck. Feels nice to play. Wide thin neck keeps my fingers off the other strings while scaling and I can get a nice firm hold on the frets. Very light and feels good and sturdy to hold in my arms. Wilkinson two-point vibrato bridge needed a bit of adjusting; the action got WAY too low past about the 12th fret. Just raised it up and it feels great. Dragon II pickups. The nut is superb on this thing. The finish is violin amber sunburst; glossy and beautiful.

No noise AT ALL unless run through a compressor. And then it is still very low on the buzz. I can pretty much run any sound I want. My laments are the same here on the lack of a 3 way selector; I could get even more sounds on it. I replaced the stock strings with D'Addario Chromes Jazz Light gauge and they allowed me to get an even warmer and wider range of tones. All this is with a crappy Behringer GMX110. I'm getting a VOX AC15CC1 at some point, and I bet it will sound like sweet heaven then. Again, I had to raise the action a bit to stop some string buzzing, but that's no big deal. 2-3 minute job.

The action was crappy; as I said before. The neck was wonderfully straight and the nut and intonation were spot on. I won't let the pickups detract from the rating because everyone likes theirs at different adjustments. All the hardware is top notch and I had no loose or misaligned hardware. The guitar is absolutely beautiful.

I don't do any live playing, so I can't comment on anything there. The guitar is very light, but it feels like titanium when you're playing it. Sturdy and reliable. All the hardware is easy to use and attached perfectly.

Haven't had to deal with them.

I've been playing for fours years. Again, I WISH WISH that this had a 3 way selector. I had that and three tone/volume knobs on my old guitar ( a crappy ESP Kirk Hammett thing; yeah, I've grown up) and I could almost get the same range as this one has without a selector. I could probably wail on a solo and then play warm, bassy jazz in an instant with a switch. It's still got an intense range, though. I love how pretty it is and how dead quiet the electronics are. I compared this to an '82 Strat and a sometime in the 90s Les Paul and I couldn't get over how well this thing just fit me. It's a blast to play. I would buy it again if it was stolen. I got an amazing deal on Ebay for it, but I would pay full price if it was stolen.

custom 22 with stoptail in quilted tortoise shell red with dragon 2 pickups. comes with a case, and if not for the quality of the pots, stoptail and pickups, this guitar would rate much higher

ok, before anyone gets mad at me, i just want you to know that i waited 3 years after i bought this guitar before i wrote this review so that i could completely try it out. the sound is horrible for a 2000 dollar guitar. i have played it through a hot rod deville, a valveking, and a mesa triple rec., but it can only achieve mid range tone. anything other than the mid range is very muddy at any volume or setting over 3. i know that the pickups can be upgraded, but after 2000 dollars, you really shouldnt have to buy anything else

the guitars action, fit and finish are incredible. it came from the factory tuned, polished, and the action was and still is perfect. although the sides werent perfectly bookmatched, i didnt pay for a 10 top so its not a big deal. paul reed smiths guitars flaws are not in their construction, but in their quality

this guitar has been pretty reliable. in three years ive only come across a loose plug, and as for durability it stands up well. i would gig with it as a backup, but not without backup

PRS customer support is awesome, and thats all that needs to be said

paul reed smith guitars are very fun to play, their feel is something that can only be achieved by their guitars, but the quality of their pickups and pots has to get better. the construction is flawless, but even the worlds greatest builder can only do so much with poor quality supplies.

Mine is a 2001 Custom 22 Tremolo in Emerald Green. It has a nice thin neck which feels almost as though there is no lacquer on it - unbelievably fast. It has no volume control for the pups, which is a bit unusual, but I never use them on my other guitars anyway... the pickup selector is a little confusing, but it just takes a bit of getting used to.

I play Rock/Blues and a bit of Indie/Folk... I also have a PRS SC250 which I use for my rockier songs, but this guitar is *perfect* for quite strumming and slow blues. It is very bright, (like most PRS's), and is also very thick and warm. My favourite two sounds on this guitar are the coil tapped clean, (9 on the pickup selector), which is actually quite a twangy sound like a strat and strangely artificial, and at first I didn't like it much, but now I absolutely *love* it and use it every time I plug in. I also like the bridge pickup distortion, which isn't to heavy, but is a nice bright, clear tone.

Awesome set up, I use this with 9's, which I don't do on any other guitars, but it suits this one perfectly. Beautiful finish... I actually prefer the gloss models WITHOUT a ten top because you can see the natural swirls in the wood and the detail in the grain. The finish looks 3D on this, it really is lovely. The gloss on the body is lovely... it feels like glass, but doesn't seem to pick up fingerprints very easily, which means I don't have to spend every second cleaning it, and it still looks great!

I would use this live over my SC250 because it is a little more versatile and it is *very* light and easy to play. It has lasted a long time, and doesn't seem like stopping any time soon.

Haven't needed them, but I'm sure they would be great.

My favorite thing about this guitar is the neck, (which is also true for my other PRS), and it is SO easy to play... the frets melt away like butter into your hand and you wind yourself playing better than you though you could... I've had professional amp builders and guitar techs play it and just say: "Holy shit, where can I get one?" It is by far the easiest guitar to play that I have ever tried. And I just can't get enough of that coil-tapped clean! It is the perfect guitar to write music on. I have heard a few times about the quality drop in these models around 02/03 due to the company upscaling their production line, so you may not get the same experience from a new model, but my personal experience with this guitar has been amazing and I'm definately sticking to PRS's from now on!

I have a trem model, with three-way switcing and push-pull coil taps.The advantage here is that when playing live you can tell at a glance what combination is selected, and change sounds in a second. The next plus is the trem, which is smooth and returns to an in-tune setting with no effort and no worry. Overall tuning, compared to any of the several Gibsons I have owned, is impeccablly rock solid, and stays this way all the way up the neck. Again, this is a great asset when playing live, and the confidence it offers allows me to take risks which on any other guitar would be foolhardy.

For its tuning stability alone this guitar deserves a 10.

And there is the neck, fat,wide,and beautiful to the eye, leaving plenty of space for the fingers and just the most perfect piece of engineering possible - it puts the amateur efforts of Gibson and Fender to shame. For once I have the feeling the my guitar has ben designed by a guitar player for other guitar players, not by a penny-pinching corporation which thinks that string tension is what holds up a bikini.

Guitarists - like all boys, small or big - want to know they are up to the mark, and that they are not losing out to oher boys. They spend their money on "comfort-guitars", so that no matter how mediocre their playing, they will have the "sound" of a recognised guitar hero. Guitar companies exploit this six-string anxiety by offering guitars that recreate that "sound".

PRS are a different trip; you define the sound.

I play through Fulltone Fulldrive 2 Mosfet edition into a vintage 1966 Fender Deluxe Reverb, and through a Digitech RP 350 into my laptop. The PRS travels from Neil Young grit and grind to Bill Frisell soundscapes, and most points in between. Mostly it just sounds like me playing - and that, after 30 years of trying to sound like somebody one else, is the point, the whole point, and nothing but the point.

Irreprochable.The best of the best.

Built as like a Rolls Royce. 'Nuff said.

Never called them.

I have lost a lot of money buying and selling Gibsons in the vain search for one that both sounded good and played in tune all the way up the neck without having to have a guitar-tech on call.

Not all PRS are the same; I did not get on with the the Custom 24 or the Hollowbody. They were excellent guitars, but not for me. The Custom 22 is, in my opinion, the best, most hassle-free guitar available, and not even too expensive when compared with the prices being asked for Custom Shop products from other manufacturers.

22 custom whale blue 10 top with birds..

Now I have had 3 other PRS guitars over the years and I really never got on with them. I needed a twin humbucker guitar for my next recording and I was just ready to buy a Gibson VOS SG when this popped up. For some reason I get on very well with this PRS, seems like everything just works well on it. the neck is fat and has a slight V shape, and the dragon II pickups have a great smooth voice. I just started recording with it, and I gotta say its a champ. Fast speed picking, super fat crunch stuff and even sweet blusey rhythms.
Dont get me wrong I still like my custom made Tele better, but for what this brings to the table its hard to beat. I think it blows the VOS SG away in tones and feel..

PERFECT.

dont really know...feels solid.

dont know, and dont want to know...

I build custom Fender style guitars all bolt on types, so when I needed a set neck twin humbucker I had to shop around. Never thought I was gonna get another PRS. To me its just a great all around guitar. its not a Fender or a gibson, but sits like something special in a mix...excellent really.

All the specs have alrady been covered mine is a 2006 in whale blue.

Pretty versatile axe, does not sound as deep as I would like it to, but still pretty good. Has a nice bite and a good clear clean sound. I run it through a marshall tsl601 combo and sounds pretty good. My advice is, dont buy it though, I put my hands on a brand new Dean USA top of the line Hardtail, and it just killed this guitar. The sound of the hardtail is much more articulate and clear, and the duncans have more punch and depth than the PRS, but to each his own. I turned around and sold mine and bought 2 Deans for the money. The dean is twice the guitar at half the price, pretty cheap on ebay, works for me.

Hands down there is no comparison between PRS and Gibson. The PRS is the same money as my standard but as well built as my Class 5 custom shop. They are definitely very good in quality control since these are factory mass produced. The kicker though was again, my Hartail, the finish and feel and all around just staughtered the PRS. I know I sound like a dean commercial, but for how cheap they are on ebay, you owe it to try one, they are by far the best guitars for the money out there, that is one man's opinion, and just trying to spread the word.

Had it for about 6 months, so really did not have time to evaluate.

Never dealt with them.

Been playing 8 years, own two strats, two les pauls, 2 hardtails, and a washburn cutom shop. The PRS is definitely better than all in terms of quality except fot the dean, and comes in third in tone after the dean and the class 5 paul.

Beautiful Custom 22, trem, single vol and tone controls, coil tap. Laminated maple figured top, March 2004 (pre lawsuit with Gibson idiots), birds.

Well this is the second PRS I've had (first was a soapbar model, goldtop). Old AC30's with some Boss stompers (what you see is what you get, immediate tweaking, I can't use all in one multi effects units, too hard and sterile sounding - ALL of them). I use a H&K Replex for echo - the best tape loop simulator out there in my experience.
I've tried hard to like this guitar, but to me all PRS's are sterile. Great build etc but too damn cold for bluesy or vintage tones. So replace p/ups (PRS #6's)? No way - not on a guitar this price range and it's not that easy on a PRS anyway. The #6's are very ordinary sounding, the bridge p/up way too compressed sounding - I say this after 25 years of all sorts of great guitars. So yet again I find myself in G and F land. HOWEVER - there are some great giggable guitars out there without the big names (Orville, Greco etc) - I now build my own Teles with different p/ups and switches - much better value.

Perfect looks. But the trem does NOT stay in tune, a la Strat. Yes, it's better but only just. The PRS locking tuners are very good but ugly! Action is subjective.

I think this would stand up to hard road use. It seems well made and because it is so beautiful you would protect it. I just get the impression PRS's are factory standard, they all feel the same. Way too clinical, you have to work with a Tele/Strat/335 etc - this is a cold beast. I don't like the heel but the neck is good.

Don't know. I think most CS is pretty poor these days.

Overall I don't think this is great value for money or a good investment new. I think PRS's look weird on tall guys, almost like 3/4 scales. Do yourself a favour, ignore the bling and name, try a few other guitars from Asia before you decide. Like Gibson, I think PRS is generally overpriced and kind of riding the name. I just don't get the "thing" with these guitars......I've got 20 at the moment, and I can honestly say that whilst unique looking, they are "over designed" to the point of making a casual play an issue ("Shit I dinged it" ville). Good luck to those fans, but not for me.