Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 Artist Package

My "Scarlet" is a 2004 Black Cherry beauty with a Brazilian Rosewood headstock that just gives her a completely different look than many others that I have seen. Her flame top from one angle disappears and other angles it is deep--an amazing optical illusion!

All the normal features of a Custom 24 with the Artist package: gold hardware, paua signature and birds, and the artist grade case (super plush)

Of course I give her a 10 for her extreme beauty.

In use with a Mesa Boogie f-30 and a modded Fender Blues Jr, Scarlet just rips up all styles and genres I want to play. The 5 way selector switch allows the Vintage Bass and HFS pickups to accommodate all tastes from country twang to growling heavy metal. This guitar can and will do it all. I also have a massive pedal rig that can help her get those dirty tones I love so much.

Played unplugged, the body just resonates for days and is quite loud compared to my Strats. It seem magical.

I have adjusted the HFS pup height to my tastes, but straight from the shop it was perfectly set up and the frets felt like I had been playing her for many years. The PRS tremelo is an asset to the guitar and the action was low but not too low to make those great bluesy bends.

I have played this thing almost everyday since I bought her in May 2006 and I have not had ANY problems out of her. Period.

I have installed Dunlop Strap Locks because, hey, it is an expensive guitar.

I think that with my care of the guitar, she will be around for years. The finish has few swirls and with regular buffing, any minor scratches disappear.

I have a PRS Santana SE that I use as back up. I wish I had the ability to have a Modern Eagle as a backup...

I have 4 other guitars (PRS Santana SE, a self-made frankenstrat, martin acoustic, ibanez bass,) an effects board full of crazy sounds, and two tube amps. I am all about finding my tone. I take pride in the sounds I make, whether good, or more often bad, but still I am "listening for the secret and searching for the sound."

If Scarlet were stolen, I would cry all the way to the insurance company b/c I definitely insured her. I would DEFINITELY get another.

It is an awful lot of money to pay for a guitar unless you think it is worth it like I do. If you can afford one, get the Custom 24. You don't have to get the artist package to get an amazing guitar. But the artist package is very cool...

2004 PRS Custom 24 Artist Package:

Black Burst flame top (maybe the best flame top ive ever seen...EVER). Gold hardware (tremolo, not stop tail), paua birds and headstock signature inlays (fantastic looking), regular shape neck not wide thin, but this is a great feel for me, ive owned both. Special artist package case from PRS, great quality.

This is maybe the best sounding guitar ive ever played. Solid Lows, Crisp Highs, and balanced Mids, and no feedback when played even with some beefy distortion. I use a delay pedal, chorus pedal, distortion pedal, tremolo pedal, etc...all by boss and they have never sounded better. I play it through a fender twin reverb 65 reissue, and i can get most sounds through it with this. A wonderful sounding guitar. I play mostly progressive rock, some metal, some jazz and blues, etc

The guitar came from the factory set up just about perfectly for my needs. Fairly low, and fast, but no buzzing, and a very quick neck. All the hardware was installed wonderfully, no tweaking really necessary at all for me. No flaws in this guitar...being an artist package custom 24, i wasnt suprised.

This guitar seems fairly durable, but isnt indestructable. Its like a fine piece of furniture, and i havent gigged with it yet, but i know when i will, it will take some hits eventually, the finish will probably chip fairly easy if not taken care of...but the neck and body are very solid. The strap buttons are big, and keep it safe from falling. I know i could depend on this guitar, and probably wouldnt hesitate to play without a backup.

Havent had to contact them with this guitar yet, but i think thats a good thing.

Ive been playing about 6 years, and this is by far the nicest playing guitar ive ever owned, and its easily my favorite. Ive had gibson custom les pauls before, and a PRS custom 24 non artist package, and a PRS McCarty, and many other guitars like ibanez, ESP, jackson, etc...all fall short of this one. I love its amazingly classy looks, i love its versatility and dependability. The only thing i wish it had, was a 2nd neck bearing a 12 string...haha.

Artist pkg upgraded
Solid mahogany body with cool vertical strips parallel to the guitar strings
Private Stock grade Quilt Top AGAIN (never seen a production custom has such a quilt top, except on my 1st IRW 24 artist). I believe the 2 IRWs I own has the highest quality quilt top in the batch, based on my search in the past 12 months.
Dark cherry burst with transparent cherry at the back (the best finish to show off the quilt top). I am also after the Blue Matteo but from the 3 to 4 I have seen, they could not enhance the 3D effect of the figured maple as good as the Dark Cherry Sun.
Unfinished standard solid indian rosewood neck
HFS and Vintage Bass
3 way toggle pickup switch, a master tone and a master volume (cannot be simplier and versatile than these!)
After acquiring the 1st IRW (reviewed below), I want to find another one with the regular neck and McCarty electronics. I personally like the regular neck profile more but all of them I have seen has the wide thin neck. I also want to have the 3 way pickup switch which is more handy in a live situation. This IRW suited the bill.

The first thing I did is of course, run an A/B comparison with my other IRW. I do not know if the ground was not soldered properly or there is something wrong with other electronic components. It has quite a bit of noise (even in those hum canceling mode) when heavily distorted which is abnormal to PRS. The tone is great and blend quite well with the pickups. However, the mid is a bit more compressed for the 2nd IRW, whereas it offered slightly more treble and bass. Even though both of my IRW have similar features and look, the 2nd IRW definitely has its own character which is the reason why it will be kept in my arsenal with the other IRW.

I believe one of the 2 stores that bought and sold this guitar has changed the setup. The action is comparatively high and the neck has a bit back bow. At first it was not played as comfortable as the other 3 PRS I own (they has the factory setup when I received them). After my own personal restoration of the setup, it is now a great player.
This is the 1st PRS I own that didn?t have the electronic compartment cleaned up. There were a lot of tiny chips of finish and wood that were generated when drilling the screw holes. These chips were just pressed down by the cavity cover. It was scary when I first open the HSC since I saw chips in quite a few locations inside the case. I thought the guitar was damaged during shipping. I am lucky again that there is no scratches or dings caused by these chips and also no damage was found on this beauty. I believe I could not find another one at this price even the insurance company is willing to compensate my loss. I realized that the signature next to the ?assembled by? and ?inspected by? on the hangtag are different from the other PRS I own, this might give some hint? Should a customer be subjected to cleaning up this kind of mess? So I deduce 2 points from the rating.

Same solid construction which again I believe would last for life

I do not need to contact them at all. I take care of all the gears myself, except there are major structural damage, which I am certain will not happen to this IRW.

If it is stolen, there is no way to replace another one at this price!!! I am lucky to own 2 of these, IRW custom will not be produced by PRS anymore.
Even though there are some flaws (chips, noise and setup) when I receive it. These flaws could be easily fixed. However, because of these flaws, the rating I give for this IRW is less than the first I own.

Artist pkg upgraded
Solid mahogany body with cool wood figure
5A Quilt Top (even better and consistent than some private stock)
Cool dark cherry burst with transparent cherry at the back
Unfinished solid indian rosewood neck with cool figure too
HFS and Vintage Bass
Uone + volume and a 5 way rotary switch

Lack of confident at first after viewing not so well feedback for the RW solid brazilian neck McCarty and Santana, most complaning the neck has compressed the mid, make the sound difficult to cut thru in a mix, etc.

Tried a RW santana, sound as if the mid were cut, despite of using the neck or bridge pickups, or turning the mid of the amp all the way up
Tried a RW McCarty, the sound is thick and offer tons of mid. The overall sound is amazingly different with the Santana, so I guess the pickup is what makes the most differerence.
I have Finally found one and I did an A/B comparison with my custom 24 artist pkg (everything the same except the mahogany neck). IRW sound overall richer and offer longer sustain, but the different is subtle and may not be realized if playing the IRW guitar alone.

I am in love with it!

All of my PRS (2 brazilian 24, 1 artist pkg 24, IRW artist pkg 24) has cool setup
Sound well balance thru out
Love the feeling of the unfinished neck

Very solid construction which I believe would last for life

never need to deal with them for my old Artist Pkg 24, I suspect if I need to do so in the future for my 3 new PRS

I have played 16 years, I am a shredder (progressive rock, Blues, neo-classic). Other gears I own:
4 custom Hesperia BC Riches (1 eagle, 2 Biches, 1 Warlock)
2 Brazilian Custom 24
1 Artist pkg Custom 24
1 Jackson PC-1
1 Parker Fly Supreme
1 Kramer Stagemaster
1 USA Fender Malmsteen
1 LTD F-207
1 ESP/Edwards E-FR-120GT (ESP for the domestic Japanese market)

I have owned and play quite a lot of high quality guitars, but this PRS IRW offered the best feeling and tone. The quilt top is so nice which is hard to find on other PRS in this price range.
If it was stolen, there is no way to replace another one at this price!!! I have heard that PRS only opened a 2 weeks window in July 2003 for ordering this and I am lucky to own one of them with such a big sound and nice figure thru out.
I have heard that there are only <288 IRW custom made (included 22 and 24), even less for those with artist pkg upgrade!!! PRS are only taking private stock order if a solid RW neck is needed which would cost at least $10000
I have been waiting for a solid RW neck guitar for ages and in my research they all cost a fortune (baker, McCarty, Santana)
I am very happy with the purchase. Even though all my PRS are so-called machine made guitar, it?s craftsmanship is top notch and is luxurious through out. For quality, they are all comparable to my handmade BCRiches, but the PRSs have a much better paint job and set up.

2003 Mataeo Blue Artist Package; Paooooua Birds on fretboard and Headstock, rosewood fretboard & Headstock, HFS/ Vintage bass pic-ups, Gold hardware, Leather case, Trem, Wide-Thin Neck and best of all a hihgly figured thick maple top done up in Mateo Blue finish. I also add Sweet-Switch conversion to the tone knobs to all my PRSs.

I like a SONIC high gain Tone thats fat & thick yet Organic or Wooden like qualities to it and this is it. Play through Mesa Booogie Mark IIIs, Digital rack mouted delay & reverb, Fulltone stomp boxes ( Full-drive, Choral/Flange, Octive box, And a Bad Horsee Wah ) The all & all of these axes are the complete ease of use to go from a Sonic solo section to realatively clean tone without channel switching simply by spliting the pic-up and lowering the volume knob to 3 to 5. When playing live this tacktic takes about a second. My favorite music topic is instramental rock ( pop-progressive-heavy ) This guitar is perfect for this application and looks beautiful.

These guitars are the Rolls Royce of guitars PERIOD....I have old and new PRSs and their all consistant of the highest quallity craftmenship. I do have all my guitars professionaly set up. Take the time to watch PRSs on e-bay to get a feel of the varity of finishes, it's mind boggeling ???

A guitar for life and your grandsons' life.

PRS is great with customer support. You call them, a live human pics- up the phone and directs you to another live human to answer your questions. (How Refreshing) I have met Paul Twice At NAMM shows and both times he spent time with me. ( Not bad for a CEO )

Been playing guitar for 38 years, live shows for the last 25 years, Exclusiveing useing PRSs for the last 12 years. I have a small family of PRSs and a few others too but I only gig and record with Paul Reed Smith guitars. Would I buy another one if stolen.... Well I already did.... did buy another & another & another... you get the idea. All CU24s and a simi hollow body CU 22 just for a kick. Lets sum-up with this: the last one I bought cost more than my first couple of cars and my wife said " maybe you can slow down now alittle "....we'll see!