DoctorPaul's Guitar Emporium - Sold Guitars
2005 Paul Reed Smith Custom 22
"Deirdre"
#5101172
My PRS journey has been a bit of a rollercoaster over the years. After a couple of decades of aching for a PRS (initially due to Deirdre Cartwright using one on the telly … hence the name), I finally took the plunge a few years back and got my first one (Ruby) … a vintage Custom 24 with a Brazilian rosewood board. To cut a long story short, Ruby ticked a lot of boxes, but was pretty sucky to play. I’m sure that it would have suited someone with smaller hands really nicely, but the combination of my shovel-hands and sausage-fingers meant that it just wasn’t for me. However much I tried to love it, it just wasn't to be, so dropped it like a warm dog turd. My second was a different story altogether, a Floyded Custom 22 (Tony), which is as sublime as it is perfect, and is on my long-term-keeper list, and is one of my most played guitars.
So, as is often the case when I find a guitar that I really like, I started looking for another one. Not another Floyded one (that would be a little too extravagant), but preferably one that was just as awesome as Tony, but as different as possible from that guitar, whilst still packed full of awesomeness. Does that make sense? I mean ... I'd want it to play and sound as good, but with different specs so that I'd have some variety.
After looking for AGES, and trying every PRS I could get my hands on, I managed to strike up a trade deal with an internet buddy for a couple of the guitars from my "these can go without too much pain" list, and I'm VERY happy that I did.
So. This is a full-fat PRS Custom 24, from their 'Core' line (not an SE and not an S2). I'm told that this, technically, is a Paul Reed Smith, not a PRS; the entry-level SE guitars are marked only as ‘PRS’, and the Core models are marked only as ‘Paul Reed Smith’. I find shit like that interesting ... so shoot me.
It has a one-piece mahogany body, topped off with a thick slab of lightly-flamed maple (in beautiful antique sunburst), a mahogany neck, a dark, dense rosewood board, abalone bird inlays ... you know ... the stuff you see in your head when you close your eyes and think "PRS". However, this gets a 22-feet neck, which means that the neck humbucker is positioned at the best place (my opinion only), right in the 'hooty, woody goodness' zone. In the Custom 24, the neck pickup is pushed further towards the bridge by the extra frets (as was the case when the Les Paul morphed into the SG). Although that isn't necessarily a BAD thing, I prefer my neck pups where THIS one is, thank you.
The neck heel ... hmm ... the neck heel is pretty chunky, as is the case with almost all C22s, and seems a little unnecessary, given that the tenon stretches way back into the body of the guitar. It would presumably be easy enough to carve out the chunky heel so that the neck profile stays the same right up to the neck joint, but I'm sure that Mr Reed Smith makes them this way for a reason, and I'm guessing that the reason is 'better tone' (whatever that means). Whatever, in use, it doesn't get in the way one bit, so I should probably shut up about it.
The pickups are Dragon IIs, which have AlNiCo magnets and are apparently voiced to match their McCarty pups, but with a little more output. Which is good. For the nerds, both pups are reasonably hot (12k), and both take gain VERY nicely. The clarity when set to a clean tone is beautiful ... from crisp and transparent to meaty and full. Delightful. The signal runs through PRSs traditional 5-way rotary selector (which gets you from nasal Tele, through quacky strat, full-on raucous bridge, through to hopty, woody woman-tone. Awesome. For the tech-nerds, I understand that the 5-way goes like this … 10 - Bridge humbucker, 9 - Outside coils in parallel (described as “deep and clear”), 8 - Series single coils (warm version of ‘in between the treble and middle of a strat’), 7 - Parallel single coils (crisp version of the ‘in between the treble and middle of a strat’), 6 - Bass humbucker. Whatever, the important bit is that it can ‘do’ meaty Les Paul, quacky Strat and nasal Tele. The usual single volume and tone controls are characteristically nice to use, although some fool appears to have installed a push-pull tone-pot in place of the original, although the original pot is in the case ... perhaps I'll warm up the soldering iron to bring her back to original spec.
The neck is the 'wide-fat' profile (which is lovely), which is exactly what it says ... with a wide nut width and a chubby, full depth. Good for tone, apparently, but I'm more interested in the fact that it provides a good firm handful of lumber, which I like a lot.
Now about that maple top. I've said many times on this site that I'm not into guitars that look like French furniture, so the uber-10-top stuff doesn't really float my boat. It's like that stuff is trying too hard to be pretty, like a girl smothered in makeup. THIS, on the other hand is ... to my palate at least ... PERFECT. A little interesting flamey grain to provide some interest, and a gorgeous faded sunburst finish. I guess that Gibson would call it a Faded Ice Tea Burst or something. Regardless, it's very, VERY pretty in the flesh.
Acoustically, this is warm and complex, and rings out forever ... there's something about a solid construction, with good woods and a chunky neck that makes this sustain in a way that would make Nigel proud.
So. Yes. This is a lovely guitar, pretty as a picture, great to play, versatile and made really well. Another winner from Mr Reed Smith.
