Attention PRS Experts: Neck Finish Question

unix-guy said:
I bought a CE-24 maybe 18-24 months ago for $1400 (it's a 2016 I think)... Nice carved top and finish.

The neck feel is great... It's a little more than satin but not much. I don't like finished necks...

The CE as far as I know are all made in USA... Just bolt on necks.
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How would you describe the neck? I’ve read that the “Pattern Thin” neck shape is similar in shape to an Ibanez Wizard but not nearly as thin. Does it have more of a shoulder than a “C-shape?” And will the 85/15 pickups work well with high gain?
 
GlennO said:
I paid under $1000 for my Holcomb. They kept the price that low by using non-locking tuners, but it has the same pickups as the high-end version. The workmanship is impressive.
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It is a surprisingly good guitar for the money. They cheaped out on the tuners, and the nut. I had my nut replaced with a GraphTech when I bought it from the dealer, and I put on a set of Hipshot lockers, like I do on a lot of my guitars. Or you could get the same PRS tuners they put on the fancy models. You can get a Core nut as well.

Only upside or downside on the Holcomb is the scale isn't the normal PRS scale length, but 25.5", and it also has a really flat fretboard radius, 20".
 
lyricbread said:
How would you describe the neck? I’ve read that the “Pattern Thin” neck shape is similar in shape to an Ibanez Wizard but not nearly as thin. Does it have more of a shoulder than a “C-shape?” And will the 85/15 pickups work well with high gain?
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I don't think the shape is at all similar to a Wizard neck... I'm not super familiar with all the shape names as I've played primarily old Wizard necks for a long time.

The neck is thicker than my DK-24... About the same as maybe a Tele or Strat, but to me feels more "pointed" in the center than some necks.

I don't play a lot of high gain but the 85/15 pickups are nice, IMO. They have their own sound and really do seem to like drive ;)
 
spagthorpe said:
It is a surprisingly good guitar for the money. They cheaped out on the tuners, and the nut. I had my nut replaced with a GraphTech when I bought it from the dealer, and I put on a set of Hipshot lockers, like I do on a lot of my guitars. Or you could get the same PRS tuners they put on the fancy models. You can get a Core nut as well.

Only upside or downside on the Holcomb is the scale isn't the normal PRS scale length, but 25.5", and it also has a really flat fretboard radius, 20".
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I had heard about people reporting problems with the nut on the Holcomb, and I was prepared to replace the nut when I bought mine, but it has been fine. Maybe they've changed it since it first came out? OTOH, I have an Ibanez Iron Label and I need to put a better nut on that.
 
GlennO said:
I had heard about people reporting problems with the nut on the Holcomb, and I was prepared to replace the nut when I bought mine, but it has been fine. Maybe they've changed it since it first came out? OTOH, I have an Ibanez Iron Label and I need to put a better nut on that.
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I actually just purchased a Holcomb model that I hope to be here next week sometime. Used, but already had the nut replaced with a Graphite so that'll save me that. If I like it, I'll probably put on locking tuners as well. Those really do seem to be only issues I hear about (that is unless you can't deal with the 20" radius) I'm pumped though!
 
GlennO said:
I had heard about people reporting problems with the nut on the Holcomb, and I was prepared to replace the nut when I bought mine, but it has been fine. Maybe they've changed it since it first came out? OTOH, I have an Ibanez Iron Label and I need to put a better nut on that.
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If it's working, I wouldn't touch it. I know Mark replaces the nut on his live guitar, but says he doesn't on his studio ones. He talks about it here:



I had read enough problems online that I just went ahead and had the shop replace it.

I think I ended up with the guitar he uses later in the clinic that was tuned to drop G.
 
I didn't hear about that clinic until after it happened. I would have liked to have gone. I bought my Schecter at Pitbull :).
 
lyricbread said:
After selling off a large amount of guitars over the past year, I’m reading to pick up something new (or used). I’ve been looking at alternatives to Les Pauls, but my main requirements are a fixed bridge or non -locking trem, two humbuckers, a mahogany body, and a satin-finished neck.

In regards to the PRS line, does anyone know what models shipped with a satin-finished neck. It appears that most of the bolt-on neck models have a satin finish. Did PRS do a satin finish on any of their set-neck models?
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If you don't care about resale.....Tape up the back of neck after the nut going to the headstock and then down close to butt of guitar neck. Take a green 3m scrubby and mildly sand away the shine coat. Did on my USA Tremonti PRS and still keeps the color of the original stain....just with a very fast and smooth satin finish. See below. Lightning fast movement now!

1588286879165.png
 
Ok, here she is. 2005 PRS CE-24 20th Anniversary. Please excuse the photos. It's raining outside, so I don't have any decent natural light.

prs_1.jpgprs_2.jpgprs_3.jpgprs_4.jpgprs_5.jpg

The seller, who was the second owner, confirmed with PRS that the top wood has some mineral deposits in the grain that gives it a slight distressed look. The flame maple top is by no means a Ten Top, but I'm not really a fan of highly-figured tops anyway. I'm almost always an opaque finish kind of guy, but this thing has a little character that I'm really digging'.

I did my typical new-used guitar routine of cleaning, polishing the body, cleaning and oiling the fretboard polishing the frets, new strings, setup, man does this thing play amazing! One of my other guitars that I play quite often has what I personally feel is the perfect neck shape for me, save for only having 22 frets and slightly less shoulder than I prefer. This guitar, without a doubt has the perfect neck for my hands. It has a very comfortable shape, the right thickness, and the perfect shoulder for my shorter fingers. I set up the guitar using PRS's factory measurement and there's not a single buzz to be found. I wasn't sure if I'd like the HFS/VB pickups, but so far I'm really enjoying them. I played it through the PVH 6160 model and it really warmed up what's usually a mid-heavy model. They have a decent output without sacrificing a little of that vintage character.

The only thing that I'm definitely considering is swapping the 5-way rotary switch for a 3-way toggle for I'm having trouble bonding with it. Obviously I'm in the honeymoon phase, but so far, I think I've found my new favorite guitar.
 
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Hey man, congrats! You got one of the older CE-24s that still had the bevels unlike the newer models. Those things look great! I'd love to compare with the newer CE-24s and see how they fare. The 5 way rotary would be something I'd likely change as well, but then again I've never used it before.

I hadn't had a PRS before this year and safe to say, there's definitely something about them that I love. Finish and playability help too :)

Enjoy!
 
Damian Camarillo said:
Hey man, congrats! You got one of the older CE-24s that still had the bevels unlike the newer models. Those things look great! I'd love to compare with the newer CE-24s and see how they fare. The 5 way rotary would be something I'd likely change as well, but then again I've never used it before.

I hadn't had a PRS before this year and safe to say, there's definitely something about them that I love. Finish and playability help too :)

Enjoy!
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Thanks! I wasn’t exactly concerned with whether it had the beveled top or not, but it’s definitely an added bonus.

I’ve been playing guitar for a very big part of my life and I just never really understood the whole attraction to PRS guitars. I knew they were of quality, but just never understood why people were drawn to them. Now I totally get it. I’m totally in love with this thing.
 
unix-guy said:
I don't think the shape is at all similar to a Wizard neck... I'm not super familiar with all the shape names as I've played primarily old Wizard necks for a long time.

The neck is thicker than my DK-24... About the same as maybe a Tele or Strat, but to me feels more "pointed" in the center than some necks.

I don't play a lot of high gain but the 85/15 pickups are nice, IMO. They have their own sound and really do seem to like drive ;)
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Try them with s/p switching. In parallel, they get down into single-coil output land, and are nicely crisp. ;)
 
Budda said:
No need to spend $2k for a great prs unless you have to have a core model. Get an SE or S2 and enjoy. Hell, get two.
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I did....
20200505_210610.jpg
 
lyricbread said:
Ok, here she is. 2005 PRS CE-24 20th Anniversary. Please excuse the photos. It's raining outside, so I don't have any decent natural light.

View attachment 67060View attachment 67061View attachment 67062View attachment 67063View attachment 67064

The seller, who was the second owner, confirmed with PRS that the top wood has some mineral deposits in the grain that gives it a slight distressed look. The flame maple top is by no means a Ten Top, but I'm not really a fan of highly-figured tops anyway. I'm almost always an opaque finish kind of guy, but this thing has a little character that I'm really digging'.

I did my typical new-used guitar routine of cleaning, polishing the body, cleaning and oiling the fretboard polishing the frets, new strings, setup, man does this thing play amazing! One of my other guitars that I play quite often has what I personally feel is the perfect neck shape for me, save for only having 22 frets and slightly less shoulder than I prefer. This guitar, without a doubt has the perfect neck for my hands. It has a very comfortable shape, the right thickness, and the perfect shoulder for my shorter fingers. I set up the guitar using PRS's factory measurement and there's not a single buzz to be found. I wasn't sure if I'd like the HFS/VB pickups, but so far I'm really enjoying them. I played it through the PVH 6160 model and it really warmed up what's usually a mid-heavy model. They have a decent output without sacrificing a little of that vintage character.

The only thing that I'm definitely considering is swapping the 5-way rotary switch for a 3-way toggle for I'm having trouble bonding with it. Obviously I'm in the honeymoon phase, but so far, I think I've found my new favorite guitar.
Click to expand...
Give some thought to series/parallel switches and maybe a phase if you dig that. It opens up a whole new realm of sounds....
 
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I swapped my 5-way for the toggle on my first custom 22, and would recommend it if you're not really using the split sounds. You still get them via the push/pull if you want them.
 
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