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Cool video. Do you know the nut width on the ‘87 custom 24 and were they all the same? Did they call the neck the standard? Thanks.

For me i prefer 22 fret electric guitar.as you state in the video it moves the neck pickup closer to the bridge . I cannot get a good jazz tone on 24 fret guitars.

Very interesting

there is no doubting that PRS Guitars are the evolution of what was learned by Fender and Gibson, done better... There is no objective reason to buy a new Fender or Gibson, when you can get a PRS.

For me, after having tried both, I much preferred the 22…but im a smaller guy and it just felt more comfortable for me to play. Sound wise I didn’t notice much of a difference, it all came down to playability and comfort. I felt like there was less of a reach towards that first fret and all in all felt right in my hands.

Drilled my neck to be as long as 24 but still 22 frets I moved the drill holes on the neck. Its been fantastic.

Thanks for this video. Absolutely superb. I have a 1988 Custom 24 which I bought second-hand around 1991-1992, but it has a tone control (not the sweet switch). Do you by any chance know when PRS first introduced that? It also has half-moon inlays.

I have 5 PRS guitars. One from 1984, one from 1985, one from 1990, one from 1994 and one from 2008. The older the PRS guitar the more problems they have. My two older PRS guitars have serious finish issues, the clear coat peels off in 2 inch wide strips. They cannot be played since every time you pick it up it causes the clear coat to fall off. My 1994 Custom 22 hardtail is a quality guitar, my 2008 SC 250 is a rocking guitar. But they fail to do anything close to my 1956 Strat or my 1957 Tele, PRS are cookie cutter plastic coated junk that only looks pretty. The PRS pickups are terrible. I never use them in the studio or on the road. My Jackson SL2 Custom shop was cheaper and it out performs any PRS guitar.

Enjoyed your video!Gave you a Sub as well!I own 2 PRS guitars.A new Custom 24-08 in Enriza Verde color which is stunning!!Also I have a 2008 Al Di Meola signature Prizm with a Quilt Top!!Had to replace a bass side tuner and found they don’t make the Phase 2 tuners anymore!A nice rep got them to find me one in the shop and sent it to me though.Any suggestions on replacements if I can’t get anymore??Thanks!!!

Enjoyed your video!Gave you a Sub as well!I own 2 PRS guitars.A new Custom 24-08 in Enriza Verde color which is stunning!!Also I have a 2008 Al Di Meola signature Prizm with a Quilt Top!!Had to replace a bass side tuner and found they don’t make the Phase 2 tuners anymore!A nice rep got them to find me one in the shop and sent it to me though.Any suggestions on replacements if I can’t get anymore??Thanks!!!

You forgot to mention that the 22 fret places the neck pickup directly over the harmonic spot of the strings. That is the major tone difference.

Great video. Love PRS guitars. Especially the Pattern Thin Neck guitars. That neck plays like butter 🍻

Where did you get the racks in the background? Great video 🤘🏻

I thought i would prefer 22 but the 24 just feels more right.

This video is just a 30 min treat

I love your videos and seeing your insane collection straight adoration

I really love this video! You get into explaining some things that are not obvious to everybody. I've got some additions. Pickup placements vs sound The 22f neck pickup placement emphasises the 4th harmonic of the open strings. The 24f pickup does the same to the notes being played on the 2nd fret. This is not the only, but probably the biggest pickup placement effect when playing chords. Also The closer the pickup is to the end of the string, the thinner/brighter the sound will be (simplified, but generally useable statement). Here, psychoacoustics kick in. People tend to judge the sound differences of pickups in a guitar by playing chords and other things with their fretting hand not at the upper end of the fretboard. Then they conclude that the bridge pickup is brighter than the neck pickup. But at upper part of the fretboard the, the relative placement of the pickup changes. At the 22nd fret, the pickup pickup on the 22f neck is much closer to the end of the string than the pickup on the 24f guitar. So here it is actually brighter - not warmer.

If you say "Locking tuner" show us. If you say "Headstock angle" show us.

Anyone know what type of guitar racks are in the back? I need some of those.

Why does your emerald green look blue? Weird

Will ya consider selling? 😅

Beautiful guitar. I've been wanting to get a baritone or maybe a bass 6 at some point soon. I'm curious what tuning you're using, if I had to guess I would say A standard, but more importantly, do you think something like this would work an octave down if you put the right strings on it?

I have an '87 Custom 24 and I hardly ever play it because I don't like the T&B pickups. If the guitar had a tone control instead of the sweet switch it would be fine, but the sweet switch rolls off too much high end for my taste. I have to radically alter my amp settings when switching guitars or plug in a much longer cable than I normally use to roll off the ice pick high B & E strings. I'm hesitant to modify the guitar with a tone control because I don't want to ruin the value, but I also don't want to buy another Custom 24 just to have one that sounds good to me. I had one of the PRS guitar center Throwback models with the 59/09 pickups that sounded fantastic. I should have never sold it, but again, I didn't want to have two of the same guitars and the 1987 Cu24 was made the year I was born, so it's special as well as being collectable. I think I'm going to just bit the bullet and add a tone control in place of the sweet switch. I was able to find some 59/09 pickups with round bobbins so they with look period correct in the guitar. I've ordered a 5-way rotary switch harness as well. I know I'll lose the out of phase quack position, but I don't want to possible ruin the original switch by soldering on it. The original switch is pretty scratchy as well. I'll just keep the original pickups and electronics if I every sell, which is doubtful. I think I'll be able to use a small washer with the sweet switch if I ever want to install it again, which is the only downside to changing the electronics. If those T & B pickups weren't so incredible bright, I wouldn't even consider doing this.

I just got prs custom 24 2018 chacoalburst it awesome bro😁🤘 your collection is epic

I have a couple of SEs a CU24 08 and 594S. I get my first 10 top tomorrow from Sweetwater via Fed Ex in faded whale blue (crazy top, black back) CU24. Thanks for the history. That '86 is awesome.

So beautiful I got some up to 7 but 2 I sold off other two make 5 own mccarty to the paul omg omg I did have korina mccarty great guitar . Now hollow body 2 Special semi hollow my one amzing tone . 96 sas mod pickup phase cat . An asa narrow field its different tone old one bit more fat strat svr but got own tone it's lite body too to sas 96 I think is that got flame neck omg I did have John Mayer gold omg better my old fender hot rod ha still goid . Jm just feel great I sold for special sim_hllw . But se get better jm es I buy feel good it kill strat for tuning an Stable I buy Santana gold an his yellow flame bolt Second hand little mod they two different tone thick body on gold other thin with maple top Is . Save me buy full one $$$$ it be nice . But other work for me . They beautiful guitar but they work fix lot odd design other make big f an g . I had they great guitar . I got Edward lp black costume Japanese make might keep ?? Sell for other se 594 it be little some different ah ah maybe 😅 prs great work art but they do job it how feel Through your Fingers at time prs will fake it so well isn't Fender or gibson but you can fake bit. an some little ticks .

Great discussion here. Just my 2 cents having bought my first PRS custom in 1988. I go for the 24's because they have a pretty unique voice and feel and sound completely different than my Gibson's and Fender's. But if you are not struck on Les Pauls, I can tell you with great certainty that a typical McCarthy handles itself very well in the company of Gibson R8's and R9's. Scary how good they are.

If you solo on a 22 fret and you need that high E. You can either perform a whole tone bend, OR you can also achieve the same note with a natural harmonic ( < 24 > ) . The downsides of this is lack of speed (it interrupts a sequence or run) and also no tapping potential for that note. BONUS TIP: You can also get the 23rd fret as a natural harmonic via: < 16 > on the b string. This means your fretting finger will be in the 16th square in order to fret a high E-flat but right over the 17 fret. You get nearly the same harmonic via < 4 > on the same b-string which is an octave lower but the resulting harmonic is still the same octave; weirdly enough. I personally have found bolt-on necks to not usually make the 23 and 24th frets accessible to normal technique. You have to modify your hand and thumb position to reach them and avoid the horns of the body and wrap your thumb against the neck block. Set-neck designs, however, seem like a different story and have a selling point to make for upper fret access (although I have never played a set neck). I'm not a PRS user, but I thought I'd chime in for fun.

Thank god you are back!!! Hope you are doing well bro!

Thank god you are back!!! Hope you are doing well bro!

I currently own a 408 wich is a 22 fret. I sold my Custom 24 SE complete the money i needed to buy the 408 and sound and quality wise the 408 is so much better but i do miss those extra 2 frets some times.

Killer video! Great playing and superb tone. Thanks for sharing.

Hollowbody baritone is probably my favourite prs

I dig the video. The Mark IV is such a beast of an amp! That PRS baritone is awesome too! Nice to see de Lisle amp switcher. I just had Jer build me a custom 12x12

was it built for an artist? do a tour of your music room/studio!

That animation is the perfect demonstration of why the 22 fret models sound so much better (in my opinion, of course) than the 24 fret models. First of all, the neck pickup is shifted so much further up the string that it results in greatly increased lower frequency response. Second of all, the bridge is shifted more to the center mass of the body, which changes how the body wood is activated by the bridge, and all the resonances that creates and how they propagate. The 22 fret models are just better looking, as well, because visually the components are more in balance.

I’m in the market for my first PRS. They all feel good in the store but this video helped make sense of everything. Great explanations and visuals!

I have almost never needed the last two frets, so I prefer the Custom 22 which still has the neck pickup in the correct position.

The intro sounded cool mate Me? Will always have an ultra softy for Gibson/PRS/ Yamaha type of Guitars

Excellent explanation, thank you very much ! I love both 24 and 22 frets - in fact it's fun for me to change from time to time the guitars and the styles ;-)

Which pickups are in that particular cu24?

bought the vintage cherry SE, it's awesome!!

I may be in the minority, but I love the sound of the 2 inner coils together when the pickups are closer together. It better emulates the strat quack.

Great video Eric! You covered an immense amount of ground. One thing I can add here is the fretboard width. I have a 1989 CE 24 in Scarlett Red - a beautiful instrument - but the one issue I have with it, and its a big one, is the width of the board. At some point, I'm guessing here but it must have been around the time the Pattern necks appeared - PRS widened the fretboard at the nut. My 2019 McCarty with a Pattern neck is wider. I have large fingers, and that extra milimeter of space makes all the difference. I struggle to play the more complex open chords cleanly on the '89, whereas on the McCarty (and my Les Pauls, Ibanez etc) I do not. This is a game changer, I sadly have to sell my '89 to get a PRS with a pattern neck - which is a pity as you're right, they do have mojo. Selling it is another thing... people just do not realise that the early CE's are a Custom with a bolt on. and its impossible to sell them for their true value. I'm glad you highlighted this in your video. I'll probably reference this in my Reverb advert. You almost need to advertise them as a CU24 with a bolt on - perhaps that will get someones attention. I would be interested to hear from you if your CE's or early Customs have this narrower fretboard? Could you measure them and post? Or is it just mine, with it being a very early model (number 782 CE made, 4 April 1989).

Was there not a PRS Custom Studio back in the 80's? So an HSS with 24 frets? I'd love to see a demo of those and would like to see them make a reissue with a blade switch !

Ever since I learned the difference between vibrato and tremolo a couple of years ago after playing for 50 years, and using the words interchangeably, I cringe just a teeny bit when I hear someone refer to a guitar's vibrato system as a trem. BTW I play an S2 custom 24 And enjoy certain things about it but it is definitely different than a 22 fret guitar.

I thought the 24 was superior to the 22, but now that you've explained it i know its not, it's just different. This opens up my options way more, thanks!!

Great video, man, thanks for sharing your thoughts and your amazing collection! I got my first PRS, a Hollowbody II, in 2004. Lovely guitar, to be sure. Three years later, I got my first Custom 24, a 100% original 1988. That’s when I really understood why Paul was so successful in the late ‘80s. After that, I got a McCarty Soapbar,an original run 513 with the Brazilian rosewood neck, a Custom 22/12 and even a second ‘88 Custom. I eventually sold them all except for my first ‘88 Custom and the 12-string. The early Customs with the sweet switch are so versatile and easy to use!! I’d love to see a video where you plug the guitars in and tell us about how the different pickups over the years changed the tones available. For example, in 1987, PRS changed the first and second string slugs on the T pickups to reduce their shrillness. A comparison between your ‘86 and your ‘88 would be so cool! Keep on rocking.

What about the difference in the harmonics? I've heard 24 fret vibrates at different places (hence placement of humbuckers.) Also its easier for me just to "reach" normal frets like 15 17 etc.,

Very nice collection man. And all very nice examples. You really run the whole span of 24’s. Geez I was all proud of my 4 Core guitars thought I was so cool. Haha, you got me beat haha! Enjoy!