'Casper' My favourite PRS.

kelvinburn

I've never owned one but I used to really like the hollowbody that Mike Einzeger of Incubus used. Amazing sound, and I love the violin like look of it. Would have to have moons for me though

ICBM

Si_ said:

I'm just about to do a trade for my first PRS, one question for you all though, what are the older PRS guitars like? better or worse than the new ones?

How old? There's a big difference between say an '87 and a '97. Which model?

There's not a lot of difference in quality - if any - between old and new, but some of the features change. In particular the earliest ones have a different finish which some people prefer. There are also changes in the pickups, tuners, bridge, knobs and switching.

However there is no truth whatever in either of the usual myths - that the old ones were "nitro finished", or that they were made "by hand".

Si_

I think, looking at the serial number, that its an '88 McCarty Custom 22.  (although it could be a '98 I guess).

ICBM

'98, they didn't make the 22-fret models until the 1990s ('92 I think, although I could be wrong).

Very nice - it's a Custom 22 going by the body thickness, the McCarty is thicker. I actually think the 90s-early 00s 22-fretters are the very best that PRS has ever made - between when they introduced the 22s and when they dropped the 'wing' tuners. This one also has the 'McCarty' switching (basically standard 3-way toggle + push-pull coil split) rather than the rotary which was the standard on the Custom, although the toggle was an option so it may not be a mod.

Looks to be in nice condition and is one of the more desirable colours too.

Si_

Cool, thanks for the info.

axisus

That Casper one does it for me!

stonevibe

axisus said:

That Casper one does it for me!

Me too!

My personal hate with PRS is Blue Whale / Matteo flame or quilt maple 10 tops. They look like a pair of bad designer jeans.

Si_

ICBM said:

'98, they didn't make the 22-fret models until the 1990s ('92 I think, although I could be wrong).

Very nice - it's a Custom 22 going by the body thickness, the McCarty is thicker. I actually think the 90s-early 00s 22-fretters are the very best that PRS has ever made - between when they introduced the 22s and when they dropped the 'wing' tuners. This one also has the 'McCarty' switching (basically standard 3-way toggle + push-pull coil split) rather than the rotary which was the standard on the Custom, although the toggle was an option so it may not be a mod.

Looks to be in nice condition and is one of the more desirable colours too.

Picked it up this afternoon, you were right, '98 Custom 22 but fitted with McCarty pickups. It's very tidy for it's age, only 1 mark that I can find on the whole thing (plus a few scratches on the back).

I didn't realise until earlier today but it actually belongs (or did) to the guitarist from The Animals, just met one of the band this afternoon for the handover

Roland

Looks nice.  I'd be interested to hear what you think about the sound and feel once you've played it for a few days.

fretfinder

Roland said:

Looks nice.  I'd be interested to hear what you think about the sound and feel once you've played it for a few days.

Me too. Also interesting to see McCarty pickups uncovered, they're normally covered as far as I'm aware. Maybe the covers have been removed. If you're doing a string change it might be worth taking one of the pickups out to see if there's any info on the base.

Adam_MD

Si_;16840" said:

ICBM said:

'98, they didn't make the 22-fret models until the 1990s ('92 I think, although I could be wrong).

Very nice - it's a Custom 22 going by the body thickness, the McCarty is thicker. I actually think the 90s-early 00s 22-fretters are the very best that PRS has ever made - between when they introduced the 22s and when they dropped the 'wing' tuners. This one also has the 'McCarty' switching (basically standard 3-way toggle + push-pull coil split) rather than the rotary which was the standard on the Custom, although the toggle was an option so it may not be a mod.

Looks to be in nice condition and is one of the more desirable colours too.





Picked it up this afternoon, you were right, '98 Custom 22 but fitted with McCarty pickups. It's very tidy for it's age, only 1 mark that I can find on the whole thing (plus a few scratches on the back).

I didn't realise until earlier today but it actually belongs (or did) to the guitarist from The Animals, just met one of the band this afternoon for the handover

Very nice prs enjoy it dude :-)

fretfinder

Picked it up this afternoon, you were right, '98 Custom 22 but fitted with McCarty pickups. It's very tidy for it's age, only 1 mark that I can find on the whole thing (plus a few scratches on the back).

I didn't realise until earlier today but it actually belongs (or did) to the guitarist from The Animals, just met one of the band this afternoon for the handover

How much did you pay for it, if you're prepared to say? And is it a 10 top - hard to tell from the pics.

ICBM

I really don't get the 10-top thing. It's important to realise that PRS don't call them 10s because they're extra pretty, they call them 10s if the figure is perfectly *even*. And they don't always know whether it will pass until the guitar is finished - many have 'Poss 10' written in the pickup cavity, and either crossed out or not. (My old non-10 Custom did.) It's the exact same piece of wood, but if it passes an arbitrary visual evenness test they write 10 on the headstock and charge a couple of hundred dollars more for it.

I personally don't even like most 10s anyway, I find the most even figures quite boring usually - I prefer a bit of character, which you tend to get more in the non-10s... and they can still be spectacular, if you like that kind of thing.

stonevibe

I'm tempted to get a gold pen and write '10' on the back of my Navarro headstock. 

Si_

fretfinder said: How much did you pay for it, if you're prepared to say? And is it a 10 top - hard to tell from the pics. 

I don't think it's a 10, not sure how you tell.

I traded it for my Gibson ES-339.

stonevibe

Si_ said:

fretfinder said: How much did you pay for it, if you're prepared to say? And is it a 10 top - hard to tell from the pics. 

I don't think it's a 10, not sure how you tell.

I traded it for my Gibson ES-339.

It would have a number 10 on the back of the headstock on the longest point.

Si_

OK, it's not a 10 top then but I'm not too bothered about that.

I've noodled about with it for the last hour just using my little Blackstar practice amp and really liking it so far. Feels very well made and sturdy (I got rid of the 339 because it felt too "fragile", felt like it would snap in half), neck is nice, obviously a lot thinner than my Gibsons but has a nice feel to it (looking on the PRS site there are several different neck shapes so not sure which this it, or even if there were options in '98).

On the plus side it's a LOT lighter than my 2 Les Pauls, MUCH lighter than my Les Paul custom, which is a big bonus.

Really love the pickups, I'd be interested to take one out and see if they are actually McCarthy's or not as they seem to get mixed write-ups. I used to play all my guitars with hot pickups, EMGs etc, but recently moved away from them and on to more PAF like pickups and the PRS ones are very similar in feel to my Will Boggs PAFS. They clean up really well, the neck pickup in particular cleans up really smoothly, it's lovely.   

Looking forward to getting it on my main rig, and then with the band to see how it plays in anger

ICBM

Si_ said:

Really love the pickups, I'd be interested to take one out and see if they are actually McCarthy's or not as they seem to get mixed write-ups.

I'm suspicious because McCarty pickups have covers. The Dragon Is fitted to Customs until 1998 or so don't. If the bridge pickup is a lot hotter-sounding and more middy than the neck, chances are they are Dragons. 'McCarty switching ' (3-way/push-pull) was an option on the Custom but does not mean it has McCarty pickups.

The good news is that Dragon Is are some of PRSs best pickups and quite desirable since they've been out of production since about the time your guitar was made - replaced by the less sought-after Dragon IIs which also have covers.

jimmyd

I've got an old single cut which has a 10 top, I agree that the 10 top thing doesn't mean much in terms of blinginess - it's kind of a really dark grey slate colour without much maple showing through at all.  Which is good as I was after a secondhand PRS with as little flash as possible..

Nice score by the way.  

fretfinder

ICBM said:

I really don't get the 10-top thing. It's important to realise that PRS don't call them 10s because they're extra pretty, they call them 10s if the figure is perfectly *even*. And they don't always know whether it will pass until the guitar is finished - many have 'Poss 10' written in the pickup cavity, and either crossed out or not. (My old non-10 Custom did.) It's the exact same piece of wood, but if it passes an arbitrary visual evenness test they write 10 on the headstock and charge a couple of hundred dollars more for it.

I personally don't even like most 10s anyway, I find the most even figures quite boring usually - I prefer a bit of character, which you tend to get more in the non-10s... and they can still be spectacular, if you like that kind of thing.

Interesting, I didn't know about the 'poss 10 top' thing. My grey/black McCarty pictured above is a 10 top, but being a dark finish is less obviously blingy, which I like.