PRS Paul Reed Smith CE 24 Bolt-On Guitar, Whale Blue Smokeburst

Music Store Live is proud to offer up another unique CE 24 PRS guitar with a nicely figured curly maple top and a bolt-on maple neck that adds some nice spank and twang to the sound. 

The Custom 24 is the original guitar that Paul took to his first tradeshow in '85, and it's become PRS's flagship model as one of the most perfect guitars built. But it is also true that for a while now PRS has left all of those die-hard bolt-on fans a bit in the dark since the discontinuation of the original PRS CE in 2008. Especially for players who loved the Custom 24 but wanted something that could cop a brighter and snappier tone, PRS decided to go ahead and make a bolt-on version of their flagship guitar at a more affordable price point than the set-neck counterpart would be.

This bolt-on build also allows them to offer up an amazing guitar, made in the same factory and by the same people that make all of CORE models, but at a much more affordable price point. As you might expect, they've hit the nail on the head in achieving a guitar that costs less than the PRS CORE guitars without any compromise to the sound or craftsmanship. Think of a Custom 24 with more snap and top-end bite to it. That's exactly what you get with the maple bolt-on neck on a Custom 24 body with PRS's awesome new 85/15 pickups. These pickups are clear, articulate and crisp with a touch more output than 58/15's.

All of this comes in at a really great price point for a brand new USA-built PRS, too!

Since the dawn of rock and roll, the snap and response that comes from a bolt-on neck guitar have been an essential part of the mix. These attributes have, in turn, become essential to many players trying to tell their story through music. The CE 24 brings the bolt-on platform back to the main PRS lineup with some significant updates. The CE 24 pairs PRS’s traditional body combination of the mahogany back and maple top with a bolt-on maple neck and rosewood fretboard. The neck sports a Pattern Thin carve. To further maximize the guitar’s inherent tone and clarity, the CE 24 features PRS 85/15 pickups, which Paul designed to have remarkable clarity as well as an extended high and low end. The electronics consist of a volume and push/pull tone control with 3-way toggle switch for a total of six classic sounds. The original CE was introduced in 1988 and offered players PRS design and quality with the added snap and sparkle of traditional bolt-on guitars. Returning after nearly a decade of being out of the lineup, the CE 24 is back and better than ever. Check one out today.

It’s All in the Details: TCI-Tuned Pickups

Paul Reed Smith is known as a man who studies history, scrutinizes the details, and never stops applying what he learns to his own instruments. It is that passion, care, and tenacity that has permeated PRS Guitars’ culture and led to the constant evolution of PRS products. Last year, PRS announced TCI (tuned capacitance and inductance) pickups on the Paul’s Guitar. But, TCI is more than a pickup, it’s a process. That process has now been applied to all PRS pickups offered on our Core line of instruments, with the exception of a few artist Signature models.

“TCI stands for Tuned Capacitance Inductance. When you wind a pickup, the coils are capacitors, resistors, and inductors simultaneously. Our more refined ability to be able to tune those factors is what we have incorporated into TCI pickups,” said Paul Reed Smith. “To our ears, the results are very musical. We are very proud of how far we’ve come in the understanding and making of pickups. It’s been a fun process.”

PATTERN NECK SHAPES

Neck shapes have always been a high priority for PRS and a hallmark of our quality. A guitar should feel comfortable, like "home," as soon as you pick it up, and the neck is paramount to that connection. These new neck shapes reflect modern tooling and programming that allows us to even more preciously shape and consistently reproduce our necks. The "Pattern Thin" neck is an updated version of PRS’s traditional Wide Thin neck.