The Custom 24 is the core of the Paul Reed Smith product line, the guitar Paul Reed Smith took to his first trade show in 1985. Today, it still comes with the patented PRS Tremolo bridge, locking tuners, and the beautifully carved, figured maple top that is a PRS hallmark.
Custom 24 Specifications
Electronics:
5 Position Rotary-Hybrid Pickup System, Master Volume and Tone Control
The five-way selector switches between pickups in these configurations:
Position 10: Treble pickup
Position 9: Outside coils- deep and clear - parallel
Position 8: Series single coils – Warm version of the "in between the treble and middle pickups"
Position 7: Parallel single coils – Crisp version of the "in between the treble and middle pickups"
Position 6: Bass pickup
TREBLE: HFS. Originally meaning Hot, Fat and Screams, the HFS features a powerful ceramic magnet and hot coils for an aggressive tone when cranked, clear highs, searing midrange and thumping bass.
BASS: Vintage Bass. This alnico pickup provides a round, clear tone to complement the HFS and also works well when coil tapped.
TUNING:
The Patented PRS Tremelo system is similar to traditional tremelos but has design features that help eliminate all the typical problems associated with tremelo devices. The PRS nut material, headstock angle, machine head alignment and locking tuners are all designed to minimize string friction and aid tuning accuracy. The PRS nut is made of a low friction, self-lubricating material that is more durable than bone. The machine heads are aligned on the headstock so that each string passes straight through the nut without binding to one side and causing friction. In addition, the headstock angle is sharp enough to allow good transfer of vibration into the neck but shallow enough to avoid further string binding.
The fingerboard has a 10" radius. The neck has a scale length of 25" and is cut to "Wide-Thin" specifications: a width of 1 11/16" and depth of 25/32" at the nut; 2 1/4" depth at the body.
The inlaid birds on the Custom 24 are as follows:
Peregrine falcon
Marsh hawk
Ruby throated hummingbird
Common tern
Coopers hawk
Kite
Sparrow landing
Storm petrel
Hawk landing
Screech owl on a branch
10-TOP: A very small percent of the maple trees cut in North America are actually figured. To make "10-Top" status, a PRS top must have clearly defined figure across its entire top with no "dead" spots. A guitar designated as a 10-Top will have a small "10" written on the back of the headstock in the upper right corner. Some of the earlier guitars have the "10" stamped into the finish in the same position. In some cases, the top may be remarkable through about 90% of it and a little dead through about 10% of it.
FINISH: The Custom 24 is finished with a polyester basecoat and acrylic urethane topcoat. The acrylic urethane looks and feels the closest to the old nitro-cellulose finishes but without the finish checking.
ARTIST PACKAGE: The Artist package includes: Paua bird inlays, an unfinished rosewood headstock overlay with inlayed Paua Signature, Artist grade top (highest grade wood offered on production model guitars), gold hardware, and a leather hard-shell case.
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