Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: NGD - Sort of a clone

  1. #1
    Forum Member Mesotech's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Lafayette, LoUiSiAna
    Posts
    2,527

    NGD - Sort of a clone

    My B-day is coming up next week, and my anniversary was a week ago, so as a combination gift, this is what I received.







    This Paul Reed Smith CE-24 Custom LTD is numbered 79 of 200, weighs 7.48 lbs. and is drop dead purdy (to me). It supposedly has custom wound pickups called 59/09 that are supposedly really limited availability.

    I've never owned a PRS before, so I was a bit anxious to learn as much about them as I could while waiting for the delivery truck (it was ordered on Wednesday and arrived on Thursday and has already been gigged twice since then). While conducting my research, I came aross a youtube video showing how they route the bodys of these guitars. I was quite surprised (and pleased) to determine that the guitar body used in the video is MY guitar. I can tell from the very unique grain patterns in both the front and back of the guitar, then verified with the date stamp in the neck pocket (as shown in the video).

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4FV-L-3t_A

    While this is not really a Fender clone, it's also not really a Gibson clone, but incorporates so many features of both and sounds quite similar to a Les Paul in HB mode (neck and bridge selections), a Strat on the bridge and again on the neck, and then a Tele with both the bridge and neck in single coil mode, that it could be easily described as a clone.

    I'd like to thank the good folks at Wildwood Guitars (a forum sponsor) for everything they did in helping me get this guitar (and others in the past). If it hadn't been for their professionalism, I probably would have passed this beauty up, never knowing what I missed.
    POO DAT!!!

  2. #2
    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    New York Finger Lakes Area
    Posts
    8,462

    Re: NGD - Sort of a clone

    COOL.
    Can you believe that ancient CNC machine! And no safety glasses in the shop, no hearing protection and hair falling down!

    It looks like 1970 in there!

    Hopefully OSHA will never see this video!!!
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

  3. #3
    Forum Member Kap'n's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Where phony hippies meet
    Posts
    19,769

    Re: NGD - Sort of a clone

    That's some awesome looking wood.
    Several guitars in different colors
    Things to make them fuzzy
    Things to make them louder
    orange picks

  4. #4
    Forum Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    5,201

    Re: NGD - Sort of a clone

    duh-ROOL!
    "I haven't slept for ten days...because that would be too long." -- Mitch Hedberg

  5. #5
    Forum Member phantomman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Ten miles from the Mexican Frontier, in Arizona
    Posts
    7,297

    Re: NGD - Sort of a clone

    Mighty purdy, Tony. Gorgeous, in fact!

    "When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."

  6. #6
    Forum Member trevorus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    614

    Re: NGD - Sort of a clone

    That thing is HOT!!! Man, I'm kinda drooling over here...

  7. #7

    Re: NGD - Sort of a clone

    Gorgeous. I've a royal blue Custom 24 that is now my #1. Feels grat, sounds great, looks great. PRS really has raised the bar when it comes to guitar building.

  8. #8
    Forum Member Mesotech's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Lafayette, LoUiSiAna
    Posts
    2,527

    Re: NGD - Sort of a clone

    Thanks guys! It took a minute or two to get used to the odd scale length. It also took me a bit to get used to having a trem that will not go out of tune, no matter how hard I wiggle it around, up or down. It came out of the box in perfect tune, and played two gigs without ever needing to touch the tuners. The 5-way switch is easy to get to, and the tonal options from switching positions and turning the volume and tone knobs seems almost endless to me at the moment. As I said before, it's almost a Les Paul sound, almost a Strat sound, and almost a Tele sound. If I didn't already own excellent examples of each of those, this guitar could pass as a reasonable imitation of them. However, after owning all of the above combinations, I could pass the blindfold test easily, a vast majority of an audience wouldn't.

    While the flame on this is fairly pronounced, because they tend to pre-stain the body to enhance the flame, it doesn't have the same range of movement that my LP's and 335 have. Otherwise the finish is flawless. I think they used an acrylic lacquer on this model. It certainly smells like it when the case is opened. The assembly workmanship is fantastic. The only thing that looks cheesy to me is the "Custom LTD" trussrod cover. It's written in a large block font that just seems out of place on such an otherwise sleek instrument. They did include an extra back plate cover so that I can save the signed one without risking ruining it.

    The neck profile seems similar to my 335 and SG. It's not too slim, but certainly not big and chunky like the R9 LP or the ES-339. It's nothing at all like any Fender neck I own. Upper fretboard access is wide open, and the frets aren't so tight that I can't hit the upper frets easily. Speaking of frets, this has some rather large fret wire. According to another video from PRS, they use a slightly harder wire than most companies, so the frets shouldn't wear out easily. Every note on the fretboard rings clear and loud with zero buzz, almost piano like. Wildwood did a complete setup before they shipped, and even put on the exact string set that I typically use.

    I'm very pleased with this instrument, but rest assured that I won't abandon my other guitars in favor of this one.
    POO DAT!!!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •