New member, new PRS

[banditcosmo]

Hey guys I just picked a used 2008 PRS Custom 22 that I'm loving so far. It's a little beat up but I did get it for a good price.

I have a few questions about it. It has what looks to be a rosewood headstock and the PRS signature has some really cool blue colors when the light hits it. Is the rosewood a standard headstock?
The hang tag says it's a custom 22 with Santana I pickups and I thought these came with dragon pickups?
I'm really liking the way the pickups sound but the neck pickup is louder than the bridge pickup though they both seem to be at the same height. Both pickups are pretty low, should I try raising the bridge pickup?
The top has a around a 2" crack in the middle the runs down to the binding, should I be worried about that? I can feel the crack just a little bit when I run my finger over it. It seems stable though.

 

[Cbouty]

On both my PRS’s, the bridge pickup is higher than the neck pickup... they both have the neck flat to the pickup ring and the bridge pickup 1-2 mm above the ring... easy thing to mess around with until the volume is equal and the tone is where you like it

 

[markd21]

For a fair balance in my PRS' I tend to lower the neck pickups to where it is flush with the ring, while raising the bridge up a little above the ring. I just go by ear....but, it's pretty much always:

Neck even with the ring

Bridge slightly above the ring

 

[gush]

I can't view your pics. The rosewood on the headstock should mean artist package or something like that.

 

[shimmilou]

My 2018 Cu22 has Rosewood on the headstock.

 

[WA Paul]

Hey guys I just picked a used 2008 PRS Custom 22 that I'm loving so far. It's a little beat up but I did get it for a good price.

I have a few questions about it. It has what looks to be a rosewood headstock and the PRS signature has some really cool blue colors when the light hits it. Is the rosewood a standard headstock?
The hang tag says it's a custom 22 with Santana I pickups and I thought these came with dragon pickups?
I'm really liking the way the pickups sound but the neck pickup is louder than the bridge pickup though they both seem to be at the same height. Both pickups are pretty low, should I try raising the bridge pickup?
The top has a around a 2" crack in the middle the runs down to the binding, should I be worried about that? I can feel the crack just a little bit when I run my finger over it. It seems stable though.

Congrats! I’m digging the blue -looks like an Artist package to me given the top, paua outline birds and HS rosewood overlay with Paul’s signature in paua as well. I say paua but it could have been abalone back then. I thought Dragon IIs were the standard pickups in 2008? Since it’s an Artist model, could have been ordered with a different set.

I agree on lowering the neck pickup height first if possible. I’d try to avoid messing with the bridge height unless the intonation is off.

As for the crack, is in down to the wood, or just on the clear coat? Might want to email PTC and see what they tell you. A refin could be a bit speedy. A patch might look odd. If it’s shallow, I’d be tempted to not mess with it.

 

[banditcosmo]

I can't view your pics. The rosewood on the headstock should mean artist package or something like that.

thanks for letting me. They showed up for me but I just tried another hosting site.

 

[shimmilou]

Excellent guitar, beautiful!

 

[merciful-evans]

Hi. Congrats on the C22. Looks great.
From your picture the crack doesnt look down to the wood, but you're in a better position to judge. The smaller crack on the left lower bout seems in the same position (stress crack?).

I if was mine I wouldn't trouble about a re-finish. Its just part of the regular wear that a working guitar gets.

 

[JJJ]

Nice dude

play with the pickup height, it's a pretty quick adjustment you can do while plugged in. You check the height with the strings depressed at the last fret. Pretty sure PRS has a rough suggestion on their website somewhere, and if you are a metric dude like me Gibson's spec on their website in mm is a good starting point. I usually use that and then lower the pickups around .5mm. It's a bit of a balancing act between the volumes of each pickup, where each sounds best, and then getting them to sound good together in the middle position...

Don't forget to play with the pole pieces, they make a huge difference

Is that the crack in the top in the join towards the strap pin? Is the crack just in the top or into the body too?

You could have it repaired pretty easy. Maybe someone dropped it on the strap pin. If it's only finish deep someone could just flood it with superglue and scrape it off and you wouldn't tell. If it's into the body because someone dropped it you might need to flood the crack with proper glue first

 

[jcolmn]

Nice guitar and welcome to the forum. I would get some USA knobs but that’s just my preference.

http://store.guitarvaultusa.com/product_p/acc-4246.htm

 

[toothace]

Nice score Bandit!! And welcome to the Enabler's Club! Let us know what you're Jonesin' for next

And yes...change those knobs!

 

[Birdsofprey]

Congrats, very nice guitar enjoy it for a while then fine tune it to your liking. Tons of great info here on the forum.

 

[vchizzle]

That's pretty cool. Looks like an artist package guitar with a one off finish. At that time regular headstocks were painted black with the gold sig. Probably has a Brazilian rosewood fretboard.

 

[Darkho]

Nice this blue, and no gold on this guitar, really better ^^

 

[banditcosmo]

Hi. Congrats on the C22. Looks great.
From your picture the crack doesnt look down to the wood, but you're in a better position to judge. The smaller crack on the left lower bout seems in the same position (stress crack?).

I if was mine I wouldn't trouble about a re-finish. Its just part of the regular wear that a working guitar gets.

No crack on the left lower bout, must be a reflection in the pic. I don't think the crack goes down to the wood and I agree I'm not going to refinish it. It's definitely been played but sounds awesome.

Nice dude

play with the pickup height, it's a pretty quick adjustment you can do while plugged in. You check the height with the strings depressed at the last fret. Pretty sure PRS has a rough suggestion on their website somewhere, and if you are a metric dude like me Gibson's spec on their website in mm is a good starting point. I usually use that and then lower the pickups around .5mm. It's a bit of a balancing act between the volumes of each pickup, where each sounds best, and then getting them to sound good together in the middle position...

Don't forget to play with the pole pieces, they make a huge difference

Is that the crack in the top in the join towards the strap pin? Is the crack just in the top or into the body too?

You could have it repaired pretty easy. Maybe someone dropped it on the strap pin. If it's only finish deep someone could just flood it with superglue and scrape it off and you wouldn't tell. If it's into the body because someone dropped it you might need to flood the crack with proper glue first

The crack stops at on the top.

Nice guitar and welcome to the forum. I would get some USA knobs but that’s just my preference.

http://store.guitarvaultusa.com/product_p/acc-4246.htm

Thanks, yes I agree, I just ordered some black one from PRS. guitar vault is out of stock until Nov.

 

[banditcosmo]

When I turn left screw to try to raise the bridge pickup the screw does nothing, it just turns either direction with no effect. Is there a way to fix that?

 

[Andrew Paul]

First welcome to the forum ! It’s like most your questions were answered, beat up? Looks nice to me you should see some of mine LOL enjoy

 

[Bert Quinten]

Nice this blue, and no gold on this guitar, really better ^^

Like Darkho said, it looks better without gold hardware!

 

[shinksma]

When I turn left screw to try to raise the bridge pickup the screw does nothing, it just turns either direction with no effect. Is there a way to fix that?

You might need to remove the entire pickup ring with pickup to see if the screw has come free of the pickup "leg" if the screw adjustment isn't moving the pup height. For that, you'll need to take off the strings.

I can't see the "crack" well enough to have an opinion one way or another. If you don't think it is to the wood, then don't worry about it.

Oh, and nice looking guitar!