CE 24 Neck Joint gaps

[JCefalu]

I purchased a new CE 24 from Sweetwater this past week. The setup was pretty rough out of the box but it was easy to adjust and the guitar now plays and looks great.

HOWEVER, there is space enough to fit a thin pick in the neck joint on BOTH sides of the pocket. In fact, the neck does not touch the body at all on its sides all the way down to the back of the pocket.

After viewing pictures I sent, Sweetwater said, “that looks bad, send it back”, but I was curious what PRS customer service would say. After sending them photos and a video, they replied with a very brief, “that gap is within spec”. I was going to simply exchange it with another but after going through a half dozen guitars in Sweetwater’s inventory, the salesman and I discovered they are all the same: large gaps on both sides of the neck like you’d see on an 80’s Hondo guitar or some other entry level, sub 200 dollar ax from 30+ years ago.

I tried to reach PRS by phone and by email again to ask how the necks are attached. My questions to them were:

1 - why are they built so that the sides of the neck do not contact the body at all (the gap is 100% open on both sides; the neck does not touch the body at all on its sides).

2 - How is the neck attached to the body? Standard wood screws? Machine screws into metal inserts? Gorilla glue?

I’m curious why one of the finest production guitars in America are built like this and why a PRS tech would tell me this looks good, according to “spec”. If there’s some extra special reason they build them this way, or some extra excellent way the neck is secured to the body, I’d be curious to know it, please. Can someone chime in? A guitar made in Maryland that costs 2000 bucks should have a nicely fitted neck/body joint, correct?

I’m still waiting to hear back from PRS. The shame is, the guitar looks and feels great, and is versatile tone-wise. I’m hoping someone here can shed some light on their own experience.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Wood by nature expands and contacts, so that could be a small part of it. I have a couple old CE’s that have differing amounts of space on either side of the neck joint/cavity, a while they may occasionally not get me psyched aesthetically, I haven’t had any issues with them including the one I’ve been playing for, gosh, 28 years...

The bolt on necks are exactly that, bolted on with the four wood screws that’s you see on the back.

The PRS tech told you it was in spec because that’s their tolerance for these guitars, I guess. Plenty of guitars by other builders that cost more can come this way too, it’s not necessarily a defect in manufacturing as much as it is a sometimes inherent characteristic of bolt on guitars.

If it really bothers you, send it back and look for something that’ll satisfy you. Life’s too short to be unhappy with a guitar.

 

[jxe]

for real, if i don’t like the way she loads a dishwasher i am out.

 

[Nice F Holes]

Here's one perspective, which I'm not at all saying is the only perspective or is even 'right' in this situation, but:

A bolted joint relies on tension in the bolts to create compression and friction between the bolted surfaces. It's actually the friction between the neck and the guitar body that unites the two parts. Having a small gap around the sides of the neck is actually a 'pure bolted joint' in that there's nothing to interfere with how the bolted joint design is supposed to work. From an engineering perspective, touching anywhere else would be a 'flaw.'

That's the engineer in me speaking. The guitarist in me says you want everything around the neck touching and tight, for best tone and sustain.

All that said, it's a PRS, the gaps should be pretty darn invisible if they exist.

 

[24Semi]

Wondering if you every got an answer from PRS on this? I noticed similar gaps on my 2019 CE24 Semi-hollow.

 

[Geosh]

I’ve got small gaps visible on my CE24 as well. Without pics, it’s hard to compare and I haven’t tried sticking anything in them. Maybe I’ll go get some feeler gauges and measure. I’d guess .015-020” though. I’ve seen much worse on some American Fender guitars I’ve owned. I wouldn’t be worried. Probably designed that way to that when things expand/contract you don’t mess up the finish or something.

Mine sounds fantastic and is super stable so I’m not worried at all.

EDIT: Looking closer now, on the one side (top) its pretty flush. On the bottom side though (when holding it) there is about a .040" gap. Still not all that concerned with it though.