CE24 talk me into or out of it...

[AZGiant]

No way a $2000 guitar should come with Korean hardware and a gig bag. But apparently Paul Reed Smith doesn’t run the company anymore, his accountants do....and that’s f@cked up many a fine company in the past.

Last time I looked there were plenty used on Guitar Center’s website in nice condition. And with their return policy, you can’t lose. Plus you can have them ship it to your local GC.

The strange thing, and I just saw this yesterday, Sweetwater is now showing used gear, kind of like EBay but on their site. Havent looking into it too much though

 

[Outlier22]

Just echoing what most everyone is saying about the CE. They are awesome! I'd recommend buying one for sure. I almost bought a second (semi hollow one), but pulled the plug so my wife didn't kill me. Also, I did play another CE from early 2000's and it was also outstanding. You really can't go wrong with either old version or new version.

 

[Nick Love]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Does anyone know how the 85/15’s compare to other pickups? The bridge pickup in my Chris Henderson sig is too hot and way too compressed for my tastes. I prefer a pickup more like a vintage PAF but slightly hotter, like Gibson’s ‘61 pickups. From what I understand the 85/15 are relatively scooped but so are a lot of PAF’s I’ve played.

 

[László]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Does anyone know how the 85/15’s compare to other pickups? The bridge pickup in my Chris Henderson sig is too hot and way too compressed for my tastes. I prefer a pickup more like a vintage PAF but slightly hotter, like Gibson’s ‘61 pickups. From what I understand the 85/15 are relatively scooped but so are a lot of PAF’s I’ve played.

I love the Core 85/15s, but I have no idea what they’re putting in the CEs. You’ve probably already researched this. Really, I think this is a question that only you can answer for yourself by playing the guitar.

Folks use pickups differently. With a PRS, I set my amp up with the pickup volume on about 5-6 for a slight crunch, Roll back for clean, roll up for more crunch or overdrive. For this, they’re the perfect pickup, because they have enough push and brightness to make this approach very simple and easy.

But I also set my amp up differently for each guitar I play. Takes a couple of seconds, and is worth the effort.

Chris Henderson is a pro player, and being on stages, might use his volume control on his guitar to control brightness and gain more than the average player. Maybe he sets his amps up differently than you do.

But you may be a “roll the pickup all the way hot and leave it there” kind of player. You may like higher gain sounds than I like, or cleaner sounds than I like. You may want a walloping bass, I might hate that. Etc.

Bottom line, it’s going to be a guessing game for anyone to make a valid comparison between the 85/15s and other pickups without taking a lot of individual factors into account that you haven’t mentioned.

Looking at it from your perspective, I’d get into those kinds of details, see who’s using what amps with the pickups, check out their style of music and playing, how they prefer to set their amps and guitars to work with each other, etc.

Still, there is no substitute for playing one your way, with your settings, and seeing what happens.

 

[Nick Love]

Thanks for the reply - being a PAF fan you can probably assume I’m not into the brootz. The 85/15’s are loaded into the new CE’s. I agree there’s no substitute for playing them but I think it’s fair to ask for hands on experience from people who have used them, especially using my love of PAF’s, a very popular and well known style of pickup, as a baseline. If someone asked my impressions as a comparison, I could probably accurately give non-subjective tips like whether or not it has more or less bass treble mids etc than vintage type humbuckers and whether or not it drives the amp harder or not.

 

[László]

Thanks for the reply - being a PAF fan you can probably assume I’m not into the brootz. The 85/15’s are loaded into the new CE’s. I agree there’s no substitute for playing them but I think it’s fair to ask for hands on experience from people who have used them, especially using my love of PAF’s, a very popular and well known style of pickup, as a baseline. If someone asked my impressions as a comparison, I could probably accurately give non-subjective tips like whether or not it has more or less bass treble mids etc than vintage type humbuckers and whether or not it drives the amp harder or not.

We agree that the most important way to know is to play them. And your question isn’t unfair; it’s just not likely to give you the info you’re seeking. I’ll give it my best shot, and perhaps others will agree or disagree.

One problem is that there are so many kinds of PAF style pickups out there, each nuanced in different ways. Even the originals were pretty variable back in the day. So I’m going to use my 57/08 equipped guitars as a PAF baseline. For me, the 57/08 is a wonderful sounding PAF with lots of clarity and a beautiful top end.

The 85/15s are brighter, with more prominent upper midrange and high frequency push. They’re also hotter. But they still retain a PAF flavor. The result is a crisp and lively pickup that’s nice and open sounding. But it isn’t harsh sounding; I’d call its brightness a kind of shimmer, as opposed to sounding overly bright or screechy. It has a nice balanced sound.

One cool thing about the 85/15 is that you can roll back the volume control on the guitar, and control the amp’s gain with it, without losing much high end. I never feel that I need to boost the high frequencies to compensate for rolling off the guitar volume. The pickup’s tone controls actually do something, at least on my guitar, which is a plus.

There’s nice clarity and sparkle.

The 85/15 in my CU24 is noticeably hotter and brighter, and thicker in the upper midrange than the 58/15 or 58/15 LT, which are more vintage-voiced PAF style pickups with something of a scooped midrange.

At the same amp settings I use with the 85/15s, I have to turn the 58/15 and its LT brother up higher.

I generally go for those tones that are on the edge of amplifier breakup, so that softer picking yields cleaner notes, and digging in causes the amp to just break up. Most of my playing is through single channel amps, and my style varies depending on the work I do, but left to my own devices it’s kind of bluesy.

My main amp with the CU24 is a Plexi-type PRS HXDA, a single channel amp. The guitar I have with that pickup is about perfect for it, because I can vary the clean vs snarl just with the guitar’s volume control, or by digging in.

I don’t use dirt pedals very often.

The guitar also mates up well with the PRS DG30, another single channel amp that I’d call a vintage style amp that has a beautiful breakup and an interesting voicing, and a Mesa Lone star that’s a little harder to control with guitar volume than my single channel amps. However, the 85/15s sound quite good on both its clean and dirty channels. I think the Mesa is just less touch-sensitive, which is neither good nor bad, it just is. But the Lone Star has its charms.

I haven’t gotten around to playing it through a recently acquired Mesa Fillmore as of yet.

In conclusion, it’s a nice all-rounder pickup that can handle lots of different jobs, and has a very good tone balance. I hope this info helps.

 

[garrett]

I don't find the 85/15 any hotter than a PAF style, but they are definitely a more modern sounding pickup. Superb clarity and they have the best split tone I've heard. They can cover everything.

 

[21Hemispheres12]

I have the 85/15s in a CE24 and custom 24 and agree with what’s been said above. I wouldn’t call them hot but they aren’t low gain, they have great clarity and are on the brighter side. My main gigging guitar is the CE24 and I’ve found I can ride my volume and tone controls for a variety of tones and then split them when I’m going for more twang or a cleaner sound. Overall I’m very happy with them.

 

[DavidsonCu22EG]

I just picked up a 2019 CE in Whale Blue last week and so far it's been fantastic! Solid tuning, the 85/15's are very responsive & neck feels great! This would be my 2nd or 3rd CE, but first of this re-issued series. I highly recommend the guitar - the carve is comfortable and feels nice! It's definitely not the same caliber of a core or Artist instrument, but I'm extremely impressed and happy with the guitar! Only downside would be the plastic birds...just my .02!

 

[dogrocketp]

Keep in mind that just as pickups vary, guitars vary. That’s why we search for the guitars that are magic to our ears. Because each guitar is different, a particular pickup can work in one guitar, and not as well in several other examples of the same guitar. I agree with Les, go play and understand we like all different things. Life is a delicious crapshoot. With our PRS, the guitars vary from excellent to tone of the Gods. And the same guitar will sound different in each players hands.

 

[markd21]

The 85/15 is a really neat pickup. I wasn't sure I was gonna like it, to be truthful. I bought my CE online without having played one (or any 85/15 loaded guitar), and figured I might end up loading it with 57/08s. Nope. The 85/15 has a crisp clarity that really excited it me. The guitar is not too hot, but it has a little more "kick" than my 57/08 guitars. I think you'll dig the 85/15.

 

[Nick Love]

Thanks everyone for the replies. The 85/15 certainly sounds like a nice, unique pickup. Truthfully from the descriptions I think for me a more vintage sounding pickup may be a better fit but I’d still like to try one because you just never know till you get to put it through the paces.

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

Thanks everyone for the replies. The 85/15 certainly sounds like a nice, unique pickup. Truthfully from the descriptions I think for me a more vintage sounding pickup may be a better fit but I’d still like to try one because you just never know till you get to put it through the paces.

If that's the case I would find an older CE and put some 59/09 or the 57/08 neck 59/09 bridge combo in it.

I have an 85/15 neck pickup for one of mine and I think it's great. It pairs very well with the \m/ bridge too for a nice modern higher gain combo.

 

[Mozzi]

I can't comment on the 85/15's in a CE Custom 24 but I do have them in my Core Custom 24 (unsurprisingly). I tend to prefer a more vintage/classic Humbucker - one that is considered to be low output and not too keen on Humbuckers that are hot/high output. Its the Pick-up that Paul has said he wished he had when the first Custom 24's released back in 85 (hence 85/15) and I think they are well suited to the custom 24. They are 'hotter' than my 58/15 LT's but not too hot. To me it does make the Custom 24 (and I assume the Custom 22 as well) more of a modern instrument compared to guitars like the 594 or HBii.

I guess it really depends on the rigs people are using and what they are used to. I like the fact that they have a bit more punch but still have clarity than my other guitars. I think its a perfect match for the way I see the Custom 24 - a classic sound now but more modern than the 'vintage' double humbucker guitars of the 50's/60's. Its a sound I associate most with PRS but I can see the CE sounding brighter and more snappy with the few differences between the Core and CE builds - the different bridge and bolt-on Maple neck.

I personally don't buy guitars that I am not completely sold on the way they sound and therefore wouldn't consider swapping PU's. I guess if I had a couple of guitars in the same model, a few Custom 24's for example, I maybe tempted to change 1 to give me something different but its not something I have needed to do - especially as its very unlikely for me to own more than 1 of any guitar with the limited space I have. I think I can get pretty much what I want from a Guitar by using the tone/volume and pedal/amp settings. I don't need to change PU's to change how the sound to make it more bluesy or more 'metal' as I can achieve either with just tweaking settings, adding or changing pedals and their settings etc can go from a jazzy clean, to a bluesy crunch to a high gain overdriven metal tone....

 

[Nick Love]

I see lots of dealer exclusives loaded with PRS’s more vintage options so I think I will go that route. Seems like the 85/15’s were put in it to accentuate the snappier brighter bolt on sound but I’m more into the feel of bolt on’s rather than their sound. The only strats I played long term either had a Clapton mid boost or the EMG’s with the mid boost which always made them sound more like humbuckers anyways.

 

[Mozzi]

I see lots of dealer exclusives loaded with PRS’s more vintage options so I think I will go that route. Seems like the 85/15’s were put in it to accentuate the snappier brighter bolt on sound but I’m more into the feel of bolt on’s rather than their sound. The only strats I played long term either had a Clapton mid boost or the EMG’s with the mid boost which always made them sound more like humbuckers anyways.

The 85/15's were probably put into it because they were the Pick-up of choice for Custom 24's through every PRS tier - the 85/15 'S' for the SE and S2 with the US made 85/15's for the CE and Core. They weren't chosen specifically to accentuate the brighter and sappier tone of the Bolt-on construction as its only the CE that has that type of build. They would have been picked for their sound and because the 85/15's are the pick up of choice for the more 'modern' sounding guitars compared to McCarty's which are more vintage/traditional guitars.

I certainly wouldn't dismiss them and really should try them first before going out of your way to find a dealer exclusive build. They may be a bit brighter and snappier in a CE because of the different Bridge and the maple bolt-on neck but the pick-ups were built for their custom 22/24 guitars and that included the CE.

At the end of the day, its your choice but the 85/15's were selected for their sound and consistent throughout their Custom (and Standard - inc SE) 22/24 models. Regardless of the bolt on of the CE, the 85/15's are the Pick-up that PRS have created for all of the regular range of their 22/24 models. If you do decide that they are too modern for you, that's up to you but I would still recommend trying the 85/15 loaded CE's and at least A/B them. In fairness though, PRS Pick-ups are great...