seanchristopher

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Jul 6, 2024
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Hi everyone,

My name is Sean, and i'm new to this forum. I just bought a PRS CE24 and i'm wondering if I made the right choice. For some background, I mostly play metal, progressive metal (djent for those who prefer that name), hard rock, pop rock, and pop punk. But I play almost any style so I can always be expanding my guitar vocabulary.

I was choosing between the CE24 that I ended up going with, and a S2 Custom 24. I'm not as familiar with guitars with bolt on necks but, it came down to me really wanting a satin neck so I shelled out the extra cash for the CE24.

But after I ordered the CE24, I noticed that the top carves for the CE24 and S2 Custom 24 are different. I originally preferred the asymmetrical bevel carve on the S2 and I was pretty bummed to see that the CE24 had a different carve. But then I noticed that the CE24 product page on the PRS website says that the CE24 has a violin carve like the core models.

Is the Violin carve on the CE24 noticeably less pronounced than the core models? Or is it only slightly less pronounced?

I saw a post from a few years back on another forum where some guy said he took his CE24 to Guitar Center and compared the "Violin" carve on the CE24, to the "Shallow Violin" carve on the SE models and he said that they're almost the same and that it made the CE24 look like an SE or something like that. I'm not sure if he was exaggerating or not but, it definitely made me worry lol.

With the carve being different than I expected, and with me not being familiar with bolt on neck guitars, I'm a bit worried now but I am really hoping I made the right choice!

I really like the satin neck that the CE24 has and that was such a big thing to me that it ended up being a deciding factor before I noticed the carves being different. And all of the reviews i've seen of the CE24 make it seem really versatile and pretty rich sounding in the mids for a guitar with a bolt on neck!

When I played a S2 Custom 24 at Guitar Center, it played and felt awesome and I loved that beveled carve. But the nitro neck finish got crazy sticky after less than 15 minutes of playing and it was driving me crazy lol. So while playing a show, I can't even imagine how sticky and tacky it would get!

If I knew I wouldn't mess it up, I'd just get the S2 Custom 24 and sand down the neck to a satin finish. But I've seen friends mess up their guitar necks doing that and i'm terrified of the possibility of ruining a brand new PRS😅 especially since l be the most expensive guitar I own lol.

So I need your guys' help to figure out the answers to the following questions :
Will the CE24 will be a good choice for metal? Does it sound similar to the Custom 24? Will the bolt on neck will change anything tonally in a negative way for the genres i'll be using it for? Does the CE24 sound more scooped than the S2 Custom 24 like i've seen some people say, or is it present in the mids like a les paul? Is the violin carve is really the same as an SE, or is it closer to the violin carve on the core models?

Or if you guys think the S2 Custom 24 would be a better option, then would it be worth compromising on the satin neck in order to get the asymmetrical bevel? Would it be more worth it to go with the S2 Custom 24 and take a chance and turn the nitro gloss neck to a satin finish?

The CE24 and S2 Custom 24 are my only options at the moment because i'm ordering through Sweetwater. Most of the other guitars are sold out and have to be pre-ordered, and the S2 Custom 24 and CE24 are the only guitars that have ones in stock that I like lol. And i'm using my sweetwater card with financing for payment so getting a used guitar isn't an option otherwise I would probably look for a used core model instead 😅

Sorry for all of the questions everyone! I've been using this forum while researching the two guitars and I figured instead of lurking, it would be awesome to ask you guys what you thought and seek out the help of the PRS experts on here. Plus, once my PRS arrives i'll be part of the PRS family and it'll be awesome to get to be a part of the PRS community! I appreciate whoever is reading this taking the time to read my post and I appreciate any help anyone is willing to offer on the matter.
 
You’ll be fine with the CE24 shallow violin carve really not noticeable and not the same as the core guitars. As far as a satin neck being your preference again you’ll be very pleased with the CE you ordered. You can always take Scotchbrite to a gloss neck and knock off the gloss to get that satin feel as an option in the future. The CE will be fine for metal as would the S2. I prefer the CE over the S2 however you’ll find many supporters of the S2 here that will hopefully chime in.
 
Ask Dusty Waring if the 24 fret bolt on is good for metal. I think at this point you’re second guessing yourself unnecessarily. The player will decide if the guitar is right. My CE24 is so well loved and used that it’s almost time for my first refret in 50 years and a helluva lot of guitars. Enjoy it and get ready to peel some paint off of walls.
 
I love both of my CE's and prefer them over an S2.

One is a jade Dusty Waring and one is around a 2015 Trampas green regular CE24
 
You’ll be fine with the CE24 shallow violin carve really not noticeable and not the same as the core guitars. As far as a satin neck being your preference again you’ll be very pleased with the CE you ordered. You can always take Scotchbrite to a gloss neck and knock off the gloss to get that satin feel as an option in the future. The CE will be fine for metal as would the S2. I prefer the CE over the S2 however you’ll find many supporters of the S2 here that will hopefully chime in.
Thank you for your reply! 😀 I definitely prefer the feel of a satin neck so for me, the trade off was a good one from the Custom 24 to the CE24.
One of my main worries was the CE24 looking like a SE from the carve being a shallow Violin Carve.
Is it really noticeably different from the core Violin carve? Is the Violin carve on the CE24 noticeably different from the SE shallow Violin carve? (one concern is the CE24 looking like a SE if the carves are the same. Not that SEs are bad or anything like that. It just would be nice for it to be distinguishable between the two considering the CE24 is like over 2x as much these days lol 😂
Is the Violin Carve on the CE24 noticeable? I really wanted it to have a PRS distinct carve and to not look like a flat top guitar lol 😅
And is the CE24 similar in tone to the S2 Custom 24?
I've seen a few posts saying it lacks lower mids and has a high mid thing going on. But I don't hear that when I see most demos or in any of the Between the Buried and Me tracks (the band Dusty Waring plays guitar for).
 
When I bought my first PRS in the’90s, I chose the CE over the Custom for the same reason you are, the finish on the neck. I never regretted it.
That's super encouraging and gets me super excited for this guitar! 😀 Thank you for the uplifting post my friend!

Ask Dusty Waring if the 24 fret bolt on is good for metal. I think at this point you’re second guessing yourself unnecessarily. The player will decide if the guitar is right. My CE24 is so well loved and used that it’s almost time for my first refret in 50 years and a helluva lot of guitars. Enjoy it and get ready to peel some paint off of walls.
This is what I needed to hear. I have a tendency to second guess myself and that's actually something I've been working on a lot. I didn't realize it was affecting the situation so much and I want to be confident in my decision 😊
I think since it's the most expensive guitar I've ever gotten, and I'm getting it brand new, that I'm nervous I'll make the wrong choice. But it isn't like I can't return it or anything like that lol.

I also just didn't want to assume the CE24 was better than the S2 Custom 24 because of the price difference and I wanted to make sure I wasn't counting out the better option.

But I see a lot of love for the CE24 on here and only a little bit of hate for it (when I see it compared to what was basically the core version of the CE back in the day) and that hate towards it was discouraging after I finalized my purchase lol.
 
I love both of my CE's and prefer them over an S2.

One is a jade Dusty Waring and one is around a 2015 Trampas green regular CE24
In your opinion, is the carve on the CE24 pronounced? (or at least more pronounced than on on SE?)
And does the bolt on neck change the character of the tone a lot from what someone would get from a les Paul or something like that?

I'm hoping it still has that full mid content while having extra attack from the bolt on neck. I've seen some comments about the CE24 being more scooped than the Custom 24 and having more upper mids but I haven't found any direct tone comparisons.

I have mostly LP shape guitars, a 335, and 2 super strats, but only one legit strat so I'm not super familiar with the bolt on necks 😅
 
In your opinion, is the carve on the CE24 pronounced? (or at least more pronounced than on on SE?)
And does the bolt on neck change the character of the tone a lot from what someone would get from a les Paul or something like that?

I'm hoping it still has that full mid content while having extra attack from the bolt on neck. I've seen some comments about the CE24 being more scooped than the Custom 24 and having more upper mids but I haven't found any direct tone comparisons.

I have mostly LP shape guitars, a 335, and 2 super strats, but only one legit strat so I'm not super familiar with the bolt on necks 😅
Personally, I don't think the bolt on neck takes much, if anything, from the tone. Plenty of mids and low mids for me.
I think the maple neck and fretboard may add a little snap to the top end, but it's subtle.

I think the pickups make more of a difference in tone than anything else. I would say my Dusty Waring with the Tomahawk 2
pickups is a little thicker than my core CE24, but again, it's subtle.

Easily adjusted with EQ in your guitar rig chain.
 
I have the S2. Was sticky at first. After several months, not really sticky anymore.

I think the CE sounds much brighter than the S2, even with the same pups. IMHO, depends on if you want a brighter or darker tone.
 
I guess another worry of mine, is that the Violin carve on the CE24 might make it look less sleek and bigger at the bottom of the body. After realizing that the CE24 I ordered had a different carve than the S2 Custom 24 I originally had liked, I also noticed that the lack of the beveled edges made the CE24 look bigger in the pics I was looking at. Almost like the CE24 looked more like a 335 shape than a Les Paul/Strat combo shape, because it looked bigger on the bottom and more rounded.

Can anyone with the two models post a pic of the two of them together for a direct comparison?

And i'm still trying to figure out if the Violin carve on the CE24's are noticeably more pronounced than the shallow Violin carve on the newer SEs. It would suck to have dropped more on a model that looks a lot like the models that are half the price, when the S2's that are only a few hundred less have a totally different carve that is noticeably different from the tier below it lol.

The post I saw where some guy is upset and saying that he brought his CE24 into a Guitar Center and compared the carve to a SE Custom 24 and that they were pretty much identical with the carve and even the height of the carve on the front.

The thought of an almost $3k guitar having as small of a carve on the front as the lower end models that only use a maple veneer is very concerning.
 
I have the S2. Was sticky at first. After several months, not really sticky anymore.

I think the CE sounds much brighter than the S2, even with the same pups. IMHO, depends on if you want a brighter or darker tone.
That is actually great to hear! I was strongly considering getting an S2 Custom 24 instead and just dealing with the stickiness if it would go away eventually. Or I was gonna sand down the finish to a satin finish on the neck. But the thought of doing that to an expensive guitar is sort of terrifying haha 😂

When you say "much" brighter, is it a shrill brightness or an overly bright tone in comparison?

I didn't get to test out any CE24's because none were in stock at any of the guitar stores near me, but I ended up getting it mainly because of the satin neck and because it was a limited edition finish with a dark rosewood fretboard and dark headstock. I thought it would be a better investment than a S2 Custom 24 with a normal finish.

But after seeing the stuff about the Violin carve on the CE24 being more shallow than the core Violin carve on the cores and closer to the SE's shallow Violin carve, combined with hearing that the CE24 is a lot brighter than the Custom 24, now i'm honestly worried with the choice I made.

I was so confident in my decision at first, and then I saw the carve was different and heard that it's a much brighter guitar than the Custom 24, and now i'm questioning if I should cancel my order and go with the CUstom 24.

I play metal and hard rock and stuff like that so i'm not looking for anything overly bright lol. I like the mids to be rich and I like the high mids to be present while still having that low mid grunt and growl 😄

I was thinking of trying out the CE24 first and then going from there but idk if Sweetwater has a restocking fee when you return a guitar.
 
The CE is a 100% killer axe. I would, and have, personally go for that over an S2.

The PRS US bolt on guitars are amongst the best in the world.
In your opinion, is the Violin Carve on the CE24 really noticeably more shallow than the Core models? Or is it almost as pronounced as the carve on the core models? And is the Violin carve on the CE24 more pronounced or the same as the carve on the SE series?

I saw on the PRS website that both the CE24 and Core models say that they have a Vioin carve and the SE says it's a shallow Violin carve. But in pics it's hard to tell if the CE24 Violin carve is more pronounced than the SE shallow Violin carve and it's hard to tell if the CE24's Violin carve is comparable or similar to the Core models Violin carve.

With the CE24 being almost 3x the price of an SE, I'd hope that the carves are noticeably different lol😅 I love that asymmetrical bevel on the S2's but i've been really wanting my next guitar to have a satin neck because playability is super important to me. So i'm trying to not place too much important on the carve and on aesthetics.

But on the other hand, I definitely don't want to drop more than I would have on the S2, for a guitar that looks like the models that are a third of the price lol. I think that's why i'm trying so hard to ask around about what people think about the differences between the carves and if the CE24 at least looks like it has a more pronounced carve than the SE series 😬
 
In your opinion, is the Violin Carve on the CE24 really noticeably more shallow than the Core models? Or is it almost as pronounced as the carve on the core models? And is the Violin carve on the CE24 more pronounced or the same as the carve on the SE series?

I saw on the PRS website that both the CE24 and Core models say that they have a Vioin carve and the SE says it's a shallow Violin carve. But in pics it's hard to tell if the CE24 Violin carve is more pronounced than the SE shallow Violin carve and it's hard to tell if the CE24's Violin carve is comparable or similar to the Core models Violin carve.

With the CE24 being almost 3x the price of an SE, I'd hope that the carves are noticeably different lol😅 I love that asymmetrical bevel on the S2's but i've been really wanting my next guitar to have a satin neck because playability is super important to me. So i'm trying to not place too much important on the carve and on aesthetics.

But on the other hand, I definitely don't want to drop more than I would have on the S2, for a guitar that looks like the models that are a third of the price lol. I think that's why i'm trying so hard to ask around about what people think about the differences between the carves and if the CE24 at least looks like it has a more pronounced carve than the SE series 😬
As an olde-tymie PRS player, Idefinitely notice the carve being shallower when I pick it up, but while playing it, it makes no difference.

The shallower carve is just one of the aspects of it that PRS compromised on to keep the manufacturing quality of the instrument high while being able to offer it at more affordable prices than a set-neck model.

I don't know that the SE really has a violin carve at all, have you compared them directly?

One of the major reasons the SE is 1/3 of the price is that the workforce in Indonesia is treated more as laborers, where as they are crafstpeople in Maryland. The woods are also not as premium or handled as well. An SE will have multipeices peice mahogany body, and plain maple cap with a figured vineer. The wood isn't seasoned for a year, and I very much doubt they take a month to carve a neck.

You should check out the differences in the factory tours

SE:

US:

As with all quality items, you can get 80% of the way there for 1/3 the price, if that fits your bill, that's ok!
 
The se carve is nothing like the ce carve in real life. The ce has much more of a violin.
This is very reassuring to hear!

I think seeing that post from a few years back on another forum made me weary about it all but, after looking more at pics, it's definitely different and the SE, CE, and Core models all have different degrees of the carve but, the CE and Core models look suprisingly similar unless you're looking from a specific angle and you're really looking for it!

I found some really good up close pics from a local dealer near me and that helped a lot. I'm going in person to check out the CE24 in the morning :D I think it will put me at ease since i'm trippin myself out about all of this stuff and I think it's stemming from only being able to try out a S2 Custom 24 and not getting to try out or see a CE24 in person.
 
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