TFC
That guitar really tied the room together
I just got finished my Alex Lifeson CE24 project and wanted to share :biggrin:.
A while back there was a thread regarding one of Alex's PRS guitars, a 1991 black CE24 (http://prsguitars.com/forum/showthr...-you-tell-me-about-Alex-Lifeson-s-black-CE-24). I'm a big fan, so I did some research and it was fun learning about one of his iconic guitars from the 90's.
A couple of months later I found a 1993 CE24 for sale. I didn't need or want another guitar, but the price was just too good to pass up. The NGD thread from the guy I bought it from is here: http://prsguitars.com/forum/showthr...oldie-coming-my-way-(first-post-introduction)
It was a beater, but like I said, the price was right.
I wasn't a fan of that color but otherwise the guitar was great - 7.45 lbs, one piece trem, and 20+ years of breaking in already done. Then it struck me that with a little bit of modification, I could convert it into Alex's PRS. All it needed were black pickup rings, Phase II tuners (which I was going to get anyway since I'm not a fan of the winged tuners), one of the old metal 3-way toggle switches and a new black paint job.
So, I sold the Phase I's and bought Phase II's (and came out ahead a few bucks on that transaction). Then, I swapped the creme pickup rings for black ones with a guy in Wisconsin (gotta love internet guitar forums, right?). It took some research to find the right toggle, but the answer was in yet another thread on this forum (seeing a trend, here?): http://prsguitars.com/forum/showthread.php?4564-1988-Classic-Electric-owners-Please-help. So, for about $6, I bought a switch on eBay. I invested in a black Sharpie and touched up the headstock dings and some chips in the knobs.
The last step was getting it painted. I have no paint skills and I normally don't spend money on cosmetic stuff. But I love solid color PRS guitars with the maple trim (see my avatar) and I've always wanted one in black. So, I went ahead and did it. I sent the body to a guy in California and he did an excellent job.
Putting it back together was a bit of a task. Good instructions for installing the PRS trem can be found here: http://www.vintagerocker.com/forum/showthread.html?20831-Putting-a-PRS-trem-back-on-a-PRS and a wiring diagram (which I ended up not using) for one way to hook up the old 3-way switch can be found, yet again, in a PRS forum thread: http://prsguitars.com/forum/showthread.php?5016-88-89-classic-electric-wiring-diagram! That ended up taking me several frustrating hours, as I'm mostly a "solder-by-numbers" guy and I couldn't find an exact diagram of what I wanted. But I think I possibly learned something, maybe. Maybe not.
So, now I'm done, I'm having a beer (Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA - thank you, Matt!) and spending yet more time on internet guitar forums.
That's enough talk. Here are photos that are about as good as my soldering skills:
Thanks to everyone on this forum who unknowingly contributed to this project. I can't wait to gig with it :rock:
A while back there was a thread regarding one of Alex's PRS guitars, a 1991 black CE24 (http://prsguitars.com/forum/showthr...-you-tell-me-about-Alex-Lifeson-s-black-CE-24). I'm a big fan, so I did some research and it was fun learning about one of his iconic guitars from the 90's.
A couple of months later I found a 1993 CE24 for sale. I didn't need or want another guitar, but the price was just too good to pass up. The NGD thread from the guy I bought it from is here: http://prsguitars.com/forum/showthr...oldie-coming-my-way-(first-post-introduction)
It was a beater, but like I said, the price was right.
I wasn't a fan of that color but otherwise the guitar was great - 7.45 lbs, one piece trem, and 20+ years of breaking in already done. Then it struck me that with a little bit of modification, I could convert it into Alex's PRS. All it needed were black pickup rings, Phase II tuners (which I was going to get anyway since I'm not a fan of the winged tuners), one of the old metal 3-way toggle switches and a new black paint job.
So, I sold the Phase I's and bought Phase II's (and came out ahead a few bucks on that transaction). Then, I swapped the creme pickup rings for black ones with a guy in Wisconsin (gotta love internet guitar forums, right?). It took some research to find the right toggle, but the answer was in yet another thread on this forum (seeing a trend, here?): http://prsguitars.com/forum/showthread.php?4564-1988-Classic-Electric-owners-Please-help. So, for about $6, I bought a switch on eBay. I invested in a black Sharpie and touched up the headstock dings and some chips in the knobs.
The last step was getting it painted. I have no paint skills and I normally don't spend money on cosmetic stuff. But I love solid color PRS guitars with the maple trim (see my avatar) and I've always wanted one in black. So, I went ahead and did it. I sent the body to a guy in California and he did an excellent job.
Putting it back together was a bit of a task. Good instructions for installing the PRS trem can be found here: http://www.vintagerocker.com/forum/showthread.html?20831-Putting-a-PRS-trem-back-on-a-PRS and a wiring diagram (which I ended up not using) for one way to hook up the old 3-way switch can be found, yet again, in a PRS forum thread: http://prsguitars.com/forum/showthread.php?5016-88-89-classic-electric-wiring-diagram! That ended up taking me several frustrating hours, as I'm mostly a "solder-by-numbers" guy and I couldn't find an exact diagram of what I wanted. But I think I possibly learned something, maybe. Maybe not.
So, now I'm done, I'm having a beer (Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA - thank you, Matt!) and spending yet more time on internet guitar forums.
That's enough talk. Here are photos that are about as good as my soldering skills:
Thanks to everyone on this forum who unknowingly contributed to this project. I can't wait to gig with it :rock:
The opaque black top with flamed maple binding always looks classy, and the CE carve looks great with solid black paint! I'll have to make it out to a gig soon!
