My PRS Private Stock Journey...

Sounds like PS is turning into the Henry Ford version of bulds! "You can have it in any color you want, as long as it is black"!! Reminds me of when I ordered my 100th anniversary Harley from their "Custom Vehicle Operations" unit!!! Told them I wanted different wheels than stock, and they said, sure, go ahead and buy them and have them installed after the bike is delivered!!!! How custom is that????

From what I remember, it's at least partly due to the backlog. I believe they were up over two years at the time.
 
They don’t allow Wood Library either.

When they first reintroduced the CE (this last time) I suggested to John Mann to do an all alder run with his trem.

They said no.
That would have been epic.

This kind of goes along with my (brief) experience with the Charvel Custom Shop earlier this year. I wanted a Dinky 22-fret. Basically a Warren DeMartini Frenchie but without the graphics (all white), and direct mount pickups. That would have been the easiest request they got all year. They refused too... Am I that picky?
 
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That would have been epic.

This kind of goes along with my (brief) experience with the Charvel Custom Shop earlier this year. I wanted a Dinky 22-fret. Basically a Warren DeMartini Frenchie but without the graphics (all white), and direct mount pickups. That would have been the easiest request they got all year...
Ehh.. You’re better off hunting for an old CE anyway. You’ll save $10,000.
 
They don’t allow Wood Library either.

When they first reintroduced the CE (this last time) I suggested to John Mann to do an all alder run with his trem.

They said no.
Fine. Catch up with the backlog, but, again, that seems strange.

People are willing and going to pay...take their money and make the magic happen.
 
If it’s a backlog issue, I’d think they’d say no to all PS orders until they’re caught up. Seems a specific no to a specific order request. I mean, really, what Private Stock is really all that close to “stock?”

I’ve no dog in the fight, just agreeing that it appears CE-centric to me. To that point, Serg makes a good point that a CE remodeling would likely end up being a lot more cost-effective in the long run.
 
So after months of researching the details (as best as I can) of Alex Lifeson's recently auctioned Black CE-24, I approached John Mann's Guitar Vault about building a "tribute" model to it. I say tribute, because it was going to be STRUCTURALLY like the Blackie, but with some hardware and electronics updates. And a fancier finish.

Anyway, Mr. Mann was very excited to work on this with me and helped me out filling out a spec sheet, with some back and forth discussion. I picked him specifically due to his past association with PRS during the timeframe (1991) when Blackie was built. My spec-sheet was finally submitted and last week I braced myself to find out the damage (dollar-wise).

Unfortunately, the response I got back was:

"...Bad news… unfortunately PRS will NOT build a CE 24. They can build you a Custom 24 in Private Stock."

And here ends my Private Stock journey...

I don't fault Mann's Guitar Vault, as they did everything in their power to make this happen and were very helpful. I don't even fault PRS. I'm sure they have run the math and from a dollar/labor hour perspective, they feel that CE-24s are a loss to them. But it just sucks. Guess I'm back to searching out a very good era correct CE and restoring it.
Define correct era?
 
I ordered a PS a few months ago, but had to change directions. I wanted a Custom 24 but with the 4 knob controls like a 594, they said no to that. Then I asked about a 594 with a thinner body, no again. Heck, they wouldn't even do zebra bobbins for the pickups. But they would do some special inlays and stuff, so I was pretty bewildered at the limits to certain things, but no limits to others...
 
I ordered a PS a few months ago, but had to change directions. I wanted a Custom 24 but with the 4 knob controls like a 594, they said no to that. Then I asked about a 594 with a thinner body, no again. Heck, they wouldn't even do zebra bobbins for the pickups. But they would do some special inlays and stuff, so I was pretty bewildered at the limits to certain things, but no limits to others...
Prolly because someone else is doing the custom inlays?Pearlworks used to do them.

I know they got a fancy laser cutter like, almost ten years ago, but I think that was for birds and TRC’s and stuff?
 
Prolly because someone else is doing the custom inlays?Pearlworks used to do them.

I know they got a fancy laser cutter like, almost ten years ago, but I think that was for birds and TRC’s and stuff?
maybe so... these weren't anything fancy, just different than what's normally done... a dealer specific inlay on the headstock and a skunk stripe on the back of the neck. But, hopefully everything will get back to "normal" one day.
 
I ordered a PS a few months ago, but had to change directions. I wanted a Custom 24 but with the 4 knob controls like a 594, they said no to that. Then I asked about a 594 with a thinner body, no again. Heck, they wouldn't even do zebra bobbins for the pickups. But they would do some special inlays and stuff, so I was pretty bewildered at the limits to certain things, but no limits to others...
I get managing the backlog, but the constraints make me sad.
 
I ordered a PS a few months ago, but had to change directions. I wanted a Custom 24 but with the 4 knob controls like a 594, they said no to that. Then I asked about a 594 with a thinner body, no again. Heck, they wouldn't even do zebra bobbins for the pickups. But they would do some special inlays and stuff, so I was pretty bewildered at the limits to certain things, but no limits to others...
They have to spend all their time making weird guitars for Herman Li only to have him break them in concert.

Inlays, flashy finishes and weird pattern fretboards are simultaneously the least of my concerns, AND the main selling point of PS guitars these days apparently.
 
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