NGD: CE 22.. help dating/info?

PatrickH

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Jan 7, 2019
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I picked up a used CE22 for what I think is a steal. It is my first PRS and I know I'm on the honey moon, but I can't get over how good this guitar feels - such a high quality instrument. Easily rivals my Fender Custom Shop...

Anyway, the person who sold it said it was from '98.

The serial number on the back plate reads:

8 CE17241

And I think, from what I've ready, that this would put that guitar as being from 1998. BUT I was reading up on PRS guitars, and it seems that the CE22 had covered Dragon II pickups in 98, where mine has uncovered, Dragon I pickups.

In the neck cavity, there is also a date, which seems to suggest 1994.

So what's going on with the guitar? Can anyone help me figure out what I'm seeing (and maybe what any of those numbers/codes in the cavities mean). Is it possible I somehow bought a frankenstein guitar with parts from 2 different guitars?

Here's the guitar:

s4pijraikcn4jfyu6ltx.jpg


Back neck plate:

xhmtdw2jyr5axzifcjvu.jpg


And some pickup cavity shots:

zjnhv1y9607tjho48mox.jpg


twhzfs7ge7tbykurfv9a.jpg
 
Nice! I’d drop a line to customer service for details. Looks like things changed mid stream during production.
 
Strange. Neck plate suggests 1998. The one number matches in the bridge pu cavity and neck pu cavity (neck itself) so it appears neck and body are correct to each other.

I don't fully understand why some information gets blacked out like on your guitar. I've seen that before. Also I'd have to look on prs site but I really don't know if ce22s were available in 1994 and what year they went to dragon 2s. My 97 ce22 has drag 1s.

BTW I have a 97 mahogany ce22 and like all my others, it's a cool guitar.
 
I have a 95 mahogany CE22 with Dragon 1's and it has the best tone I own.
50t8fWx.jpg


Very nice . My 97 hog was a project when I bought it.

It had a 3 way toggle, SD pickups, no coil splits, screw holes on the body where midi pickup used to be and somebody trying a refret pulled some small pieces of rosewood off the fretboard! The pieces are glued back in place and I noticed it when I cleaned the fretboard. I can't tell by playing it so I guess that's good.

It was a super cheap ebay score.

Now it has rotary and 5310s.

I do have a 97 with drag 1s and for higher gain it's badass.
 
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Strange. Neck plate suggests 1998. The one number matches in the bridge pu cavity and neck pu cavity (neck itself) so it appears neck and body are correct to each other.

I don't fully understand why some information gets blacked out like on your guitar. I've seen that before. Also I'd have to look on prs site but I really don't know if ce22s were available in 1994 and what year they went to dragon 2s. My 97 ce22 has drag 1s.

BTW I have a 97 mahogany ce22 and like all my others, it's a cool guitar.

According to PRS Model history, they started production of CE22s in 1994. The switch to Dragon 2s was in 1998... it could just be that mine was built in early 1998, before the switch.
 
Nice! I’d drop a line to customer service for details. Looks like things changed mid stream during production.

Great idea. I contact them and learned that the guitar is original, not a parts guitar.

While the change to dragon II pickups happened in 1998, this guitar was built in Jan 1998 and was ordered in 1997, so it was built to 1997 specs (hence the drag I pickups).

The guitar has the wide-thin neck profile, which proved to be far less popular than the wide fat neck profile, so the neck was built in 1994, and then sat around waiting for a body for several years.

So the guitar is as it was from PRS originally.

None of it matters all that much - the guitar is killer, but it's nice to have a bit of clarity on what I bought!
 
Great idea. I contact them and learned that the guitar is original, not a parts guitar.

While the change to dragon II pickups happened in 1998, this guitar was built in Jan 1998 and was ordered in 1997, so it was built to 1997 specs (hence the drag I pickups).

The guitar has the wide-thin neck profile, which proved to be far less popular than the wide fat neck profile, so the neck was built in 1994, and then sat around waiting for a body for several years.

So the guitar is as it was from PRS originally.

None of it matters all that much - the guitar is killer, but it's nice to have a bit of clarity on what I bought!
Very interesting! Glad you contacted them and got the skinny on this guitar. Wouldn't have expected that a neck made in '94 would be waiting for an order to call for it until '98. But makes it that much better of a story~
 
Very interesting! Glad you contacted them and got the skinny on this guitar. Wouldn't have expected that a neck made in '94 would be waiting for an order to call for it until '98. But makes it that much better of a story~

Yeah, I was surprised!

Also found it interesting, having looks at the specs, that the WF and WT are really only 2/32" (or 2mm in metric) different as their depth at the nut, and otherwise the measurements are the same. I haven't picked up a WF neck recently, but its amazing that 2mm would make such a difference in preference!
 
I haven't seen a lot of natural mahogany PRS guitars - I think their flame tops are a lot more popular / iconic, so I can understand why this guitar might have sat for a while. I think it's lovely, though!
 
I haven't seen a lot of natural mahogany PRS guitars - I think their flame tops are a lot more popular / iconic, so I can understand why this guitar might have sat for a while. I think it's lovely, though!
It is. It’s gorgeous!

At the big G and F makers, they used to make parts in batches and not make more until the batches were used up. My ‘71 ES-335 has hardware from the late 60s and pickups from somewhere between 1966 and 1969. It’s not surprising.
 
Common for F type guitars, neck and body can be years apart.
 
Hey there Patrick, just wanted to say mine is a 95, it came with all the documents (ie stating it had D2s installed ) and when I opened it up mine also had 1s .....

Given I came to love them and then learning what a set of D1s are now worth I’m very happy. I’m also pretty sure they were done in the factory.

Some will tell you it’s probably just the sticker but they have completely different specs - D1 Treble has a ceramic and is about 18k (from memory). I opened mine to check the magnet but it’s unnecessary, just put the treble on a multimeter.

And yes these 90s CEs are the best
Dollar:Quality... and I’m in Australia where our dollar is crap and any US Prs REALLY hold their value.

I got mine after I got a Korean SE that blew me away. As good as that SE is the CE made it feel like toy ukulele.

Congratulations.


I picked up a used CE22 for what I think is a steal. It is my first PRS and I know I'm on the honey moon, but I can't get over how good this guitar feels - such a high quality instrument. Easily rivals my Fender Custom Shop...

Anyway, the person who sold it said it was from '98.

The serial number on the back plate reads:

8 CE17241

And I think, from what I've ready, that this would put that guitar as being from 1998. BUT I was reading up on PRS guitars, and it seems that the CE22 had covered Dragon II pickups in 98, where mine has uncovered, Dragon I pickups.

In the neck cavity, there is also a date, which seems to suggest 1994.

So what's going on with the guitar? Can anyone help me figure out what I'm seeing (and maybe what any of those numbers/codes in the cavities mean). Is it possible I somehow bought a frankenstein guitar with parts from 2 different guitars?

Here's the guitar:

s4pijraikcn4jfyu6ltx.jpg


Back neck plate:

xhmtdw2jyr5axzifcjvu.jpg


And some pickup cavity shots:

zjnhv1y9607tjho48mox.jpg


twhzfs7ge7tbykurfv9a.jpg
y
 
That was my old guitar I'm pretty certain. I know this is an old thread, sorry. I traded it away and then the fella sold it on reverb. That guitar has stuck out in my mind for years and years. I remember picking it up in the shop and thinking wow.. this is quality. Buttery playability and here I've been advocating Dragon II pickups for years because that guitar sounded so, so good. Only to find out they were Dragon I's hahaha.

I've never seen another like it. But that clear mahogany body with the crazy violin carve is so great. Hope you're still liking it my friend.
 
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