NGD!! CE24 questions....

BMiller

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Last night I had a new to me 1996 CE24 (trans purple...but looks more maroon) delivered. Incredible playing guitar and minty fresh. A very nice compliment to my '91 CU24! Pics to come....tomorrow or Sunday when I change the the strings and do a little cleaning.

Anyways, I am a bit surprised by a few things.

First, what is a CE3? The included hang tag (I received all of the docs) showed CE3 as the model number.

Second, in doing some physical comparisons between the CE and my CU I noticed some odd differences. First, the CE body is thicker than my CU. Next, the CE is heavier than the CU (I'll weigh them to verify but it's noticeable). And third and finally, the trem arm on the CE has a different angle the the CU. Anyone have thoughts or info on why these differences exist?

Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. This is just about everything I have wanted in a CE......I'm just curious about the differences I noticed.
 
The designation CE3 means it's the third configuration for the CE. The first was an all alder body. Then alder with a maple cap. Then Mahogany body with maple cap (you could also get a standard with an all mahogany body as a CE standard).

I usually don't have my trem arms in the guitar so I haven't noticed that there is a difference between the CE and the Custom. I'll have to get them out and look.
 
The designation CE3 means it's the third configuration for the CE. The first was an all alder body. Then alder with a maple cap. Then Mahogany body with maple cap (you could also get a standard with an all mahogany body as a CE standard).

I usually don't have my trem arms in the guitar so I haven't noticed that there is a difference between the CE and the Custom. I'll have to get them out and look.


Thanks for that info AP! While I haven't replaced the strings yet and looked under "the hood", I'm pretty sure this is a hog body with a maple top (mahogany doesn't look like this!)

The odd thing about the trem arms is that lined up next to each other, they appear to be the same. But when installed, the stock arm that came with my Custom 24 seems to have a stiffer angle giving more room to drop down. I can get strings dancing on the frets of the CU24 without bottoming out the arm against the body. On the CE, I cant do that unless I use the CU24 arm.

Odd, but again....I'm not complaining. I scored a killer CE for a great price!!!
 
Nice guitar! The purple and blue guitars tend to fade out with time even if they are in the cases because blue dyes are a bit unstable. This is common. Pick ups the pickup rings and you will see what the original color is. As far as the CE1, CE2 and CE3 tags go, the CE models changed a number of times within a short period of time based on body wood, neck heel shape, pickups, quality of flame on the cap, etc. Regardless of CEx designation, the pre-1995's are kind of the holy grail for this model because whey were made in the old factory, had the short heel, small headstock logo and the earliest were alder bodies.

What is really cool about this era of guitar is that you can have a mix of short heel necks on new factory guitars because they were trying to use up old inventory as they transitioned in 1995. Also, keep in mind the the CE model was supposed to be an entry level guitar that gradually inherited some really nice flame tops and price. My 1997 has a very nice top and my 1998 has a killer flame ut not a 10 top. Eventually the minimal production profit difference lead to its demise. Similar results with the weight and body thickness vs my Cu 22.

End story is, they are great guitars regardless of the year and features. Enjoy the crap out of it and on the used market, they are a bargain.
 
Wood density makes differences in guitars. I have a ce22 that outweighs most of my prs guitars. I say most because I haven't weighed my 305s yet.

It outweighs my McCarty too.
 
The '91 should have the one piece Mil-Com vibrato unit. Does the '96 have the PRS two part vibrato? That could account for the difference. The Mil-Com is one piece of nickel plated brass and the PRS is a nickel plated top plate and unplated brass block.

Interesting on body thickness. Easiest way to gauge thickness is to look at the output jack. It makes a good visual reference. Unless you have big calipers, of course.

Anyway, PICS!?!? :)
 
My '88 body was noticeably lighter than the 2003 body. Being all Alder.
 
Thanks for the info and thoughts everyone! Garrett, yes the '91 has the one piece Mil-Com bridge and the '96 has the 2 piece. Also, the output jack is what I used to compare body thickness. The CE output jack barely crosses into the "binding". On the '91 the output jack covers half of the "binding". Nonetheless, it's a great guitar! When I change strings next (these are brand new and already my gauge and brand), I will look under the hood a bit.

And now, some pics......

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Thanks for the info and thoughts everyone! Garrett, yes the '91 has the one piece Mil-Com bridge and the '96 has the 2 piece. Also, the output jack is what I used to compare body thickness. The CE output jack barely crosses into the "binding". On the '91 the output jack covers half of the "binding". Nonetheless, it's a great guitar! When I change strings next (these are brand new and already my gauge and brand), I will look under the hood a bit.

And now, some pics......

62c69c55-fdf8-4da2-ad5f-8d224ff6899b_zpss350hysl.jpg


IMG_0124_zpsviww60xy.jpg


image1%202_zpsbduyytdk.jpg


image2_zpsyiipafqm.jpg
image2_zpsyiipafqm.jpg


image1%201_zpslxrvz5wu.jpg

Dead sexy!
 
Congrats! I love my 2008 CE Alder. My only complaint about the new CE's is that the trem cavity and the electronics cavity are not routed out so that the plastic covers could lay flush with the guitar like the original CE's. Not sure why Paul skimped out on this detail. Anyways, nice score!
 
Congrats! I love my 2008 CE Alder. My only complaint about the new CE's is that the trem cavity and the electronics cavity are not routed out so that the plastic covers could lay flush with the guitar like the original CE's. Not sure why Paul skimped out on this detail. Anyways, nice score!


Thanks!

I am curious about that as well on the new CE's (and why they opted for lower end trems and a gigbag but high end tuners and pickups). I doubt that it would bother me too much since the cavity is not routed for my SE Tremonti Custom trem cavity either (oddly it is on the control cavity).
 
There is a notable cost savings when you surface mount the back covers. I have a number of trem PRS, from Korean to Core. THe trem on every one of them is very good. I changed out the tuners on every one of my SE`s. Always to high quality locking tuners (Hipshot open back). I`ve also changed out the pickups on all my SE`s to USA PRS. I carry all my USA & Korean guitars is various gig bags for convenience. If it`s a distance, I`ll use a hard case. I think the cost savings were absolutely ideal. It`s always about sound for me, and I think they did the cost savings while preserving the highest quality USA sound.
 
As an update, I took the new CE to rehearsal last night and was very impressed. So impressed in fact that I ended up buying another CE24 (a 2006) when I got home (pics to come when it arrives!). These will be my main gigging guitars so my '91 CU24 can stay safe and live the life of high profile gigs and studio sessions.

As has been said all over the webs, the CE's have to be the most bang for your buck guitars available (even more so on the used market!).
 
How'd I miss this? Bangin'!


These will be my main gigging guitars so my '91 CU24 can stay safe and live the life of high profile gigs and studio sessions.

That might not happen, you could fall in love with the sound and fell of the CE's over that Custom.
 
Welcome to the club and nice guitar. There are a lot of them out there for sale with varying degrees of wear and tear. My 97 is almost new out of the box and my 98 has a little bit of playing wear but no dings or scratches.

As far as your question goes, the main gripe and most replaced parts on the SE models are the tuners and pickups so Ihtink they made a smart move to put the better pickups and tuners on the new one to support the $2k price. The tremolo on the SE's is not bad but it has more cast aluminum parts on it. I really cannot tell a huge difference between the two.
 
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