Old PRS Factory Video

Em7

deus ex machina
Joined
Apr 27, 2012
Messages
946
I do not know how many people from this forum have seen this video, but it harks back to the days when PRS was only a household name for Maryland-based guitarists.


What I found interesting is that it appears that PRS was using a scarf joint on their CEs in 1990 (see time 2.57). I could have sworn that the CEs that PRS built in the nineties had single piece necks made from quartersawn maple, but that may just have been the fretboard on maple fretboard necks. The CE was only in production for two years when this video was made. The CE (or Classic Electric as it was known when released) was PRS' first attempt at making a more budget-friendly guitar. The early CEs were definitely made to a price point, especially the use of a metal bat off-the-shelf toggle switch as the pickup selector instead of using the typical Gibson-style toggle switch. They were great playing and sounding guitars, but rather plain when it came to cosmetics. Master Musicians had a black with masked binding CE in their Annapolis store when the model was first released that played like butter (PRS guitars shipped with 9s at this point in time). I wanted it, but $800 was more than I could put together in 1988 because I had purchased a home just outside of the incorporated part of Annapolis the prior year. CEs became fancier and less budget friendly during the 90s, as some guitarists started to prefer the tone and feel of the CE. Curly tops were added and then alder was discontinued in favor of mahogany.
 
Last edited:
Like I mentioned, I thought that PRS used quartersawn maple for the CE neck. I am going to have to find an old CE. It is sad to see S2-like construction on a CE, but currently shipping CEs have scarf-jointed necks and a piece of maple laminated on the body end of the neck to make the heel thicker. It looks like the neck proper is machined from 4/4 plainsawn lumber. Why not jack the price up several hundred dollars and offer the guitar with a non-budget neck, phase II machine heads, and a gen II bridge. PRS is cheapening the CE unnecessarily. They have their budget American-made line with the S2s. They should have left the CE alone for those who want older core-level quality in a guitar made with a bolt-on maple neck instead of making it another flavor of S2.
 
Last edited:
My first PRS was an 89-ish Classic Electric. It was a rawk machine. It had the rotary switch rather than the metal toggle, and certainly had no scarf joint.

blueprs2.jpg
 
Back
Top