king tone
New Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2018
- Messages
- 20
Hi folks. Questions and commentary for you. I have a 99 custom 22 that I just bought...again. I am the second and fourth owner. I know, I might be insane. Anyhow...I keep running the thought in my head about whether to keep it, and upgrade it, or move on to something closer to "right" for me. I am afraid that the money it will take to get it maxed out in a way that I hope, I could have possibly gotten another PRS that is more dialed in. Of course when I got this one I did not have the money to buy a way more expensive one. Also to do the upgrades, the money can be done bit by bit. Is there any reason why an older custom like this would be preferred over a newer fancier/more expensive/newer one? I am pretty sure it's a one piece body (maybe they all are?) and it does ring out and sustain nicely with no dead spots that I have found. Mine is a wraparound bridge version.
Here are the kind of upgrades that possibly would happen.
Pickups: this has dragon II pickups...eh, not super thrilled with these. Maybe a 57/08 set (which I know sound good) or possibly for less money Suhr ssv, SD, Fralin,etc
Refret: plek with stainless jumbos would really set this one off on playability. The frets are a tiny bit low(more for me than maybe other players)
Wing style keys: yuck, I have some schallers that can replace them
Rewire: I can do this myself, the rotary is not a great option for live use
The fret and pickup part, plus what I paid for it (cheap for 2021) still makes this a decently bigger investment for the old one.
I guess the idea is if I just had about $3500-up I could just get a DGT (big frets, great pickups, and I do like the tremelo) a really nice custom (five way with Trem and wide fat or regular neck...HATE the wide thin!) or McCarty of some sort and add 57/08 set to one of these, or something similar.To tweak out the old one it will not cost as much as the others but maybe more trouble than it's worth and possibly still not as good as a newer one. I have owned a handful and played a zillion PRS' over the years and they were almost always good. What say ye forum folks? What would you do? Should I not tweak the old one, play it for a minute as-is and then move to a bigger money one, or really dial in the old one? Thank you.
Here are the kind of upgrades that possibly would happen.
Pickups: this has dragon II pickups...eh, not super thrilled with these. Maybe a 57/08 set (which I know sound good) or possibly for less money Suhr ssv, SD, Fralin,etc
Refret: plek with stainless jumbos would really set this one off on playability. The frets are a tiny bit low(more for me than maybe other players)
Wing style keys: yuck, I have some schallers that can replace them
Rewire: I can do this myself, the rotary is not a great option for live use
The fret and pickup part, plus what I paid for it (cheap for 2021) still makes this a decently bigger investment for the old one.
I guess the idea is if I just had about $3500-up I could just get a DGT (big frets, great pickups, and I do like the tremelo) a really nice custom (five way with Trem and wide fat or regular neck...HATE the wide thin!) or McCarty of some sort and add 57/08 set to one of these, or something similar.To tweak out the old one it will not cost as much as the others but maybe more trouble than it's worth and possibly still not as good as a newer one. I have owned a handful and played a zillion PRS' over the years and they were almost always good. What say ye forum folks? What would you do? Should I not tweak the old one, play it for a minute as-is and then move to a bigger money one, or really dial in the old one? Thank you.