Perhaps I was right all along, I say to all you 22 fret people!

[BrianC]

So for years I hear over and over again all of the negative remarks about having 24 frets! You don't need that many and how it will move your neck pup into such an undesirable position the guitar will be unplayable (satire).

Now I see in so many models the neck pup flipped in its orientation. What effect does this have on tone? Could it be that it in some small way is like having its focus be slightly more focused in the direction of the bridge.

I wonder how the flipped neck pup compares by measurement to the custom 24 neck pup.

Seriously though, for me, the custom 24 with the right neck pup and a slight tone roll off gets my old LP neck tone (well close enough) and tapped with just the neck or neck and bridge really get a good F tone as well. Who cares anyway, because 98% of the gig is the bridge pup!!

 

[JasonE]

Nothing wrong with a 24 fret guitar. I have a few. I just prefer 22. PRS has flipped the neck pickup on a couple of models in the last several years. I am not sure what the exact reason is for it. They also started flipping the magnet in the neck humbucker around the 2016 to 2017 area and have continued on with that through today. Again, I am not exactly sure why they are doing that. I did notice that on the guitars with splits they use the inside coils and not the outside coils for those tones.

 

[Black Plaid]

I just like how 22 fret PRS look better. There, I said it. I'm shallow.

 

[Aether]

PRS previously stated regarding the pickup flip on the SSH: “Following the TCI-tuning process, we reversed the orientation of the neck pickup (on guitars with mini-toggle switches) to place the screw coil underneath the string's natural harmonic. This enhances the frequency response of the neck pickup when the pickup is split.”

 

[Russ73]

I started with 22 and after 35 years I get lost noodling up there...just a preference ...lol

 

[FennRx]

Custom 22 > Custom 24

 

[Birdsofprey]

^ 24 is a bigger number lol.

 

[deathworlder]

Who cares?
Apparently, you.

 

[Birdsofprey]

It was a joke lighten up.

 

[deathworlder]

Ditto

 

[Deleted member 48267]

I have to confess, when I am learning something that utilizes the 21st fret, it's easier up there with a 24 fret giter. So I own one. Overall though, I prefer the feel of a shorter scale length. It's not so much the tonal differences of pickup placement. It's more a preference of how my fingers fit.

 

[JasonE]

I have to confess, when I am learning something that utilizes the 21st fret, it's easier up there with a 24 fret giter. So I own one. Overall though, I prefer the feel of a shorter scale length. It's not so much the tonal differences of pickup placement. It's more a preference of how my fingers fit.

Scale length is definitely part of the equation for me. I get along better with a 24 fret that is a longer scale length. The PRS scale length is a little cramped for me in the upper frets on a 24 fret model. My non PRS 24 fret guitars are a longer scale length than what the PRS is.

 

[RickP]

 

[dogrocketp]

22 or 24, it’s all good.

 

[Floyd_Argus]

So for years I hear over and over again all of the negative remarks about having 24 frets! You don't need that many and how it will move your neck pup into such an undesirable position the guitar will be unplayable (satire).

Now I see in so many models the neck pup flipped in its orientation. What effect does this have on tone? Could it be that it in some small way is like having its focus be slightly more focused in the direction of the bridge.

I wonder how the flipped neck pup compares by measurement to the custom 24 neck pup.

Seriously though, for me, the custom 24 with the right neck pup and a slight tone roll off gets my old LP neck tone (well close enough) and tapped with just the neck or neck and bridge really get a good F tone as well. Who cares anyway, because 98% of the gig is the bridge pup!!

I've personally experimented with rotating humbuckers that are of "traditional design", i.e. one screw coil and one slug coil, and if they are wired so the two coils are In Series (which is the normal default for most humbuckers), there is NO difference in tone btw normal orientation and rotated 180 degrees. But you don't have to take my word for it, it only takes about 7-10 minutes to do the rotation, so go ahead and give it a try for yourself. (Loosen strings, unscrew pickup ring screws and the two mounting screws, lift up pickup and rotate it, remount it in ring w the 2 mounting screws, then resecure pickup and ring to cavity w the 4 screws, tighten strings back up.)

where you WOULD hear a difference, is with the pickup running in Splitcoil mode, because the magnetic field created by Slug pieces is different than Scew pole pieces, so where the coil sits under the strings along the relative string length is different depending on pickup orientation.

There is a tonal difference in a Neck humbucker that is located just after a 22nd fret, and one that is located just after the 24 fret, and again the reason is due to WHERE the pickup is detecting the string vibration along the string length/scale length. It's a matter of personal taste whether someone prefers one or the other, as well as bias due to previous experience, i.e. people who played Gibson models for a long time and got accustomed to how those post-22 fret neck humbuckers sound, many of them feel that the post-24 fret neck humbucker of a PRS doesn't "sound right". Whereas another player who isn't already indoctrinated by years of Gibson model playtime - maybe they are new to guitar or played Fenders, find that post-22 fret neck humbuckers sound too muddy and appreciate the cleaner sounding post-24 fret neck humbucker.

Per a statement i found from Paul himself in an filmed interview (i can dig it up for you), the post-24 fret neck humbucker placement on his guitars was specifically to achieve the cleaner sound vs a 22-fret located neck humbucker. Him adding the extra 2 frets (23rd & 24th) was only an after thought of what to do with the new weird gap that resulted from relocating the Neck humbucker on a 22 fret guitar. I'll get back to you shortly with a link to that filmed interview. It's on youtube.

 

[Floyd_Argus]

I've personally experimented with rotating humbuckers that are of "traditional design", i.e. one screw coil and one slug coil, and if they are wired so the two coils are In Series (which is the normal default for most humbuckers), there is NO difference in tone btw normal orientation and rotated 180 degrees. But you don't have to take my word for it, it only takes about 7-10 minutes to do the rotation, so go ahead and give it a try for yourself. (Loosen strings, unscrew pickup ring screws and the two mounting screws, lift up pickup and rotate it, remount it in ring w the 2 mounting screws, then resecure pickup and ring to cavity w the 4 screws, tighten strings back up.)

where you WOULD hear a difference, is with the pickup running in Splitcoil mode, because the magnetic field created by Slug pieces is different than Scew pole pieces, so where the coil sits under the strings along the relative string length is different depending on pickup orientation.

There is a tonal difference in a Neck humbucker that is located just after a 22nd fret, and one that is located just after the 24 fret, and again the reason is due to WHERE the pickup is detecting the string vibration along the string length/scale length. It's a matter of personal taste whether someone prefers one or the other, as well as bias due to previous experience, i.e. people who played Gibson models for a long time and got accustomed to how those post-22 fret neck humbuckers sound, many of them feel that the post-24 fret neck humbucker of a PRS doesn't "sound right". Whereas another player who isn't already indoctrinated by years of Gibson model playtime - maybe they are new to guitar or played Fenders, find that post-22 fret neck humbuckers sound too muddy and appreciate the cleaner sounding post-24 fret neck humbucker.

Per a statement i found from Paul himself in an filmed interview (i can dig it up for you), the post-24 fret neck humbucker placement on his guitars was specifically to achieve the cleaner sound vs a 22-fret located neck humbucker. Him adding the extra 2 frets (23rd & 24th) was only an after thought of what to do with the new weird gap that resulted from relocating the Neck humbucker on a 22 fret guitar. I'll get back to you shortly with a link to that filmed interview. It's on youtube.

Here's the link to that interview w Paul.

At time mark 1 minute 17 seconds, in response to why he designed 27 frets into his early model the Sorcerer's Apprentice, he says he was solving for the gap created from the relocating neck humbucker. Meaning the decision to relocate the neck humbucker came ahead of any ideas about adding extra frets.

 

[László]

On a very personal, gut level I love the Custom 24. I especially like the focused sound of the bridge pickup!

It's the guitar that knocked me out back in 1991, that I bought the minute I played and heard it; more often than not I've had one on hand.

 

[Abe]

The only 24 fret guitars I've tried have been Ibanez, and they really just aint my type of guitar so it didn't feel like I was missing much.

I figure the 2 extra frets might be nice to have someday on a guitar that fits me, but for now I'm accustomed to 22 fret electrics.

Making the jump up to 24 though might make me not want to go back.

 

[MarcWink]

I can play 22 or 24 frets. With PRS, I tend to PREFER a Custom 22 over a Custom 24, but that's because I like the Wide/Fat and Pattern Neck over the Wide/Thin or Pattern/Thin, thought I can get on GREAT with a Pattern Regular or Regular neck. At the end of the day, it's those 21 fret folks that you have to watch out for...who likes an odd number? Weirdos.

 

[BrianC]

Original Poster here

Thanks for the thoughtful replies!

I WAS a LP player for a long time and achieving the neck tone was a short journey - just finding the right neck pups.

Scale length - again, had LP and Charvel (short and longer) 25" is perfect for me. So much so that it really keeps me from shopping many other brands.

23 and 24th fret - its often not that one uses those frets that draws you to the CU24, but being able to keep your hand in the same orientation and move up to say high A and play almost the same way you would in the middle of the neck.

I did not know some of the wiring changes to some of the flipped neck pups - thanks.