HighGain510
Just one more...
So as you might know, I've owned a few PRS over the years (those who know me may consider this to be a bit of an understatement... 
) and honestly I've yet to find a Custom 24 that suited me quite as well as the PRS Holcomb limited edition signature model does! I bought my first one brand new when they initially hit dealers and absolutely fell in love!
It has such killer specs, very unique compared to the standard CU24 recipe: 25.5" scale, 20" radius, mahogany/maple body paired with a hard rock maple neck and ebony board, PRS flat-mount hardtail bridge, Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Alpha/Omega set (Mark's signature model pickups), and satin finished body and neck. YUM! Personally I would have gone for a gloss body and satin neck to help make that top pop a little more, but it's not *my* sig model so I'll take the package of specs offered and enjoy it for what it is since the rest of the specs absolutely kill!
Fast forward a bit and after owning my first Holcomb a while, I decided that now that I had my Drop-C PRS duty covered, I'd REALLY love a guitar that I could use for Eb/Db stuff so a hardtail was obviously a requirement. I already knew I loved the tone and feel of the Holcomb, so... I tracked down a used Holcomb with a lovely 1-piece top in Jade finish for a pretty decent price and pulled the trigger on it!
Awesome stuff! 2 for 2, this one was just as great as my first one so it seems that it was indeed not a fluke, the combination of the specs used for that model really DO just work perfectly!
This left me with another itch to scratch: I have been itching for a CU24 Floyd for a long time, however A/B'ing my Holcomb with some of my other CU24's I started to realize the 25.5" scale and 20" radius are definitely more what I'm looking for in a CU24 with a Floyd (I briefly had a Dustie Waring sig and something just felt off to me, hard to put my finger on it but I'm starting to think maybe that was it!), but the only option for getting that combo of specs with a Floyd Rose would be via a rather pricey Private Stock (what makes it especially "pricey" to me is that the bridge is the only "major" spec change I'd be making from the production guitar beyond finish/inlay options obviously).... OR IS IT?!
I started chatting with Skitchy and it sounded like a PTC mod trip for a Holcomb to add the routing for an OFR and matching nut was definitely something he could do, so I put in a request for a price quote and indeed it's a little expensive but at the end of the day it was still not nearly as expensive as ordering a PS version of this spec combo. I scoured the web for a while and tracked down a used Holcomb that had been on consignment with a small shop for a while and had them talk to the owner of the guitar to see what the best price they could work out for me would be since the guitar had a so-so top and some wear, plus I planned to cover it with an opaque finish anyway so I was really just looking for the best price on the guitar itself that I could possibly find. Since the guitar has a little bit of wear to it as well as a tiny paint ding, that definitely worked in my favor! I got a great deal on the guitar itself, so now the total price of this project with all the mod and paint work seems even more reasonable!
Here's what she looks like for now (sorry for the so-so iPhone shots, when this one is all done I promise I'll actually take the time to do nicer pics with my SLR):
Planned mods:
- Send to PTC for top/back body routing for OFR and locking Floyd Rose nut
- Send to Marty Bell for a special refin (I'll keep it a secret for now, but the only hint I'll give is that I'm going for a VERY 80's metal look...)
- Head back to the PTC so Skitchy can work his magic for the hardware install and final setup/clean-up
- Hardware changes include Black Original Floyd Rose Hotrod Tremolo and matching R10 Floyd Rose Nut (stainless steel screws, 37mm Fat Brass Block) as well as matching Black PRS Phase III Locking Tuners (as seen on the Dustie Waring limited sig model)
I'll post updated pics as I receive them, but I'm super stoked to see this project come to life! I had really debated doing this as a Private Stock but since the specs really weren't changing much at all from the production version and I could accomplish the same thing for about 1/3 of the price as well as putting a ridiculously cool opaque finish I've wanted to do for a couple years now, I figured this was the most economical option since I've had to cut back on the NGD's over the last year or so since the wifey and I are saving up for expanding the family (I tried to argue the guitars are essentially babies, but she wasn't buying it...). This will still allow me to end up with a Floyd-equipped Holcomb different enough from my other two to justify it, so it's hard to beat that! The finish is likely going to be a bit polarizing I'm sure as it is not for everybody, but it's one I've loved and really wanted on one of my own guitars so I look forward to seeing it happen finally!
P.S. Before anyone says it, yes I understand some people feel it is sacrilege to modify ANY guitar like this, much less a limited edition, but for me a guitar is simply a tool to create music and I don't intend to sell this one so I'm not worried about anything else beyond that. At the end of the day, I'm going to have an awesome CU24 with tremolo capabilities that I don't have currently (here come the crazy flutters, divebombs and harmonic squeals!) as well as a ridiculously cool finish, so I'm happy with this project and that's all that matters!
) and honestly I've yet to find a Custom 24 that suited me quite as well as the PRS Holcomb limited edition signature model does! I bought my first one brand new when they initially hit dealers and absolutely fell in love!
It has such killer specs, very unique compared to the standard CU24 recipe: 25.5" scale, 20" radius, mahogany/maple body paired with a hard rock maple neck and ebony board, PRS flat-mount hardtail bridge, Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Alpha/Omega set (Mark's signature model pickups), and satin finished body and neck. YUM! Personally I would have gone for a gloss body and satin neck to help make that top pop a little more, but it's not *my* sig model so I'll take the package of specs offered and enjoy it for what it is since the rest of the specs absolutely kill!
Fast forward a bit and after owning my first Holcomb a while, I decided that now that I had my Drop-C PRS duty covered, I'd REALLY love a guitar that I could use for Eb/Db stuff so a hardtail was obviously a requirement. I already knew I loved the tone and feel of the Holcomb, so... I tracked down a used Holcomb with a lovely 1-piece top in Jade finish for a pretty decent price and pulled the trigger on it!
Awesome stuff! 2 for 2, this one was just as great as my first one so it seems that it was indeed not a fluke, the combination of the specs used for that model really DO just work perfectly!
This left me with another itch to scratch: I have been itching for a CU24 Floyd for a long time, however A/B'ing my Holcomb with some of my other CU24's I started to realize the 25.5" scale and 20" radius are definitely more what I'm looking for in a CU24 with a Floyd (I briefly had a Dustie Waring sig and something just felt off to me, hard to put my finger on it but I'm starting to think maybe that was it!), but the only option for getting that combo of specs with a Floyd Rose would be via a rather pricey Private Stock (what makes it especially "pricey" to me is that the bridge is the only "major" spec change I'd be making from the production guitar beyond finish/inlay options obviously).... OR IS IT?!
I started chatting with Skitchy and it sounded like a PTC mod trip for a Holcomb to add the routing for an OFR and matching nut was definitely something he could do, so I put in a request for a price quote and indeed it's a little expensive but at the end of the day it was still not nearly as expensive as ordering a PS version of this spec combo. I scoured the web for a while and tracked down a used Holcomb that had been on consignment with a small shop for a while and had them talk to the owner of the guitar to see what the best price they could work out for me would be since the guitar had a so-so top and some wear, plus I planned to cover it with an opaque finish anyway so I was really just looking for the best price on the guitar itself that I could possibly find. Since the guitar has a little bit of wear to it as well as a tiny paint ding, that definitely worked in my favor! I got a great deal on the guitar itself, so now the total price of this project with all the mod and paint work seems even more reasonable!
Here's what she looks like for now (sorry for the so-so iPhone shots, when this one is all done I promise I'll actually take the time to do nicer pics with my SLR):
Planned mods:
- Send to PTC for top/back body routing for OFR and locking Floyd Rose nut
- Send to Marty Bell for a special refin (I'll keep it a secret for now, but the only hint I'll give is that I'm going for a VERY 80's metal look...
)- Head back to the PTC so Skitchy can work his magic for the hardware install and final setup/clean-up
- Hardware changes include Black Original Floyd Rose Hotrod Tremolo and matching R10 Floyd Rose Nut (stainless steel screws, 37mm Fat Brass Block) as well as matching Black PRS Phase III Locking Tuners (as seen on the Dustie Waring limited sig model)
I'll post updated pics as I receive them, but I'm super stoked to see this project come to life! I had really debated doing this as a Private Stock but since the specs really weren't changing much at all from the production version and I could accomplish the same thing for about 1/3 of the price as well as putting a ridiculously cool opaque finish I've wanted to do for a couple years now, I figured this was the most economical option since I've had to cut back on the NGD's over the last year or so since the wifey and I are saving up for expanding the family (I tried to argue the guitars are essentially babies, but she wasn't buying it...
). This will still allow me to end up with a Floyd-equipped Holcomb different enough from my other two to justify it, so it's hard to beat that! The finish is likely going to be a bit polarizing I'm sure as it is not for everybody, but it's one I've loved and really wanted on one of my own guitars so I look forward to seeing it happen finally!P.S. Before anyone says it, yes I understand some people feel it is sacrilege to modify ANY guitar like this, much less a limited edition, but for me a guitar is simply a tool to create music and I don't intend to sell this one so I'm not worried about anything else beyond that. At the end of the day, I'm going to have an awesome CU24 with tremolo capabilities that I don't have currently (here come the crazy flutters, divebombs and harmonic squeals!
) as well as a ridiculously cool finish, so I'm happy with this project and that's all that matters! 
