Revisiting the Custom 24...

[Jazzedout]

I usually play my BRW 513 and an Ibanez S2120x and have moved away from 24 fret guitars, so my old Cu24 stays in the case most of the time...
Decided to take it out for a string change, fine tune the setup and give it a go!!
I remembered why I did not want to sell this one!! Super resonant, smooth feeling Rock tone machine!!!
I also forgot how nice the figuring of the fretboard was, not to mention the figuring of the inlays and quilt top!!

Here is my 1992 Custom in Tortoise Shell:

 

[Boogie]

Beautiful! You know, there are ways to genre-bend a CU24, right? You could be a pickup swap away from another jazz machine in the family.

 

[Jazzedout]

Don't be fooled by the username. I'm actually happy with the pickups...
The HFS and the Dimarzio Tone Zone is the sound that I grew up with and I feel at home every time I play a guitar with them.
The Vintage Bass is Jazzy enough!

 

[Casi1]

Beautiful! You know, there are ways to genre-bend a CU24, right? You could be a pickup swap away from another jazz machine in the family.

Hmmm. Do tell. I might want to jazz up my Cu24...

 

[AaeCee]

Love it!

Regarding jazz, I've often opined on the silky yet clear, jazzy tones I can get on my Cu24 neck (VB pickup) with the tone rolled well back. At least when I attempt something in that realm, I think it sounds as appropriate as a true jazz box, just different.

All IMO of course as I generally suck at jazz, but I try hard.

 

[Boogie]

Hmmm. Do tell. I might want to jazz up my Cu24...

I’ve found it’s relative to the overall rig, but any lower-output pickup should be able to do almost anything except extremes. Personally, I like PAFs for warm neck tones...like in my 335. Yes, that’s an unfair comparison, but the Vintage Bass in my CU24 is very nice for this. It reacts well to the tone knob, too. Push the output of the amp, back off on the volume knob, finger pick it close to the neck pickup and oooooooh!!! Touch sensitive and gooey. But with my SE245 + Antiquity neck is even warmer and chewey-er. My FrankenStrat with Texas Specials, too. Thru the Super Dallas, it’s magic. Less so with the MkIII. But on the Kemper, with BE-50 profiles (yes, you read that right), it is also magic. Sometimes you just can’t predict what will work the best.

 

[Casi1]

I’ve found it’s relative to the overall rig, but any lower-output pickup should be able to do almost anything except extremes. Personally, I like PAFs for warm neck tones...like in my 335. Yes, that’s an unfair comparison, but the Vintage Bass in my CU24 is very nice for this. It reacts well to the tone knob, too. Push the output of the amp, back off on the volume knob, finger pick it close to the neck pickup and oooooooh!!! Touch sensitive and gooey. But with my SE245 + Antiquity neck is even warmer and chewey-er. My FrankenStrat with Texas Specials, too. Thru the Super Dallas, it’s magic. Less so with the MkIII. But on the Kemper, with BE-50 profiles (yes, you read that right), it is also magic. Sometimes you just can’t predict what will work the best.

Thanks for the recommendations. I’m trying to come up with different applications for my different guitars... so this is helpful. I had a set of Antiquity pups but ended up selling them with the SE semi hollow that I put them in.

 

[Boogie]

I had a set of Antiquity pups but ended up selling them with the SE semi hollow that I put them in.

Man, I so want another bridge Antiquity hummer for my RL Vela. I’m turning it into a light weight beast! I would have paid you to take them out of the SESH. They don’t come up that often on the used market.

 

[Casi1]

Man, I so want another bridge Antiquity hummer for my RL Vela. I’m turning it into a light weight beast! I would have paid you to take them out of the SESH. They don’t come up that often on the used market.

Yeah they sound so good.

The bright side is that the local guy who bought the SE had never played a PRS guitar before so after seeing how beautiful the guitar was, how good it felt, and hearing the sound of those pickups, he made the easy decision. He is now a PRS fan...

 

[Boogie]

Yeah they sound so good.

The bright side is that the local guy who bought the SE had never played a PRS guitar before so after seeing how beautiful the guitar was, how good it felt, and hearing the sound of those pickups, he made the easy decision. He is now a PRS fan...

That deserves a Sergio-exclamation.

 

[bodia]

Great looking Custom!

 

[AP515]

Man, I so want another bridge Antiquity hummer for my RL Vela. I’m turning it into a light weight beast! I would have paid you to take them out of the SESH. They don’t come up that often on the used market.

I recently picked up a set used (though they were never installed and still in the packaging)... and no I ain't sellin'.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Yeah they sound so good.

The bright side is that the local guy who bought the SE had never played a PRS guitar before so after seeing how beautiful the guitar was, how good it felt, and hearing the sound of those pickups, he made the easy decision. He is now a PRS fan...

That deserves a Sergio-exclamation.

Bangin’!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I usually play my BRW 513 and an Ibanez S2120x and have moved away from 24 fret guitars, so my old Cu24 stays in the case most of the time...
Decided to take it out for a string change, fine tune the setup and give it a go!!
I remembered why I did not want to sell this one!! Super resonant, smooth feeling Rock tone machine!!!
I also forgot how nice the figuring of the fretboard was, not to mention the figuring of the inlays and quilt top!!

Here is my 1992 Custom in Tortoise Shell:

Oh yeah... Bangin’!

 

[Andrew Paul]

Beautiful custom 24! Tortoise shell one of my favorites! Those early CU24s are my favorites.

 

[László]

Gosh, that’s a beautiful ‘92!

How cool that you rediscovered it.

 

[Jazzedout]

A little background story:
In the mid 90's, a friend had saved up and bought a (really expensive for that time including customs and taxes in Greece) non 10 top Custom in Whale blue with HFS/VB and moon inlays which I really liked it each time I played it. I remember it was a little heavy (at least compared to what others guitars we had available at the time, including my RG550), but at that time the HFS was one of the best pickups for my tastes.
Of course I started looking for a used one from time to time...
Several years later, I have bought this one without playing it first. I just loved the quilt top, the figuring of the rosewood and the super sparkly inlays. It had an HFS, so how bad could it sound? I was good to go!!
When it came home it had old strings and dirty/dried fretboard, so before even playing a note on it, I cleaned it properly, oiled the rosewood which made the figuring pop even more, restringed it with my usual D'Addario 10's did some minor setup adjustments that were need and tried it unplugged!
Boom!! It was the nicest surprise I got! Every note resonated in my hands, it sustained great unplugged and had a really nice note to note definition! Plugging it in was a fresh take of the sound I remembered!

 

[Boogie]

A little background story:
In the mid 90's, a friend had saved up and bought a (really expensive for that time including customs and taxes in Greece) non 10 top Custom in Whale blue with HFS/VB and moon inlays which I really liked it each time I played it. I remember it was a little heavy (at least compared to what others guitars we had available at the time, including my RG550), but at that time the HFS was one of the best pickups for my tastes.
Of course I started looking for a used one from time to time...
Several years later, I have bought this one without playing it first. I just loved the quilt top, the figuring of the rosewood and the super sparkly inlays. It had an HFS, so how bad could it sound? I was good to go!!
When it came home it had old strings and dirty/dried fretboard, so before even playing a note on it, I cleaned it properly, oiled the rosewood which made the figuring pop even more, restringed it with my usual D'Addario 10's did some minor setup adjustments that were need and tried it unplugged!
Boom!! It was the nicest surprise I got! Every note resonated in my hands, it sustained great unplugged and had a really nice note to note definition! Plugging it in was a fresh take of the sound I remembered!

That’s a ‘happily ever after’ post if I ever saw one! Ultra cool.