Special Custom 22 Semi vs Custom 24 semi ?

Greywolf

Greywolf

Luthier and Sound Sensei
Joined
Sep 30, 2022
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Duluth,Ga
You tube can only go so far , so I'm going to the Mountain of wisdom that is this Forum .
NOTE: In NO WAY is this suppose to be a poll or a contest of which is better .. .. just impressions on use of one vs the other.

I realize the Special 22 has more pickup/tone options , but both have coil tap and a fairly wide pallette, these seem fairly close instruments .
Has anyone had the opportunity to play both ? Impressions?
There's one of each available in knockout combo's for the same $ ..
This will be to fit in with my McSoapy and 594 HBII .
Now that I'm retired , I want to downsize my large collection , much of which I don't play and just have a handful of great ones to enjoy .
The rest go to my Grandsons.

this satin one just drops my jaw ... stunning ...

u1nerayfhktva71ojgzq.jpg
 
Last edited:
andy474x said:
If one or the other has the Multi Tap pickups, that’d be a strong deciding factor for me. The single coil sounds in those are the real deal. That probably means the SSH, but maybe the CU24 has them, too.
Click to expand...
Completely agree. The SSH is going to have much better splits if they are the MT pickups. That Cu24 is gorgeous, though
 
The Custom 24 will have a different neck pick-up sound - even if they had the exact same Pick-ups due to the relative distance away from the bridge. It was that difference that separated a Custom 24 from a Custom 22 and depending on the wiring, (traditional 5-way, 3 way with tone Push/pull splitting or a 24-08), will affect the majority of positions as the 'neck' Pup is engaged. A semi-Hollow Cu24 will give you the 'PRS' sounds

The Special is a semi-hollow Custom 22-08 but with a 5-way and Narrowfield which is active in positions 2 and 4 which will give you 12 different selection choices. Even if you had the same Pups, only 2 of those 12 would be like a semi-hollow Custom 24 - the bridge (full or split) but as they use the 58/15 LT's (or MT's on the Ltd Edition), you get a more traditional LP ish sounding guitar with the ability to spit the coils and get stratty-ish tones and various other tonal variations in between.

I'd never advise someone on which to buy as it really comes down to which guitar you prefer, think you need, want or would be the more beneficial to you - something only you would know. I don't want 'my' preference to be the reason someone spends their money and its you that has to live with the choice.

That being said, I do think the Special is a 'special' instrument and versatile too. The Semi-hollow Cu24 (to me) is a great instrument but its a Custom 24 and as 'versatile' as a Custom 24 is, its going to be a lighter weight Custom 24. The Special would suit me, my needs/style etc more than the Cu24 so I'd buy that before I considered a Cu24. However, I do own 2 Cu24's (regular with 5-way and 'Floyd') as well as a Special (and a 594 HBii) and my Special is probably my most played guitar since owning it. That's because I can go from LPish to Stratty without swapping instruments and probably gives me 90% of tones I could ever want in one guitar, its light weight and comfortable to play. But that is MY preference...
 
Before coming to this thread, I played my Special through a DG30 this morning, and it sounded utterly fantastic. I took it through its switch settings. It's a wonderful guitar with a nice resonance, and it splits the difference between a solid-body and true hollow-body guitar.

It grows on me every time I play it.

Then again, the CU24 SH will also have a very nice resonance and do much of that as well.

The middle pickup offers wonderful switching options that add some serious mojo. So I'm glad I have the Special. However, the most interesting thing about the Special (to me) is the resonance of the semi-hollow construction.

If I had to choose, I'd go with the Special because of the switching, plus I'm a complete sucker for toggle switches to split coils. But there are also folks who would prefer not to have a middle pickup.

I'd say on this one you'd be hard-pressed to make a bad decision. Both options are great!
 
Well, both are gorgeous, one even a little more gorgeous than the other.

I'd say: your other guitars are 22 fret guitars. Might be worth considering, since both guitars have a broad pallette, like you said. Question I would ask myself is if I would find more use in 12 flavours over of 6. And how you feel about 24 frets vs 22.
 
All the ones I make have 24 frets , so that area is well explored , I have 7 of them. From all the input the Special 22 seems to be the better choice . Thanks again for your input folks
 
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Greywolf said:
You tube can only go so far , so I'm going to the Mountain of wisdom that is this Forum .
NOTE: In NO WAY is this suppose to be a poll or a contest of which is better .. .. just impressions on use of one vs the other.

I realize the Special 22 has more pickup/tone options , but both have coil tap and a fairly wide pallette, these seem fairly close instruments .
Has anyone had the opportunity to play both ? Impressions?
There's one of each available in knockout combo's for the same $ ..
This will be to fit in with my McSoapy and 594 HBII .
Now that I'm retired , I want to downsize my large collection , much of which I don't play and just have a handful of great ones to enjoy .
The rest go to my Grandsons.

this satin one just drops my jaw ... stunning ...

u1nerayfhktva71ojgzq.jpg
Click to expand...
That’s quite the looker!
 
Well I'm a sucker for Koa , I've built a guitar and bass from it and have a custom shop T3 Koa taylor along with a K26Ce and GS mini koa. I'm looking around for that "special one " and this gem pops up .. I've only seen a few , all have been private stock as is this one .
ulfdoeg5x9x8fzre5ves.jpg
xeusu3wzroudz8atgigc.jpg
 
Greywolf said:
Well I'm a sucker for Koa , I've built a guitar and bass from it and have a custom shop T3 Koa taylor along with a K26Ce and GS mini koa. I'm looking around for that "special one " and this gem pops up .. I've only seen a few , all have been private stock as is this one .
Click to expand...

There are a few out there including my non-PS CE, as pictured here with model Hansomatic.

 
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