Strange CE 22 Finish

Mentalo87

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Dec 21, 2023
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Stuttgart-Germany
Greetings all,
as a CE22 fanboy my mission is to get my hands on every decent CE22 I come across. They seem to become increasingly rare, especially in Germany/Europe. I stumbled over this one, which appears to be in good shape, but the finish looks off to me:



According the description it’s a 1994 CE. Was this even an available finish? Seems to me like an completely faded blue or green…?
 
I'm also a big fan of mid-late 90's CE-22s. As this one is a '94 do you know whether it has the Alder body? I suspect that it should have but it could be from the change over period. Are they Dragon 1's that are fitted? - looks like they could be. Colour is almost certainly a faded finish due to sunlight. There were some unusual finishes available on CE 22s - I have a solid sparkly pink (which was described as 'salmon' - but I've still to discover what PRS called it) and one that is like a washed cherry - this one has a nice top under it - nicely figured but not classed as a "10". Both of mine (*Edit '95 not '97') and 98) have Dragon 2s (Edit: - I was told that the ones in the '95 were D2's - maybe incorrectly) and are not Alder. The finish wouldn't put me off!
 
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The description says mahogany body and Dragon pickup set. There seem to be some things off, maybe unintentionally. Afaik for this production year they came with D1s, which are typically uncovered. The shop is not too far from where I live even if this was a dud. Maybe I‘ll check it out…
 
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I'm also a big fan of mid-late 90's CE-22s. As this one is a '94 do you know whether it has the Alder body? I suspect that it should have but it could be from the change over period. Are they Dragon 1's that are fitted? - looks like they could be. Colour is almost certainly a faded finish due to sunlight. There were some unusual finishes available on CE 22s - I have a solid sparkly pink (which was described as 'salmon' - but I've still to discover what PRS called it) and one that is like a washed cherry - this one has a nice top under it - nicely figured but not classed as a "10". Both of mine (97 and 98) have Dragon 2s and are not Alder. The finish wouldn't put me off!
I think it was the CE24s that came in alder until like 94 or 95. CE22s came out in 94 but were traditionally the Mahogany back. The 22s had D1s, early 24s had something else, can't remember what tho.
 
The description says mahogany body and Dragon pickup set. There seem to be some things off, maybe unintentionally. Afaik for this production year they came with D1s, which are typically uncovered. The shop is not too far from where I live even if this was a dud. Maybe I‘ll check it out…
Yes, that's why I was asking - should be D1s - which are typically uncovered. They question is then "Is 'typical' to be read as 'always'? If not then it could be a good score!
 
I think it was the CE24s that came in alder until like 94 or 95. CE22s came out in 94 but were traditionally the Mahogany back. The 22s had D1s, early 24s had something else, can't remember what tho.
Thanks - makes sense as I've never seen a CE as offered for sale with an alder back. I've never been sure as to whether the early ones had them or not.
 
An acquaintance of mine had a '94 CE24 that he claimed had an alder back. My '95 CE22 had a mahogany back. I believe his was alder because the wooodgrain looked very different than mine or any 'hog" that I can recall.
 
Greetings all,
as a CE22 fanboy my mission is to get my hands on every decent CE22 I come across. They seem to become increasingly rare, especially in Germany/Europe. I stumbled over this one, which appears to be in good shape, but the finish looks off to me:



According the description it’s a 1994 CE. Was this even an available finish? Seems to me like an completely faded blue or green…?

This is an extremely faded emerald green. I deliberately did that to my 1994 CE-22 in preparation for re-staining it in black after I had removed the finish with a heat gun and plastic scraper. This is exactly what it looked like after it had faded. As for some of the other questions in this thread, the switch from alder to mahogany happened at some point in 1994. Mine has a mahogany back. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a CE-22 with an alder back but they may exist. Probably not many though. The Dragon I’s were always uncovered. The pickups in yours are not stock unless someone put covers on them themselves.
 
I've corrected my earlier post - my 'Washed Cherry' is, according to the original listing "Raspberry Red" and is a '95, not a '97. The pups are uncovered - but I was told that these were D2s - probably incorrectly. Next time that the strings off I shall lift the pups and check. They certainly perform differently to the ones in my Salmon Pink sparkle one - which are definitely D2s.

The Raspberry Red one I bought from the vendor in the below listing, but from a show - so ignore the price as it was nowhere near that! The blemish(es) on the back of the neck are unsightly but I can neither see nor feel them when playing! Not sure what caused them - I don't think they are from excessive playing as the frets and board have no real wear at all. The blemish is almost like a watermark on the wood (sweat?). The pups may be D1s - but they may also be aftermarket (I assumed D2s with the covers removed but I'm not so sure about that at all).

I don't use hosting and so a link (which amazingly still exists) will have to suffice: https://www.prsfinder.co.uk/products/ce-custom-22-rasperry?_pos=1&_fid=e367479a3&_ss=c
 
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