The Dog Of Frankenstein (pronounced "FrankenstEEn")

[Furtive]

I have a soft spot for guitars like this. That spot is coincidentally between my ears. Found on ebay as "beat but cool", and... yeah, this one is a bit rough. We'll see how it goes. Seller stated it's stable, plays and sounds great (don't they all? ) - and offered no hassle return if I don't like it. This is a 98 CU24, apparently a "10" guitar - meaning it broke into ten pieces and someone pieced it back together with JBweld. And yes, that is a MIM strat bridge. My `91 EG experienced a very ugly breakup at the neck joint, and is stable as any other of my PRS.

If it is stable, it's getting a Mann NOS PRS trem, PRS tuners, and shot in opaque. Already have a complete 1995 HFS/VB and harness waiting.

 

[darkmavis]

Cripes! hope it works out mate looks like its had a tough old life. what colour is she gonna be when finished?

 

[Furtive]

Cripes! hope it works out mate looks like its had a tough old live. what colour is she gonna be when finished?

I'm on the fence about the color. Initial choice was going to be Ford's Kona Blue (my father bought himself a GT500 as a retirement present), but now I'm thinking Egyptian Gold, all gold hardware, gold everything. Let's see how the thing handles once it arrives, maybe I'll do a poll

 

[toothace]

Sweet!!! Keep the progress pics flowing on this!!

 

[Stephen Rudnick]

Furtive,
You Sir have big balls to buy that! I do wish you well in your surgery, Victor Frankenstein.
Don't forget the electrodes on either side of the neck.

 

[Furtive]

Furtive,
You Sir have big balls to buy that! I do wish you well in your surgery, Victor Frankenstein.
Don't forget the electrodes on either side of the neck.

There is a line that separates bravery from stupidity. And I'm not brave!

 

[Stephen Rudnick]

Furtive,
You may not think you are brave, but you are my new hero!

 

[veinbuster]

That is pretty messed up.
A bold project if it is stable enough to keep.

 

[The Fight]

If it's stable, I'd buy it. I love project guitars!
Good luck !

 

[Furtive]

In my haste of going back and forth with the seller for over a week, I never bothered to check the tuners. Got a complete set of wings . Surprised they weren't swapped out, this is a bonus. Well, a bonus like finding a $20 in a pair of jeans I haven't worn in months.

 

[Furtive]

"The Dog has landed."

In spite of the Fender bridge and the OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT NECK JOINT?!?!!! factor....
- the pickups wound by the seller's friend are flat out awesome. They do PAF very well into my Marshall.
- the body reacts more to low frequency feedback than my 03 CU24.
- neck and frets are good enough. Typical even wear for 15+ year old player PRS with no fretwork done.
- Winged Tuners, how I love thee. But G string tuner, why you slippin?... will investigate
- action is way too high due to wrong bridge, but looks like it'll even out once a PRS trem is in place.

While it's not nearly as bad as the CE22 Copper Plan 9 project, it's the worst I've seen in person as far as PRS on the edge of survival. The cracks are ugly, but appear to be more cosmetic than structural.The body and neck resonate like a good PRS does. As the seller stated... everything is good, once you get past the initial shock of the finish cracks.

So far I've got $565 into 1998 CU24 38183 (shipped, as is, without a case). Looks like I might get her back to hardware spec for $800. Since it's stable - might pass on refin at this point. No regrets, it'll be a beater that I hope to look back on in a few years and be glad I didn't pass on.

 

[Parralax view]

Talk about making my heart flutter in a "It could be yours way", my McCarty has the same cherry sunburst finish. What happened to it?? Looks run over as some have been.

 

[The Fight]

Hey if you pm me, I can probably send you a prs trem, it's kinda old and has patina on it but it should work.

 

[G-Man]

Leave it the way it is! A good conversation piece. Is that water damage? Nashville river guitar?

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Dibs.
I wanna paint the sh!t outta that.

 

[Furtive]

Parralax, I have no idea what happened to this one, but being run over sounds plausible. Whatever it was, it was a lot of force. I remember my younger brother at age 2 standing on chipboard case containing a MIJ Strat, resulting in cracks through the body finish. But the body itself was fine, along with the neck joint.

G-Man, this guit turned up on ebay. Definitely not water damage, and it's all stable. And yeah, the front is staying as is, a "guitar of character."

Sergio, great minds (and all the kids starring in a Kool-Aid commercial) think alike. Shoot in Kona Blue to match my pop's Mustang, that was my first thought while bidding. When it was on the way, I got the idea of blackout treatment - but with GOLD. But once it arrived, and the face didn't look horrible - decided to leave the front. Back will be refinished original to blend in with the neck.

And thanks to The Fight for generously offering his old trem. I can't think of a better match than a bridge that has player wear on it

But yeah, most of us that don't work in a repair shop rarely get to see a PRS with severe cosmetic damage. In 28 years of playing, I can think of seeing only a few guitars with bad cracks like this. A CU24 is something you think of as shining on display or in a case, typically in close proximity to a dentist or lawyer. Occasionally one turns up with player wear (gentle wear from a careful owner). But The Dog appears to have been used as a bludgeoning tool against zombies. And that is just plain bad ass.

 

[G-Man]

That is some pure mojo! I do not know If I have told this story before and apologize if repeated. In or around 1990, I saw a local band where the guitar player was playing a CU24 in whale blue that was just completely trashed. Lost of road wear, little finish left on the top, etc. In 1994, I go to the Westchester guitar show and see Ed Roman showing off 50+ new PRS's with swimsuit models, Buck Dharma and Richie Scarlet playing solos, etc.

On the way out, I go to this little booth with a beat up blue PRS on the table. We are talking trashed but looked really familiar. The dealer wanted $700 for it and I passed because it was just beat up. Knowing what I know now, I am kicking myself in the butt doing the date math. Beat up guitar in 1990, only started really being build around 1985.....I'm a dumb ass. It is good to see someone take a chance on a guitar and make it play great. I missed the one that got away to this date!

 

[Furtive]

...On the way out, I go to this little booth with a beat up blue PRS on the table. We are talking trashed but looked really familiar. The dealer wanted $700 for it and I passed because it was just beat up. Knowing what I know now, I am kicking myself in the butt doing the date math. Beat up guitar in 1990, only started really being build around 1985.....I'm a dumb ass. It is good to see someone take a chance on a guitar and make it play great. I missed the one that got away to this date!

Great story! But that $700 in 1990 dollars is more than my $565 in 2016 dollars. I turned 18 that year, so the level of inflation in the past 26 years is worth considering . But yeah, these severe examples tend to stick in people's minds. Glad I didn't pass on this; I've saved a few 50s Fenders by adding year or era correct pieces to complete the guitar. After 30 years, there are finally enough PRS on the market to include very rough examples.