Your opinions please on a 2003 Custom 22 that I'm considering.

[danktat]

So the "thin" part is primarily more towards the nut end of the neck? Then that wouldn't be as bad IMO. Yeah, I'm guessing that I would be able to adapt enough to get along with this type of neck as long as it's not some sort of extreme, which I doubt that it would be.

There seems like the metal pickup covers have aged quite a bit but those must be nickel? I've had this happen to the nickel covers on some of my other guitars, not a big deal, just normal aging, right?

If the weather is okay this coming weekend I'll most likely be taking a drive out to see this guitar but the long range forecast right now is predicting a "weather system" moving in, doesn't sound too good. But the seller is really cool, he said not to rush, that he's certain that the guitar will still be here and that he's not aggressively trying to sell it, I only found his ad by accident, it was something that he posted locally almost three months ago.

So, it looks like a decent candidate? Nobody is spotting anything in those pictures that might be a negative? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

A PRS neck still feels like a PRS neck (to me). Again, I don't play well enough for that kind of thing to make a huge difference.

As far as the hardware, a little blue magic will cure a lot of it. Make it look like new again

 

[dogrocketp]

So the "thin" part is primarily more towards the nut end of the neck? Then that wouldn't be as bad IMO. Yeah, I'm guessing that I would be able to adapt enough to get along with this type of neck as long as it's not some sort of extreme, which I doubt that it would be.

There seems like the metal pickup covers have aged quite a bit but those must be nickel? I've had this happen to the nickel covers on some of my other guitars, not a big deal, just normal aging, right?

If the weather is okay this coming weekend I'll most likely be taking a drive out to see this guitar but the long range forecast right now is predicting a "weather system" moving in, doesn't sound too good. But the seller is really cool, he said not to rush, that he's certain that the guitar will still be here and that he's not aggressively trying to sell it, I only found his ad by accident, it was something that he posted locally almost three months ago.

So, it looks like a decent candidate? Nobody is spotting anything in those pictures that might be a negative? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

The only thing wrong I see from the pictures is that you don’t own the guitar yet. I have damn near every neck profile PRS makes. They all have one thing in common. They play great. Go check it out and tell us what you think after you put the dollars down. There’s at least a dozen people on this forum that would buy that guitar in a New York minute.

 

[Burstbucker]

A PRS neck still feels like a PRS neck (to me). Again, I don't play well enough for that kind of thing to make a huge difference.

As far as the hardware, a little blue magic will cure a lot of it. Make it look like new again

That oxidization of the nickel covers never really bothered me but there is a way to clean that up? Blue Magic huh, will have to look into that. Thanks!

 

[Burstbucker]

The only thing wrong I see from the pictures is that you don’t own the guitar yet. I have damn near every neck profile PRS makes. They all have one thing in common. They play great. Go check it out and tell us what you think after you put the dollars down. There’s at least a dozen people on this forum that would buy that guitar in a New York minute.

I would shoot over to his place tonight after work but he is over three hours away! It will have to be a Saturday or Sunday and I'm hoping that the weather ends up cooperating so that I can do that.

As far as neck shape goes, as long as it's not a whole lot thinner than the neck on my 2013 Gibson SG Standard (basically a '61 reissue but without the over sized headstock) I'll be fine, I do feel more at home with a fatter neck but for a guitar such as this CU22 I'll allow some time to get used to it.

 

[Bill SAS 513]

Blue Magic, or Flitz...$$$$ is a Good deal, and the neck size wouldn't be anywhere near a deal breaker for me...


so, is it in your basement yet???

 

[Burstbucker]

Blue Magic, or Flitz...$$$$ is a Good deal, and the neck size wouldn't be anywhere near a deal breaker for me...


so, is it in your basement yet???

Man, I wish it was in my basement! Lol

It would have been nice if the seller were a little closer but like I said earlier, he's real laid back and hasn't even updated his original ad for it in a couple of months.

He said "I assure you that the guitar will be here for you, I'm not an aggressive seller", basically saying don't go getting yourself killed in a snow storm trying to get up here, relax and get here when you can.

The seller of that 2006 Singlecut was very keen on unloading it, he had ads up in numerous locales and updated and reposted it many times. It is really ironic that I scrambled around like a madman trying to sell gear to buy his Singlecut and I ended up coming up with the cash......four days after he sold his guitar! I was just crushed when I saw that it sold. It had a wide fat neck too.

Oh well, maybe this guitar is as good as the one that I just missed out on. It does sound like it has way less play time on it, the SC has some of the usual little chips and scratches of a player but still in excellent condition but this CU22 sounds like it never left its case.

If a big storm does pop up on the weekend I could send him one or two hundred bucks with an e-transfer so that I at least know that he is definitely going to hold it for me until I can get there.

There's not much more I can do right now besides keeping an eye on the weather this weekend.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Best of luck, hope you like it.

 

[Burstbucker]

Thanks!

BTW I just checked our long range forecast and it looks like Saturday will be fine, might just get an inch and a half of snow. I hope it stays like that!

Just to pass the time I've been reading up on the specs of the wide-thin neck on this 2003 CU22 and unless I'm mistaken this neck profile might be slightly beefier than a Fender modern C shape, if that's the case I certainly don't have anything to worry about.

I also read up a bit on the Dragon II pickups that are in it and clearly it isn't everybody's favourite pickup but then again I might end up thinking that they are just fine..... for me.

I know from past experience that replacing pickups has got to be the ultimate rabbit-hole!

 

[Burstbucker]

OK, well everything so far is falling into place. I managed to sell a couple of items and along with the cash that I had already saved I'm good to go with that Custom 22. The weather looks good on Saturday so far, etc...

A big plus too is that the seller turned out to be a really nice guy, he pulled his ad and everything. He said that I will have a selection of good amps to play through once I get there and give the guitar a good run through.

I missed out on the Singlecut by five days but I'll self-medicate with the purchase of this CU22 to ease the pain.

 

[Tone-y]

That oxidization of the nickel covers never really bothered me but there is a way to clean that up? Blue Magic huh, will have to look into that. Thanks!

Don't do it! Leave them aged. So much cooler

 

[Burstbucker]

Don't do it! Leave them aged. So much cooler

Can't argue with you there!

 

[Tone-y]

On a slightly more serious note, all of the guitars I now own are second hand, ranging from 10 years old to 40. I'd rather have an older better guitar than a newer cheaper one.

Getting the amount of cleaning right is always a bit of a balance. I like to do a good clean and de-gunk, maybe even a polish of the finish depending on the guitar. But I do like to leave any patina on nickel parts as it is.

 

[Burstbucker]

On a slightly more serious note, all of the guitars I now own are second hand, ranging from 10 years old to 40. I'd rather have an older better guitar than a newer cheaper one.

Getting the amount of cleaning right is always a bit of a balance. I like to do a good clean and de-gunk, maybe even a polish of the finish depending on the guitar. But I do like to leave any patina on nickel parts as it is.

Yes, I can appreciate buying higher quality used older guitars rather than buying new lower end guitars.

Out of the appx. 20+ guitars that I've owned over the last 30-40 years have been used guitars. I think I've only ever bought three new guitars in my life.

 

[gush]

The only thing wrong I see from the pictures is that you don’t own the guitar yet. I have damn near every neck profile PRS makes. They all have one thing in common. They play great. Go check it out and tell us what you think after you put the dollars down. There’s at least a dozen people on this forum that would buy that guitar in a New York minute.

I think that would be 1 minute 14.4 seconds in Canadian minutes.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I think that would be 1 minute 14.4 seconds in Canadian minutes.

Or a half an hour in the Caribbean!

 

[veinbuster]

Do any of you guys have any first hand experience with these Dragon II pickups that are in the Custom 22 of this era?

What kind of sound was Paul shooting for when he designed these pickups?

I have read some bad reviews on them but why would Paul sign off on terrible sounding pickups? I mean he's generally regarded as something of a genius when it comes to guitar building, you wouldn't think that all of a sudden he had a tin ear and messed up royally.

I read somewhere that the bridge pickup is kind of like a slightly hotter version of a '57 Classic and the neck pickup sounds close to a McCarty neck pickup.

If any of that is remotely accurate it sounds like the Dragon IIs aren't really bad, are they? Are they on the darker side or on the brighter side? Output is too high?

I know one thing, replacing them with a pair of 57/08 or similar would cost a fortune, especially when you're paying with Canadian dollars! Ouch!!!

I find it hard to answer these concerns, but I’ll give it a shot. I do have a Custom 22 with dragons.

Paul was going for a sound he liked at the time and he played the same guitar for quite a while. He liked the sound, and I liked the sound. It wasn’t however, a close match to the popular guitars of the time. I felt I could get Les Paulish. Somewhat less strat like, but the missing strat sounds were ones that didn’t appeal to me.

Jumping forward to 57/08, the pickups are much more in the Les Paul space and as such appeal to a broader audience.

So...for me, the dragons are a good example of the PRS voice. HFS/VB from that era are a different PRS voice. They also have lots of people who don’t like them.

 

[Burstbucker]

I find it hard to answer these concerns, but I’ll give it a shot. I do have a Custom 22 with dragons.

Paul was going for a sound he liked at the time and he played the same guitar for quite a while. He liked the sound, and I liked the sound. It wasn’t however, a close match to the popular guitars of the time. I felt I could get Les Paulish. Somewhat less strat like, but the missing strat sounds were ones that didn’t appeal to me.

Jumping forward to 57/08, the pickups are much more in the Les Paul space and as such appeal to a broader audience.

So...for me, the dragons are a good example of the PRS voice. HFS/VB from that era are a different PRS voice. They also have lots of people who don’t like them.

OK, that helps clear things up, thanks for taking the time to chime in!

I already have a LesPaul Standard and two SG Standards, they all have humbuckers so I totally already have those sounds covered. It's actually good to hear that this 2003 CU22 with Dragon II pickups will have a different voice, a Paul Reed Smith voice. There's not much point to having all of my guitars sounding really similar.

Thanks again!

 

[gush]

OK, that helps clear things up, thanks for taking the time to chime in!

I already have a LesPaul Standard and two SG Standards, they all have humbuckers so I totally already have those sounds covered. It's actually good to hear that this 2003 CU22 with Dragon II pickups will have a different voice, a Paul Reed Smith voice. There's not much point to having all of my guitars sounding really similar.

Thanks again!

I had a cu22 with dragon 2s. At the time I was playing a 1994 5150 head cabs and through that amp it reminded me of gibson 57 classics. It was a cover most of the bases guitar but I switched to celestion loaded cabs and it didn't transition as well as my other guitars did so I moved it.

I kind of wished I still had it but that's how it goes.