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tjon901 « A white PRS Custom 24 »
Published on 12/01/11 at 07:30Dave Navarro is the guitar player for Janes Addiction. A few years ago he was getting kind of famous but you hardly see him any more. This is his signature PRS guitar. It is not much different than most other PRS guitars other than the finish. You get a very white finish, whiter than most finishes. This matched with gold hardware gives the guitar a classy look. Not many guitars come white with gold anymore. The rest of the guitar is pretty normal for a PRS. The body is mahogany with a maple top. The set neck is mahogany with a rosewood fretboard. The neck profile is the wide thin profile or what they call Pattern thin nowadays. Up top you get the fancy PRS locking tuners which look futuristic. The bridge is the PRS Fender style tremolo that works really well. The pickups are 2 PRS pickups and the controls depend on what model you have. They all have master volumes and master tones. Some older models have rotary pickup selectors the later ones have a toggle like pictured here. No one likes the rotary pickup selectors that PRS use to use.
UTILIZATION
PRS guitars are great playing guitars. This example is no different. The Wide Thin neck has a nice feel to it. It reminds me of a 60s Gibson but with a wider and flatter radius on the fretboard. This example had the toggle switch which I prefer to the rotary switch. With the rotary switch it is kind of hard to adjust on the fly switching from pickup to pickup. I do not like how the pickup selector is way out by itself. I would prefer it to be closer with the rest of the controls. The tremolo is a very stable unit and holds tuning very well with the locking tuners. The PRS locking tuners are some of the most advanced tuners on the market. They prevent all forms of slip by locking on to the strings as well as locking the tuner in place.
SOUNDS
This particular example I was testing had a set of Seymour Duncans installed. It had a Custom Custom in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck. This gave it a more specialized hard rock and metal sound. The PRS pickups are quite versatile and work well in many areas but if you are going to do one area specifically you might as well get pickups designed for that area. The Custom in the bridge has a tight sound but it is not super metal tight. It is tighter than the JB which is what I think the owner was going for. It works great for metal and harder rock. The extra tightness lets you run a bit more gain without the sound becoming too boomy. The Jazz in the neck is a classic neck pickup. It is similar to the 59 but has a bit more bite for clarity. Both of the pickups clean up well if you ride the volume a bit.
OVERALL OPINION
If you want a white PRS this is it. If you just want a PRS 24 Custom then there are plenty more to choose from. I think they should sell this guitar cheaper than the other models since it has a plain top. But since its a sig they wont. I think PRS has some of the best looking tops on the market so personally I wouldnt bother with a plain top PRS, but im sure Dave Navarro has some fans or else he wouldnt be famous. There is a new Dave Navarro PRS SE model out now and I am hoping I can review that to see what the import version is like. That will be priced so that more people can afford it.
UTILIZATION
PRS guitars are great playing guitars. This example is no different. The Wide Thin neck has a nice feel to it. It reminds me of a 60s Gibson but with a wider and flatter radius on the fretboard. This example had the toggle switch which I prefer to the rotary switch. With the rotary switch it is kind of hard to adjust on the fly switching from pickup to pickup. I do not like how the pickup selector is way out by itself. I would prefer it to be closer with the rest of the controls. The tremolo is a very stable unit and holds tuning very well with the locking tuners. The PRS locking tuners are some of the most advanced tuners on the market. They prevent all forms of slip by locking on to the strings as well as locking the tuner in place.
SOUNDS
This particular example I was testing had a set of Seymour Duncans installed. It had a Custom Custom in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck. This gave it a more specialized hard rock and metal sound. The PRS pickups are quite versatile and work well in many areas but if you are going to do one area specifically you might as well get pickups designed for that area. The Custom in the bridge has a tight sound but it is not super metal tight. It is tighter than the JB which is what I think the owner was going for. It works great for metal and harder rock. The extra tightness lets you run a bit more gain without the sound becoming too boomy. The Jazz in the neck is a classic neck pickup. It is similar to the 59 but has a bit more bite for clarity. Both of the pickups clean up well if you ride the volume a bit.
OVERALL OPINION
If you want a white PRS this is it. If you just want a PRS 24 Custom then there are plenty more to choose from. I think they should sell this guitar cheaper than the other models since it has a plain top. But since its a sig they wont. I think PRS has some of the best looking tops on the market so personally I wouldnt bother with a plain top PRS, but im sure Dave Navarro has some fans or else he wouldnt be famous. There is a new Dave Navarro PRS SE model out now and I am hoping I can review that to see what the import version is like. That will be priced so that more people can afford it.