PRS CE24 '91 Maple Neck

[Jeroen]

I've never seen one of those, with a maple neck...

And the PRS guitars made in those days, are they better than the newer ones? If so, what should this guitar be worth (without case)?

 

[pugsfly]

The earlier PRS has no "heel from hell". Check out Ed Roman's site..

Looks like a pretty cool guitar.

 

[jero]

Hey Jeroen,
it's of not much use to ask on a USA guitar forum what a PRS is worth, because Dutch and USA prices aren't really comparable (Dutch prices tend to be higher because new USA made guitars cost a lot more in Europe than in the USA) .

There's always a big discussion whether the 'oldies' (pre 1994 I think) are better than the new ones, opinions differ a lot.

I've seen this ad, I definitely don't like the way the sunburst is applied and given the fact that the case is not included I think it's pretty overpriced.

 

[aarontunes]

I owned a '91 CE24 for several years. It was the best sounding PRS I've ever played. That thing was harmonic-rich and gooey. I think the magic was in the alder body, and when PRS switched to mahogany they blew it.

A lot has been said/ imagined about the "pre-95" PRS guitars, but in my experience the myth is true.

Here's the downside: I eventually sold mine becuase it was becoming unstable. THe truss rod and neck began to make some creaking noises, especially when tension was increased/decreased via the wammy bar. It would even do it sometimes if I was bending strings. The neck also didi a lot of weird flexing due to temperature/humidity changes, I guess. The action/ tuning was all over the place.

At the time, pre-95's were going for around 1,100 bucks.

I've never seen one w/ maple neck before. Employee guitar? I'd search Ebay and see what they're going for these days. Maybe I'll go do that right now, just for curiosity's sake.

A

 

[Jeroen]

Yo Jero(en?),

I know the difference in prices, I'm not a total n00b But it's just to get an indication, if it's more or less expensive than a newer PRS for example. But if you have an indication of what you think would be a reasonable Euro-price, you're welcome to give it !

I'm mainly just wondering what the quality of this guitar would be..

 

[Norcal_GIT_r]

I have one in black with a maple fingerboard.
It's an incredible guitar tone wise.
Mine is very stable.
I bought it last year and it cost me around half of what a new CE24 goes for in the USA.

 

[MOJO]

cool guitar, bet it sounds great.. but i always hated those types of bursts .they should have just made it a solid color if the figuring was that weak in the on ther edges

 

[DWB1960]

I owned a '91 CE24 for several years. It was the best sounding PRS I've ever played. That thing was harmonic-rich and gooey. I think the magic was in the alder body, and when PRS switched to mahogany they blew it.

A lot has been said/ imagined about the "pre-95" PRS guitars, but in my experience the myth is true.

Here's the downside: I eventually sold mine becuase it was becoming unstable. THe truss rod and neck began to make some creaking noises, especially when tension was increased/decreased via the wammy bar. It would even do it sometimes if I was bending strings. The neck also didi a lot of weird flexing due to temperature/humidity changes, I guess. The action/ tuning was all over the place.

I own two 1991 CE24s with the alder body, maple top and neck and rosewood boards and they are great. Like you said, harmonic rich and gooey. One of them had the issues with creaking and a friend clued me in on how to fix it. You need to loosen the neck bolts and then tighten the 2 short screws (ones furthest away from the headstock) super tight first and then tighten the other two. This fixed the problem 100%.

I also had to really tweek the bridge setup to dial in stable tuning. Love the alder maple combo. I agree that they lost a lot of clarity and sparkle when they switched over to all mahogany.

 

[hansv]

I have one in black with a maple fingerboard.
It's an incredible guitar tone wise.
Mine is very stable.
I bought it last year and it cost me around half of what a new CE24 goes for in the USA.

I love that guitar... its like a PRS Clapton Blackie... so reserved but so damn sexy.

 

[aleclee]

All CEs have maple necks. Maple fretboards were (with a few exceptions) only available on the earliest ones. The ones with maple boards seem to command a slight premium that IMO should about offset the lack of a case.

Not much about CEs is considered collectible. A year or two ago, the 20th CE ever made (a 1988 model) couldn't pull down $1800 on eBay. It, too, had a maple board.

 

[MOJO]

i had a small heeled CE with alder/maple body and maple neck but sold it when i got my IRW Mccarty..as some one stated earlier ....opinions on which is better are going to vary..in my case i though the newer PRS was of better quality.

the CE had a dead spot in the neck ( where the fretted note doesn't ring true ) , the stain job was a little blotchy in spots. the finish was alittle cloudy compared to my Mccarty, the nitro maple neck never seemed to dry and overall i felt the guitar was alittle dark sounding ( could have been the HFS pickups though )

don't get me wrong i like the old CE's but in "MY" case.the newer Mccarty was the winner and stayed..the CE got sold and eventually turned into my first Thorn

 

[DWB1960]

the CE got sold and eventually turned into my first Thorn

LOL. As will one of mine too!

 

[JamesT]

I have a 92 with a grey/black quilted maple top. I never had any trouble with anything. Strange but sopmetimes it would sound like my LP with Seth Lover pickups. However, I played it through a Mesa Boogie DC-3 and everything sounded kind of the same. Being a 24 fretter it is really easy to play. With the wide thin neck I do blue grass type stuff also with finger and thumb picks. I payed a fair amount more than $1100, but it is mint and the quilted maple top cranks up the price.

 

[DrPCR]

I have one in black with a maple fingerboard.
It's an incredible guitar tone wise.
Mine is very stable.
I bought it last year and it cost me around half of what a new CE24 goes for in the USA.

I actually own 2 of these, one just like the one above and one flame top one. They are killer guitars, one of the reasons I got into PRS guitars. I think the original CEs are the best specially with the maple necks. I think they are one of the most versatile PRS available for tones.

Here are a few pics, the black one has a real flamed maple neck, hard to photograph though

here is the flame top, one of my favorite guitars