Paul Reed Smith CE 24

Hello everyone, welcome again to Heartbreaker Guitars and an in depth look into the Paul Reed Smith CE 24.  The PRS CE 24 was introduced in 1988 to allow player’s access to a Paul Reed Smith quality instrument at a lower price point and it was the first bolt on maple neck guitar offered by Paul Reed Smith.  Unfortunately the model was out of production for over a decade beginning in 2008 but thankfully Paul decided to bring back this killer bolt on PRS and it is better than ever. The basis for this guitar is a bolt on neck, which is the sound that many are familiar with, the snap and response of well-known single coil guitars that pretty much anyone has heard or played. The Paul Reed Smith CE 24 shares some of the key components of its big brother the Custom 24 that are at the core of the PRS sound, such as the mahogany back with maple top (which on the CE 24 is a slimmer profile then the Custom) rosewood fretboard, Paul Reed Smith designed 85/15 pickups, which are crucial to the delicious tones this guitar is able to produce. All these factors allow this guitar to cover a wide range of musical ground and make it a workhorse that can provide everything a player would need, especially if they are covering many genres during a show.

The necks on the PRS CE 24’s are amazing, they have the Paul Reed Smith Pattern thin carve and probably one my most treasured features these days on a neck, satin nitro finish. If you never have played a guitar with satin finished neck, please do yourself a favor and order one of these Paul Reed Smith CE 24’s from Heartbreak Guitars, we are an Authorized Paul Reed Smith dealer, click hereto view our inventory! It feels so natural in your hand, the neck becomes part of your body. Your fingers just dance up and down the fret board, your hand wondering why you are not having to fight the neck at any point of playing this beauty.  The double cutaway on the PRS CE 24 with their trademark bevel really allows for greater accessibility to the upper frets so reaching and using those 24 frets is not a problem.

At Heartbreaker Guitars we love the fact that Paul Reed Smith uses the same 85/15 pickups that he designed for the Custom 24 on the CE 24, even though the CE 24 is less expensive. Paul wanted the CE to have the same ability to produce extended high and low end with incredible clarity regardless of the playing style. Another cool feature on these guitars is the ability to split the humbuckers, allowing for snappy and sparkly single coil tones. With the 3 way toggle this gives you access to 6 different tones that should cover any genre. Below are the charts from the Paul Reed Smith website detailing the output and voicing of the 85/15 pickups.

Here is some tasty video of Simon McBride exploring the fantastic sounds of the Paul Reed Smith CE 24

These awesome guitars are equipped with the Paul Reed Smith patented tremolo and PRS Low mass tuners, which allows the guitar to stay in tune while allowing maximum transfer of tones from the strings. Check out the video at the bottom from Dave Weiner of Steve Vai Band fame as he discusses the rock solid tuning stability of these guitars.

Check out some of these comments and reviews on the Paul Reed Smith CE 24

"Ultimately, the CE 24 begs for a test drive, especially by skeptics. This isn’t the first PRS that’s forged a bridge between differing solidbody designs, but it’s also its own animal – a serious professional instrument that can cover all the bases...a formidable piece of American guitar-making.”

- Vintage Guitar

"If you're looking for something a little different but still want a high-quality US-built guitar with a lot of versatility, excellent ergonomics and playability and great looks too, but want it all at a reasonably realistic price that's low enough that you'll actually use the guitar instead of putting it into a glass case and just staring at it, check out the return of the Paul Reed Smith CE 24."

- Harmony Central

"Sonically, the CE 24 hit all of the marks...Exploring all the options would probably have taken me days (or weeks), and I doubt I’d find a tone that the CE 24 couldn’t emulate effectively.”

- Guitar Player

For the full review from Guitar Player on the Paul Reed Smith CE 24, click here!

Checkout this Paul Reed Smith CE 24 video presented by Bryan Ewald, the products Guru at PRS. Bryan is great guy and a fantastic player.

Also here is another demo with a fabulous guitar player, Dave Weiner, that has the honors of sharing a stage every night with one of the greatest rock guitar players on the planet, Steve Vai.