PRS Paul Reed Smith Wood Library Custom 24 Guitar, Roasted Flame Maple Neck, Swamp Ash Body, Quilt 10-Top, Faded Whale Blue Smokeburst

PLAYER'S PERSPECTIVE

We're stoked to bring you another beautiful PRS Wood Library instrument! In a collaborative effort with our team here at the shop, PRS hand-selected the top, back, neck, fretboard, visual appointments, and hardware just for us. Every single detail of this guitar was painstakingly chosen for the perfect aesthetics, playability, and tone. This Custom 24 in Satin Faded Whale Blue Smokeburst from our latest run, built to the updated 2024 Core spec, is a true stunner in every sense of the word.

The mesmerizing quilt 10-Top on this one is beautiful and looks incredible with the striking finish. We also chose a stunning piece of dark-roasted flame maple for the neck, which both adds some stability to the neck and snap to the tone along with looking gorgeous. The tight and bright combination of the roasted maple and dark ebony fretboard (and matching veneer!) is tonally beautiful as well. From top to bottom, and from front to back, there's no shortage of both ear and eye candy built into this guitar.

Sonically, we went with PRS's "metal" pickups for this run, which are certainly a bit overwound, but are far from being one-trick ponies. They're obviously going to sound stellar with higher gain settings, but clean up very nicely and can handle crystalline tones with ease. Rather than thinking of them as strictly "metal" pickups, they're really just slightly more aggressive-sounding versions of the typical 85/15s.

We pour a lot of passion into each guitar that we concoct with the PRS team. The goal is always to design instruments that are not only unique and look beautiful, but also sound absolutely phenomenal. This one fits the bill - it's definitely a lean, mean, shredding machine!

Details

The Custom 24 is the quintessential PRS guitar. This iconic instrument was the first model that Paul Reed Smith brought to the public at PRS Guitars’ first Winter NAMM show in 1985 and has been a top seller ever since. Played by internationally touring artists, gigging musicians, and aspiring players, the Custom 24 features PRS’s patented Gen III tremolo system, TCI-tuned humbucker pickups with volume and tone controls and a 5-way blade switch.

The Custom 24 is the original PRS. Since its introduction, it has offered a unique tonal option for serious players and defined PRS tone and playability.

For 2024, PRS Guitars is updating the tuning machines on many of our Core guitars. While, aesthetically, our new Wing buttons are designed to echo the 12th fret bird wingspan design, they were first and foremost designed for tonal reasons all the way back in 1982. Because these buttons are lighter weight than their metal predecessors, they are subtracting less energy from the vibrating strings, thus helping the guitar ring longer and at a more musical note.

PRS Patented Tremolo, Gen III - Meticulous design delivering sonic fidelity, player ergonomics, and revolutionary tuning stability.

PRS Phase III Locking Tuners with Wing Buttons - Modern locking technology with vintage elegance, these lightweight tuners promote tone transfer for a louder, more resonant instrument.

Unique to this guitar are the following features:

• Satin Faded Whale Blue Smokeburst Finish
• Hand-Picked Quilt Maple 10-Top
• Hand-Picked Swamp Ash Body
• Hand-Picked Ebony Fretboard and Veneer
• Hand-Picked Roasted Flame Maple Neck
• Hybrid Hardware
• \m/ ("Metal") Pickups
• Private Stock Black Paisley Hardshell Case