Drool, Slobber, Swoon

If you have been reading this blog or if you used to listen to the Guitar Technique Tutor Podcast for any length of time, you know I love, love, love PRS guitars.  Actually, I may be understating it. 

There is something to love about every PRS guitar -- the constants are superior quality and masterful design. Likewise for the limited editions, but on steroids.  Enter, the premier Limited Edition Custom 24 Semi-Hollow.

LUSCIOUS, isn't it??

The Custom 24 is the original PRS guitar - the guitar Paul Reed Smith took to his first NAMM trade show in 1985. The original one I fell in love with.  That flagship model has since become indispensable to countless musicians in the studio and on the stage. It's  a guitar that "streets" for the low $700s

Through the years, the SE Custom 24 has evolved with the PRS craft and has been offered in several  configurations. 

Definitely, not too shabby. This one, is the Brushstroke 24. Based on Paul’s Guitar, the guitar Paul Reed Smith is currently playing in the studio and on the stage, the Brushstroke 24 is lacking neither tone nor style. This limited edition model carries over a familiar wood combination, the unique “brushstroke” bird inlay design, and adds 24-fret, tremolo versatility to the Core Paul’s Guitar model. The pickups deliver a full range of tones from sweet, clean highs to full, alive mids and driven lows, and the electronics configuration consists of two narrow 408 pickups with a 3-way toggle switch and two mini-toggle switches that allow players to move between humbucking and single coil tones with no volume loss when switching from full to single coils for maximum versatility.

Fewer than 200 of these instruments will be made for this small batch run. The specs are impressive on this beauty that "streets" for about $3800.

BODY

Top Wood Figured Maple

Back Wood Mahogany

NECK

Number of Frets 24

Scale Length 25"

Neck Wood Mahogany

Fretboard Wood Rosewood

Neck Shape Pattern Regular

Fretboard Inlays Brushstroke Birds

Headstock Inlay Rosewood Headstock Veneer with Inlaid Signature

HARDWARE/ELECTRONICS

Bridge PRS Tremolo

Tuners PRS Phase III Locking Tuners

Hardware Type Nickel

Treble Pickup Narrow 408 Treble

Bass Pickup Narrow 408 Bass

Pickup Switching Volume and Tone Control with 3-Way Toggle Pickup Switch and 2 Mini-Toggle Switches for Coil Tapping

Back to the copious drool worthy Custom 24 Semi-Hollow. It is the one configuration that has never been offered on a Core Custom 24 - a semi-hollow body with an f-hole...until now.

The 2014 Custom 24 Semi-Hollow has all of the versatility and reliability of the Core Custom. The addition of a chambered, semi-hollow body gives this guitar added midrange and resonance while losing none of the instrument’s tried-and-true character.

The 2014 Custom 24 Semi-Hollow is the first of its kind. Fewer than 200 of these instruments will be made for this small batch run. Like the Brushstroke 24, extremely limited run.

 It's available in the same colors as the Brushstroke 24, except for Tiger Red, which are:

Aquableux

Blackgold Burst 

Blood Orange

Faded Whale Blue

Violet

Jade

(I would have probably named the "Jade" color something else, if the photo is true to the color of the guitar -- maybe "Moldavite," and why not the color of a meteorite-born stone for a cosmically fabulous guitar?)

Obsidian

The Specs on this uber-marvelous work of art are:

CUSTOM 24 SEMI-HOLLOW MODEL SPECS

BODY

Top Wood Figured Maple 10–Top

Back Wood Mahogany

NECK

Number of Frets 24

Scale Length 25"

Neck Wood Mahogany

Fretboard Wood Rosewood

Neck Shape Pattern Regular

Fretboard Inlays Birds

Headstock Inlay East Indian Rosewood Veneer with Inlaid Signature

HARDWARE/ELECTRONICS

Bridge PRS Tremolo

Tuners PRS Phase III Locking Tuners

Truss Rod Cover "Custom"

Hardware Type Nickel

Treble Pickup Uncovered 59/09

Bass Pickup Uncovered 59/09

Pickup Switching Volume and Tone Control with 5-Way Blade

The street price is about the same as the Custom 24 Brushstroke.

Whether you're in the market for your first PRS and your budget is constrained, or you have some serious coin to spend, there is PRS work of art for you.  If there is a guitar store near you that carries them, you owe it to yourself to play them.  If you do, be prepared to love, love. love them. 

Still Alive (AKA The Walking Wounded)

It has been forever!! i have a few draft posts that are in various states of completion, but for now, I'm going to allow them to hibernate or percolate, depending upon my next few weeks.  Yes, I took a break, but had every intention of getting back to regular blogging in January.  There were quite a few distractions that prevented it.

Fast forward to last week, the 20th of February...  a day I will regret for a long, long, long time.  I had an appointment that I was looking forward to keeping, that Thursday morning.  The weather, here in the NY metro area, has been riddled with deep snowfall, mixed precipitation, some rain, re-freezes etc.  I was being attentive to the icy coating on the sidewalk, so I avoided it, by walking on what appeared to be a bone dry, pristine driveway.   Boy, was I wrong.   I slipped, fell and broke my LEFT WRIST in 3 places.   Of course I didn't know that, at the time.  All I knew was that it was deformed and my hand was in the shape of a weird claw that I couldn't open. The first thing I did was to pull my wedding ring off, because I've seen too many TV scenes in which the rings on swelling fingers have to be cut off and seriously endanger the health of the finger in question.  Ugh.

I wasn't the only one who fell that day.   The ER waiting room held no less than 25, but probably more than 30 people waiting to be seen. One did not have an obvious injury from falling on ice that morning but the rest were cradling arms, wrists, shoulder, had extended leg or head injuries.  

The ER glut resulted in a 4/4.5 hour visit.  When I left it, my wrist had been X-rayed, diagnosed as being triple fractured, numbed, reset, splint casted extremely tightly and  X-rayed  again after the resetting and  splint casting.  I was sent home with a sling, a prescription for a narcotic pain reliever and was told that if the bones shift, I will need surgery and if they remain aligned as they were in the post-compression X-ray, I would not need surgery.

This past Tuesday, I had a series of follow up X-rays and saw the orthopedic hand/wrist specialist on Wednesday.  So far, so good.  The bones are still aligned.  More X-rays will be taken Wednesday and I will see the orthopedist on  Friday.

My left arm is at a 45º angle because the splint cast goes over and around my elbow and covers everything to just short of where my fingers begin.  As uncomfortable as I am, I will gladly trade all this misery for the full use of my wrist and hand when this is all over.  That, remains to be seen.  Of late, I have taken to "fingering" scales in the air, just to keep my fingers moving (such as they can move) and "sight reading" fingering and playing by ear in my mind.  I don't know how far into occupational therapy, I will be able to tax the wrist to the extent that playing requires.  

I will follow this post with a reply to an email question I received.  I may not be blogging much more before I graduate to a short cast, which may be as soon as this or next Friday.

Sorry for the ultra-extended interruption.  Stay tuned for updates.