1999 PRS 22 Custom LH

db9091 · March 21, 2015 at 3:38 AM

Well I bit the bullet and decided to try out the PRS 22 Custom.

Being a Lefty, I've never seen one locally, new or used to try. So this is a bit of a wing and a prayer.
But the eBay guy I bought it from sold me an LP Trad Plus last year and it was exactly as described and he was wonderful to deal with.
So I feel somewhat secure he's solid.

From what I can find out PRS started making these for Lefties in 1999, the year this was made.

Anyhow, it should arrive next Tuesday or so.
I wonder if it'll knock the Larrivee or LP out of my collection or find a place among them (also a possibility that I don't like it, haha. prob not)

Here's a link to the photos. The seller posts over 60 photos of each guitar he sells.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1999-PRS-C…d-/181685795837?
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Gary_W · March 21, 2015 at 3:42 AM

That looks lovely - hope you enjoy it

greenblob · March 21, 2015 at 3:57 AM

I have a lefty cu22 from the same era (also a 99 I believe) and after changing the pickups, it's a stonker of a guitar. Very versatile and plays beautifully. I'm sure you'll dig yours.

I like that color too. Classy!

sambrox · March 21, 2015 at 6:35 AM

That looks lovely!

Cheese,
Sam

Tonerider · March 21, 2015 at 8:59 AM

Looks fantastic - hope you enjoy!

Being a southpaw, one day I'd like to try a PRS myself, and see how they feel and play - maybe on my next milestone birthday..

rothko61 · March 21, 2015 at 10:56 AM

Beautiful guitar indeed. I'm sure you will love it.
The only thing I don't like is the rotary npickup selector.
I prefer the lever switch of the last PRSs.
Enjoy your new jewel!

Michael_dk · March 21, 2015 at 11:30 AM

PRSs are awesome!!! Not LP tones precisely, but it's own thang. Which I've come to realise is a great thing.

The dragon IIs divides the waters, I think, but they might be great for your wants. Otherwise, they're easy to replace.

Congrats, I'm sure you'll love it! Looks like it's in great shape - never seen a seller pull off the hardware to show he finish underneath is OK

And there are not many lefty models of PRS guitars for some reason.

Ingolf · March 21, 2015 at 11:52 AM

Beautiful guitar.

db9091 · March 21, 2015 at 3:50 PM

greenblob, what pups did you drop in it?

There seems to be a debate about the Dragon I, II vs others. Also about the 5 way rotary vs 3 way selector.
Only ears and playing will tell. The differences seem to be more user preference than that any way "sucks".

1999 was the first year they made a Custom 22 in Lefty. This has the standard Moon inlays, which I prefer as I find birds distracting for some reason (childhood trauma by bird flock?!? Probably get over that the first time I have one, haha.

Yeah, there are prettier PRS colors/wood out there. I'm not into the looks as much as the sound, stability of tune and playability/action in the end. So talk about inlays and looks to me would be more for a collector, not a player.

Years ago I would never have dropped this kind of money into a hobby, but when you realize they have equity, that it's a musical journey of figuring out which few guitars are your keepers, and that people drop like flies so enjoy yourself a bit, well, you hit the "Buy It Now" button, right?

db9091 · March 21, 2015 at 3:57 PM

Quote from Tonerider

Looks fantastic - hope you enjoy!

Being a southpaw, one day I'd like to try a PRS myself, and see how they feel and play - maybe on my next milestone birthday..

Y'all gotta come to NC some and play mine, bo!! (look at the yankee pretending to be a good ol boy, well, practice makes perfect!)

Raoul23 · March 21, 2015 at 4:04 PM

Bloody nice guitar!! I'm a PRS fanboy and love the way they make there guitars look so attractive aswell as great to play. I've always wanted a purple artist II with binding down the neck and round the body edge and head stock. One day I'll see one and just buy it. I'm sure your going to love this guitar.

i have a standard 22 from around 1995 and it has the dragon 1 pickups, I also have a custom 22 which has the dragon 2 pickups. I find the dragon 2's to be a lot smoother than the dragon 1's but this might be because they have covers on and the 1's don't. Also my standard came with the rotary 5 way switch but my custom had the 3 way switch with a push/pull tone pot. I recently had the 5 way switch changed to a 3 way switch and the tone pot changed to a push/pull one. I find this a lot easier when playing to switch with a sweaty hand live some times the 5 way was hard to grip and turn.

On another note my Navarro has the HFS and vintage bass pick ups and I find these sit in between the dragon 1's and dragon 2's they are hotter than the 2's but smoother than the 1's.

db9091 · March 21, 2015 at 5:58 PM

That begs for a picture! Or did you already post in the show your guitars thread?

greenblob · March 21, 2015 at 8:04 PM

I didn't like the dragon 2's at all. Not clear enough for my taste. Also changed out the 5 position rotary to the switched "Mcarty" wiring for a few years. After trying a few different pickups the winners were a set of the PRS 59/09's (found used on ebay). I also put the rotary back in as the extra sounds it offers are great with these pickups. I really wanted a set of the PRS 57/07's but couldn't find a set that wasn't crazy overpriced.

I'm very happy with the guitar as it is now and have no plans to tinker with its hardware any further.

greenblob · March 21, 2015 at 8:11 PM

Here it is in the collection. At that point it had a Seymour Duncan Seth Lover neck & a WCR Goodwood bridge pickups. Oh.. also still had the 3 way switching in this pic.

The 59/09's in it now are black uncovered so it looks the business as much as it sounds.

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Raoul23 · March 21, 2015 at 8:13 PM

Here ya go buddy my 3 bad boys

pacocito · March 21, 2015 at 9:41 PM

Quote from db9091

Well I bit the bullet and decided to try out the PRS 22 Custom.

Being a Lefty, I've never seen one locally, new or used to try. So this is a bit of a wing and a prayer.
But the eBay guy I bought it from sold me an LP Trad Plus last year and it was exactly as described and he was wonderful to deal with.

Anyhow, it should arrive next Tuesday or so.
I wonder if it'll knock the Larrivee or LP out of my collection or find a place among them (also a possibility that I don't like it, haha. prob not)

Nice guitar!!! I own a lefty CU24 and is the best guitar I own in terms of playability. Looking forward to your opinion on how good it is compared to Larrivee and LP.

Quote from greenblob

After trying a few different pickups the winners were a set of the PRS 59/09's

I love the 59/09 on my CU24 but I'd like to try the 57/07. It's impossible to find them at a reasonable price.

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Michael_dk · March 21, 2015 at 10:07 PM

Regarding the 57/08s, some people seem to think the Gibson 57/57 plus and/or DiMarzio 36th anniversary PAFs are very much like 'em. Might be something to try

greenblob · March 21, 2015 at 11:26 PM

I had also read they are very similar to the Dimarzio 36th anniversary humbuckers (which imo don't get the recognition they deserve - great affordable pickups). One major difference is that you'd have to flip the magnet in one of those to keep the awesome stock PRS switching combinations.

One of the other reasons (apart from they sounded great) I went with the PRS brand pickups was to keep the guitar desirable if I ever needed to sell it. (Sold the original dragon 2 pickups a few years back)

whippinpost91850 · March 22, 2015 at 12:03 AM

As A fellow Lefty , I have to admire all the PRS's and GreenBlob, Your collection is most impressive. I'll have to gather mine up and send a picture.

greenblob · March 22, 2015 at 4:26 AM

Thanks Whippinpost. Still trying to decide what the next guitar purchase will be. Seems my desires are getting more and more expensive, so new purchases are much less frequent now days. I really want a Nik Huber, but they are sooooo spendy!

db9091: Please give us a quick run down of your thoughts on the cu22 when you receive it. What kinda of music do you play?