To know Paul Reed Smith, the working founder and Managing General Partner of PRS Guitars, is to know a man who is always pushing the proverbial envelope. His persistent desire to explore and discover is a huge part of PRS Guitars dynamism. So, when Paul and the R&D team ramped up their dissection and testing of pickups a couple years ago, it became very clear very quickly that something new was about to be born. Enter the PRS 58/15 pickups, introduced for PRS’s 30th Anniversary year.
The 58/15 Limited Edition is a culmination of various features that the Custom 24 has seen throughout the last thirty years and is built around these new vintage-voiced 58/15 pickups, which have exceptional clarity and a focused midrange. Paul describes 58/15 pickups as, “very consistent, ‘best-of’ PAF-style pickups.” Other unique appointments on these instruments include solid shell birds, similar to those found on Paul’s Pre-Factory and the early production guitars, fretboard binding, a preview of a new headstock signature inlay and the Gen III PRS patented tremolo, which has been updated to further support the fidelity of the guitar’s tone and maximize sustain.
Each 58/15 equipped Custom 24 guitar will have an artist grade figured maple top, mahogany back, 24-fret, 25” scale length ‘Pattern Regular’ or ‘Pattern Thin’ mahogany neck with gaboon ebony fretboard, Solid Shell “Blue Purple” Red Abalone Birds (Pattern Regular neck) or Solid Shell “Dark Special” Red Abalone Birds (Pattern Thin neck), gaboon ebony headstock veneer with green abalone signature, Phase III locking tuners, 58/15 treble and bass pickups, one volume and one push/pull tone control with a PRS 3-way toggle pickup selector. Guitars are set up with PRS 10-46 Electric Guitar Strings and are shipped in a PRS Black Paisley Hardshell Artist Case.
Each 58/15 equipped Custom 24 guitar will have an artist grade figured maple top, mahogany back, 24-fret, 25” scale length ‘Pattern Regular’ or ‘Pattern Thin’ mahogany neck with gaboon ebony fretboard, Solid Shell “Blue Purple” Red Abalone Birds (Pattern Regular neck) or Solid Shell “Dark Special” Red Abalone Birds (Pattern Thin neck), gaboon ebony headstock veneer with green abalone signature, Phase III locking tuners, 58/15 treble and bass pickups, one volume and one push/pull tone control with a PRS 3-way toggle pickup selector. Guitars are set up with PRS 10-46 Electric Guitar Strings and are shipped in a PRS Black Paisley Hardshell Artist Case.
The 58/15 Custom 24 limited run will total 150 pieces worldwide: 50 of each color (Faded Whale Blue with Natural Back, Black Gold Burst with natural binding, Charcoal Burst), 25 of each color having a Pattern Regular neck carve with Solid Shell “Blue Purple” Red Abalone Bird inlays and 25 having a Pattern Thin neck carve with Solid Shell “Dark Special” Red Abalone Bird inlays. For complete specifications and to hear Paul tell the 58/15 story, please visit http://www.prsguitars.com/5815.
