1987 Paul Reed Smith Custom 24
The "poster child" of Paul Reed Smith history. This museum-grade 1987 Custom 24 in Vintage Yellow is 100% original and in mint condition—a rare find for the serious collector.
Golden Era Specs: Equipped with the legendary stamped T and B pickups and the iconic Sweet Switch for that unmistakable 80s PRS tonal character.
The Aesthetic: A breathtaking "10-Top" figured maple cap with a hand-rubbed nitro finish and signature natural maple binding.
PRS iconic Phase 1 winged tuners
Case included with all case candy
The definitive "Tiger Stripe" icon. A perfectly preserved piece of Maryland craftsmanship.
Feature
Specification
Top Wood
Carved Figured Maple (Bookmatched)
Back Wood
One-piece Mahogany
Neck Wood
Mahogany with Brazilian Rosewood Fretboard
Frets
24 Jumbo Frets
Pickups
Standard Treble & Standard Bass (Hand-wound by PRS)
Controls
1 Volume, 5-Way Rotary Pickup Selector, Sweet Switch
Hardware
Mil-Com Tremolo Bridge & Schaller/PRS Locking Tuners
Serial Number
Hand-written (starts with 7 XXXX)
Guitar is in "Mint" condition. Vintage Yellow coloring has faded as all vintage PRSi do. Note the marking in the pick-up route.
The 1987 Custom 24 was marketed as the "perfect" middle ground between a Les Paul and a Stratocaster.
The Maple/Mahogany Combo: The mahogany provides the warmth and "thump," while the maple top adds a bright, percussive snap to the high end.
The Rotary Switch: Rather than a toggle, the 5-way rotary allows for "cocked wah" and "strat-quack" sounds by combining the humbuckers in and out of phase.
The Sweet Switch: This is the "secret sauce" of '87 models. It’s a delay-line circuit on a mini-toggle that rolls off high-end "fizz" to simulate the capacitance of a 100-foot guitar cable, smoothing out the distortion.