Older prs Ce22 vs Gibson SG

[man-in-moon]

I have someone wanting to trade me a 97 PRS CE22 for my SG. I had a CE24 about 20 years ago. But don’t remember a lot about it. What’s everyone’s thoughts on the CE series I know some had alder and some had mahogany bodies.

 

[elelpe]

Both are great in its own right. The question is whether you want 22 fretter neck pickup sound or not. CE22 is kinda sought after because of that. I assume you've been accustomed to neck pickup sound from your SG (and your old CE24).

 

[JB_From_Hell]

I’d do it.

 

[Lewguitar]

I had a CE24 from that era and it was beautifully made. Played and felt first rate.

Mine had a bolt on maple neck and Strat style vibrato.

Flame maple top and alder body.

Only thing I didn't love about it were the Dragon pickups and the 5 position rotary switch.

I'm a blues player and I like PAF style pickups and a 3 way switch.

The neck Dragon was fine but the bridge Dragon didn't have those sweet PAF blues tones I like.

It was more of a hot rock pickup.

But pickups can be changed and a rotary switch can be changed to a 3-way.

And there's a real market for those original Dragon pickups. They sell easily on Reverb or Ebay.

 

[Mincer]

I'd do it. Those CE22s are great guitars, and I love the sound of the neck pickup on those. And, I am not an SG fan. But it is really up to how attached you are to the SG.

 

[JMP/HBE]

A good Gibson SG slaughters anything PRS IMO.

 

[Lewguitar]

A good Gibson SG slaughters anything PRS IMO.

My PRS guitars eat most Gibsons for lunch! lol!

Mine all have Duncan pickups I've tweaked to "my idea of perfection" with magnet swaps.

 

[Mr. 80's]

I would say that's something you need to decide on your own, it's all personal preference.

 

[elelpe]

I'm not going into PRS vs Gibson debate. As I said before both are great guitars. PRS is pretty consistent and sometimes Gibson isn't. But I don't know about your SG. Here are my opinions: both are lightweight, which is a plus. Both have uninspiring pickups; I'd replace them with Duncans (with stock pickups, SG sounds meaner to me). Tonewood matters but for electric guitars it's not as significant as the electronic parts and the rest of the rig. Personally I'm not fussy about different guitar construction/features (bolt-on or set-neck, scales, neck profiles etc). To me what's left as decision factor is neck pickup position...

 

[JB_From_Hell]

I had a real ‘62 LP/SG. The PRS S2 Standard 22 I had was, in my opinion, superior in every way. For the most part it’s gonna be subjective, but the PRS headstock is an objectively better design. The string path to the tuners is straight, so there’s no denying they stay in tune better.

 

[man-in-moon]

Thanks for the input guys. I’m going to try to meet up and at least try it out to see what I think. I’m not particularly attached to my SG it’s a 2020 61 standard. It is a good guitar The only issue I am having with it is the infamous neck flexing. It seems to be worse on this one than any of the others I’ve owned.
I have heard the older model CE’s are better than newer ones. Thicker body, more of the core model carve to the top.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Great guitars. And PRS' build quality was consistently high, especially through the 90s.
But as with most cases, a lot of it comes down to the individual instrument.
You'll know right away when you play it.