Reviewer Ron
Experience 20
Review date November 07 2002
Manufacturer PRS
Model CE Bass
Price $975.00 used
Item owned for 1-2 years

Bass type 4 string fretted
Neck join Bolt-On
Neck construction 1 pc. maple
Fingerboard Brazillian rosewood
Body Alder
Finish Solid black finish
Pickups 3 PRS pickups
Hardware PRS
Electronics active PRS circuit
I bought this bass at a guitar show almost 2 years ago. I've found very little on the net about original PRS basses, I decided to add a review. The CE was their bolt-on model. This bass has a brazillian rosewood fretboard (first rosewood board that I've seen that is actually figured-very nice) with abalone moon inlays. The neck is a bolt-on but fits deeply into the body via a very tight neck pocket. Body is 2 piece alder with

a solid black finish. Three pickups with a hum cancelling dummy coil on the back (I think the electronics were inspired by Alembic).

The tone it gives is IMO a mix of vintage Fender and Alembic. Works really nicely for recording. It has a five position rotary switch (like many of their guitars) that has five distinct and very nice sounds. Also has a preamp bypass switch for when the battery gets low during a gig. The preamp has controls labelled 'Deep' and 'Clear' which are active bass and treble. I'd say it is a great bass overall and since I purchased it, I've seen a couple online which I was tempted to buy but couldn't afford at the time. According to an article I saw on Vintageguitar.com, they only put out about 2000 of these original PRS basses over about 5 years. Highly recommended bass if you can find one.

Construction 95%
Appearance 95%
Playability 95%
Sound 95%
Customer Service 95%
Value 95%
Overall 95%
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