I have a 2021 Paul Reed Smith USA Core Custom 22 here in Charcoal Burst. I do not have the paperwork with this one, though I assure you it is unequivocally genuine. It comes with the current 2026-era PRS hard shell case.

Conditionally this guitar looks nice. I will describe what I see.

The body top looks excellent. I found one small indentation near the neck pickup. Beyond that I did not find any buildup of playwear. Any soft superficial swirling will be absolutely minimal, and any guitar pick strumming is minimal as well. There is a little bit of it, but no heavy accumulation.

The body sides/edges show light surface signs of use. I see some light swirling and superficial scuffing, but I did not find any chips, dings, bumps, or indentations. So there are no notable marks here, just light surface-level signs of handling and use.

The body back looks great. I did not find any buckle rash or worming. I also did not find any penetrating finish scratches or dings. There is a light amount of superficial swirling scattered here and there, but no accumulated or built-up patterns of soft swirling type playwear. Just light traces of it throughout.

The neck shaft contour has two small sections of finish wear. Towards the upper neck shaft there are two small patches, about a quarter inch each and close to one another, that show a lightly scuffed texture with tiny dot-sized surface impressions in the finish. In addition, emanating from one side of the nut there is a small hairline finish checking mark. It does not remotely affect the wood or structural integrity of the guitar, nor does it go through the finish. It is purely superficial. This is similar to the tiny hairline finish checks commonly seen around neck pockets on bolt-on instruments. It feels smooth and cannot really be felt by hand. If desired, a tiny amount of black touch-up color would make it nearly disappear. For disclosure purposes, I have photographed these areas with a high-definition Nikon macro lens, as they are not easily visible under normal viewing conditions.

Beyond that, the rest of the neck looks great. The headstock is clean with no chips or dings. The frets are tall and full showing no fret wear. The setup plays nicely, the original electronics are working as they should, and the hard shell case is super clean.

So this one rates an 8.3/10 and grades as very good. The small hairline finish check and the couple rough spots on the neck contour are the only truly noteworthy cosmetic mentions on the guitar. The bulk surface of the instrument otherwise looks on the better side of excellent. So this is not a guitar with an overall worn or heavily played appearance. It still looks gorgeous. The marks on the neck are fairly superficial. Consider them player's marks that help bring the price point down, as I have factored that into the pricing. It is structurally and sonically sound and plays and sounds fantastic.

Tonally it is bliss. It's a balanced tone in terms of it's EQ of treble, bass and mids, where it is unique is in the subtle detail and complexity of the tone. That is what sets Any truly great guitar apart. And in my opinion that is achieved through the tonewoods, not the electronics. And this is a hallmark of Core USA made Paul Reed Smith guitars.

I also find that the clean tones played with single coil mode ( it has coil tap) and sound incredibly dynamic and cleans in general have an angelic sweetness to them. In general PRS are consistent in their USA core line, you are very very unlikely to encounter several of them and find that some sound good and some sound dead or bland they are consistently great.

Note that this listing may come down at anytime as I am a multi-platform seller and do sell locally and on my own Site as well in an effort to keep sales fluid. State sales tax will be charged On Reverb sales when applicable, so factor that in to your purchase.

I will immaculately pack it as well. I use quality shipping boxes, ample tape on all sides. And sufficient bubble wrap filler and bracing inside the box. And always Marked/denoted as fragile. I generally detune guitars 1/2 half step prior to shipment as well if needed.

Thank you for reading and considering!