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Paul Reed Smith Guitars is proud to add the P22, the company’s first piezo-equipped solidbody guitar, to its 2012 lineup. The P22 comes standard with a figured maple top, mahogany back, mahogany neck with a 22 fret rosewood fingerboard, and a redesigned PRS/LR Baggs piezo system. PRS and LR Baggs partnered more than a decade ago to design the piezo system found in PRS’s popular hollowbody models. This new system retains the same circuit design as the existing system, giving the P22 the same tonal authenticity and real world practicality as PRS hollowbody guitars. The redesign of the board itself yielded a version that is more than 60% smaller than the original PRS/LR Baggs system, allowing it to comfortably inhabit a solidbody guitar. Uncovered 53/10 pickups round out this guitar’s specifications and help define the P22’s voice.

Piezo systems have long allowed guitarists the versatility of wielding both acoustic and electric guitar tones in one instrument. The PRS Hollowbody II and Singlecut Hollowbody II both come standard with the original PRS/LR Baggs piezo and have achieved a great level of popularity in PRS Guitars’ product line. The addition of a solidbody model will give musicians a new and unique tool to add to their own lineup.

After nearly a year of work from concept to completion, the P22 guitar will begin shipping in the first quarter of 2012.

Now Available with PRS Artist Package

The PRS Artist Package is an exclusive platform for PRS core electric guitars that offers expanded features, options, and colors on select models. The guitars built through this program are the most distinctive instruments available from the PRS Core production line. Available for the first time since 2008, the PRS Artist Package has been updated with exceptional tone woods, including an artist grade (flame or quilt) maple top, select mahogany back, premium Mexican ebony fingerboard, ebony headstock veneer with inlaid signature, and ebony truss rod cover. This is the first time outside of the Private Stock program that PRS is offering Mexican ebony, a wood which, once oiled, turns a beautiful, deep chocolate brown. New artist bird inlays (green abalone with green ripple outlines on Mexican ebony and ebony fretboards / green abalone with black lip mother of pearl outlines on maple fretboards), V12 finish, and an artist case are also included.

The Artist Package is available on the following models: Custom 24, Studio, P22 (no pickup substitution), 513 Maple Top (no pickup substitution), SC 58, McCarty 58, Hollowbody II (Quilt top and back optional), Singlecut Hollowbody II (Quilt top and back optional), and the Custom 22 (the Custom 22 model is available through the Artist Package program only).

For a complete list of options, download the 2012 Artist Package Price List PDF

Features

Finish should enhance the look, sound, and feel of a guitar by accentuating the wood’s inherent beauty and feel without hindering its natural resonance. And PRS Guitars’ new “V12” finish does just that. Introduced at Experience PRS 2010, “V12” is a very thin, hard, and clear finish that will not crack or react with thinners. After roughly 12 years in development, it is halfway between acrylic and nitro but with a classic feel all its own. “PRS models with this new finish feel like old instruments,” said Paul Reed Smith.

Neck shapes have always been a high priority for us and a hallmark of our quality. A guitar should feel comfortable, like “home,” as soon as you pick it up, and the neck is paramount to that connection. The new “Pattern Regular” neck shape is similar to the traditional PRS regular neck found on guitars made in the late 80’s at PRS’s former Virginia Avenue location.

This new neck shape reflects modern tooling and programming that allows us to even more precisely shape and consistently reproduce our necks.

The 53/10™ pickup is the latest in the series of humbucking pickups that already includes PRS 57/08™ and 59/09’s™ (and the smaller aperture 57/08 Narrowfield®). First debuting as part of a limited run in the summer of 2010, the distinctive 53/10™ is the warmest-sounding of the vintage themed bunch. The 53/10™ coil wire is made on the same machine that supplied legendary guitar makers in the fifties. Wire specifications for the 53/10™ are slightly different than the others and are made using a special process reserved for a single-coil bridge pickup circa 1953; however, the 53/10™ is a humbucking pickup. Smith commented, “There are single-coil guitars from that era that are beautifully big, fat sounding guitars.” With that tone as inspiration, 53/10™ pickups are similar to the original 57/08™ but with a “sweeter” high end.

PRS Guitars Phase III tuners are new to the line up for 2011 and will come standard on SC 58, McCarty 58, ME Quatro, and JA-15 models. These very smooth, high-tolerance pegs feature an elegant design with larger buttons, an open back, and closed housing.