Paul Reed Smith and our company believe that guitar building is an ongoing process of discovery. In the same way, we believe guitar playing is an ongoing process of discovery. And of course to be discovering means you need to be learning! In this blog post series, we interview music educators who love PRS and have educated tens of thousands of musicians.
We’re excited to bring you a few updates to our lineup of products for 2019. Read on and we’ll walk you through the new gear!
With two output jacks on one guitar, the Hollowbody II Piezo can be wired uniquely for your needs. In this blog, Bryan and Colin each hook up their rigs in differing ways to demonstrate the versatility of the Hollowbody II Piezo.
For artists and fans alike, the Vans Warped Tour is a bit magical; there is really nothing like it as bands travel together to play in 38 cities in 46 days. As you can imagine, the schedule and sheer effort it takes to pull-off a traveling tour of this magnitude is grueling. We caught up with a few PRS artists on this year’s tour to get the scoop on what it’s really like.
This is it, the final countdown. Artists and music fans around the continental US are prepping for the final full cross country Warped Tour. This year it’s kicking off in Pomona, CA on June 21st and wrapping up 46 days and 38 cities later in West Palm Beach, Florida. Check out this blog to see the PRS artists on this year’s tour!
The funky-tight rhythm section of Jamiroquai (aka. Rob, Paul, & Derrick), recently visited Headline Studios in Europe to lay down some jams with the newly released PRS Silver Sky. Give it a listen here!
Have you ever had a “how do they do that” reaction to a fade finish? If so, check out the videos in this blog post to see how the stain is applied!
Musician, guitar teacher, and YouTuber Tyler Larson (Music Is Win) recently sent his beloved SC245 10-Top to a fellow musician, YouTuber, and former PRS dealer, Phillip McKnight. Phil hosts a cool segment on his YouTube channel called, “Sharpen My Axe” where he overhauls and updates instruments to a new and beautiful working condition. Check out all the “axe sharpening” in this story!
You may recognize John Bohlinger from the hundreds of gear reviews he’s filmed as Premier Guitar’s resident demo artist. John is a longtime fan/artist of PRS guitars, we took some time to ask him questions about his diverse and successful career as a guitarist living in Nashville. Check it out here!
Check out this blog to meet a few of PRS’ youngest endorsers! Age is no indicator of talent when it comes to these young players. each of whom undoubtedly has a bright future with guitar. Read our Q&A with Jon Dretto, Hayden Fogle, and Justus West here!
Big fans of PRS may know the incredible history and significance of our Custom 24 model. This iconic guitar was Paul’s tool to launching his young company in 1985, and remains today as our best seller. The Custom 24 has been played internationally by touring artists, gigging musicians, and aspiring players ever since. For 2018, we’re excited to release a new model based on the Custom 24 platform, one that offers a whole new range of tones. Meet the Custom 24-08.
Recently, Paul and other members from the PRS team have been filming a series of Facebook live videos from inside our factory! Our goal is to give you a peek of the inner workings of the PRS factory and display our dedication to building the best instruments we can. Check out this blog to see the videos we have filmed thus far.
One of the coolest things about music is that it transcends generations - people of any age have the opportunity to enjoy and create music. The kids we’re highlighting today just so happen to be really good at it and at a really young age. Check out this blog post as we give a shout-out to kids who rock - and rock PRS guitars at that.
Have you ever heard of our popular PRS finish, “Trampas Green?” Check out this blog to meet the man behind it, Trampas Ferree, one of our stain employees here at PRS. He knows his way around staining guitars, but he also likes eating sushi and playing videos games too.
The Reclaimed Limiteds were announced in March 2017 as a limited order window. Admittedly, not even we were prepared for the overwhelming enthusiasm for these two new “reclaimed” offerings: the S2 Vela Semi-Hollow & CE 24 Semi-Hollow. Check out this blog for a look back at these unique guitars and an update on our wood supply!
Recently, PRS artist Boscoe France joined up with members of the PRS team to film a series of videos highlighting our latest release, the McCarty 594 Soapbars. The setting? A circa 1700’s farm house, presumed to be the oldest building in Stevensville, Maryland, the township where the PRS factory is headquartered. Read more about the video shoot here!
The Vans Warped Tour presented by Journeys is the nation’s largest traveling music festival and has been connecting fans with their favorite bands since 1995! For the musicians on the tour, Warped is one of the most aggressive touring schedules one can experience, typically spanning 41 cities in 50 days. We took the time to chat with a few artists playing PRS on this year’s tour, and learn about their favorite parts of Warped, the gear they’re using, and more!
We interviewed 3 professional touring musicians to learn how they put their PRS CE 24 models to work. Check out this story to get an inside look at their favorite gear, musical inspirations, and more!
The Paul Reed Smith Tech Center (PTC) is in the business of making your guitar dreams a reality. In addition to standard PRS repairs and maintenance, the PTC specializes in making unique modifications to your guitar to meet your needs as a musician. The PTC job we are exploring today features an older limited-edition PRS model called the “Artist V.” Check out the work done by the PTC below!
Earlier this month we released the “Reclaimed Limiteds”, a batch of our CE 24 & S2 Vela models redesigned with semi-hollow bodies and beautiful reclaimed Brazilian wood. Learn about the story behind these models here!
“Missed Connections” are our way of making sure you have a second chance to see all of the great limited run guitars that we make - often in small batches! This missed connection features a unique limited order-window guitar released last year, the “CE 24 Standard Satin” Check out this blog to get a closer look at this limited run and find a dealer who still has one in stock!
The PRS “McCarty” was born from a passion for vintage tone. Since the introduction of the original McCarty model in 1994, the McCarty lineup has expanded as our company has evolved. Today we are armed with a greater understanding of vintage instruments, more research, and new models that push us towards our goal of building a perfectly modern, “vintage” instrument. Read about the journey here.
“Instruments Made Out of Instruments” is a video created by a long time musician and fan of PRS using strictly raw guitar materials. Watch the video and read a Q&A about the recording process here!
Our 513 and 408 models both fall into a sort of “specialty” category here at PRS. While both instruments are 22 fret models with our custom body shape, they become strikingly different when you break down their electronics layout. Check out this blog post to gain some insight into how each model works and what makes them beautifully unique.
Playing music for a living and traveling the country sounds awesome, but what about those other little details of life on the road? Get the scoop directly from artists here!
“Missed Connections” are our way of making sure you have a second chance to see all of the great limited run guitars that we make - often in very small batches! This missed connection features a unique limited edition guitar released last year, the “58/15 Custom 24.” Check out this blog to get a closer look at this limited run and find a dealer who still has one in stock!
Recently, Brett Berhoff, a contributor for the Huffington Post visited our factory to sit down with Paul Reed Smith and get a behind-the-scenes look into what we do. You can find out more about his article here!
It’s been about a month since we released our newest core model, the McCarty 594, and the feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive! This model incorporates some old tricks Paul Reed Smith learned from his late mentor Ted McCarty, as well as a few firsts for a PRS core model. Learn more about the McCarty 594 here!
Every once in a while on our blog you’ll see a post titled “missed connections.” It’s our way of making sure you have a second chance to see all of the great limited run guitars that we make - often in very small batches! This “missed connection” features two special guitars we made for our 30th Anniversary, the “Vine” McCarty & Custom 22. Get a closer look here!
A vast amount of work goes into the production of a PRS guitar, but today we are going to focus in on just one step in the process, body sanding. If you’ve ever wondered how we do it and why there’s so much attention to detail, hopefully this blog will provide some answers!
Vintage Guitar Magazine recently reviewed our McCarty model for their June 2016 issue! Check out the full review here!
When you want to rock, you don’t want anything getting in the way. Here at PRS we want you to be able to trust your gear so that you can focus on the fretboard. Check out this blog post to see a few of our favorite rigs for metal and hard rock!
Last year, we did a blog post showing how much we love great PRS guitar backs. Recently we thought…let’s do it again! Check it out here!
The Paul Reed Smith Tech Center (PTC) is in the business of making your guitar dreams a reality. In addition to standard PRS repairs and maintenance, the PTC specializes in making unique modifications to your guitar to meet your needs as a musician. The PTC job we are exploring today features our Hollowbody II model with a few tweaks. Check out this blog to see the PTC work!
Every once in a while on our blog you’ll see a post titled“missed connections.” It’s our way of making sure you have a second chance to see all of the great limited run guitars that we make - often in very small batches! This “missed connection” features the 30th Anniversary Lefty Custom 24 - a small batch run of left handed guitars with 30th Anniversary Custom 24 specs!
The Paul Reed Smith Tech Center (PTC) is in the business of making your guitar dreams a reality. In addition to standard PRS repairs and maintenance, the PTC specializes in making unique modifications to your guitar to meet your needs as a musician. The PTC job we are exploring today features our Custom 24 “Floyd” model with some electronics mods. Check out this blog post to see that the PTC made possible!
2015 has been a milestone year for our company! We celebrated our 30th Anniversary and commemorated it in style with a number of new guitar offerings. Let’s take a look back at the 30th Anniversary models we offered in the past year.
Recently, Bass Gear Magazine reviewed two PRS basses, the Gary Grainger 4-string and SE Kestrel. Both received glowing reviews and nods for their craftsmanship. Check out a few quotes from the article in this blog post!
The Paul Reed Smith Tech Center (PTC) is in the business of making your guitar dreams a reality. In addition to standard PRS repairs and maintenance, the PTC specializes in making unique modifications to your guitar to meet your needs as a musician. The PTC job we are exploring today features our popular Hollowbody II model with some interesting modifications. Check out this blog post to see what the PTC was able to do!
Recently, Guitar Player magazine reviewed our 30th Anniversary Custom 24 and McCarty models! Both received stellar reviews and accolades from the Guitar Player team. Check out this blog post to get a preview of the reviews.
The Paul Reed Smith Tech Center (PTC) is in the business of making your guitar dreams a reality. In addition to standard PRS repairs and maintenance, the PTC specializes in overhauling your guitar to meet your unique needs as a musician. In this blog post, we have a chat with one of our PTC employees, James Zimmers. James has been an employee at PRS for 14 years, and working with guitars since the age of 14 - about 20 years! Check out this blog post to learn more about the work James does in our PTC shop!
Of course it’s impossible to build an entire guitar in 15 seconds, but in 15 seconds we can give you a preview of the manufacturing process! Check out this blog post to see a short Instagram video we made showing how its done.
In this blog you can learn more about PRS pickups, their history, and our desire to continually improve. Also, watch Paul explain some of our philosophies in a video!
Guitars often come through our production line and out of our doors labeled as “Wood Library” guitars. But what does it all mean!? In this post, we attack this question head on and try to explain these unique instruments.
Every once in a while on our blog you’ll see a post title labled “missed connections.” It’s our way of making sure you have a chance to see all of the great limited run guitars that we make - often in very small batches! This “missed connection” features the Dustie Waring Limited Edition signature model!
Jeff Marolda’s alarm buzzes at 6:00 AM each work day. He leaves his home in Easton, MD and drives 30 minutes to our headquarters located in Stevensville, MD - just a few hundred yards from the Chesapeake Bay. Here at PRS, Jeff is responsible for a task we take very seriously - quality inspection. Check out this blog post to learn more about what Jeff does here at PRS!
PRS Signature artist and blues legend, David Grissom is heading up to Montana to take his place as the “Blues Artist in Residence” for this year’s Crown Guitar Festival. David will be offering workshops, clinics and lessons during this week long, guitar-loving festival. While the workshops and instruction time are only open to registered attendees, David, and a very impressive roster of artists, will be featured in nightly concerts that are open to the public. Check out this blog post to learn more about the Crown Guitar Festival.
Many are familiar with our McCarty guitar, but few understand the significance behind this model. Check out this blog post to learn more about Paul Reed Smith’s relationship with Ted McCarty and model that was born from this historic friendship.
The Paul Reed Smith Tech Center (PTC) is in the business of making your guitar dreams a reality. In addition to standard PRS repairs and maintenance, the PTC specializes in overhauling your guitar to meet your unique needs as a musician. The PTC job we are exploring today features an extensive overhaul of an older PRS Singlecut Trem model. Check out this blog to see the changes our PTC made!
At PRS we care a lot about the art of guitar making. Things like quality, innovation, and a guitar’s aesthetic beauty keep us excited about our next build. To celebrate our 30th Anniversary of guitar building and continue our love of the art we are releasing the 30th Anniversary “Vine” guitars. Check out this blog post to learn more about this new limited run!
The Paul Reed Smith Tech Center (PTC) is in the business of making your guitar dreams a reality. In addition to standard PRS repairs and maintenance, the PTC specializes in overhauling your guitar to meet your unique needs as a musician. The PTC job we are exploring today features an electronics and control layout change to a PRS Brent Mason signature model. This specific customer needed to easily access a variety of tones when gigging, and the PTC helped him make it happen!
You can’t ignore a good top on a guitar, its the first thing people see when you open the case and its always facing the crowd while you’re out gigging. Everyday we focus on the tops, but not today; today we want to show you some of the best backs in the game. These are just a few of the guitars we are privileged to work on each day here in our Maryland factory - each one crafted with care and attention to detail. Enjoy!
It’s our 30th Anniversary year and we’re pretty excited about it. Paul started this business in 1985 in the attic of an old building in downtown Annapolis, MD. He started building these guitars called the PRS “Custom” and they caught people’s attention pretty quickly. Check out this story to learn more about the guitar that started it all.
If you weren’t able to make it to NAMM this year - don’t fret, we have plenty of video content live from our booth! In this blog, you’ll find product demos, interviews, and more.
The Paul Reed Smith Tech Center (PTC) is a group of talented guitar repairmen who are dedicated to the responsible repair and authentic techniques true to a PRS guitar’s original construction. Thousands of customers from around the world trust our PTC for anything from a setup to a complete guitar overhaul.
Check out this blog to see a recent job completed by our PTC!
The Custom 24 is the quintessential PRS guitar. This iconic instrument was the first model that Paul Reed Smith brought to the public at PRS Guitars’ first Winter NAMM show in 1985 and has been a top seller ever since.
This guitar is so popular because it gives a musician so many different tonal options in just one guitar. A player doesn’t need to mess with his or her amp in the middle of a gig to pull a different tone. When a new tone is needed, we’ve made it as simple as a flick of a finger.
5 years ago, Musician’s Friend stopped by our factory to film a 4-part series on our guitars and how they are made. Check out this cool behind-the-scenes action of our guitars on the production floor.
The Paul Reed Smith Tech Center (PTC) team members have more than 50 years of combined PRS experience. Their personal approach and in-depth knowledge of PRS guitars result in outstanding work. In this blog post, we explore a custom designed floating-style pick guard for a JA-15.
This guitar arrived to our PTC department at the PRS factory in rough shape. The neck was somehow still connected to the body but the body was broken and cracked from the neck joint to the bridge! On the back of the guitar, it was also cracked all the way to the edge of the electronics cavity. The only thing holding this guitar together was about an inch of unbroken wood.
The customer sent the guitar in to our tech center (PTC) hoping that we could bring the beauty back to life. The neck and body were reset and glued sturdily back in place. The guitar was then stripped of its finish and the PTC refinished the guitar in its original color. A final electronics assembly and setup made this guitar as good as new again!
If you love our core model guitars but wish you could spruce things up a bit, our Artist Package might be just what you’re looking for! With expanded options on things like maple tops, pickups, and finishes, you can get closer to building the guitar of your dreams.
The PRS Artist Package program is an exclusive platform for PRS Core electric guitars and acoustics that offers expanded options and enhancements on select models. Simply choose your model and pick from the available upgrades to create the most distinctive instruments and amplifiers available from the PRS Core production line.
Imagine this..you’ve purchased your dream guitar and it feels and sounds great in your hands, BUT there’s just one little thing that you think would really make it tailored specially for you and your style. Enter our PTC department. They are in the business of making your guitar dreams a reality.
Unfortunately, accidents happen in life…sometimes to our most beloved treasures: our guitars.
After a home flooded with salty seawater, this PRS Santana III quickly became rusted and destroyed. For this customer, dissapointment became relief after our PTC center took the guitar in.
Repairing broken PRS guitars isn’t the only thing our PTC center does well, they can also do some sweet mods! Take a look at the work done to this PRS JA-15 model.
This lovely green Hollowbody II showed up to our PTC center in need of some tender loving care. Unfortunately, the guitar landed on its headstock in the middle of an epic jam-session. This posed no threat to our PTC guys, they had her fixed up in no time. In a fortunate turn of events, this Hollowbody will live to shred another solo.
Good work, guys! If you would like to learn more about our PTC department, or send your own PRS in for repair, click HERE.
This guitar was sent to our PRS Tech Center (PTC) as a NF3 fitted with the standard three “Narrowfield” pickups. The owner was ready for a change so he sent it in to our talented guys here at PRS for some new life.
We were able to remove the middle pick-up, re-route the body to fit a larger 59/09 pickup, re-route the body to fit a Floyd Rose tremolo, and finally tie it all together with a new pick guard. It may sound easy, but our tech center worked hard to preform quality work while preserving the tone and resonance expected of this caliber of an instrument.
We love fades, bursts, solid tops, glows, you name it. All of that gets done here in the base coat and top coat departments.
After paint is applied, a team of employees meticulously inspects every instrument. Even the smallest abnormality will not go uncorrected.
We take pride in our instruments so that when its finally in your hands, you can too.
Each week we search the factory for a guitar with an exceptional top and share it here on our blog!
In this rig showdown we have an Artist Package Custom 24 w/ Maple neck vs a Single Cut 245!
In this video, Paul sits down and explains all of the tonal variety you can experience with our award-winning 408. “408” stands for 4 pickups and 8 sounds.
Click HERE to view the 408 product page!
Check out this selection of behind the scenes photos from our factory in Stevensville, MD.
Check out this selection of behind the scenes photos from our factory in Stevensville, MD.
Check out this selection of behind the scenes photos from our factory in Stevensville, MD.
Check out this selection of behind the scenes photos from our factory in Stevensville, MD.
Check out this selection of behind the scenes photos from our factory in Stevensville, MD.
Check out this selection of behind the scenes photos from our factory in Stevensville, MD.
Experience PRS 2012
Nashville Session legend Brent Mason and Paul Reed Smith with the NF3.
Experience PRS 2012
Opaque and translucent 408 Standards
For more on the Artist Package program, visit: http://prsguitars.com/artistpackage
in Orange Fade
This unique SC 58 Artist Package features a rosewood neck, 59/09 pickups and Orange Fade finish.
David Grissom’s signature all mahogany DGT Standard guitars are running through production and are arriving at PRS Dealers now. The ordering window on these models is closed, but if you want to get your hands on one, ask your local PRS Dealer about inventory.
We’re using what we refer to as “Sinker” Mahogany for the necks on our Signature Limited models. We reserve this wood for special edition guitars and Private Stocks instruments due its rare nature and tonal qualities. So what is PRS Sinker Mahogany exactly? Paul explains in this video.
Pretty much all I’m playing these days is our Signature model, which was released as a limited edition at NAMM this past January. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t like all the other models we make, it’s that these instruments, for me, cover everything I’m asking an instrument to do.
