Six String Synopsis:
American guitarist and luthier Paul Reed Smith (1956‑) graduated from High School in Bowie, Maryland in 1974 and started making guitars when he was at St. Mary’s College during the mid‑1970s. He continued to learn about guitar making and, by 1985, he had drummed up enough business and artist recognition – including the likes of Carlos Santana – to set up the company that bears his initials; PRS Guitars.
Initially, PRS produced hand‑made double cutaway instruments in small numbers at a small factory in Annapolis, Maryland. The company started out with basically two models; the all‑mahogany PRS Guitar, which became the Standard, and the maple‑capped Custom, shortly followed by the lower cost CE (Classic Electric) in 1988. Smith astutely positioned his guitars in the marketplace, producing very high quality instruments with many features influenced by but not copied from Fender and Gibson’s classic guitar designs.
By 1990, demand for PRS guitars had increased to a point that Smith was able to invest in sophisticated CNC machinery to increase production and improve standards. The company continued to expand and, in 1996, Smith moved production a short distance to a new factory in Stevensville, Kent Island on Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.
Well after Ted McCarty stood down from his position of President at Gibson, he mentored and advised the ambitious Smith from the mid‑1980s and, in 1994, the company honoured the elder statesman by introducing a discrete McCarty tribute model.
Competitor, Gibson took exception to the introduction of the PRS Singlecut design in 2001 but the lawsuit eventually failed on appeal and PRS resumed production of the Singlecut from 2005.
PRS guitars have become distinctive in their own right with desirable specifications such as the famous ‘bird’ inlays and highly figured maple ’10 Tops’ and Brazilian rosewood fingerboards on the higher end models. In order to cater for all price ranges, PRS introduced the SE (Student Edition) range manufactured in the Far East from 2003.
PRS continues to push the boundaries of quality guitar production including very exclusive ‘Dragon’ guitars (from 1992) and ‘Private Stock’ instruments (from 1996). PRS now also makes highly respected acoustic and bass guitars, as well as amplifiers.
PRS Guitars’ official website is… https://prsguitars.com/
Check out the PRS Guitars page on Wikipedia… Wikipedia.org
Famous PRS instruments include… Standard, Custom, CE, McCarty, Dragon, Singlecut, Starla, Mira, S2 series, SE series
Some famous PRS guitar players include… Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth), Martin Barre (Jethro Tull), Brad Delson (Linkin Park), Al Di Meola, Dave Grissom, Howard Leese (Heart), Alex Lifeson (Rush), John McLaughlin, Bernie Marsden (Whitesnake), John Mayer, Dave Navarro (Jane’s Addiction), Ted Nugent, Orianthi, Carlos Santana, Neal Schon (Journey), Martin Simpson, Pat Travers, Mark Tremonti (Alter Bridge), Joe Walsh (Eagles), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree)
Links to CRAVE Guitars Paul Reed Smith (PRS) Features:
1989 Paul Reed Smith (PRS) Classic Electric (CE)
1988 Paul Reed Smith (PRS) Standard
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