PRS guitars
PRS Guitars is an American company founded by guitarist Paul Reed Smith for the production of exclusive electric guitars . The company's models are known for their distinctive shape and special sound. The official company was founded in 1985; in 1995 and 2005, the tenth and twentieth company anniversaries were celebrated with special models ( 10th and 20th anniversary models), which are now rarities.
Beginnings
Paul Reed Smith began building guitars himself in 1975. The guitar building was originally intended as a project in his music studies, but Smith saw a talent in itself and decided to continue this work. In order to draw attention to his models, he sneaked to great artists behind the stage to show them his guitars. In his earliest years he got to know Carlos Santana , Al Di Meola and Peter Frampton , who had specially designed guitars made by him after a few meetings. However, his first guitars were technically not yet mature due to his means.
The guitarist Santana wanted to play a PRS guitar immediately after an initial backstage test at a concert, but the electromagnetic pickups of the instrument responded to the musician's guitar amplifier with loud feedback noises. The first PRS models sold did not have a tone control, which Smith later changed without consultation. According to stories, Santana wanted to change the sound of his guitar in the recording studio and asked his sound engineers to turn up the treble; they should have answered: “Do it on your guitar!” - Santana: “Mine has no tone control.” - “Since when?” The first (fully developed) Custom 24 models were produced in series from 1985, so 1985 applies as the company's official founding year.
1985 until today
Smith initially made about one guitar a month, but expanded with growing popularity in the 1980s. Former Gibson President Ted McCarty was hired as an advisor. PRS honored him with the McCarty models. Today PRS Guitars is based in Stevensville ( Maryland , USA) and employs around 200 people.
Trademarks of the electric guitars from PRS are the markings on the frets of the fingerboard with inlays ( inlays ) in the form of different phases of a bird in flight, as well as the headstock of the instruments with the signature of Smith. The shape of the ceilings is also striking . The high-quality maple wood with striking grain that is often used here is one reason for the high prices of the guitars. Another is the use of exotic materials such as abalone , which are used as decoration and for the fretboard inlays.
Since there were only a few models available for less than € 2000, PRS guitars sometimes have a "lawyer and doctor-son flair". Early PRS models such as the 513 Rosewood, the Modern Eagle and the Santana II were sold with prices up to € 6000 from the factory. Older private stock models (custom-made products), Dragon models (a limited edition, often decorated with dragons on the fingerboard) and Artist models (luxury editions) are even more expensive .
At the end of the 1990s, the cheaper SE series , made in South Korea , was introduced, which is produced in a simplified manner (no vaulted ceilings, simpler woods, opaque paintwork, simpler electronics and metal parts, etc.). They are rated as very good for their price range; according to experts, these guitars can compete with models from other manufacturers in the price range from 1200 to 1600 €. In 2007, the Mira series appeared, which is in the mid-range price range between the SE and CE models .
Since 2008, the Gary Grainger Private Stock Bass has been mass-produced for the first time since the mid-1990s, an electric bass model based on a signature production for bassist Gary Grainger. In addition, almost all satin finish models (with nitro paint) have been removed from the catalog; likewise the series Standard High Gloss (high gloss). Mastering Voice Control (MVC) is new on the Santana MD and McCarty II models. The most obvious change is one of the PRS trademarks: The well-known Vogel inlays were redesigned after other inlays had already appeared on the 513 models (which were retained as "513 Birds" and not changed).
From 2009 the range of models with hollow chambers in the body (PRS designation: Hollow Body ) was expanded and mass- produced. In addition, acoustic guitars as well as guitar amplifiers and loudspeaker boxes were mass-produced for the first time . PRS is following its competitors Gibson and Fender , who have long been represented in these market segments.
Private stock models
Almost all manufacturers of electric guitars now have a department for special models (Custom Shop), through which artists can have instruments specially made. Paul Reed Smith describes his entire company as the only custom shop, as PRS reacts very strongly to customer requests. That's why he called the PRS Custom Shop “Private Stock” . Here, private individuals or instrument dealers can have models specially made. All guitars are based on the standard shapes or characteristics of the PRS guitars, but equipped with innovative pickup interconnection, design details or even special construction methods ( doubleneck, longscale , seven-string, twelve-string). Since the quality of the work from PRS is already very high and the models themselves are very exclusive, the PRS instruments in the Private Stock class have particularly high sales prices. The models are among the top-class of instrument making and, in terms of manufacturing quality, are "easy for many other manufacturers" (original sound from an article in the specialist music magazine Guitar & Bass ). Some models specially designed in the private stock turned out to be so practical and suitable for the masses that they were further developed into series models. These models ( Modern Eagle, Singlecut Modern Eagle, 513 Rosewood, 513 and 1980 Weststreet Ltd. ) are still relatively expensive. Also Signature models were the first private-floor instruments were, however, made as standard later.
Sound and technology
PRS guitars are considered to be versatile, which is also reflected in the variety of musical styles represented by their endorsers . From blues (for example David Grissom) to Latin rock (Carlos Santana), bluegrass (Johnny Hiland), rock music (Ray Davies, Joe Walsh, Orianthi) to metal ( Brad Delson , Emil Werstler, James Root, Mikael Åkerfeldt ) and Hard rock (Chad Kroeger, Mark Tremonti, Zach Myers) is represented in a wide range of styles. PRS guitars in the styles of rock, hard rock and metal are particularly popular, as the PRS pickups have a relatively high output power and thus support an aggressive sounding tone. The PRS tone can also sound harmoniously balanced and "creamy" and is reminiscent of the sound possibilities of the Gibson Les Paul . Carlos Santana made this guitar sound popular.
Almost all PRS guitars (except for McCarty, SC 245 and all SE models) have so-called locking tuners . These are tuning machines in which the guitar strings are clamped. On the one hand, this technology is intended to improve tuning stability, and on the other hand, the strings only need one or two windings on the pegs of the machine heads.
Most models have two pickups , mostly in double coil design ( humbuckers ) . Wear some models instead P-90 - single-coils or as indicated on 305er model three single-coil to get close to the sound of a Fender Stratocaster to approach. In some newer models (for example NF3 and Studio ), so-called narrow field humbuckers are now also used, which are similar in structure to a conventional humbucker, but narrower in terms of dimensions, more like a conventional single-coil pickup. This in turn results in an independent sound that mixes the characteristics of the humbucker and single coil anew. In general, the PRS guitars have some technical features. The special five-way circuit of the two pickups is particularly well-known, providing different sound variants on the custom and standard models. Many PRS guitars also use a coil-split function ( single-coil operation of a double-coil humbucker by switching off one of the two magnetic coils). The 513's pick-up equipment and circuitry is outstanding : this model has five individual pick-up coils that can be combined with one another in 13 variants using two switches. The pickups are arranged in groups of two humbuckers and a single coil, which can be used in the circuit and sound variants "Full Humbucking", "Light Humbucking" and "Single Coil" . The Mastering Voice Control ( MVC; see above), which has been in use since 2008 on the McCarty II and Santana MD models, is intended to provide a new sound variant. MVC is basically a coil-split function that, despite the built-in humbuckers, should come close to the single-coil sound of the early 1960s.
Current models
Since 2008, PRS has divided its models into five new categories:
- Solid Body (models with a solid body without cavities)
- Hollow Body (models with cavities in the body)
- Signature (models specially made for artists in free trade)
- Private Stock (custom made, not officially available on the market)
- SE (simpler version of the solid-body and hollow-body models).
The private stock models are not listed here as they are not commercially available. Other models are in circulation or at country-specific distributors, but are no longer listed in the official catalog.
In 2009, the new products in the amplifier and acoustics sector added new product categories and expanded the range. The amplifiers are available either as a top or as a combo amplifier .
literature
- Tony Bacon, Dave Hunter: Totally Guitar - the Definitive Guide ,
Guitar Encyclopedia. Backbeat Books, London 2004. ISBN 1-871547-81-4
Web links
- Official Website of PRS Guitars (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heinz Rebellius : Guitars ABC - Mechanics, Part 4: Locking Mechanics. Guitar & Bass , issue 4 / April 2011, p. 264 f. MM-Musik-Media-Verlag, Ulm. ISSN 0934-7674