40 Years of PRS: A Celebration
Published on 05 March 2025
What is your favourite guitar brand, outside of Fender and Gibson? Those two titan loom large in our guitar universe, but other brands have more than given them a run for their money over the years. Some of these brands last for years in their own relative limelight, whereas others seem to fade into the background and become historical curiosities.
It takes a pretty special blend of design, beauty, function, appeal and a certain other X-factor for a new guitar brand - with its own original designs - to make a lasting impact.
PRS is one of those very few brands.
Today, I’ll offer a brief overview into the brand, from its beginnings up until today, the year of their 40th Anniversary. I’ll look at what sets them apart, what makes them appealing to players, and maybe even figure out why they managed to become one of the biggest guitar brands on the planet when so many others didn’t make the cut.
Contents
Paul Reed Smith
Any story about PRS guitars has to begin with the company’s creator, Paul Reed Smith. The company may be turning 40 this year, but the story doesn’t begin in 1985.
I’ll keep this brief, but we need to head back at least a decade, to when Paul was a school kid with a passion for building. Here’s a little bit in his own words:
“After getting a small following and orders for more than 50 guitars, we built two prototypes. I popped them in the back seat of my truck and called on guitar dealers up and down the East Coast. After many days and many miles, I came back with enough orders to start a company”.
Those first prototypes were what we know today as the PRS Custom 24…
The PRS Custom 24
PRS offer many models today, but the definitive PRS guitar is still the Custom 24. It’s the primary distillation of everything the company does, and in essence is their own classic guitar model.
Everything about the Custom 24 (well, many elements of it, certainly) fall right in between the conventions of the world’s two biggest guitars, The Fender Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul. Check it out:
- The body is mahogany with a figured maple top, like a Les Paul, but is a double cutaway, not unlike a Strat.
- The headstock is 3-a-side like a Gibson, but has straight string pull like a Fender.
- The scale length is 25”, which is in between Gibson’s 24.75” and Fender’s 25.5”.
- The fingerboard radius is 10”, again in between Fender (7.25” - 9.5”) and Gibson (12”).
- The Custom 24 typically has two humbuckers (like a Les Paul) and a non-locking tremolo bridge, like a Strat.
So, in many ways, the PRS Custom 24 is very deliberately a middle ground between those two opposing schools of design. In reality though, it’s very much its own beast, with a look, feel and sound that is immediately its own, not some half-way house that is neither here nor there. Guitar players who inherently prefer Fender or Gibson seem to be equally happy playing PRS guitars, so this middle ground is a place of potential indeed.
To Paul Reed Smith, every element matters in the production of tone, and the resulting sound of a Custom 24 is one that is thick and sustaining, but with a level of clarity that is often not found in set-neck, mahogany bodied guitars. It goes without saying that they are some of the most beautiful looking guitars in the world, but the real story here is that those stunning looks are only equal to the function (incredible necks, whammy bars that work well etc) and the sound, which has become beloved by players as far apart as Nu Metal and avant-garde jazz.
PRS Milestones
PRS are a very innovative company, and in fact those innovations began prior to the official 1985 start of the business. There’s a lot of point to take in, so for the sake of brevity, let’s hit some of the milestones here:
- 1976: Paul’s first guitar build.
- 1981: patent awarded for the compensated nut, the first of its kind.
- 1984: patent for tremolo design, after a request from Carlos Santana for a tremolo that stayed in tune.
- 1984: Smith tours the East coast of the USA to sell directly to dealers, using two prototype guitars of the Custom 24. Sam Ash orders 30, making his fledgling business a legit proposition.
- 1985: The company begins: things get real as the first PRS factory opens in Virginia Avenue, Maryland. Less than 15 employees are hired to initially build 20 guitars.
- 1986: June 27th, the company has a party to celebrate their 1000th guitar. That was quick!
- 1992: Double action truss rod invented and patented (corrects both bowed and flexed necks).
- 1992: First ever PRS Dragon guitar.
- 1993: PRS Custom 22 appears.
- 1994: PRS McCarty debuts. Both this and the Custom 22 are designed to give a fatter, more vintage tone.
- 1996: PRS Private Stock concept is rolled out for custom builds using top materials.
- 1996: A PRS Dragon guitar is added to the displays at the Smithsonian Museum.
- 1998: First piezo-equipped electric guitar released, with the piezo pickup being a collaboration with LR Baggs.
- 2001: The PRS SE series is launched.
- 2013: PRS S2 Series debuts.
- 2018: PRS Silver Sky releases.
- Today: over 400 employees in a much expanded premises in Stevensville, Maryland, which houses the Wood Library and the Private Stock areas as well as building space for Core and S2 guitars.
For a deeper history, check out this Brief History of PRS Guitars blog!
The PRS Birds
One of the most famous trademarks of a PRS guitar is of course the Bird inlays. Seen across all ranges - including, impressively, their most affordable SE models - the birds are an instant descriptor for the brand: “the guitar with the birds’ can really be nothing other than a PRS!
There’s a backstory too. Smith’s mother was a keen bird watcher and got her children interested in the subject. Family trips to the Smithsonian museum would often entail loaning out records of bird calls (you could take out records as you’d do in a library with books), which the family would listen to at home. Years later, when Paul was creating his first guitar for Peter Frampton, the idea of bird inlays came to him straight away. Using a bird reference book - and a few talented friends for the trickier illustrations - the bird inlays were born, and then created by hand-sawing the shapes from old pearl piano keys.
Legendary stuff.
Now, you’ll already know from looking at them that each inlay is of a different bird species. I bet you’ve wondered which, right? Well, let me clear that up for you right now. Here is each bird, starting from the nut end of the neck and ending on the 24th fret:
- Peregrine Falcon
- Marsh Hawk
- Ruby Throated Hummingbird
- Common Tern
- Coopers Hawk
- Kite
- Sparrow Landing
- Storm Petrel
- Hawk Landing
- Screech Owl on a Branch
There you have it!
PRS Guitar Ranges
PRS make a large range of guitars today, and they all belong to one of several ranges. Here’s an easy breakdown of how that looks:
- Core - The real-deal original PRS guitars such as the Custom 24, the McCarty and the Standard 24. Built in Maryland.
- Bolt-On - Maryland made too, but featuring models with bolted-on neck joins such as the CE 24, the Swamp Ash Special and the Silver Sky.
- S2 - Maryland made, reimagined models that are more affordable than Core guitars.
- SE - Indonesian made, affordable takes on the classic PRS guitars such as the SE Custom 24 and SE CE 24.
- Private Stock - Maryland made, using the best materials and greatest level of customisation. Guitars are either limited edition or built to order, and each is seen as a custom ‘one-off’.
Certain guitars are relative to one or two ranges (the Silver Sky is available in the bolt-on and SE ranges, though the models themselves are of course different), whilst others only appear in one. There are too many individual guitar models to run through here in the blog, but all PRS guitars share the same initial DNA, design spark and attitude that was present in Paul’s original 1976 build.
Where are PRS Guitars Made?
PRS guitars are made in two main locations. The majority are built in PRS’ premises in Stevensville, Maryland in the USA. Core models, S2, CE and all of the more exclusive guitars (Private Stock etc) are built in Maryland.
Affordable SE models are made in the Cor-Tek facility in Indonesia. Cor-Tek (whose own brand is Cort) have built for many big companies over the decades. They are one of the biggest guitar manufacturers in the world and also one of the best.
PRS Dragons
The PRS Dragons are a series of rare, sporadic releases (they do not come out every year, not by a long shot!) of spectacularly decorated instruments depicting dragons. These dragons can be inlaid on the fingerboard or within the body, but they are always created using precious and semi-precious materials, and they are always as gleefully over-the-top and they are stupendously attractive.
We have a dedicated PRS Dragons blog available, so please have a look at that for the in-depth guide, but here’s one for you in the meantime:
PRS Players
Guitars are only as good as the people playing them. PRS have attracted a great many of the world’s most celebrated guitarists. Below is a partial list of such talents, and be sure to click through any links, because they’ll take you to exclusive interviews conducted for guitarguitar by yours truly!
Let’s start with this video interview with prog-death-metal maestros Opeth, from around the release of their Sorceress album. You can spy some very tasty Custom P24 guitars (piezo-equipped Custom 24s) sitting next to us!
- Carlos Santana
- Dave Navarro
- Al Di Meloa
- Steven Wilson
- Peter Frampton
- Ace (Skunk Anansie)
- Mike Einziger
- Mark Tremonti
- Dave Grissom
- John Mayer
- Orianthi
- Mark Holcomb
- Zach Myers
- Kiki Wong
As I say, that’s only a smattering of the talent that has picked up PRS over the years. There’s also the PRS Pulse program, a grass roots way of nurturing up-and-coming talent, that’s now several years in the running. This level of artist support is certainly not something that’s offered by every brand!
40th Anniversary Guitars
It wouldn’t be a guitar anniversary without some special edition guitars to celebrate, now would it? PRS obviously understand this, since they’ve brought out two very limited edition guitars, and as you’d expect, they are pretty exceptional…
PRS 40th Anniversary Charcoal Phoenix
When PRS created a special Private Stock John McLaughlin guitar in 2023, Paul Reed Smith obviously took a special shine to it. I know this because this PRS 40th Anniversary Charcoal Phoenix is like a sister model to it!
Based on Paul’s Guitar - a popular model that features Paul’s own preferences - this 40th Anniversary wonder is limited to only 150 guitars worldwide. Featuring a hard tail, specially tuned TCI pickups (each unit precisely wound according to instrument and position) and a set of EQ switches, this is a versatile guitar indeed.
You’ll be able to see from the images that the top is phenomenally figured. For the neck, Paul went super exotic and chose Chaltecoco with a Ziricote fingerboard. In his own words,
“Using chaltecoco for the neck and ziricote for the fingerboard, I achieved an instrument that sustains beautifully and rings with clarity. The deep crimson back and the charcoal microburst top inspired the name ‘Charcoal Phoenix,’ evoking the imagery of a phoenix rising from fire and ashes.”
PRS 40th Anniversary Custom 24-08 Semi-Hollow
The other limited edition guitar for the company’s 40th birthday is this gorgeous PRS Limited Edition 40th Anniversary Custom 24-08 Semi-Hollow. It’s being offered in two colours - Faded Whale Blue Smokeburst and Charcoal Cherry Burst - this guitar packs in much of what sets PRS apart:
- ‘10’ top (PRS’s highest grading for wood beauty)
- Semi-hollow body
- TCI pickups
- EQ switches
- ‘Old school’ bird inlays
- Gen III tremolo
- Ziricote fingerboard
- Eagle headstock inlay
- Hand-signed certificate included
There are only 300 of these beauties being released into the wild, so if you are now drooling uncontrollably at the sight of these, make sure you take action! These will not last long.
Here’s to 40 More Years
As we sing an off-key ‘Happy Birthday’ to PRS, we reflect on all of the ways that the brand has innovated and influenced the development of guitars in general. From their boutique masterpieces to their uncommonly good SE workhorses, this is a company who set out to be the best, and to shake up the world of guitar building.
They achieved it, which is great news for us all. Happy birthday, PRS, and here’s to another 40 years of greatness.
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