Know Your PRS: 10 Tops and Artist Packs

Welcome back, PRS fans! In this edition of my Know Your PRS series, I’m taking two somewhat misunderstood areas of the brand and making a quick explainer article for you, so that you know the ins and outs of what PRS offer. They make a lot of guitars, and maybe some of these share similar names and styles, so having the inside scoop can be really helpful.

Over the years, I’ve sold many PRS guitars, worked directly with Paul Reed Smith and his team, and also owned a few of their guitars myself, so hopefully I’m in a good position to illuminate you!

PRS guitars are renowned for being beautiful. The shape, the inlays, the colours, but mostly their stunningly carved maple tops. Not all PRS models have figured maple tops of course, but we do tend to instantly associate the brand with them, don’t we? 

I think it’s because they’ve always made such a prominent feature of their gorgeous quilted and flamed tops for Custom 24s and beyond. Since 1985, it’s been their ‘thing’ and that travels down to the SE models today, which may have thin veneers of maple instead of thick tops, but they still look pretty special!

In short, all of their maple tops look impressive.

So what’s a 10 Top? Okay. All of PRS’ maple tops look impressive, but that doesn’t mean they all look equally impressive. I suppose you could say that it’s subjective, but PRS do set aside what they consider to be the most incredible pieces of figured maple. These can be flamed or curly, but what’s important is how impressive that flame or curl is, how tightly and defined it is, and that there are no ‘dead spots’ in the pattern. They get separated into groups for using in 10 Top, Artist Packs and Private Stock instruments. Here’s what to expect with a 10 Top:

Given how gorgeous most PRS guitars are, how can you tell which ones are a 10 Top? Is it obvious just by looking at the top?

I’d say no, because so many of their guitars use beautifully fancy pieces of maple. Loads of non-10 Top PRS guitars still have stunning tops, after all! No, what you want to do is turn the guitar over and look at the back of the headstock. If there’s a little ‘10’ in the top right hand corner, you’re holding a 10 Top.

Does a 10 Top make a difference to how that guitar sounds? Well, what you’re really asking here is ‘does a beautiful looking piece of wood sound better than a slightly less beautiful piece of the same wood?’ When written that way, the answer’s pretty obvious, right? 10 Tops are all about beauty, and having something that looks incredible. PRS guitars with 10 Tops don’t sound better than PRS guitars with non-10 Tops. It was never about that. You can’t hear the flaming on a nice piece of maple, after all.

Some guitar fans will tell you that wood doesn’t make a difference to tone at all, and some say it’s a significant factor. Whilst this short blog isn’t about that, I’d have to say that I believe wood does play a part in electric guitar tone creation. But yeah, maple will sound like maple whether it’s a plain-Jane piece or an exquisitely flamed piece. Build quality, sound or playability are unaffected by a PRS having 10 Top status.

‘PRS Artist Pack’ refers to a specific set of upgrades that a guitar can receive (before it gets built!) over and above its usual specification. Not all guitars automatically qualify for potential Artist Pack status, but it can usually be offered on Core models.

The Artist Pack has had a few variations over the years, but currently, it comprises of the following changes and upgrades:

• Upgraded top: Artist Grade tops are of a higher visual standard than standard Core tops, and higher again than 10 Tops. Artist Grade tops are more strictly judged for tight figuring.
• Ebony fingerboards (usually)
• Headstock veneers (often matching the body’s top and finish)
• Artist Bird inlays - abalone with highlighted outlines, so slightly fancier than usual.
• Hybrid hardware (gold and black, basically)
• Occasional pickup changes
• Upgraded luxury hardshell case

This question gets asked a lot, and no, the Artist Pack isn’t the same as Private Stock. The easiest and most general way to describe the difference is that the Artist Pack is a collection of specific upgrades to the Core line instruments, and the Private Stock is PRS’ equivalent to a Custom Shop, exclusive tier. Private Stock guitars are made only by certain luthiers within PRS’ Maryland premises.

In terms of how Artist Pack Guitars fit into the PRS line, it’s a bit like this:

Core guitars - 10 Top - Artist Pack - Private Stock

PRS Wood Library sits somewhat apart from that, since those guitars are all about small runs of unusual wood combinations, rather than a linear increase in spec and cost. For more on that, check out my PRS Wood Library blog.

(This pair of beauties are Private Stock models)

So, that’s the differences between 10 Top guitars and Artist Pack instruments in a nutshell. It’s mostly about looks, and exclusivity/rarity. Certain Artist Pack guitars may offer different pickups which will alter the sound to a degree, but mostly, we are still talking about mahogany and maple guitars, built to extremely high levels of workmanship.

All PRS guitars look gorgeous and play great. 10 Tops and Artist Pack guitars offer a stricter level of criteria for that beauty, for those who are particular about it. You decide what works for you, but if you’re a PRS fan anyway, you’re gonna love it all!

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