By: Dr Matt Warnock

Check out the "Prism" at Musician's Friend

Having used a PRS guitar for over twenty years, and being the first guitarist to appear on a magazine cover with a PRS back in the day, it’s not a big surprise that Al Di Meola would team up with the American guitar giant to produce the PRS Al Di Meola Signature guitar, otherwise known as the Prism.

Being a devoted PRS man, Di Meola has been using the guitar on tour, most notably with Return to Forever, featuring Chick Corea, Stanley Clark and Lenny White, bringing his characteristic approach to jazz-fusion to this new addition to the signature-guitar catalogue.

Having grown up a fan of Di Meola’s, Friday Night in San Francisco is still one of my favorite guitar albums, and being an owner of another PRS model guitar, I was eager to take this guitar for a test drive. While many signature guitars are copies of a famous player’s favorite guitar, the Prism is a collaborative effort between guitarist and luthier. The end results of this partnership shine through in the quality of the instrument’s build and its overall playability.

Wanting to see if the guitar was just another ho-hum signature model, or a truly unique and performance worthy instrument, I took the axe through my daily practice routine for two weeks. Running it through different amps, effects and musical genres to see how it faired. My overall impression, this is a well-built, fine-sounding instrument that carries its weight against other high-end PRS guitars on the market.

Even before plugging it in, the craftsmanship that went into making this guitar is vividly apparent. Photos, even the hi-res shots on the PRS website, don’t do the paint job justice. I know that not everyone will want a tie-dyed guitar, even Di Meola’s fans might not be drawn to the coloring, but regardless of one’s taste, the paint job is first rate. Giving the guitar that extra quality one expects when buying an instrument in this price range.

As with all solid-body PRS guitars, the weight isn’t really an issue. It’s a little heavy compared to say a Strat, but we’re not talking about a Les Paul or anything. The guitar is also evenly balanced, resting easily on one’s leg when sitting and feeling comfortable when standing.

I often find that solid-body guitars can be heavily front or back-weighted, but that’s not the case with this guitar. I was able to play it sitting down without a strap and never felt like I was fighting to keep it in place.

Check Out the Prism at Musician’s Friend

To test the guitar out I initially ran it through a Polytone Mini-Brute, both clean and later with slight gain from a Boss ME-50 effects board, which is the amp I use everyday. I know the Polytone is a rare(ish) amp, but I wanted to work the guitar through the same rig as I do my McCarty for comparison. I also later took it through a Peavey with similar results.

The guitar has a nice, even tone that’s bright, as one would expect from a PRS, but I didn’t find it as bright as the McCarty. It sounds a little warmer, with fuller mids and a little less high end, than the other PRS models I’ve played. Neither is necessarily good or bad, they’re just different, as they should be.

I found that I really like the hardware on the guitar, from both a visual and practical standpoint. The tone and volume knobs reacted well and never “jumped” in volume or quality when used. As well, the indented knobs, both volume and tone, are a nice touch.

They look cool, plus they are easy to grab onto if you need to make a quick volume swell or tone change on the spot. Another personalized touch to the instrument that stands it apart from other models.

Seeing as the guitar was sent with a ready-to-go factory set up, I decided not to tweak it at all and just play it as is. The guitar played well right out of the box. The strings were low to the board, but not buzzing at all, the intonation was solid across the entire neck, and the guitar stayed in tune for days on end.

The locking tuners are one of the guitars finer features. I would leave the guitar in the case for almost a day, during the summer in Illinois which is brutal on guitars, and the guitar would always be perfectly in tune when I picked it up.

As a collector this might not be important, but as a gigging musician, staying in tune and good intonation are two very important issues. This guitar stands up on both accounts.

Though I’m usually loyal to my guitars, I played the same beat up ’66 Tele everyday for seven years, I found myself picking this guitar up more and more after a few days, leaving my McCarty to stare jealously from its stand.

While some people might shy away from signature guitars for various reasons, including the price tag, the Prism looks, feels and plays more like a high-end PRS model than it does a one-off namesake. This is a guitar that is built for players, with the quality that collectors are looking for.

If you get a chance to try one of these guitars out take it. The craftsmanship is superb, it plays very well and it’s got tone that was approved by Di Meola, a player known for his signature sound. There’s not much else one could want in a high-end, solid-body guitar.

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Specs

Body

Back Wood: Mahogany

Top Wood: Curly Maple “10” Top

Neck

Frets: 22

Scale Length: 25″

Neck Wood: Peruvian Mahogany

Fretboard Wood: Black Mexican Rosewood

Neck Shape: Custom Al Di Meola Neck Carve

Inlays: Birds

Hardware

Bridge: Tremolo

Tuners: PRS 14:1 Phase II low mass locking tuners

Truss-Rod Cover: Al-D

Hardware Type: Nickel

Treble Pickup: 1957/2008

Bass Pickup: 1957/2008

Pickup Switching: Volume and push/pull tone control with 3-way toggle pickup selector

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Photo Gallery

Body Close Up of PRS Prism Al Di Meola Guitar

Back of Body Close Up of PRS Al Di Meola Prism Guitar

Headstock Shot of PRS Prism Al Di Meola Guitar

Back of Headstock Shot of PRS Al Dimeola Prism Guitar

Upright Body Shot of PRS Prism Al Di Meola Guitar