Guitar International’s globetrotting Editor in Chief, Matthew Warnock, was recently featured on Venegas Music’s weekly interview and performance show in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The show, which is run by talented guitarist and interviewer Ivan Barasnevicius, has been on the air since 2008, with each weekly video also being uploaded for people to check out from across the globe.
Paul Reed Smith Private Stock guitars not beautiful enough for you? Enter the Collection Series from Private Stock, overseen directly by Paul himself. The Collection Series guitars are built in very small runs of only a dozen at one time, with the total coming to only 70 electrics and 70 acoustics every year. Using the best materials and best woods from PRS’s secret stash of exotic tone woods, Paul and his luthiers will pouring themselves into these instruments.
Fred Fried is a very interesting guitar player. His extended harmonies and use of a nylon 8 string guitar are a strong indication of his forward musical thinking. The New York born musician now resides in Cape Cod, MA and splits his time between teaching and mostly local gigs.
Roaming the grounds of Paul Reed Smith Guitars this weekend has us bumping into people, searching for the lost chord on some of those fancy PRS axes and digging into the history of PRS while reading about and gawking at some early PRS models and prototypes. And earlier today, we sat down with Paul to get his insights into the guitar building industry. We also talked about Orianthi’s new gig with Alice Cooper, a remarkable unreleased track by Celtic guitarist Tony McNamnus, and the new SE line-up of amps. So, we decided to put out a “mix of pix” to show the diversity of happenings at Experience PRS 2011.
Experience PRS is a special event. Not only is it one of the guitar world’s only (and definitely the first) single-manufacturer trade shows, where dealers come from around the country to secure their wholesale purchases of Paul Reed Smith guitars and amps, it also gives regular old dudes a chance to see the PRS factory in all its splendor. And by splendor, we mean bare efficiency and palettes and palettes of virgin wood.
Experience PRS 2011 proves once again that the company is not standing still in the face of daunting economic conditions around the world. With a new line-up of SE acoustic guitars and high quality, yet affordable, SE amps they’re targeting the younger set, yet given the current recessionary times allow those watching their budgets closely to pony up for some new gear. Still, it’s a forward leaning strategy that must weigh risk with potential gain. And these days, gain means retaining market share almost as much as expanding it.
The folks over at PRS Guitars have been busy this past year, and the fruits of the efforts are currently being undraped to dealers and the press at Experience PRS, the guitar manufacturer’s own trade show. One of their most exciting new additions is the expansion of their Student Edition (SE) models of guitars to include an acoustic model, the PRS SE Angelus.
In a poignant moment at Experience PRS 2011, Paul Reed Smith introduced Robert Lee Coleman, with a guitar history that included stints with the Godfather of Soul, James Brown and the masterful Percy Sledge.
Experience PRS, Paul Reed Smith Guitars’ own trade event, is one of the music industry’s largest single-manufacturer trade show, and PRS uses it to introduce their new products and limited edition models to a marketplace hungry for value and innovation. This year, Paul and company have updated the NF3 and DC3 models with another inlay option and are introducing three limited-run US-made electric guitars (images of all five are viewable below).
On Sunday September 25, 2011 at 3PM EDT* Magna Carta Recording artists Dave Martone and Glen Drover will take part in an historic performance that will be webcast worldwide as part of the Live At Metalworks series from Mississauga, Canada. The webcast can be seen at Magna Carta.
