Experience PRS 2010: Plant Tour, Guitars Galore and a Big Tent Jam

By: Rick Landers

Today, Matt Warnock, Editor, Guitar International and I focused most of our morning on the operations and production side of the PRS guitar equation. We also spent some time checking out some of the new line up of PRS guitars and amps, as well as roamed a large area filled with guitars staged in rows, available for sale. There was also a press or media conference where we met and heard from PRS endorsees like Cody Kilby, Ricky Skaggs, Bugs Henderson, Orianthi and others, along with noted writer and guitar historian, Tom Wheeler.

Along one wall, a troop of rare and historical PRS guitars were on display. We also did a self-guided tour of the plant, it’s sanding process, CNC machines, the paint booth and finish tables, the pickups and electronics section and the final quality control area that relies on a PRS Dallas amp for audio precision of each guitar before closing the case for shipping.

But, the creme de la creme, at these kind of events is always getting to see and hear top guitarists, world class artists, perform. This evening the big tent held a jam with Ricky Skaggs playing guitar, and later pulling out his mandolin, offering up some fine bluegrass with his friend and fellow monster guitar player, Cody Kilby. We’d also get another chance to see English guitarist, Martin Simpson play solo, and again when he joined the Paul Reed Smith Band onstage, along with Davy Knowles, for some hot rock and a smooth instrumental cover of John Lennon’s classic, “Imagine,” with Paul Smith playing lead.

But, it was Orianthi who injected the place with an adrenaline rush moving around the stage like a panther, ripping into the shred zone and channeling Hendrix, with a fire breathing version of “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return). Smith was an early fan of the Australian well before she worked with Michael Jackson…she was 14 years old when he first tagged her as a star in the making…and she proved it once again, this night at Experience PRS 2010.

After her explosive set, we headed back to our laptops to crank out more photos, articles and videos for our favorite guitar enthusiasts, who happen to be our GI readers.

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Click to Check Out GI’s Full Coverage of Experience PRS 2010

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