Steve Vai and crew landed in the Nation’s capital in August to launch a musical tirade befitting one of the best guitarists on the planet. Behind was enough amp tonnage to crush, with top brands like Fender, Freeman, Legacy and PRS.
The SE Custom 24 7-String, PRS Guitars first 7-string production instrument, takes familiar PRS aesthetics and playability to new sonic territory.
The P24, PRS’s first 24-fret solidbody piezo-equipped guitar, gives musicians a new and unique tool to add to their lineup.
Paul Reed Smith Guitars was on site at Daytona International Speedway for the historic 50thAnniversary of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, providing world class entertainment and awarding several highly collectable instruments to race fans and race teams alike.
Although it was just officially launched in 2009, the PRS amplifier division has quickly matured into a comprehensive product line (exclusive pics below). From the core family of Maryland-made PRS amps to the exclusive Custom Amp Design (CAD) program to the SE amplifier line, PRS now has an option for every musician. As has become expected, PRS artists have signed on in support of all three tiers of PRS amps and are flying the PRS amp flag with vigor.
The PRS SE Custom, the flagship guitar of PRS’s more affordable SE line, has been updated for 2012 with a new body carve and pickup control configuration, and we have exclusive pics from the 2012 NAMM show below! Previously, the SE Custom had a flat style body, but for 2012, the popular SE model has received a beveled top carve, which looks and feels much more like PRS Guitars’ original Custom 24 model.
Announced in September 2011 at Experience PRS, the PRS SE Angelus Standard and Custom acoustic guitars are made with high-quality components, including a solid back and solid spruce top, a bone nut and saddle, and PRS designed tuners. Unveiled at NAMM 2012, however, is a PRS pickup system (pictures below) that is now an added option on the SE Angelus in 2012, designed to highlight the instruments’ rich, resonant, and responsive tone. The pickup system is an under-saddle design with three bands of EQ and an anti-feedback loop.
Paul Reed Smith Guitars’ Custom 24 model was updated in 2011 with new pickups and a redesigned 5-way blade switch, giving the flagship model a new voice and even more versatility. At NAMM 2012, PRS is unveiling yet another update on the Custom 24: its uncovered 59/09 pickups are being updated with new, contoured bobbins that arc with the strings for a more spread out, open tone. First seen on PRS Collection instruments, these bobbins are a continuation of Paul Reed Smith’s quest to continually tweak and refine any small part of the company’s instruments in subtle ways to make them better and more musical.
Unveiled at NAMM 2012: The P22, Paul Reed Smith Guitars’ first piezo-equipped solidbody guitar (pics below). It comes standard with a figured maple top, mahogany back, mahogany neck with a 22 fret rosewood fingerboard, and a redesigned PRS/LR Baggs piezo system. LR Baggs and PRS partnered more than a decade ago to design the piezo system found in PRS’s various hollowbody models. This new system has the same circuit design as the original, giving the P22 the same tonal authenticity and real world practicality as PRS hollowbody guitars. The redesign, however, yielded a version that is 60% smaller than the original system, allowing it to fit comfortably on a solidbody guitar. Uncovered 53/10 pickups round out this guitar’s specs and help refine the P22’s voice.
Stepping into Paul Reed Smith’s office, my eyes immediately were drawn to the framed photos on the wall nearest the door. There were shots of Smith with Carlos Santana and the legendary Ted McCarty, past president of Gibson Guitars. To the right stood a small troop of electric guitars without pups and a PRS acoustic nearby. It wasn’t the pristine office one might expect to find in the corporate headquarters of an internationally known senior executive, but one of a working man. The pickup-less electric guitars appeared to be projects in mid-shift, waiting for Paul and his PRS team to rummage through their collective mind and come up with new ideas or solutions to creative challenges. Smith appears to be a restless man, who’s never quite satisfied and always has something cookin’.
