PRS Factory Visit
Yesterday was an amazing day. Tyler Hall from Revive and myself went to Stevensville, Maryland on a pilgrimage of sorts. We visited the home of Paul Reed Smith Guitars. This was my third visit, and let me tell you - it does not get old. Jack Higginbotham, president of PRS (and one of the nicest people on the planet), served as our tour guide.
(Above: I stand amazed at the PRS craftsmanship while Jack looks on)
It is exactly as you would envision it. You go from one room where they’re treating the wood to another where they’re cutting it. Then you see where they sand the guitars, attach the necks, and install the pickups. Even though PRS is a worldwide phenomenon now, the factory still has the personal, laid back feel of a small guitar maker.
We timed our visit perfectly. Yesterday happened to be the day that Doug Sewell, the designer of their new line of amplifiers, gave a clinic at the factory about PRS amps. He enlisted the help of legendary Texas blues guitarist Mike Clark (of Stratoblasters fame). I was equally amazed by Mike’s guitar prowess as I was by Doug’s tweaking the amp knobs. They were able to get some KIL-LER tones out of those amps. Very cool indeed.
(Above: Mike Clark, Tyler Hall, Doug Sewell, and myself, holding some handwired goodness)
While there are many different configurations, PRS are making three different amp models right now. I had the chance to play through all three, and each has its own unique character. The Dallas is a lower gain amp reminiscent of an old school reverb amp. The Blue Sierra has kind of a 70’s Plexi kind of feel. And the Original Sewell has a HUGE tone with higher gain. I was equally dazzled by all three amps. They also had a 4X10 cabinet that I dug in a major way. Big tones with a tight and focused low end. And they look so dang cool! Well done.
On the guitar front, PRS always has something new and cool going. On this trip, we got to see some of the SC Jumbo Thinline guitars being assembled, as well as the new Starla model (without the Bigsby tremolo). We also had the chance to play the new Mira X guitar. That is one of the lightest guitars I’ve ever picked up…
So it was an awesome day. Thanks to Jack and everyone at PRS for being such great hosts. Also thanks to Doug and Mike for letting us crash your amp party!
Oh, and I got the “prototype” of the new Mark Lee Special Edition model today as well. It looks and sounds amazing! Below is a cool, albeit a tad blurry, photo of me and Jack with the guitar…
If you enjoyed this post you might like these:
- Take the PRS “Virtual Factory Tour”
- It’s a great time to play guitar
- Links for Friday 1/30
- Does the order of your effects pedals make a difference?
- Look what I got in the mail this week: The PRS Angelus acoustic
