Celebrating 25 Years and a New Era for PRS
When PRS Guitars debuted the first Custom 24 electric guitar model more than a quarter century ago, it was hard to imagine that an ambitious young man from Bowie, Maryland could give rise to a philosophy and a brand that would later become for many the bar by which electric guitar quality standards are measured. Recently identified by Guitar World as one of the 30 greatest guitar moments of the last 30 years, the development of the Custom 24 not only resulted in what Guitar World referred to as a “full blown American guitar renaissance” but it set the framework for what still remains PRS Guitars today, a company driven to make the best musical instruments possible.
In celebration of this pursuit of excellence, PRS is offering 25th Anniversary core electric, SE, amplifier and acoustic models that incorporate the culmination of years of discovery and development. Changing the bulk of the entire PRS product line while simultaneously launching an amp and acoustic line has yielded significant results. Subtle yet innovative tweaks are far from arbitrary and give all of PRS’s gear an undeniable voice and benchmark quality. "The 25th Anniversary marks a golden year for PRS, and we wanted to mark the year in an extraordinary way. Standard appointments on Anniversary models would be considered optional up charges under any other circumstance. In honor of 25 years and in sincere gratitude to our loyal customers, we are presenting the very best we have to offer," said Paul Reed Smith.
The 25th Anniversary Swamp Ash Special Narrowfield is a prime example. Paul Reed Smith and the PRS R&D team set out to design a new pickup with a truly unique voice. “We wanted a 57/08 to sound like a singlecoil, but the hum wasn’t acceptable,” said Paul Reed Smith. “What we got was something that sounds like a humbucker, P90, singlecoil, and mini-humbucker – the best of all traits combined. We were ecstatic.” The new Narrowfield pickup, the latest step in the evolution of the PRS sound, is a format that uses the same wire as the PRS 57/08 pickups but squeezes the width of the pickup from pole to pole and goes deeper, lending exceptional clarity with a full on pick attack.
As Guitar World Senior Editor Alan Di Perna explained in the special 25th Anniversary issue of Signature magazine, “Paul Reed Smith has played a unique and pivotal role in the history of the electric guitar’s development.” Consider the system developed by PRS that first kept a tremolo guitar in perfect tone, or the subtleties of PRS neck shapes, the innovative 5-way rotary and the reinvigoration of beautiful tone woods. All were very deliberate elements that reflected a calculated desire to bring the best of all design qualities to the forefront of the PRS brand.
“And so Smith became arguably the first ‘little guy’ to give guitar making giants...a run for their money. By upping the ante on quality, PRS compelled big American companies to improve their game, resulting in a full-blown American guitar renaissance.” – Guitar World
25th Anniversary Models: