Meet PRS Employees That Have Been Here 30+ Years
Posted Dec 21, 2022
In this story, we interviewed PRS employees who have been a part of our business for over 30 years. We asked each employee to take a trip down memory lane and share with us their first PRS job title, favorite moments, hardest moments, funniest story, and more. Fun fact: most employees are pictured holding one of their "employee guitars" - a special perk offered to PRS employees who reach certain time-in-service milestones. Below, enjoy the memories, history, and employees who have become the lifeblood of our shop!
Geoff Jacobsen
First PRS Job Title:
I believe it was ‘Sprayer’ – I applied all finishes - base, color and topcoat. I ran the Finish Room, but not the sanding hall initially. I believe I also helped train finish hall employees how to sand.
Other PRS Job Titles:
Sprayer, Finish Dept Manager, Customer Service Manager, Night Crew Manager, Purchasing and Inventory Control Manager, Information Systems Manager, Director of Information Systems
Current PRS Job Title:
Director of Information Systems
Favorite moment/largest success as a PRS Employee:
My largest success would be – being tasked with implementing our first ERP system and after two years of work, we turned it on and we didn’t go out of business.
Largest challenge(s) you've had to overcome as a PRS Employee:
My largest challenge is related to my largest success. The challenge of learning how to integrate ERP software systems with manufacturing processes was immense. I personally was coming from zero knowledge or understanding of ERP software and I was tasked with getting it done from bottom to top. It literally took almost two years of solid work to get my head around the concepts and apply it to our manufacturing processes. There is plenty of opportunity for bad outcomes for a business with poorly configured ERP systems. The fact that we turned it on and it basically worked without too much drama was incredibly satisfying.
Tell us your funniest story:
The funniest story fit for public consumption would be the time I was working late, back in 1985 or ‘86, sanding guitars to get a head start on the next business day. I was sanding 1200s and one of the steps Paul put into the process was to ‘relieve’ the stress in the neck. To do that, we were instructed to grab the guitar with one hand around the fingerboard just below the nut, and with the other hand around the neck down where the body glue joint is. We were then instructed to place the neck over our knee at the 12th fret and ‘lightly’ press with both hands while moving the neck back and forth a bit. At times you could hear very light cracking, and this was relieving the built in stress. Anyway, in this particular instance, I was working and Paul walked up to check up on things. While in conversation with Paul, I continued to work. I grabbed the next guitar by the headstock and around the neck down by the body glue joint. I proceeded to put the neck over my knee and promptly snapped the headstock clean off the neck. OMG! I know my eyes got as big as saucers and my jaw must have hit the floor. We both stood there speechless for what seemed an eternity when Paul finally burst out laughing. He burst out laughing, looked at me, smiled, and reminded me that his instructions included a warning. His warning was to make sure we did NOT grab the neck by the headstock as we would be exposing the weakest area of the neck to too much pressure - rookie mistake. If only the cameras were rolling. Pure comedy – even though in the moment I was mortified.
Jack Higginbotham
First PRS Job Title:
Body Sander
Other PRS Job Titles:
As a woodworker in the woodshop: Body Build, Neck Build, Round / Level / Fret, Inlay, NBA. Woodshop Manager, Purchasing Manager, Night Crew Manager, Sales Guy, PRS Factory / Production Manager, VP Production, President, COO
Current PRS Job Title:
COO
Favorite moment/largest success as a PRS Employee:
1980’s
- Being part of a movement.
- Being very obsessed with improving the quality and quantity of the guitar.
- My greatest personal success was to find out that I could lead a team in addition to making things.
1990’s
- Being able to move through the company and do a lot of different roles during this decade helped me in a myriad of ways to this day.
- My greatest success in this era was probably helping to implement CNC machines and moving the factory to Kent Island
2000’s-2010’s
- Working through a historic recession was not fun, but by working with a great team, the company matured and we not only survived, but set up for growth.
- Helping develop the S2, CE, and SE lines to diversify our product line was important to me. Getting deeper into sales and marketing was a great education.
2020’s
- Seeing the fruit from a lot of prior work in general.
- Seeing our company mature and flourish.
- Working closely with Paul and closely with our talented team.
- Seeing how we have grown up and kept the important elements that got us here…continuing to be obsessed with advancing the art of guitar.
- Helping to build an offshore business (SE Series) in a “PRS” way has been very rewarding.
Largest challenge(s) you've had to overcome as a PRS Employee:
Delegation. That was, is and will be one of my weak links.
Tell us your funniest story:
Probably getting a pen shoved into my eye coming out of a safety meeting. Most other stories have to do with breaking some company policy I think.
Marc Quigley
First PRS Job Title:
Base Coat Sander
Other PRS Job Titles:
Sprayers Assistant, Topcoat Prep, Finish Room Leadman, Topcoat Manager, Basecoat Manager, Customer Service Rep, IT Network Assistant, Repair Manager, Artist Relations (filled in for a few months), Webmaster, Marketing Assistant, Graphic Designer, Copy Writer, Videographer, Photographer. (There’s probably a few more)
Current PRS Job Title:
Art Director
Favorite moment/largest success as a PRS Employee:
One of my favorite memories was a photoshoot in San Rafael, California I did with the legendary photographer Neil Zlozower for an ad featuring Carlos Santana and Paul Smith. It was a fun day but afterward I found myself sitting at a restaurant with Paul and Carlos, drinking champagne, and Carlos was telling me stories about playing with Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter. It was a pretty surreal/great moment punctuated by the fact that the weather was perfect and it was freezing and snowy back home.
I’ve been fortunate to work on so many amazing projects that I’m really proud of. I’ll name just a few that stand out - creating the first PRS website back in 1993 with the help of Geoff Jacobsen; producing award-winner brochures and Private Stock calendars; the time I first used one of my photos for a print ad featuring the SE EG back in 2004; getting to have my photos on the cover of several magazines over the years.
Largest challenge(s) you've had to overcome as a PRS Employee:
When you’ve worked somewhere for this long there are almost certainly lots of challenges that you encounter. One of the biggest challenges for me was going from creating web pages to designing for print. The worlds of web and four-color printing are so different and I had so much to learn. I read bookshelves worth of reference books on CMYK process, offset printing, Photoshop, page-layout programs, and more.
Tell us your funniest story:
One funny thing that happened to me was way, way back when I was prepping guitars for topcoat. I didn’t really know Paul very well yet and was still a little intimidated by him. He came into the spray room to sign some guitars and I was touching up a Black Cherry bass that was going to be photographed for the upcoming brochure. I grabbed the bottle of red stain from my co-worker Chuck and went to shake it up. Well Chuck hadn’t screwed the top back on the bottle all the way and it flew off and red stain went all over the wall behind me, all over my hand, and all over the bass I was working on! I think Paul was being nice and pretending he didn’t notice and left the room without saying a word. I scrubbed the fingerboard with alcohol for a long time trying to get the red out of the somewhat light colored rosewood. If you look at the Black Cherry bass in the 1989 catalog you can kind of see that the red never fully came out. It looks cool though. :)
Tim McClaeb
First PRS Job Title:
220 Sander
Other PRS Job Titles:
Topcoat Sprayer, Basecoat Manager, Top Coat Manager, 1st QC Manager, International Sales
Current PRS Job Title:
International Sales/Support
Favorite moment/largest success as a PRS Employee:
I absolutely love the camaraderie we have had over the years:
- We would work together during the week and hang out with each other on weekends.
- Basecoat team vs Topcoat team (bowling, kickball)
- Oh….the time the Basecoat team challenged the PRS Softball team in softball….and we beat them.
Largest challenge(s) you've had to overcome as a PRS Employee:
I cannot think of anything at the moment….so I will say….remembering the challenges I had to overcome.
Tell us your funniest story:
There are many that are not suitable for print….so I will go with this one:
A new employee came in for trial days at the old shop. One of the employees told the “New Guy” that we had mandatory drug testing (we did not at that time) and handed them an ounce cup from the spray room. They told him to go into the restroom and fill it with urine…and take it to the office at the front entrance. The guy filled it….walked to the office, which happened to be our President’s office (Clay). As soon as Clay saw the guy walking towards his desk….carrying a cup of urine…..he was like, “No No No…take that out of here. I don’t want it.” Oh, we all got a chuckle out of that!
Russell Hoffman
First PRS Job Title:
Electronics Assembler in Final Assembly
Other PRS Job Titles:
Pickup Assembler, Guitar Assembler, Guitar QC for Final Assembly, Assistant Manager & Guitar Assembly Trainer
Current PRS Job Title:
R&D/Engineering - Product Coordinator
Favorite moment/largest success as a PRS Employee:
I have been proud to work for PRS since day 1 and to see this company grow from its humble beginnings in Annapolis to where we are at now - it's been an amazing journey!
Largest challenge(s) you've had to overcome as a PRS Employee:
Learning new processes to improve the workflow, trying to keep up with the workload and keeping the same attention to detail no matter what job I am doing.
Tell us your funniest story:
Guitar Center came to PRS in the early 90's for a tour - they took pictures of guitars and employees doing their work. I was building humbucking pickups at the time and they took a pic of me doing so. Maybe a few weeks later, GC sent us copies of a newsletter that they had been circulating which showed the pictures from their factory tour and my picture was on it. A month or 2 later, I went to Hollywood, California for a vacation and thought it would be nice to check out their legendary GC store.
When I got to their PRS selection, I noticed a display set up in front of the PRS guitars. On that display were the pictures of the earlier factory tour at PRS - including my picture. I told one of their salesman that I was from PRS and had traveled all the way across the country from Maryland just to see if my picture was displayed in their store. They actually believed me.
*Note about old photo - taken in summer of 1989 - a few months before I started working for PRS. Holding my brand new CE 24 in Electric Blue - my first PRS guitar (still have it). Sitting on my 1986 Camaro Sport Coupe - same color as my blue PRS (no longer have the Camaro).
Michael Gaitley
First PRS Job Title:
Woodshop Sander
Other PRS Job Titles:
Buffer, Final Assembler, Accessory Sales Manager
Current PRS Job Title:
Specialty Guitar Luthier (Private Stock)
Favorite moment/largest success as a PRS Employee:
Meeting Ted McCarty. We used to have an all-crew meeting at the end of every day. So, when Ted visited the shop, he spoke to the group. He told us how proud he was and encouraged us to keep up the good work. Then, Paul presented Ted with a guitar as recognition of his life’s work and gratitude for his friendship. Ted was shocked and so very thankful. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
Largest challenge(s) you've had to overcome as a PRS Employee:
We are a cast of characters. Everyone has a different history and path. PRS is our crossroads. With a little peace, love, and understanding we manage to feed our passion together.
Tell us your funniest story:
Every winter at the old shop, Paul would throw a party. We’d end the work day early, clear a section of the woodshop, and lay mahogany planks as a stage for the band. The memory of Paul belting out ‘Mississippi Queen’ on a stage made of Honduran Mahogany still cracks me up! Of course, the next week we turned those planks into Standards and Customs. To this day, I still request Paul play ‘Mississippi Queen’.
Winn Krozak
First PRS Job Title:
Project Engineer - PRS Amplifiers
Other PRS Job Titles:
Director of Research and Development, Director of Artist Relations
Current PRS Job Title:
Manager - PRS Artist Showroom - Los Angeles
Favorite moment/largest success as a PRS Employee:
After 33 years of working with Paul Smith and PRS, it is difficult to lock in a favorite moment or largest success into a single event. First, getting to work and design guitars every day with Paul Smith for decades is a major blessing in itself. Participating in nine patents, multiple MIPA guitar of the year awards, designing piezo systems, and seeing your work presented in the Smithsonian Museum while you are still alive is the experience of a lifetime.
Figuring out why guitars of the past sound the way they do and getting paid for it, that alone would be a fantasy career. Now I get to work every day with the biggest and most talented artists in music, turning them on to fresh inspiration with great instruments!
Largest challenge(s) you've had to overcome as a PRS Employee:
I do not believe in "no," so I believe anything is possible, if you try hard enough.
Tell us your funniest story:
This may not be my funniest story, but it is one of my favorites. We were presenting a two day symposium on American guitar building in the Great Hall of Music at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. The curator allowed us to hold and evaluate the $30,000,000 Stradivarius Ornamented Quartet for sonic and build properties.
Some of the world’s greatest pianos were located In the Great Hall of Music. I wanted to play them.
At end of the second day, since they had let us hold and play the $30,000,000 Stradivarius Quartet, I figured playing Paderewski's nine foot Steinway grand that he toured though Europe, would be a piece of cake. I asked the curator if I could play the piano after the show, and he said, GO PLAY THEM ALL. So I got to play every piano in the Smithsonian including Paderewski’s Steinway, Queen Elizabeth's piano, pianos from the days of Mozart, among others. I was a kid in a candy store.
Michael Reid
First PRS Job Title:
Senior Wood Buyer
Current PRS Job Title:
Senior Wood Buyer
Favorite moment/largest success as a PRS Employee:
I believe my favorite moment was the sale of my 30-year employee guitar where the money was donated to an endangered species project in Brazil. We raised about 50,000 Brazilian Reals (over $10,000). The money was used to purchase land for the expansion of the reserve where the only known population of the Sao Paulo Marsh Antwren is found.
Largest challenge(s) you've had to overcome as a PRS Employee:
I suppose the biggest challenge at PRS has been the effort to introduce new/non-traditional wood species into the mix for guitar production. Unfortunately I haven't been very successful.
Tell us your funniest story:
Paul Platts and I were in Croatia looking for figured maple about 14 yrs ago and had been taken by boat to a 19th century hunting lodge in the forest for a traditional Croatian feast of wild boar by the wood vendor, wanting to show us a good time. At one point late in the evening Paul was invited to go off in a small row boat with one of the Croats, none of whom I was certain spoke any English. I believed they had gone to retrieve additional supplies of homemade brandy from some secret stash in the forest. Upon returning Paul informed me that the guy--who looked a bit like Slobodon Milosevic, kinda scary--spoke english! I didn't believe him and asked what it was they talked about. With a straight face he told me that every time they took another shot of brandy the guy would hold his glass up and say, "To Pamela Anderson!!!" Apparently that was the only English the guy knew. At the time, I found it rather amusing.
Brian Selph
First PRS Job Title:
Buffer
Other PRS Job Titles:
Shipping, Turnaround, Final Assembly, Woodshop Neck Carve, CNC
Current PRS Job Title:
Neck Construction
Favorite moment/largest success as a PRS Employee:
Playing in the 1987 Winter Blahs Party! (Editors Note: Winter Blahs is an annual tradition here at PRS where employees form bands for a one-night performance and employee party.)
Tell us your funniest story:
The time an overhanging light cord got tangled in a buffing machine and lifted it off the ground.
Chuck Hurley
First PRS Job Title:
Body Sander
Other PRS Job Titles:
Body Team Lead, Electronics, Neck Body Assembly (NBA), EG Pickguard Assembly, Final Assembly
Current PRS Job Title:
S2 Setup
Favorite moment/largest success as a PRS Employee:
Only getting fired once!
Largest challenge(s) you've had to overcome as a PRS Employee:
Embracing “corporate progress.”
Tell us your funniest story:
I drew a happy face on a clock to help boost morale. My boss saw it after I left and in the process of removing the face, he broke the clock. The next day he reprimanded me for defacing company property. I told him he was wrong and that he had actually “defaced” it. I originally put the face on the clock. This didn’t please him and he stormed off angrily. I gave him a happy face sticker later on, and he laughed. Mission accomplished!