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The Latest Breaking News from Paul Reed Smith

“He’s been a leader with the company since the beginning”: PRS has appointed the first CEO in its history – what does that mean for the brand going forward?

The Maryland firm's first Chief Executive Officer has been with the company for 41 years

Guitar World

“I was really at the point where… nobody knows who I am and I don’t want my name on the guitar”: The unsung guitarist who shaped one of PRS’s most sought-after models

He's unassuming, a virtuoso player, and didn't want his name on the guitar out of respect to Ted McCarty – but David Grissom played a key role in designing it

Guitar World

“One day I was in an elevator with Miles Davis and he said, ‘Hey, do you got a wah wah yet?’ ‘No, I don’t play a wah wah.’ He says, ‘You gotta get a wah wah!’”: Carlos Santana on Miles and McLaughlin, Hendrix and SRV, and his quest for eternal melody

“I wanted my guitar to sound like a female – like the voice of my favourite singers”

MusicRadar

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“I was like, ‘Let’s freshen up the electric guitar.’ 60 years later, you’re still putting out tributes to the station wagon”: The story of John Mayer’s Fender fallout – and how it gave birth to the Stratocaster’s biggest rival

Mayer left Fender after his wishes for an elevated S-style fell on deaf ears – and he found the perfect partner in PRS and the Silver Sky

Guitar World

“He says to me, ‘You’re a legend.’ I said, ‘Are you kidding? You’re a legend. You’re the new Leo Fender. You’re the new Les Paul. You’re the new Orville Gibson’”: Randy Bachman on the guitar builder who’s up there with the greats of the industry

And Bachman says this builder is working on an electric guitar that will weigh less than 4lbs.

Guitar World

“It’s become one of our favorite woods to work with”: PRS launches 6 limited mango top guitars

PRS reveals a limited mango-topped run of six its popular guitar models with only 1200 in total to go around

MusicRadar

“It’s so intense – but man, I love that song! Often, the songs I love the most are the most difficult to pull off”: Myles Kennedy on why karaoke “terrifies” him, the secret to a perfect take – and the hardest Guns N’ Roses song to sing live with Slash

The man with the best pipes in rock and metal checks in to talk monastic vocal preservation, the challenges of Axl’s range, and that "magic mic" Paul Reed Smith gave Mark Tremonti

MusicRadar

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“Jimmy Page used one of our guitars. It was some of the best tremolo work I’d ever heard”: Paul Reed Smith on how he built his brand, secret PRS players – and why the internet is wrong about tonewood

Once the guitar brand for the one percent, the smash-hit success of the SE line took PRS Guitars mainstream, but for Smith, it’s still about trying to raise the bar and find new sounds

Guitar World

“Al Di Meola would call Yamaha and other companies, and say, ‘I think you need to pay attention to what’s going on here’”: Paul Reed Smith remembers his attempts to build guitars for other brands before starting his own company

Before launching PRS, Smith had another plan, and some high-profile backers

Guitar World

“I knew the Silver Sky would take years to take its place in the world. And I say this cautiously, but it feels like it’s become pretty widely accepted”: How John Mayer and Paul Reed Smith made the Silver Sky

John Mayer talks GW through his acclaimed PRS Silver Sky, while its maker – Paul Reed Smith – reveals the science that went into the guitar’s development

Guitar World

“People don't know this. He loved it”: Jeff Beck secretly played a PRS at home – and the company is trying to get it back

Beck played Fenders, Gibsons, even Jacksons onstage – but he reportedly kept a PRS handy at home for recording

Guitar World

“Right before we get on stage, Paul said, ‘I don't want to discourage you, but you’ve got 4,000 people in the crowd – and a worldwide stream’”: Meet Magnolia Boulevard, the soulful rockers personally backed by Paul Reed Smith

The PRS founder heard the Appalachian soul outfit at a dealer event and soon became their biggest champion, hooking them up with connections, guitars and custom amps

Guitar World

“We weren’t allowed to talk about it at Guitar Summit, but the signature everyone was asking about is now here”: All the guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including the crown jewel of PRS’ 40th Anniversary year

Wylde Audio's most metal guitar ever, a new contender for Boss and Fender in the headphone amp space, and GNR bass tones in a pickup set. All that and more landed this week

Guitar World

“It’s less significant than your guitar strap being an inch higher or lower”: John Mayer on why fretboard radius doesn’t actually make that much of a difference

Before he developed his PRS Silver Sky signature guitar, Mayer didn't pay much attention to fretboard radius

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“It was something we’d never seen the likes of”: The unexpected discovery in John Mayer’s iconic ’64 Fender Strat that helped shape the sound of the Silver Sky

It took more than 2 years to retool and redesign the classic S-type template – and PRS made a significant discovery along the way

Guitar World

“The guitar is tragically, but beautifully intertwined with the impact a changing climate has on the livelihoods of people who live in rainforests”: PRS to auction off one-of-a-kind guitar made using woods salvaged from South American hurricane

100% of the proceeds will go to rainforest charity Cool Earth

MusicRadar

“Carlos made a comment about the enormous quantities of mahogany trees that had blown down that were now being turned into mulch”: PRS uses wood felled in a Category 5 hurricane for the S2 Special Semi-Hollow Reclaimed

The S2 Special Semi-Hollow Reclaimed is a limited edition electric guitar like no other, literally, with each instrument unique, and it uses exotic tonewoods salvaged and lovingly repurposed

Guitar World

“I’ve never met you, John, if you’re watching...” Paul Reed Smith invited Mike Dawes to meet John Mayer after his Slow Dancing cover went viral – but he never made the rendezvous

Dawes reimagined one of Mayer’s biggest hits, but he later missed the opportunity to meet the man himself

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Guitar World

“Paul Reed Smith sent me two amazing guitars because I lost all but one of my PRSs. That’s been one of the upsides”: Larry LaLonde lost his home in the LA wildfires, but Primus' new drummer, and two new PRSs, are keeping him focused

As a player who always wanted to be weird, LaLonde is in the right band. Recent adventures include saving the guitar Alex Lifeson gave him from a wildfire, dealing with 7,000 drummer applications, and raiding a Guitar Center when Primus' gear got stuck in snow

MusicRadar

“Each guitar includes a 40th-anniversary certificate hand-signed byPaul Reed Smith”: PRS swaps maple for mango to give its flagship Custom 24 an eye-popping satin nitro makeover

The Mango tops on the Custom 24 Satin are exquisite, but they’re only making 500 of ‘em

MusicRadar

“Back of headstock reveals:#1 Edward Van Halen Model”: Eddie Van Halen’s 1982 Kramer – also owned by Mick Mars – heads to the auction block. Is this the next multi-million dollar guitar?

Dressed up to look like Frankie, a precursor to the 5150, this transitional Kramer was stage-played by Eddie Van Halen and appeared on Mötley Crüe's Dr Feelgood

Guitar World

“You could argue that the pickups are the most important thing. But in the end, there’s nothing more important on the guitar than this”: Paul Reed Smith on a guitar's most crucial feature – and how it dictates your tone

Forget pickups and the weight of a guitar – this is where tone really starts, according to Smith

MusicRadar

“BB held one note for 12 bars… I set my guitar down, and I walked off the stage. That was the biggest musical lesson I’ve ever learned”: Zach Myers on Shinedown’s secret weapon, the limitations of shred, and that time he got schooled by BB King

Signing in from Shinedown's epic summer tour, Myers talks about the band's long-awaited studio album, the controversy over his relic'd Silver Sky and why Eric Bass is the band's ace in the hole

Guitar World

“If you listen to Summer Nights, the Van Halen tune, that’s a headless guitar. It sounded fantastic”: Could PRS ever make a headless guitar?

Strandberg, Ibanez and Schecter have all been flying the flag for headless designs – could PRS be next?

Guitar World

“He called me and said, ‘Paul! Paul! I need your help. Eddie’s coming up”: Paul Reed Smith on the time Kramer asked him to build a guitar for Eddie Van Halen

Smith was asked what he would have made if Van Halen had ever asked for a PRS guitar – but it turned out to be something of a trick question

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