Thursday, October 02, 2008

PRS Updates - amps, acoustics... rainbows?

Posted by Jon in •

PRS Prism
Last week was a big week for PRS Guitars with the announcement of 4 new electrics, 2 acoustics and PRS Amps! First of all to get this out of the way, pictured left is the announced Al DiMeola PRS Prism guitar which immediately makes me think of Mardi Gras. I mean seriously what was he thinking? I have a lot of respect for Al DiMeola, he is one of the all time great Jazz guitarists but this guitar looks like he would better suit playing at a kids party, or maybe Sesame Street? Some people may love it, I for one hate it I think its a waste of a perfectly good PRS. Ok enough of my dislikes and onto the new Modern Eagle II, this update brings new pickups, the 1957/2008 humbuckers which use the wire from the machine that made the pickup wire for the original Gibson PAF pickups*. This is explained on their site with the following information, “PRS obtained exclusive rights to the original pickup wire used in the most revered pickups in the 50’s. PRS obtained the rights to the wire in 2008, and 1957 was the year the humbucker was first commercially available, giving rise to the 1957/2008 name.“ It is as spectacular as PRS guitars come with its curly Maple top and Green abalone bird inlays with iridescent paua heart centers!

One of the first surprises was the announcement of PRS Amps. According to MusicRadar.com ““Paul Reed Smith has enlisted to help of amp builder Doug Sewell who has come up with four designs based on classic amp tones. Hand-wired with point-to-point construction, we’re deep into boutique territory here.“ You can imagine the kind of quality amp that will come out of this partnership, unfortunately if the Modern Eagle II is anything to go by I can imagine they will carry a pretty hefty price tag too so it might be one for the wishlist for me!

Another announcement that again was a complete surprise to me is the introduction of PRS Acoustics, although with a RRP of £6995, thats two grand more than the Modern Eagle II, puts this way out of contention for most amateur fingerpickers.

Finally another Retro styled guitar called the “Starla” was announced after the success of the Mira, so this wasn’t so much of a surprise. The guitar features a Mahogany body and neck, custom pickups using propietary Alnico magnets to create a unique clean and crisp sound also capable of rich harmonic overtones when driven and a Bigsby trem for true retro style. “Some of those crazy old vintage guitars are really cool but imagine if you had one that was also really well-built.” said PRS Director of R&D and Private Stock Joe Knaggs.

*source: MusicRadar.com

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on 10/02 at 12:04 PM

You have a point with the Mardi Gras thing, there. With the gay community’s adoption of the rainbow/spectrum as a symbol, I’d imagine PRS might have a hard time shifting those units.

... Unless of course I’m seriously underestimating the size of the homosexual-PRS-loving-guitar-player market.

Jon on 10/02 at 04:52 PM

You never know, they might have tapped into a whole new world of guitar players!

on 10/02 at 10:23 PM

Although not a crazy fan of PRS they make some great instruments. So is this one. The coloring looks good, it just may not work that good in some contexts. It can look gret in a video, or when its aged and worn of. And as far as ranbow and gays, they already have “plenty” of things to have “fun” with, why should they get the rainbow too.

eric on 10/02 at 11:30 PM

They made one crucial error

the color order is wrong. every 1st grader knows it’s red, orange, yellow green, blue, violet…

Sammy on 10/03 at 09:07 AM

I actually like the color scheme.

Jon on 10/03 at 09:17 AM

Well Sammy hopefully for PRS there are more people who like it to, it is certainly a bold move but I guess being a signature model they won’t be mass producing it anyway.

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