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UNBELIEVABLE: 2 - The Untold Story

“He talked to me about fly fishing for two hours and never mentioned a guitar”: Shinedown’s Zach Myers on the “genius” Paul Reed Smith, his forthcoming signature model – and THAT relic’d pink Silver Sky

Myers says he caught so much heat for his distressed hot pink John Mayer Silver Sky that he joked with his tech that he was going to torch it onstage

MusicRadar

“They’re humbuckers but have an amazing, almost Dumble harmonic range”: Keith Urban offers first look at his Tele-inspired PRS signature model

Urban saw John Mayer with his Dead Spec Silver Sky and set about designing a guitar that he too could use for a whole set – and it has an f-hole shaped after his tattoo

Guitar World

“I said, ‘Ted, you can see inside the horn, it's got a maple cap.’ He goes, ‘Shut up’”: Paul Reed Smith says early Les Pauls were all Goldtops to hide a tonal breakthrough from Leo Fender

The PRS Guitars founder answers the million dollar question: why were all the early Gibson Les Pauls Goldtops?

Guitar World

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“Steve Vai goes, ‘I’ve been thinking about this a long time. He’s a really good guitar player.’ That’s unusual’”: Paul Reed Smith on the time John Mayer was hailed by a shred hero – and why he found it strange

Smith recalls Vai singling out Mayer for praise – and reveals what Mayer’s songwriting background means for his overall guitar style

Guitar World

“We had a room full of Nashville session players, and they said, ‘Paul, if we don't use your guitars on the tracks, we get fired’”: Why Paul Reed Smith isn't interested in chasing Fender or Gibson – but is focused on cementing PRS in history

Smith reflects on his decades-long involvement in the guitar making space

Guitar World

“We spent more than four years in research and development, working closely with Herman to get everything exactly right”: PRS activates total shred mode for the launch of Herman Li’s feature-packed Chleo signature electric

Available in Orchid Dusk and Charcoal Purple Burst, limited to 200 units, we've got 13 unique tone combinations from its HSH Fishman pickups, a Gotoh floating vibrato and Eclipse Dragon inlays too

MusicRadar

“We all have easy access to the parts needed to make a pickup… You certainly don’t have to start like Seymour Duncan did with a record player’s turntable”: Why more guitar builders are making their own pickups

We speak to Juha Ruokangas about why his company took pickup design into its own hands – and then retrofitted an old PRS Custom 24 with his humbuckers to see how they sounded

Guitar World

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“He needed nobody; Jerry was his only customer”: Tom Lieber apprenticed to Jerry Garcia's guitar builder Doug Irwin in the ’70s – now he’s raising the ’Dead once again

This is the story of Tom Lieber, the aspiring guitar builder who wouldn’t take no for ananswer and ended up learning how to make some of the rock world’s most prized instruments

Guitar World

“Warm, woody tones and a beautiful vintage character”: PRS celebrates the launch of the first humbuckers with the 40th Anniversary McCarty SC56 – a limited-run, traditionally-styled troublemaker with bags of charm

The latest addition to its 40th-anniversary releases, the time-machine axe tips its hat to luthiery innovations from the year Paul Reed Smith was born

Guitar World

“They looked at me like they had seen a ghost. They were like, ‘We’ve got to make this for people’”: Brad Paisley’s new signature Telecaster is based on a vintage gem so rare Fender couldn’t believe he had one

The ‘Lost’ Telecaster features an obscure paisley finish that revives a long-forgotten treatment from the late ’60s

Guitar World

“Such a rare piece”: Dave Navarro has chosen the guitar he’s using to record his first post-Jane’s Addiction material – and it’s a historic build

Navarro will be taking a milestone six-string from PRS into the studio with Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins

Guitar World

“What blew me away was that everyone wanted the curly maple top. People were calling, saying, ‘I’ve got to have the bird inlays’”: Paul Reed Smith on raising the Standard 24, finally cracking the noise-free guitar and why John Sykes is a tone hero

We take Paul Reed Smith back to the start of his 40-year-old company to discuss the new Standard 24 and quite a bit more

Guitar World

“The Custom 24 has been our flagship design. Updating the 24-08 version for our 40th anniversary allows it to ‘sing’ in a beautiful voice of its own”: PRS's new semi-hollow stunner brings enticing updates to one of the company's very first models

Keeping its 40th birthday party going, PRS has added both visual and sonic upgrades to one of its foundational designs

Guitar World

“These things work for me and I am finding out a lot of other guitar players like ‘em too”: Paul Reed Smith loved his Charcoal Phoenix so much that PRS has released this rare bird in strictly limited numbers

This collectible stunner was inspired by the John McLaughlin Private Stock signature model and has been thoroughly road-tested by the PRS Guitars founder

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Guitar World

“Smith has road-tested this guitar, refining its design and tone”: The PRS Charcoal Phoenix is Paul Reed Smith’s personal guitar of choice – and it’s already starred onstage next to John Mayer

The new, limited-edition beauty sprung from Paul Reed Smith’s desire to create a stoptail-equipped variation of John McLaughlin's signature Private Stock PRS

Guitar World

“Paul Reed Smith and I grew up on the same street. He knew I was finishing guitars and one day asked for help. Eventually we needed somebody to head up the factory. He said, 'You’re it’”: How Joe Knaggs became one of America’s most respected guitar makers

Having cut his teeth working at the PRS factory, rising from finishing assistant to production manager and head of Private Stock, Knaggs built his brand from the ground up. Here’s his story…

Guitar World

“You talk about PRS and some say, ‘They’re too nice.’ What’s too nice? You want that special vibe that only tuning every song can give you? You want bad intonation?!” John Mayer pays tribute to Paul Reed Smith at PRS Guitars’ exclusive anniversary show

10 years since his first phone call to the firm, the guitar hero hailed the iconic guitar builder as “the hidden member of everyone’s band all the time”

Guitar World

“When I was a teenager, I had a dream about a guitar with a dragon inlaid down the neck. That dream has since become an important part of our history”: How Paul Reed Smith created the ultimate Dragon for PRS Guitars’ 40th Anniversary

Debuting PRS’s “throaty” new McCarty III humbuckers, the Private Stock 40th Anniversary McCarty Dragon is a work of art and a triumph of engineering – and, says Smith, it’s built to play

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NAMM 2025: “We do not want to spend our anniversary only looking back” – PRS unveils “roadworthy workhorse” Standard 24 Satin asSwamp Ash Specialmakes comeback, announces big updates to pickups, hardware and electronics

PRS makes an impressive start to its 40th anniversary year with two high-end electrics, hardware upgrades for S2 and select Bolt-on models– and what about those DMO humbuckers?

Guitar World

“A stunning tribute to an iconic design”: PRS preps for its 40th Anniversary with two new models – unveiling all-new features and an intricate 207-piece Dragon fretboard inlay

A luxurious Dragon fingerboard and vintage specs combine with all-new pickups for a pair of guitars that look forward and backward in equal measure

Guitar World

“It sold for $937,000 to an anonymous buyer who, we assume, doesn't play punk rock for a living”: From Joe Strummer’s Tele to Johnny Ramone's Mosrite, here are the iconic guitars behind the sound of punk – and the modern-day equivalents you can buy today

The filth, the fury, and '80s Fernandes Strat copies – these guitars, amps, and effects defined the sound of some of rock's greatest, and most rebellious, bands

Guitar World

“The CE has been with us since the very early days of PRS. I love celebrating this model”: PRS radically upgrades its CE range with dashing new tonewoods – and an expansive pickup switch that has never been seen in the lineup before

Choose from Black Limba and Swamp Ash variants, as a PRS mainstay gets some choice cosmetic and tonal updates

Guitar World

“John Mayer had Paul build a guitar for him for the Dead & Company. He wanted one guitar all night. I thought, ‘Let’s see if I can get back to that’”: Keith Urban on working with PRS on a ‘do-it-all’ guitar build –and why SRV is still number one

Country icon reflects the feeling of bonding with a single instrument – and says you should give up playing and become an accountant if you’re missing his special ingredient

Guitar World

“I’ve seen some unplayable instruments made in this country. I’ve also played some real gems not made in the US”: Paul Reed Smith explains why the country a guitar is made in doesn’t matter

Though the provenance of a guitar can have a huge sway on its price and perception, the PRS founder himself has leapt to the defence of overseas builds

Guitar World

“I would use the semi-hollow and get a lot of comments about it. And I’m like, ‘Well, you can’t buy one. It was made in Private Stock, and it’s just a one-off’”: PRS has teamed up with David Grissom for a new DGT Semi-Hollow – but it’s seriously limited

The DGT Semi-Hollow is limited to 200 models worldwide, and hand-signed by both PRS founder Paul Reed Smith and David Grissom

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