Musicians Hotline is honored to talk shop with Paul Reed Smith. In my second interview with Paul, I am pleased to share the current story of what is happening these days at PRS Guitars. Our last visit was January of 1999 and believe me much has happened at PRS Guitars in the past four years. Special thanks to Laura Rausch and of course extra special thanks to Paul himself for taking time to provide us with the latest developments at PRS.

MH: Paul, tell us how you got your start in this business and I believe the first actual instrument you built was a bass? Can you tell us a bit more about that first instrument?
PS: It was a bass that I built in my woodshop in high school. I actually glued it together in my garage. The neck came off an imitation Beatle bass. As far as a start in the business, I did it all in baby steps: building guitars in my bedroom, going to college, starting a small shop in Annapolis, repairing guitars, building more sophisticated guitars, building prototypes, taking orders, starting a limited partnership, growing the business enough to move into a factory, going to every tradeshow, and to this day, still getting teachers for what I do not know.

MH: Who were your early musical influences and what styles of guitars influenced you early on?
PS: The Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Peter Frampton, Carlos Santana, Led Zepplin, Cactus, Return to Forever. Truly, all styles of guitars influenced me, but I just loved electric guitars.

MH: Tell us about your first prototype guitars. What style, and when did you build the first PRS guitar?
PS: It depends on the era. If we are talking about the guitars that I actually took orders on to start the company, they were a Vintage Yellow Custom and a Pearl White "PRS", which is now the Standard model. They were built in the 33 West Street Shop in 1984 and they are the two guitars in the first PRS brochure.

MH: Is it true that the first guitars had the legendary bird inlay on the headstock? How many pre '85 guitars do you estimate were built?
PS: Most of them had the bird inlay on the headstock. About 60 pre '85 guitars were built.

MH: How did these pre '85 guitars vary (if any) from the PRS Guitars of today?
PS: In hundreds of little ways. For example, the bridges now use different size screws, the finish is from a different manufacturer, and the bobbins for the pickups were taken from other manufacturers because I didn't have a mold. Now we make our own pickups. Almost every day through our quality control, we find better ways--some big, some small, to improve our guitars more.

MH: When and where did PRS actually start manufacturing and accepting orders?
PS: I went on the road in the last quarter of 1984 and began taking orders. I then continued taking more orders at the NAMM show in 1985.

MH: Can you recall who your very first dealer was?
PS: Yes, it was Washington Music Center in Wheaton, MD. They are still our biggest dealer.

MH: In 1995 PRS built a state of the art manufacturing facility unlike any this industry has seen. Tell us a bit about the facility and special features that are instrumental in producing PRS Guitars.
PS: Thank you for saying that. The facility is humidity controlled-72 degrees, 50% relative humidity--all year long, including the spray rooms. We have several integral systems: a powerful dust collection system, a computer controlled HVAC system, comprehensive compressed air and natural gas lines, and an electrical grid that supplies 120,230, 230 3 phase, and 440 3 phase.

MH: What manufacturing techniques or equipment utilized do you feel are unique to PRS Guitars?
PS: There are too many to mention! Most of them are subtle however. One example: we glue our fretboards on with a compressed air bladder system that we designed. It is coated with a very slick plastic so the epoxy that we glue our fretboards on with does not stick to the jigs. Throughout each phase of the manufacturing process, we try to find unique ways to ensure our guitars are near perfect when they leave the building. Almost every day we look to find more ways to maintain and raise our quality level.

MH: How do you personally perceive PRS's position in today's high-end guitar market place?
PS: We are viewed by the industry as one of "the big three" and are very often acknowledged as the quality leader in the manufacturing of electric guitars. I am pleased by that.

MH: What do you feel are the most unique features of PRS guitars?
PS: The overall design of the instrument, the electronics, the shape of our necks, the beauty of our finishes and our meticulous attention to detail, all of which lead to the ability for an artist to play a PRS guitar right out of the box.

MH: How many people are employed at PRS Guitars? How many guitars are shipped on a monthly basis?
PS: We have 185 employees. About 1000 US made guitars are shipped per month and 500 of the overseas built guitars are shipped per month.

MH: Some people were surprised when PRS offered an import line. Can you explain why the company made that move?
PS: Yes. We could not buy the parts for what the guitars are sold for and because our unified belief was that if we came out with a very high quality instrument at a fair and lower price point, eventually the market would understand we were selling a real guitar, not a toy, in a price point that is not known for concert and recording grade instruments. Also, a lot of people believe in our designs and quality maintenance and this instrument would enable them to start with something that PRS Guitars had worked on. Each import guitar is carefully checked by a PRS employee to ensure that it is up to PRS standards before it is released to the dealer.

MH: PRS Guitars has undoubtedly paved the path for other high-end luthiers to get noticed. What is your opinion of the high-end guitar market today and how do you envision PRS staying a top the market place?
PS: I like the high-end market. It is dominated mostly by real grass roots guitar makers. PRS Guitars doesn't look at it as trying to stay on top of the market; we look at it as product leadership. When I refer to product leadership, we are aware that we come out with products that are either brand new or innovative twists on a theme. We provide guitar players with innovative tools to be able to performtheir music to the best of their ability. I believe the industry watches for what we will do next.

MH: What is your band "The Dragons" up to these days?
PS: I am in the middle of recording a PRS and Friends CD. On Saturday, July 5, the Dragons share the bill with The Chesapeake Symphony. Later this year, the boys and I go global, with a dealer event in France from Sept. 12-15 and in Japan from Oct. 16-19. A possible mini-tour in England is also still in the planning stages.

MH: Anything exciting that we can expect from PRS at Summer NAMM?
PS: Stop by the booth and see!

MH: In closing Paul, what do you attribute PRS's overwhelming success to and where do you see the guitar market heading in the future?
PS: I attribute PRS's success to teamwork, attention to design detail, attention to manufacturing detail, taking good care of our dealers and distributors, our employees and our customers. The company was started with a core set of product requirements that still stand today. Despite the many changes in our manufacturing process and our strong growth, we follow these provisions every day. I believe that really good guitars will continue to sell and good attempts at pressing the envelope will sell. What I don't like is that guitars sold on average are getting cheaper which tells me that people don't have money to spend on things they love like they used to.

Infomation:
Paul Reed Smith Guitars
380 Log Canoe Circle
Stevensville, MD 21666
www.prsguitars.com
Customer Service
Phone: 410-643-9970
FAX: 410-643-9980

Photos from the PRS Factory in Stevensville, MD

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