| There are a few guitar companies that are well | | | | McCarty s favor. |
| known for their quality and their list of celebrity players. | | | | PRS Guitars have a list of current stock models and |
| PRS Guitars is one such company. Paul Reed Smith, | | | | private stock guitars that are all listed on the website. |
| owner and creator of PRS Guitars, made his first | | | | There are the Singlecut guitars that were previously |
| guitar while he was a student at St. Mary s College in | | | | mentioned, the SE Series which is a lower end model |
| Maryland. He continued to build guitars after college | | | | and slightly less expensive, the Santana SE, and the |
| and after he d complete one, he would bring it to | | | | 513 Rosewood Guitar. However, these are just a few |
| concerts and convince the musicians to try them out | | | | examples of the extensive list provided on the site. |
| and give him feedback. | | | | There have been a lot of famous artists who have |
| Smith eventually encountered Carlos Santana. The end | | | | played Paul Reed Smith guitars. These include Carlos |
| result of this meeting was that Santana ended up | | | | Santana, Al DiMeola, Peter Lindgren, Tim Mahoney, |
| trying out his guitars. (He tried three total.) Santana was | | | | Dave Navarro, Mark Tremont, Larry Hanson of |
| impressed, and this ultimately changed the direction of | | | | Alabama, Larry Lalonde of Primus, Neal Schon of |
| Smith s life. Santana put Smith in touch with a man | | | | Journey, Rich Williams of Kansas, Steve Stevens with |
| named Ted McCarty, who eventually became his | | | | Billy Idol, and Vince Neil of Motley Crue. For more |
| mentor. | | | | information on the artists who play PRS Guitars, visit |
| Ted McCarty is a veteran of the guitar industry. He | | | | the website. |
| was the president of Gibson for a number of years | | | | Here is what one person has to say about their PRS |
| and he created the Gibson Explorer, the ES-335, and | | | | Guitar: |
| the Gibson Flying V. Like Santana, McCarty also | | | | About the PRS Custom 20th Anniversary I love the |
| realized that Smith had talent and took him under his | | | | way this guitar looks. I had wanted a quilt finish, but the |
| wing. The two collaborated and developed a series of | | | | exact spec would have taken 3-4 months on a special |
| guitars together. These guitars are now included in the | | | | order and cost lots more, so I got this one, and haven t |
| PRS Guitars line. | | | | regretted it for a second. Fabulous rich sounds – |
| Perhaps it was due to McCarty s collaboration with | | | | as soon as I took it to the first rehearsal, everyone in |
| Smith that ultimately lead to the trouble. But, Gibson | | | | the band could tell the difference (had previously been |
| sued PRS Guitars over their Singlecut guitars, which | | | | playing US Standard Strat and Les Paul Studio). Lighter |
| they claimed were remarkably similar to the Gibson | | | | sound than the Les Paul, but so versatile. The tone |
| Les Paul style. Eventually Gibson lost the case, but | | | | control is useable and the choice between single |
| PRS could not make the guitars while the court case | | | | double wound pickups makes a real difference. |
| was going on. But the case was resolved in Smith and | | | | Magical. |
