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PRS Guitars is a well known American company, based in Stevensville, Maryland , that mostly makes high-end Guitar s. PRS Guitars was founded by guitarist and Luthier Paul Reed Smith , hence the "PRS" name (and are commonly referred to as "Paul Reed Smith guitars"). PRS guitars are known for being extremely high quality, and to have extremely high price tags as well. SONIC QUALITIES The two leading makers of American electric guitars, Fender and Gibson , are well known for their instruments' idiosyncratic and very different tones. PRS guitars were designed to find a middle ground between the two archetypes. While Fender guitars are generally seen as offering a bright, responsive tone, with a hint of "twang" owing to their longer scale length, Gibson guitars are seen as having a warm, rich tone, with a deep, dark sound at the low end. In comparison, PRS guitars generally have a responsive high end that does not twang, and a rich low end that is very clear. Paul Reed Smith has said in interviews that two major inspirations for his guitars were the Fender Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul Junior . CONSTRUCTION The main line of PRS guitars is unusual in that the instruments are designed and constructed wholly in the United States Of America . For this reason, and because of the exacting standards of the PRS factory, they can be quite expensive. Wood Wood selection plays a major role in crafting a PRS guitar. The bodies are crafted of Mahogany , with or without a Maple top; their maple tops are graded according to their "figure," referring to the visual character of the wood. PRS popularized highly figured tops, including Flame Maple and Quilt Maple . PRS necks are usually made from mahogany, although some models feature Maple or Indian or Brazilian Rosewood necks; Fingerboard s are made of rosewood. Instead of dot or trapezoid fret markers, PRS fingerboards have Birds or Moons . Their trademark guitars, the Dragons , feature portraits of these mythical animals Inlaid into their fingerboards or bodies. Inlay materials have included semiprecious stones; all sorts of iridescent shells, including Abalone and abalone-plastic laminates; Gold ; and even such exotic and costly materials as unearthed Ivory from the (extinct) Wooly Mammoth . Hardware Nuts are synthetic; tuners are of PRS' own design, although some models feature Korean-made ( Robot -assisted) manufacturing process. Pickups Pickups are designed and wound in-house; PRS is more secretive about magnet and wire type and construction than some aftermarket pickup manufacturers. PRS humbucking pickups have gone by many names, including HFS (Hot, Fat, and Screams); Vintage Bass and Treble; McCarty; Santana I, II, and III; Dragon I and II; Artist I through IV; #6, #7, #8, #9, and #10; and RP (after the initials of the designer.) Further adding to the obscurity, many of the above pickup types are actually a pair of pickups wound in opposing directions, one intended for the neck and one for the bridge position. Finishes Finishes are transparent and opaque and are automotive-grade polyurethane or satin nitrocellose; in some instances, they are actually paints intended for automotive use. Current Manufacturing Methods As demand for grew during the mid 1990's, PRS had to switch from hand manufactured and assembled guitars to automated manufacture and assembly. Some would argue that the switch in manufacturing has lost some of the individual personality and allure of PRS guitars, still other's insist that the change in manufacturing and assembly has lead to higher quality better sounding guitars. Additionally, some believe that the heavy polyurethane finishes used by PRS further drown out the tonal qualities and nuances of each individual guitar. Non-American PRS To keep up with demand, PRS introduced a new low-end budget line in the late 1990's. The SE line, is manufactured in Korea and is notable for opaque finishes and lower quality tone-woods. While the SEs do not match the higher end PRS guitars in their build quality, it is worth noting that their street price is perhaps 10 to 20% of PRS' high-end instruments, some feel that they offer excellent value to the player seeking an instrument in that price range. ARTISTS WHO USE PRS GUITARS Many artists play PRS guitars. Some include
Santana was the recipient of some of Paul Reed Smith's early instruments, used them on stage, and fell in love with them; his unusual 24-fret, 24½"-scale signature model was one of PRS' earliest special models. LEGAL ISSUES In the 1998 PRS released their "Singlecut" guitar to much acclaim. Bearing an uncanny resemblance to the venerable Les Paul , Gibson Guitar Corp filed a trademark infringement against Paul Reed Smith. An injunction was ordered and PRS stopped manufacturing of the Singlecut in 2000. It should be noted that other guitar companies including Hamer and ESP produce models very similar to the Les Paul. Federal District Court Judge William J. Haynes, in a 57-page decision ruled "that PRS Reed Smith was imitating the Les Paul" and gave the parties ninety days "to complete any discovery on damages or disgorgement of PRS's profits on the sales of its offending singlecut guitar." In a long-pending trademark dispute between PRS Guitars and Gibson Guitars Corp., the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed a lower court decision and ordered the dismissal of Gibson's suit against PRS. The decision also immediately vacated the injunction prohibiting the sale and production of PRS’s award winning Singlecut® Guitar. Paul Reed Smith Guitars announced that it will immediately resume production of its Singlecut® guitars. Paul Smith, the founder of PRS, stated “We are delighted that the appellate court affirmed what we and the industry have long known: the PRS Singlecuts® are musical instruments of the highest quality that would never be confused with a competitor’s product.” In the litigation, Gibson alleged that concert goers in a smoky concert hall might not be able to differentiate a PRS Singlecut® from a Gibson Les Paul. The appellate court rejected that trademark theory out-of-hand, emphasizing Gibson’s concession in court arguments that “only an idiot” would confuse the two products at the point of sale. January 6, 2006 - PRS Guitars has won another round in the long-running trademark dispute with Gibson Guitars Corp. over the award-winning PRS Singlecuts®, as a court of appeals has refused to rehear the case. On September 12, 2005, a panel of three judges from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed a lower court decision and ordered the dismissal of Gibson's suit against PRS. The panel also threw out a lower court injunction prohibiting the sale and production of PRS Singlecuts®. Gibson then requested that all 24 judges from the Sixth Circuit rehear the case. Last Friday, the Sixth Circuit rejected Gibson's request, leaving the earlier panel decision intact and limiting Gibson to one option for further review - a petition asking the United States Supreme Court to hear the case. PARTIAL LIST OF PRS GUITAR MODELS A more extensive list is available at the PRS website . Many of the listed guitars are available with an option of stoptail or tremolo bridge; the finish options are complicated and depend on the model.
Limited editions
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