Experience PRS 2011 activities included factory tours, artist and product-designer clinics, recording demos, Q&A sessions with
founder/owner Paul Smith, concerts, and new product unveilings and demos.
For five years now,
September has been a
spot to mark on the
calendar for hardcore fans of
PRS guitars, basses, and amps.
That’s when the faithful with the
means to make the pilgrimage
trek to the 10-Top Mecca that
is the company’s headquarters in
Stevensville, Maryland. Known
as Experience PRS, the three-day
open house/extravaganza regularly
hosts a couple of thousand
visitors—this year it was approximately
2,800—some traveling
from as far away as Japan and
Australia. The event’s attendees
include everyone from dealers to
international distributers, recording
artists, everyday guitar nuts,
and members of the media. And
what they get is practically an all-access
experience with the products,
people, and facilities from
one of the three biggest guitar
companies in the world. This
year’s Experience PRS activities
included factory tours, artist and
product-designer clinics, recording
demos, Q&A sessions with
founder/owner Paul Smith, concerts,
and new-product unveilings
and demos.
Perhaps the most exciting
development this year was that
PRS expanded the stable of its
very popular (and accessibly
priced) SE line to include amps.
The all-tube SE 20, SE 30, and
SE 50 models were designed
by Doug Sewell, the same mastermind
behind the company’s
higher-end handwired amps.
The amps all have two channels
with independent EQ sections,
an effects loop, reverb, and
custom-wound transformers.
Their wattages correspond to
their model names, and all are
available as a head or a 1x12
combo. The SE 20 features a
6V6 power section, the SE 30
is driven by 5881s, and the SE
50 features a pair of EL34s.
In addition, the SE line now
includes SE Angelus Standard
and SE Angelus Custom
acoustics. Both feature a solid
spruce top, laminated sides, and
iconic PRS bird inlays, with the
Standard having a solid mahogany
back, and the Custom having
a solid rosewood back.
Other products announced
were the Stripped ’58—a vintage-inspired
single-cutaway with
57/08 pickups in a traditional,
no-frills package—and the Swamp
Ash Studio—a 22-fret model
with a bridge 57/08 humbucker
and two 57/08 Narrowfield pickups.
At press time, both models
were slated to be built only until
October 14, 2011.
Among the new activities at
Experience PRS this year was
the “Why, Not How?” discussion
between Paul Smith and his
close friend and esteemed guitar
author Tom Wheeler about their
collective 21 rules of tone that
are now implemented on all PRS
models. (Smith said the full list is
currently in a safe and will likely
be burned when he dies.) Also,
the company invited guests into
its finish department, where 12
guitars were displayed to illustrate
each step of the PRS V12 finishing
process. Other new wrinkles
to the PRS fest were the open
guitar jams that put brave fans
onstage with a backing band that
included bassist Gary Grainger,
drummer Greg Grainger, and
guitarist Mike Ault.
In typical Experience PRS
fashion, endorsees such as
David Grissom, Al Di Meola,
Ricky Skaggs, Tony McManus,
Davy Knowles, Cody Kilby,
Bernie Marsden, JD Bradshaw,
and more were all over the
company’s campus, chatting
and performing throughout the
weekend. The gala closed with
PRS SE Signature artists Fredrik
Åkesson and Mike Åkerfeldt
from multifaceted Swedish
prog-metal band Opeth performing
a 90-minute set.
For more video and photo
highlights from Experience PRS
2011, visit premierguitar.com.
