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New PRS Al Di Meola Prism Guitar

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Stevensville, MD (September 23, 2008) - Paul Reed Smith Guitars is releasing the first Al DiMeola signature model, the Al Di Meola Prism. The production model guitar was officially introduced at Experience PRS 2008 on September 19th. Fans will recognize the guitar from the prototype that Di Meola used on tour with Return to Forever this summer.

The 25" scale guitar is notable in that it is the first PRS guitar to sport so many colors. Its stained curly maple "9 top" features a bold, prism-like display of colors that, in true PRS style, still allows the beauty of the wood to stand out. The guitar has a Peruvian mahogany back and 10" radius neck with a 22 fret Mexican rosewood fingerboard. The neck features a custom Al Di Meola neck carve which is on the thinner side front-to-back, but is a bit wide across the fretboard.  Other appointments include grommet-style locking tuners, abalone bird inlays, a tremolo bridge and 1957/2008 pickups. The pickups, which PRS afficionados are referring to as 5708's, are made with wire produced by the same machine that made wire for the much sought-after PAF pickups; it was recently acquired by PRS.

 Attendees of Experience PRS 2008, a gathering of select PRS enthusiasts at the company's headquarters in Stevensville, MD, got an introduction to the guitar that is about as comprehensive as it gets. They got to see the guitar being made in open house-style factory tours, see/hold/play it themselves and attend a product demo where PRS Director of R&D/Director of Private Stock, Joe Knaggs, talked about its design.

They also got to see Di Meola play the guitar in a clinic and then perform with it as his band got together for their first live show in a year and a half.

Di Meola and Paul Reed Smith have collaborated for more than 30 years, beginning with a 12-string electric with a built-in phaser that Di Meola commissioned and then used on his second solo album, Elegant Gypsy. The design for the Al D Prism guitar was formulated from the features of a Modern Eagle guitar, one of Smith's own guitars actually, that Di Meola first played at Experience PRS 2007. Today, the two joke with each other about how Di Meola "stole" the guitar. Di Meola showed up to Experience PRS 2007 without a guitar so Smith let him borrow his Modern Eagle for the night. The next thing he knew, Di Meola was using it in rehearsals for the Return to Forever reunion tour. 

Video 1 - Al Di Meola Prism Guitar Demo with Joe Knaggs

 

Video 2 - Al Di Meola Experience PRS 2008 Clinic Performance

 

Video 3 - Al Di Meola Experience PRS 2008 Concert Performance

 

For more info:
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Comments

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UsernameComment
Max
on 10/03/2008 		ooh pretty
Frank L. Richmond
on 09/28/2008 		I get more and more used to the finish the more I see it. I was going to get a Santana model in the near future. Al's my hero, though, and in my brief interactions with him he's always been a great guy. I've been waiting for PRS to come out with an Al D signature model, so I'm down for the first one that a certain dealer gets in. I wanted one with a stoptail, but I guess I can go for the vibrato instead. As for price, the guitar is very similar to a Modern Eagle, but close to $2,000 less in price. I do understand the comments about the finish--I didn't like the 3-color prototype I saw in Guitar Player.

As for Al's playing, I get sick of people with no technique talking about how one note is so much better than a hundred. I've heard people play one not that sucked, and I've heard a million neoclassical shredders play a hundred triplets per second that sucked just as bad. Al's got his own style. I inflicted him on my family when I was young, and all they heard were a bunch of notes--not the structure and movement in there. I do think--no offense to Al and his devotion to Chick Corea as a mentor--that he got better and better the further he distanced himself from the Return to Forever style and became more his own person. I've got a much more bluesy style myself, but Al's music can still send shivers up my spine. I saw him in Tulsa one time--finally got to introduce my mom to him!--and I had tears in my eyes listening to how tight they hit everything in Orange and Blue.

Just my .02!
F.T.
on 09/27/2008 		Kudos to PRS for branching out a little bit. That is an awesome finish.
tonym
on 09/26/2008 		awesomely dysfunctional. great minority music.
rondell
on 09/25/2008 		the 2nd clip kicked my ass!!!!
Ferever
on 09/25/2008 		Al rules.
San Paul
on 09/25/2008 		half the comments on this site are from people using their own taste on everything they see, wither or not they get it.
Ed Fleck
on 09/25/2008 		very talented but the music melds into mechanical king Crimson type of stiffness. I prefer Jeff Beck as an instrumentalist but thats just me. I saw Al at the imac theatre and it was good but the songs are not distinct or memorable after you leave the show. The guitar sounds great but the paint job reminds me of the frozen rocket popsicle.
C.H.
on 09/25/2008 		Al is a freak. His synchopation challenges you as a listener but his phrasing is still melodic as hell and groovy. He's on another plane of existence! The older I get and the better I get on guitar, the more I appreciate Al D.
r2d4
on 09/24/2008 		That guitar sounds superb. I like the Santana-type fulness when you let those notes go.



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