Stevensville, MD (October 4, 2011) — When Paul Reed Smith assumed leadership of the PRS Private Stock program in 2009, he remarked, “I’m looking forward to building guitars again.” The Collection Series from Private Stock provides him the opportunity to do just that. Much like the sought-after “Paul’s 28” guitars, these instruments are built in small batches (about a dozen at a time) and incorporate a balance of PRS traditions and exclusive “prototype stage” specifications. Collection instruments are built using the finest materials from Private Stock’s most select stash of exotic tone woods. Many of these woods, including prized pernambuco used to make necks and fingerboards, will no longer be available for standard Private Stock orders. Proprietary specs, including Celtic knot inlays, will not be offered on forthcoming Private Stock guitars as well. Paul Reed Smith will personally oversee the design, wood selection, and construction of each Collection guitar.
A very limited number—approximately 70 acoustics and 70 electrics—will be made in total each year. These instruments cannot be ordered, but are designed by PRS and will be sold to exclusive Private Stock Collection dealers in pairs comprised of one acoustic and one electric guitar. With no more than twenty dealers worldwide, the partnership formed between Paul Reed Smith as a builder and these dealers and distributors is a very special one, and Paul plans to visit each dealer that signs up with a PRS endorser as a public and personal thank you.
Specifications for the inaugural run of Collection Instruments are as follows:
Collection McCarty Specs
Curly maple top with figured mahogany back, 22 fret 25” scale length pernambuco ‘Pattern’ neck with African blackwood fingerboard, paua heart, 14k gold, and mammoth ivory Collection Celtic inlays, ebony headstock veneer with 14k gold inlaid signature and mammoth ivory “Collection,” paua heart purfling along the fingerboard, headstock veneer, and truss rod cover as well as gold side dots, gold Phase III tuners, PRS tremolo (hybrid hardware), PRS Collection treble and bass pickups, volume and push/pull tone control with 3-way toggle pickup selector, and “London Soot” finish.
Collection Tonare Grand Specs
16” dreadnought body, proprietary hybrid X bracing, European bearclaw spruce top with paua heart/black purfling and an ebony, paua heart, green abalone, and 14k gold rosette, curly ‘tiger’ maple back and sides with black/maple/black purfling and ‘Tiger Eye’ smoked burst back and sides, pernambuco ‘wide’ neck with paua heart, 14k gold, and mammoth ivory Collection Celtic inlays, ebony headstock veneer with 14k gold inlaid signature and mammoth ivory “Collection,” ebony bridge and bridge pins with mammoth ivory inlays, Robson tuning pegs with ivoroid buttons, PRS Acoustic system.
For more information:
PRS