april 2015

The famed luthier opens up about getting his start more than 30 years ago, finally building John McLaughlin a guitar, and how many hot wings he can eat in one sitting.

Paul Reed Smith is no stranger to Premier Guitar: He has joined us for NAMM demos, opened up his factory for private tours, and even performed for the PG cameras during Experience PRS. Just in time for his company’s 30th anniversary, Smith gave fans and PRS owners an opportunity to ask him questions when he took over our Facebook account for about 90 minutes. Thanks to all of your inquiries, we uncovered a few nuggets of the luthier’s personal and professional life that were previously kept under wraps. Here are the highlights:

1. One door closes on a guitarist, the next opens for an award-winning guitar builder.
I started making guitars because I wasn’t a good enough guitarist and I somehow viscerally understood how to build instruments. I wanted to have a big impact ... I thought I had a lot to offer, but the people around me, for the most part, didn’t think so. So the main inspiration was to spend a life of trying to build guitars the best I could, rather then being one of those people who dies saying they could’ve tried harder.

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