tony mcmanus

Events featured appearance by Smith, performances by John McLaughlin, Ricky Skaggs, Tony McManus

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This guitar was designed for the exhibit and features a McCarty-style body, a 25" scale, curly red maple top, African ribbon mahogany back, red heart abalone body purfling, and a light â??tiger eye microburstâ?? finish with natural binding.

On Monday, October 7, 2013, Paul Reed Smith Guitars presented a custom electric guitar to be part of the permanent display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The event was open to the public and took place at the Temple of Dendur in the Sackler Wing. The exquisite guitar, a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Warren Esanu [Mr. Esanu is a founding partner and chairman of Paul Reed Smith Guitars Limited Partnership], was designed for the exhibit and features a McCarty-style body, a 25" scale, curly red maple top, African ribbon mahogany back, red heart abalone body purfling, and a light “tiger eye microburst” finish with natural binding. The curly maple neck features 22 frets, bird inlays cut from mammoth ivory found in arctic ice, ebony fretboard and headstock veneer, a bone nut, and PRS Phase III locking tuners. The PRS 408 humbuckers are controlled by a 3-way selector and master volume and tone controls. Because the museum wants the instrument to be played, PRS also provided the prototype so that if the instrument is ever on loan another will still be on display in its place.

Said company founder, Paul Smith, of the event, “There’s something about it that’s beautifully validating. Everyone in the business is marketing all these different products, saying, ‘Look at us, look at us.’ And the Met comes along and says, ‘You know something, this needs to be paid attention to’—and they weren’t subtle about it. They can decide what they take in and what they don’t. It’s a wonderful thing.”

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