PRS Guitars article
Prs Guitars Explained: Features, Types and Tips
Not quite a Gibson, not quite a Fender — here's the story of how PRS guitars got that way, and what actually sets one apart from the crowd.
The first time I picked up a PRS in a shop, I remember being a bit thrown — it didn't quite feel like a Gibson, and it didn't quite feel like a Fender, but it clearly owed something to both. That in-between feeling is sort of the whole point. Here's the story of how PRS guitars got that way, and what actually sets one apart from the crowd.
Where PRS Guitars Came From
Paul Reed Smith started out building custom instruments for working musicians long before there was a company behind his name. Early guitars found their way into the hands of players like Carlos Santana, Peter Frampton and Al Di Meola, and that word-of-mouth reputation among serious professionals did more for the brand than any advert could have. The company formally launched at the 1985 NAMM Show, and the guitar it introduced there — the Custom 24 — is still the design most people picture when they hear the name.
The Custom 24: Where It All Started
The Custom 24 set the template that a lot of PRS guitars still follow: a double-cutaway body, 24 frets, two humbuckers, a tremolo bridge and a switching system flexible enough to cover more ground than you'd expect from just two pickups. It's the instrument that made people sit up and ask what exactly this new brand was doing differently.
The PRS Family Tree
Decades on, the range has grown into several distinct families, and knowing which is which saves a lot of confusion in a shop:
| Series | Made where | Roughly for |
|---|---|---|
| SE | International manufacturing partners, to PRS's specifications | Beginners, backups, budget-conscious players |
| S2 | Maryland, USA | American build quality at a gentler price than Core |
| Bolt-On | Maryland, USA | Faster attack, single-coil-leaning designs |
| Core | Maryland, USA | The flagship, premium-material production range |
| Private Stock | Maryland, USA | Fully bespoke instruments built by a dedicated team |
What Actually Makes One Feel Like a PRS
A few details recur across most of the range and, together, are what people mean when they talk about "that PRS feel":
- Carved maple top over a mahogany body on many models — part look, part construction, though a fancier figured top is mostly cosmetic rather than a tone guarantee.
- A 25-inch scale length, sitting neatly between Gibson's 24.75 inches and Fender's 25.5, aiming for a middle ground in string feel and bending comfort.
- Locking tuners, which speed up string changes and reduce how much string winds around the post.
- The bird inlays, the most instantly recognisable visual signature on the fretboard.
- Proprietary pickups such as the 85/15 and 58/15 LT, tuned respectively for modern clarity and a more vintage-leaning voice.
Set Neck, Bolt-On and the Rest of the Family
Most Core-level PRS guitars use a set neck, glued in for sustain and a smoother upper-fret join — think Custom, McCarty and Hollowbody models. The CE and Silver Sky, by contrast, use bolt-on construction, which tends to give a slightly snappier attack. Neither approach is objectively better; they simply behave differently in your hands, which is exactly why trying before buying matters so much with this brand.
Familiar Names Behind the Headstock
Beyond Santana, Frampton and Di Meola, PRS has picked up a broad roster of players over the decades: John Mayer helped shape the Silver Sky into the Stratocaster-adjacent instrument it is today, while Mark Tremonti, Alex Lifeson, Dave Navarro and progressive metal player Mark Holcomb have all had signature or artist-associated models built around how they actually play. That said, an artist's name on a model doesn't guarantee it'll suit you — most professionals are playing heavily personalised guitars, so treat any signature model as a starting point for a sound, not a promise of one.
Across Genres
Part of the reason PRS guitars turn up everywhere from blues clubs to arena rock to progressive metal is that the range was never built around one sound. A Custom 24 with humbuckers wide open behaves very differently from a Silver Sky's single coils, and a McCarty's warmer, vintage-voiced pickups sit somewhere else again. That range is the point — there generally is a PRS built for your genre, even if it isn't the same model your favourite player uses.
The Bottom Line
Understood properly, this brand isn't simply "a Gibson and a Fender combined" — that's a useful shorthand, but the real story is a company that studied the classics and then built its own answers to tuning stability, comfort and tone, one that's taken forty years to arrive at the range on offer today. If you're now weighing up buying one, our buyer's guide and round-up of the best options by use case go into the practical choices, while our beginner's guide and common mistakes to avoid are worth reading before you commit.
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