This sounds interesting:

PRS Custom Amp Designs (CAD) is your opportunity to explore nearly limitless, personalized amplifier options. Since the inception of the program, PRS Amp Designer Doug Sewell and Paul Reed Smith have worked shoulder-to-shoulder to provide the most personalized amps ever offered by PRS. Through CAD, amplifiers can be built with specialized colors, speakers and components and can even bring discontinued models back to life.

It sounds like you can create customized versions of any of the amps that PRS offers or has ever offered. Here’s Paul Smith discussing their amp and CAD program:

PRS Guitars has re-introduced the Artist Package, an upgrade package that provides an even higher grade of wood than their 10 tops, select mahogany backs, and Mexican Ebony fingerboard, among other options. You can also choose from their highly-regarded 57/08, 59/09, or 53/10 pickups, gold, nickel, or hybrid hardware, and new artist bird inlays. The Artist Package guitars come standard with PRS’s V12 finish and an Artist Package case. You can buy the Artist Package on the following guitars: Custom 24, Studio, P22, 513, SC58, McCarty 58, Hollowbody II, and Singlecut Hollowbody II. Read more about the Artist Package on the PRS Guitars website.

In addition to the PRS SE Angelus guitar that PRS have announced at the Experience PRS event, PRS have announced three other new guitars: the Stripped 58, the Swamp Ash Studio, and the Experience PRS 2011 Custom 24.

The Stripped 58 is a single-cut guitar that features a maple top and mahogany back, a 24.5″ scale length, 22 fret mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard and bird inlays, PRS Guitars’ new 2-piece bridge, 57/08 pickups, and their Pattern neck. PRS will be taking orders for the Stripped 58 from September 22, 2011 to October 14, 2011.

The Swamp Ash Studio is a variation of PRS Guitars’ Studio model featuring a swamp ash body and two 57/07 Narrowfield pickups and a 57/08 humbucking bridge pickup. Like the Stripped 58, the Swamp Ash Studio will be available between September 22, 2011 and October 14, 2011.

The Experience PRS 2011 Custom 24 is a limited edition guitar that features an artist grade top and matching headstock, black and white mother of pearl bird inlays, and 59/09 pickups. Only 200 Experience PRS 2011 Custom 24 guitars will be made and will be available in four colors: Burnt Almond, Faded Abalone, Gold Burst, and Orange Tiger. Only 50 guitars in each color will be made.

The Experience PRS event is going on this weekend at the PRS facility in Maryland. It is at this event that PRS Guitars announce new models, host guitar clinics and shows, and basically just geek out on PRS equipment. Sounds like my kind of weekend!

One of the new models that they announced is the PRS SE Angelus acoustic guitar. This is the first acoustic model in their SE line, which are more affordable versions of their Maryland-made guitars. There are two versions of the SE Angelus: Standard and Custom. The Standard model will feature a spruce top, solid mahogany back and mahogany sides, and a rosewood fretboard. The Custom model will feature a spruce top, solid rosewood back and rosewood sides, and an ebony fretboard. Both models will feature hybrid X bracing for the top, which PRS also uses for their high-end line of acoustics. The SE Angelus will be introduced in limited quantities later this year, with more SE acoustic models coming next year. Neither the Standard nor the Custom coming later this year will be available with electronics, but some of next year’s models will include built-in pickup systems.

Below is a demo of the SE Angelus models by J Hayes followed by a video of guitarist Todd Bauchspies performing his song “Hedge Hawk Clearing” on a PRS SE Angelus guitar:

PRS Guitars have announced a new line of SE-series amplifiers that will be shipping later this year. The new line includes three amps: the PRS SE 20, the PRS SE 30, and the PRS SE 50:

Modeled after the acclaimed PRS SE line of guitars, this new amp line continues the concept of providing affordable musical instruments and equipment without sacrificing tone, usability, or quality. The lineup, scheduled to start shipping in the fall of 2011, includes the PRS SE 20 featuring 6V6 tubes, PRS SE 30 featuring 5881’s, and PRS SE 50 featuring EL34’s– all of which are offered as closed back 1×12 combos or as heads. The clean and lead channel gain stages are driven by 12AX7 preamp tubes. Loop, verb, and phase inverter utilize 12AT7s. These are all tube amps with all pots, jacks, and switches chassis mounted and tube sockets board mounted, offering incredible quality and value. A PRS SE 2×12 cabinet is available as well. All the amps in this family feature two channels with separate EQ, an effects loop, and reverb (all newer features for PRS –introduced on the 2 Channel “H” and “C”). Each amp also boasts custom wound transformers, 0.090 aluminum chassis, high-end “on-on-on” selector switches, only the best NNS tubes, custom-voiced speakers, custom knobs, and more.

I’ve owned several of the Korean-made PRS SE guitars, and they were all very well-made for the price point. I would expect the amps to be of the same quality. Elderly Instruments has some preliminary pricing for the amps on their website, although I don’t know if the final pricing has been determined yet.

Below is a demo video of the PRS SE 20. This video highlights the flexibility of the clean channel. Hopefully, there will be some more demos soon highlighting more features of the amps. For now, check out the demo below:

Another new announcement from Paul Reed Smith at this year’s winter NAMM show is a new Private Stock Signature Limited Run guitar, which will be limited to a run of 100 guitars. The guitar was created with input from multiple guitarists and is their first multi-endorsement guitar featuring endorsements by Howard Leese, Tom Wheeler, Davy Knowles, Michael Ault, and Paul Reed Smith himself.

The guitar features “a new pickup system with proprietary 408 treble and bass humbucking pickups which produce eight sounds on a simple switching scheme. A highly figured Private Stock maple top, and ME (Modern Eagle) birds with brown mother of pearl centers create an arresting visual impression. This model’s filled in “sinker” mahogany neck gives the player a new but familiar unfinished feel.”

The specs of the guitar are:

Top Wood: Private Stock Figured Maple
Back Wood: Lightweight African Mahogany
Number of Frets: 22
Scale Length: 25″
Neck Wood: Mahogany
Fretboard Wood: East Indian Rosewood
Neck Shape: Pattern
Inlays: ME Birds w/ Brown Mother of Pearl Centers
Bridge: Stoptail or Tremolo
Tuners: PRS Low Mass Locking Tuners
Truss Rod Cover: Cocobola
Hardware Type: Hybrid
Treble Pickup: 408 B
Bass Pickup: 408 T

PRS have announced new guitars and updates to their product line at this year’s NAMM show. One new guitar they’ve announced is the PRS Studio. The Studio combines two single-coil 57/08 Narrowfield pickups with a 57/08 humbucker in the bridge position. A five-blade switch is used to switch between the pickups. The guitar also features a mahogany back and neck with a maple top and a rosewood fretboard. PRS have refined their neck shapes for 2011, and the Studio model has what they call a “pattern neck” with an available “pattern thin option”. Other new features for 2011 include new side markers, new birds, and redesigned lampshade knobs. Here’s a video of Paul Reed Smith discussing the new Studio model:

A little over a week ago, David Grissom played and demonstrated his signature guitar at a Paul Reed Smith clinic here in Nashville. If you don’t know, Grissom is a guitarist who has played with Joe Ely, John Mellencamp, the Dixie Chicks, and Storyville, among others. He’s also a well-respected studio musician both here in Nashville and in Austin. In addition to his sideman work, he’s also released two solo albums and a blues/rock guitar instruction book.

Prior to seeing the clinic, I had never played the DGT guitar. However, Grissom’s PRS guitar is widely considered to be one of the best signature guitars PRS makes, and it was nice to be able to hear both Grissom and Paul Reed Smith discuss the thought process that went into making the guitar. For example, while the guitar is based on Grissom’s McCarty model that he’s played for many years, there were a few features that he was adamant about including on his guitar. One such feature is the inclusion of two volume controls, one for each pickup. This allows him to blend the two pickups together in various ways when both pickups are selected. The guitar also features coil-taps, which split the humbuckers into single-coil pickups adding even more tones that this guitar can achieve. Grissom likes to use heavy-gauge strings, so he wanted big frets on the guitar; this makes the heavy strings a little easier to bend. The DGT guitar also features a tremolo bar, which he explained helps the strings reverberate more than a stop-tail does.

Of course, in addition to discussing the guitar, Grissom played the guitar. And, what a great player and what a great sounding guitar! He played the guitar through a PRS Sweet 16 amp, which also sounded fantastic. I’ve always been impressed with the quality of craftsmanship that goes into a PRS guitar, and the DGT exemplifies this. It’s clear that a lot of thought went into the design of the guitar and the pickups, and the payoff is an excellent looking and sounding guitar. After seeing the clinic, I spent some time playing a DGT model and I’m very impressed. I think a DGT model is going to be in my future!

Paul Reed Smith also spoke at the clinic, talking about not just the DGT guitar but PRS in general. He’s a pretty funny guy with some very interesting stories. Specifically, it was interesting to hear his take on the music instrument business and the tough year that it seems that all the manufacturers have faced. Unfortunately, he’s had to do some layoffs this year and reduce the workforce to a four-day workweek. He’s also had to cut out extras like bonuses. He mentioned how difficult it is for a non-traditional guitar manufacturer in an environment where everyone seems to want vintage-style instruments. He said that dealers are always looking for the Next Big Thing, even when the current inventory is almost brand new. For example, in Europe shorty after the release of the DGT guitar, the guitar received numerous accolades in the guitar press. However, even while these accolades were just coming out, the dealers were calling asking about new stuff. As a result, PRS has had to constantly evolve their guitar line, leading to them to discontinue a large amount of guitars over the past year or so.

If you get a chance to see a PRS clinic, I recommend going. It’s a fun night of guitar geekery!

Introduction
Last year, I wanted something a little different than the Strat I was playing. I wanted a guitar with a little bit thicker sound and a little more versatility. I love my Strat, but after Gibson lost their lawsuit against PRS (which had prevented PRS from producing the Singlecut models), I anxiously awaited the re-release of the SE Singlecut series.

Ever since I first saw Paul Reed Smith guitars over 15 years ago, I’ve wanted to own one. I thought (and still think) the paint jobs and attention to detail were amazing. However, back then I was just starting out and had no need for such a high-end guitar. In fact, I still don’t really have a need for such a high-end guitar. Enter the SE series of PRS guitars. The PRS Singlecut SE guitars have a street price of around $600.

According to Paul Reed Smith, it was actually Carlos Santana’s idea to create the SE series. He thought that more players should be able to see and obtain the quality of the PRS guitars. Subsequently, PRS found a manufacturing facility in Korea and taught them how to make PRS guitars.

Guitar Specs
Body – Singlecut mahogany body with maple top & flame maple veneer (except for opaque black)

Neck – 25″ scale length mahogany 22-fret neck with rosewood fretboard and moon inlays, Neck carve – wide fat

Hardware – PRS designed stoptail, PRS designed tuners

Electronics – PRS designed treble and bass humbucking pickups, Volume and tone control with 3-way toggle pickup selector

Playability
Out of the box, this guitar played great. I haven’t had to do any setup changes in the 12 months since I’ve had the guitar. The neck feels great in my hands. It’s a little thinner than my Strat neck, and I generally prefer a slightly thicker neck, but the wide-fat PRS neck is very smooth and fast. I don’t like really low action, and this guitar’s action was set up perfectly straight from the factory. Not too high, and not too low.

The guitar is fairly light and comfortable. It feels a couple of pounds lighter than my Strat. However, I usually play sitting down, so weight isn’t really an issue.

Coming from a Strat-style guitar, it took me a few days to get used to the different position of the guitar when sitting down. The guitar sits slightly to the right of where I’m used to playing. It also took a few days to get used to the slightly shorter scale length (25″ vs. 25.5″ for the Strat). That being said, it really didn’t take long at all to get used to the guitar, and once I did I’ve really enjoyed it; it’s a fantastic playing guitar.

Sound
This guitar sounds great for a mid-range guitar. The pickups have a smooth sound, but can get nasty if you want them to. I find that it’s really easy to get a Cream-era Clapton sound out of the guitar. But, I can also turn up the gain and use the bridge pickup and get a metal sound, if and when I want to. I’ve been playing the guitar primarily through a Fender G-DEC practice amp, and the sound is fairly impressive. A lot of people on the forums recommend changing the stock pickups on the PRS SE guitars. I don’t know if I agree. The stock pickups sound great for the playing I do, although I don’t do any gigging. For most people, I think the stock pickups are fine.

Conclusion
After 12 months of ownership, I still really like my PRS Singlecut SE guitar. I have the tobacco sunburst finish model, which looks fantastic hanging on the wall. Additionally, the guitar plays and sounds great for a mid-range guitar. In fact, ever since getting the guitar last year, I’ve been playing it more than my Strat, although I go through phases where I play one guitar more than the other.

Compared directly to the Epiphone Les Pauls, the PRS Singlecut SE model is a better value, in my opinion. The quality of workmanship is fantastic for a guitar in this price range. I haven’t found anything that I’ve wanted to change or upgrade on the guitar. It’s not an American-made PRS, but it’s the next best thing and it’s less than a third of the price of an American-made PRS guitar.

If you’re looking for a dual-humbucking guitar in a classic style body, I highly recommend checking out the PRS Singlecut SE guitars. It works well for both classic and modern sounds and looks great to boot!