PRS Guitars - love in millimeters or one day at the Paul Reed Smith factory (Part 1)

Paul Reed Smith guitars - a unique modern solution, a new look at appearance and sound, honed to perfection. After the Winter NAMM 2018 exhibition and meeting with a multitude of brands we were already familiar with, and some we were not, we naturally went to the PRS guitar factory, as dealers, and received a unique opportunity to see with our own eyes how these wonderful guitars are made.

We were in Washington, a week before returning home, Paul knew about our arrival on February 2nd, it was scheduled. Stevensville is a small, very beautiful town where the factory is located, and we had to go there. On the morning of February 2nd, a luxurious car with a driver was sent right to the house where we were staying, and in about 45 minutes, it delivered us straight to the doors of the PRS factory. In the lobby, there is a desk with a receptionist who kindly greeted us and asked us to wait a couple of minutes for management. During this time, we examined the lobby - it has a gorgeous statue of a large eagle sitting on a PRS Hollowbody. It is a mesmerizing sight, especially when you are told that it is made of wood, and all the feathers and details are wood carving...

I was standing with my jaw dropped until Tim arrived - the main manager in charge of sales worldwide, who has worked hand-in-hand with Paul since the late 80s. Tim is a very pleasant person, we spent the whole day with him from morning until late at night in both professional and informal settings; the man loves his work, enjoys it, it is wonderful! We were introduced in various offices as dealers, the first from the CIS to visit the factory in person; no one of "ours" had been to the factory before. This was a pleasant surprise for both us and the PRS employees.

Going up to the 2nd floor, another one of the managers, Adam, approached us, and behind him, Paul Reed Smith was walking with a smile, constantly making jokes. It was very cool to see him like that in a relaxed setting, no longer at an exhibition. The five of us (me, my wife Yana (all photos are hers), Paul Reed Smith, Tim, and Adam) stood talking about guitars. I, of course, said a huge thank you to Paul for making wonderful guitars and constantly improving them. We talked about the new 58/15 LT pickups that are on the 594 series; everyone agreed that these are the best PRS pickups today, especially among the PAF type. Adam himself plays guitar in a band, just like me, and uses these exact pickups, "they are truly gorgeous in their transparency and focus" (c). I asked Paul which PRS model he personally likes the most; he didn't think for long and answered PRS McCarty, I asked doublecut or singlecut - he answered doublecut, but for some reason after that he went into his office and gave me a PRS Private Stock Paul's Guitar (which has 408 pickups), the guitar is very beautiful of course...

Later I asked about the wood, to which the guys working with Paul said "He's a mahogany guy" ))) (in general, he likes mahogany). I talked about my PRS guitars, about my choice and why, I said that I don't like tremolos and Floyds, Paul apparently took it differently, thinking I didn't like his tremolo, but I just don't use tremolo tricks in my playing, I do everything with my fingers and hands and don't play styles with a Floyd. Just when we finished talking, he asked the secretary "Do we have any more tickets to the show tonight?" - she replied yes, and he invited both of us to his concert that evening that same day (what was the probability that we would be there on that very day?))) and joked "I hope you won't hate me, i'll play on maccarty with tremolo today" ))). In general, Paul was joking constantly, and his humor is quite unique. He has a crazy look, like "hey, you stand here while I go and invent a new PRS model and electronics wiring". And he also has a great painting in his office!

After the conversation, we went into the "Vault" office - this is a separate small room with Private Stock wood. The room is simply packed with shelves of unique wood - what isn't there - one-piece quilt tops, even body pieces made entirely of maple or rosewood and other unknown types of wood, but very beautiful ones.

The office is mainly occupied by Paul Miles - the head master and manager of PS (actually, he signs the necks on PS and the certificates with Paul Reed Smith) and Tina - the Private Stock manager. Both are very pleasant to talk to, Paul Miles was, of course, completely engrossed in work, he said something a couple of times, smiled and left, then came back and took other wood - left again... this happened several times in a short time, apparently a client was choosing a top or something like that... I asked about some types of wood, we took photos of what was actually there. After that, we were given a sandwich menu, while we would go on the Factory Tour, get hungry and all that... it was very sweet and caring, we later had lunch with these sandwiches together with Tim and Adam, there was a sense of simplicity, friendliness, a feeling when you are doing something good together. And on the table is what the birds are made of ^_^

So, Tim took us to production, it was actually on the 1st floor. I used to sell metal and woodworking machinery, so I know what it is, how everything works. People are busy with their own work, it's noisy everywhere, however, there is a distinctive feature of the production that immediately catches your eye - it's cleanliness! Everything is clean, you don't come out like a carpenter covered in shavings while walking from one table to another, from one machine to another... the floors are clean, yes of course there are shavings near the workstation, good ventilation everywhere, people in respirators, in general, all working conditions are met. It is not for nothing that PRS received the corresponding award last year. I would say that for any guitar maker, working at this factory is a dream!         

The first place we were taken to was, of course, the lumber warehouse, a place where just wood is delivered, sometimes not even processed by a thickness planer or sanding machine. Just a pile of different wood, and I tell you, there were unknown types of wood, I didn't even remember the names, here for example is this 

How they make a Private Stock out of it later remains a mystery to me, it's as light as a sponge, but very beautiful! When wood is delivered to the factory from different parts of the world, it is transported to separate drying chambers with very strict climate control - temperature and humidity, where it is stored until its further use. There are many wood suppliers - these are all kinds of warehouses in the USA, Europe, and even Japan, the problem is that Brazilian rosewood is becoming less and less, and it is increasingly difficult to find it in these warehouses, the price is rising... in general, wood is a separate topic, only pre-selected wood enters the factory, which is then essentially divided into different types - some goes into serial guitars, some into Artist Grade, some into Wood Library and Private Stock and, accordingly, differs in price. In the next article, I will tell you about guitar production as a whole. To be continued ...