PRS Guitars 25th Anniversary Models – Part 1
| Posted in Guitar
When Paul Reed Smith started out in the 1970′s building a few guitars at college, I wonder if he ever dreamed that one day he would be up there sharing elbow room with the biggest and most established guitar manufacturers in the world. His refinements and innovations such as scale length, construction methods, vibrato sytem, pickup design and aesthetics have made PRS Guitars a major player in the industry and a huge influence on guitar design and manufacture.
This year, the 25th anniversary of PRS, couldn’t really pass without a cluster of commemorative models, and there’s 11 in all, to mark the occasion. These models feature a new headstock design that departs from the Paul Reed Smith signature, in its place a silhouette of the company’s well known eagle symbol with a small “25th” logo. Some of the models also feature the ‘shadow birds’ inlays which are simply outlines of the original bird shapes.
In honour of his celebrated mentor, the 25th Anniversary Ted McCarty Narrow Field model continues the tradition of McCarty’s innovative spirit, combining the features of the original McCarty Model with ‘Narrow Field’ pickups. These narrow the sensory field of the string very much like a singlecoil but are hum canceling. The result is a different sounding pickup which combines elements from single coil, soap bar and humbuckers. Eight colours are available, including Charcoal Burst and Smoked Amber.
In the tradition of the Modern Eagle, the 25th Anniversary Modern Eagle II features premium grade woods, classic Modern Eagle frets and a wide, fat neck carve, 1957/2008 pickups and thin finish. Additionally it sports the aforementioned shadow bird inlays, headstock eagle and a bound rosewood fretboard. Six colours include Black Slate and Fire Red.
The model number 513 means it has five pickups and 13 sounds. The 25th Anniversary Edition 513 is an updated version of the 513 Maple Top. It features a mahogany neck and the patented 513 electrics. 25th Anniversary appointments also include shadow bird inlays, headstock eagle and bound rosewood fretboard, 25 1/4″ scale length and a special neck joint . One blade switch is a 5-way pickup selector, and the other is a 3-way mode switch that allows you to select between the single coil and light and heavy humbucking modes. From screaming humbucker to sparkling single coil sounds, the 513 has it. As with the McCarty, there are eight colours available.
These are just three of the eleven models available. Watch out for three more in part 2.
Tags: 513, Guitars, modern eagle 11, Paul Reed Smith, PRS, PRS 25th anniversary models, ted mccarty