The bird inlays feature representations of the following species peregrine falcon (3rd fret), marsh hawk (5th fret), ruby throated hummingbird (7th fret), common tern (9th fret), Coopers hawk (12th fret), kite (15th fret), sparrow (17th fret), storm petrel (19th fret), a landing hawk (21st fret) and a screech owl on a branch (24-fret models only). The moons appear similar to standard dot inlays, but have a crescent more prominent than the rest of the dot. PRS's signature fret markers include the standard moon inlays and the optional and sought after birds, often fashioned from pearl or paua ( abalone) shell. PRS necks are usually made from mahogany, although some models feature maple or Indian or Brazilian rosewood necks fingerboards on production models are normally made of rosewood. A small number of bodies feature white Limba, referred to as Korina by luthiers. They often feature highly figured tops, including flame maple, quilt maple and figured maple creating the effect of tiger stripes. The bodies of most PRS guitars are crafted of mahogany, with a maple top on most models. By the end of 1998 Prs was producing 700 guitars a month with a staff of 110 people. In 1996 production moved to a new factory in Stevensville on Kent Island, just across a bridge from Annapolis. By 1995 the factory was making 25-30 guitars daily and employed 80 people. After three years PRS had taken over most of the building, with 45 people producing 15 guitars every day, and as time progressed a separate woodshop was added. Īt first there were eight workers taking up one third of the building which they shared with a furniture-stripping shop. Smith produced 20 guitars for the 1985 NAMM Show (those guitars are now known as the "NAMM 20"), and managed to find a niche in the guitar market: the mid-1980s was the time of the Superstrat, and there was little competition for the higher-quality, upscale guitars PRS was building, guitars with "an elegant, modern, vintage-inspired design-the kind of guitar one might have expected Fenders and Gibsons to evolve into". Smith set up a limited partnership with his wife Barbara and business man Warren Esanu, and set up a factory in Virginia Avenue, Annapolis. He used the custom as a prototype to raise orders on the road worth nearly $300,000. Holmes (of Ted Nugent's band) and Howard Leese (then with Heart), but Smith's big break came when Carlos Santana began playing the still hand-built guitars, which at the time looked like a Gibson Les Paul with a double cut-away and were made of expensive woods like curly maple. Early guitar players to use his hand-built guitars were Stanley Whitaker (of Happy The Man), Derek St. Paul Reed Smith was a guitar player who began building guitars while he was in college in the mid-1970s. Mike Oldfield with his Custom 24 in 2006. File:20th Anniversary Dragon Double Neck by Paul Reed Smith Guitars (2005) - MIM PHX.jpgĢ0th. File:PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow - body.jpg File:Carlos Santana guitars, MIM PHX.jpgĬarlos Santana guitars. History File:PRS Custom 24 teal black 2004, headstock.jpg In addition to this, many other artists endorse the company, including Mike Oldfield, who has used a PRS Artist Custom 24 for studio recordings and live shows since the late 1980s Clint Lowery Mikael Åkerfeldt Paul Allender Dave Navarro Ted Nugent Al Di Meola Mark Tremonti, Steven Wilson, and Orianthi. Two of PRS's most notable endorsers are Carlos Santana and Gustavo Cerati. PRS Guitars also manufactures guitar amplifiers. As of 2013 they have begun making more affordable guitars in the US with their 'S2' line. However since the 1990's they have expanded production to Asia, where they manufacture the more affordable 'SE' line of instruments. PRS has a reputation as a manufacturer of high end electric guitars made in the US, and known for their custom shop instruments. PRS Guitars (also known as Paul Reed Smith Guitars) is an American guitar manufacturer headquartered in Stevensville, Maryland, founded by guitarist and master luthier Paul Reed Smith in 1985.