PRS Unveils New "Paul’s 85" Private Stock Guitar
Limited to 85 examples worldwide, these luxurious guitars were personally spec’d by Paul Reed Smith himself.
PRS guitars has been celebrating its 35th anniversary this year by venturing into uncharted waters with new lines of affordable instruments and head-turning Private Stock creations alike.
Now, the company is closing out its celebration with Paul's 85, a luxurious new Private Stock guitar personally spec’d by Paul Reed Smith and crafted by PRS's Private Stock team.
The Paul's 85 guitar was crafted from a selection of wide-curl maple tops that Smith set aside. He also selected all of the other woods, assisted on the neck shapes of every Paul's 85 guitar, spec’d the pickups and played and adjusted each example until it was “right.”
“We believe guitar making is an ongoing process of discovery, and this Paul’s 85 guitar utilizes all of the parts, processes and workmanship I have spent my career (to date) seeking, testing, refining and teaching our craftsmen," Paul Reed Smith said in a statement.
"My hope is that these benchmark instruments are something remarkable for our company and the industry. There is no better way to close out our 35th Anniversary than with these extraordinary, hopefully magic, guitars.”
The Paul's 85 guitar features a dark Peruvian mahogany neck, Honduran rosewood fretboard and headstock veneer, solid red abalone birds with mother of pearl outlines, a bone nut, vintage-style tuning pegs and aluminum stoptail bridges with brass inserts and brass studs.
Sonically, the guitar is outfitted with PRS TCI pickups, and it sports a paper-thin, vintage-formula nitrocellulose Electric Tiger Glow finish.
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The PRS Paul's 85 guitar is available exclusively through authorized PRS Private Stock dealers. In accordance with its name – only 85 examples will be produced.
For more info on the guitar, stop by prsguitars.com.
Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com and GuitarPlayer.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.
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