Paul Reed Smith to head Private Stock department: PRS guitars founder returns to his roots as a guitar maker.(FOREFRONT)

PRS GUITARS founder Paul Reed Smith has taken over the company's renowned Private Stock guitar department, following the departure of Joseph Knaggs, who formerly served as director of R&D and Private Stock. Smith stated, "I grew up with Joe. He has been with the company for decades, and I wish him the very best."

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Paul Reed Smith returned to his guitar making roots last winter and created an exclusive set of Private Stock guitars that became known as "Paul's 28." As a guitar maker, Smith has spent his career seeking, testing, and refining parts, processes, and workmanship used to create musical instruments with impeccable quality and aesthetic appeal.

Paying tribute to the craft of making fine musical instruments, he set out to create 28 very special electric guitars with the sound, feel, care and appeal of the finest violins and vintage guitars ever made. Smith personally picked out all of the woods, re-carved the body to original shop specs, carved the necks by hand, stained, helped finish, leveled frets, spec'd out and approved all of the pickups, and played and adjusted the guitars. Rare woods and materials that have been collected for more than a decade have been used to create these one-of-a-kind instruments.

Smith has plans for the growth of the Private Stock department, first and foremost the continued input and beautiful craftsmanship of the department's veteran luthiers, who have built many breathtaking instruments over the years.

Smith also has many unique Private Stock activities planned for the "Experience PRS" event being held this September.

PRS Guitars constantly strives to build the highest quality instruments possible. The Private Stock department seeks to raise that bar through material choice, personalized specifications, and the careful, trained eyes of a small group of specialty luthiers. It has been described as "a business inside a business" and has always been a healthy addition to PRS's offerings. Smith's talent, instinct, and management make this a natural transition, or, as he stated simply, "I am looking forward to the opportunity to build guitars again."

Paul Reed Smith Guitars has been providing some of the world's most renowned guitarists with instruments since 1985. More than 290 highly skilled craftspeople produce more than 70 guitars each day for worldwide distribution. PRS Acoustics and PRS Amps were introduced as new product lines in 2009 with support from renowned artists Ricky Skaggs and Derek Trucks. Carlos Santana, Linkin Park, Chris Henderson of 3 Doors Down, and Mark Tremonti of Creed are also among the artists currently playing PRS guitars.

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