Shawn@PRS
yogi
There seems to be some continuing concern and controversy over our naming of “Sinker” Mahogany. We are sorry for the miscommunication and never intended for anyone to think that this was wood reclaimed from a body of water.
As many of you know, David Grissom is a longtime friend of the business and personal friend of mine. There is a video of David online where he goes through features and options on a Private Stock run of DGT instruments that have necks made from this wood. David’s integrity has been called into question through this, which is the worst part for us. The truth is, the day David was scheduled to film these videos, he called our shop about an hour before shooting to clarify the component woods. I was out of the office and, in an effort to help David, one of our employees did what many of you have done…got on the internet, found a definition of “sinker” wood, and relayed that to David. He then shot his video. Under no circumstances was David intentionally fabricating or misrepresenting his guitar…he was only repeating what he had heard from the shop.
To give some history, I made a guitar for Carlos Santana years ago, and the mahogany neck wood used on that instrument was amazingly dense and tonal. We were unable to locate neck blanks like that for years. Then, we found a truck load of old mahogany at a lumber yard and bought the entire load. Our wood buyer referred to as “sinker mahogany” and said it was so dense and heavy it would sink.
The instruments made from this wood are extraordinary. I believe they are the best sounding mahogany necks we have ever made. I am proud of these guitars and believe they represent our continued quest for tonal instruments. If you play or own one, we hope that you agree. Having said that, I accept full responsibility for the misconceptions with our customers and artists and again apologize for any miscommunication or confusing information. To that end, we will discontinue the use of the term “sinker” and refer to this special mahogany as “Dense Mahogany” in the future.
Paul Reed Smith
As many of you know, David Grissom is a longtime friend of the business and personal friend of mine. There is a video of David online where he goes through features and options on a Private Stock run of DGT instruments that have necks made from this wood. David’s integrity has been called into question through this, which is the worst part for us. The truth is, the day David was scheduled to film these videos, he called our shop about an hour before shooting to clarify the component woods. I was out of the office and, in an effort to help David, one of our employees did what many of you have done…got on the internet, found a definition of “sinker” wood, and relayed that to David. He then shot his video. Under no circumstances was David intentionally fabricating or misrepresenting his guitar…he was only repeating what he had heard from the shop.
To give some history, I made a guitar for Carlos Santana years ago, and the mahogany neck wood used on that instrument was amazingly dense and tonal. We were unable to locate neck blanks like that for years. Then, we found a truck load of old mahogany at a lumber yard and bought the entire load. Our wood buyer referred to as “sinker mahogany” and said it was so dense and heavy it would sink.
The instruments made from this wood are extraordinary. I believe they are the best sounding mahogany necks we have ever made. I am proud of these guitars and believe they represent our continued quest for tonal instruments. If you play or own one, we hope that you agree. Having said that, I accept full responsibility for the misconceptions with our customers and artists and again apologize for any miscommunication or confusing information. To that end, we will discontinue the use of the term “sinker” and refer to this special mahogany as “Dense Mahogany” in the future.
Paul Reed Smith
