What started it all?

[MA Pete]

Had a Les Paul and a Jackson shredder, didn't play the Les Paul because it was so heavy and hard to play.

Went into the local music store looking to trade the Les Paul in for something, they had a Black Tremonti I and a nice brownish flame top Cu24. I thought the fit and finish and the beauty of the guitars (those birds!) were awesome. I liked Creed and Mark Tremonti, and the Tremonti was several hundred bucks less expensive, so I got that.

I enjoyed that for 7 years, not playing much. In 2008 I started playing more and in 2009 got involved with a band and started playing a lot more. 52 more PRSi since 2008, I guess you could say I like these guitars!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Wow Pete, 52 since 2008? You are like the Wilt Chamberlain of PRS!

 

[nik]

I bought my first ~2 months ago - SE Cu24 Whale Blue. I've had a guitar or two around for years, but have been nothing more than a campfire player as I like to call it - a handful of a chords and a bunch of old songs to wail out and call the cows home with. A few months back I decided I finally wanted to learn the instrument better so I started working through scales, exercises, etc. I've had a decent acoustic for a long time, but I never stepped up on an electric until now. I generally always attend the Dallas Guitar show every year and have briefly met Paul a few times. Seeing how much he and the other PRS folks really dig what they do I didn't feel I had any other choice IMO

 

[Tim]

Mid 80's I was a kid growing up in Indiana..... The MJ, DLR, John Mellancamp.... Mick Mars was from the town I lived. It just seemed like moving to California and being a musician was a real idea!! Everything on the Radio and MTV was guitar!! I think it was an early 9th birthday present.... A Kay STAR-ter Series. Man, it was a piece oh sh*te!! Plywood body, chipboard fretboard.... The nut was so big it was impossible to fret an F on the high E string! $99 for the guitar, an amp, case, cable, picks, a book and a lesson. BUT it was red with a term and 1 hum bucker at the bridge...... Which meant I could put a black and white electrical tape and pretend to be Eddie!!! When I got my second guitar (which I bought back from a friend 10 years ago) I took that old Kay to pieces, unwound pick-ups and everything.... Good fun!!

Unlike many here it wasn't an early obsession with PRS... I grew up really a bolt-on guy. If I am really really honest it was the looks and the tops the turned my head and caught my eye!! I can remember Matteo Blue quilt tops being the guitar that ignited my PRS gas!! Since then I have fallen for the quality an tones.... But it was the looks that first hooked me. PRS are a thing of beauty!!

Another moment I remember was my first glimpse of a Private Stock, in Tiger Eye..... Majestic!!

 

[docbennett]

I posted much earlier on the circumstances of obtaining my first PRS guitar. however, as far as how I came to find out about the company......it was during one of our family vacations in the mid 90's....we were at a Hard Rock Cafe in maybe Mexico or South Carolina...in any event, there was this 30 foot tall double-cut "stratocaster-kinda-sorta" giant guitar outside the restaurant. I had never seen that guitar before. I did my research and found out it was a giant mock-up of PRS McCarty model....I did some more research, and in 2004 I got my first one...the '00 CU24. A few hundred "Wheels and deals later" I have a pretty extensive collection and some of them actually get played once in awhile. Actually, that was the best thing I ever got out of visit to the Hard Rock.

A lot better than John Entwistle's last visit

 

[docbennett]

.........Now everytime I plus in my Gibson it sounds too thin and bright, no soul so to speak. ..........

Selective quote from a few posts above....with the pleasant vision of seeing this post on TGP and the responses it would yield....You know....a thread entitled, "Gibson's have no soul" roud:roud:

 

[László]

52 more PRSi since 2008, I guess you could say I like these guitars!

Au contraire! I'd say you haven't found one you liked. If you had, you'd have kept it.

After all, you're not selling them because you have to make the rent.

Maybe these new PS that you've gotten yourself into will be your keepers...

 

[andy474x]

Wow, there are some great stories here! Being a young guy, my first PRS was much later... around 2006, one of my favorite artists (at the time) had started playing these cool guitars with pointy headstocks, and I couldn't figure out what they were. Finally I stumbled on PRS online, and was immediately hooked. I was in college and really broke at the time, working nights as a restaurant cook, so I scoured ebay and other sites for over a year looking for a good price on an SE Custom with a nice top. Finally found one online at Daddy's music in fall of '07, a dead mint Custom with a stop tailpiece in cherry sunburst, with a hard roadrunner case for $400. It arrived the night we were having a Halloween bash at my college house, before the party my roommates all watched as I opened the case for the first time, and we all played it a bit. All night they were taking their friends up to see "this awesome new guitar that my roommate just got!" It was really cool. I still have her, and she still plays great!

I know a lot of guys that play the Maryland guitars don't have much use or interest in the SE line, but let me tell you, it's a great thing that PRS is doing with the SE's, and young players like myself really appreciate it. They really are the Student Edition guitars, something that someone like myself, still in school (dental school now) can afford and they're still a great playing and reliable guitar. I would imagine there are a lot of players just like me getting their start on PRS this way. I'm saving my pennies in a secret stash for something with 57/08's, but when the big day comes I'm sure my trusty SE's will still have a place in my collection!

 

[Shawn@PRS]

this kind of fits in here.

A new book is out in which Paul was interviewed about his first guitar. As with many of us, it was a journey for Paul when he first started playing. You can check out more here:

My First Guitar by Julia Crowe

 

[nicolasrivera]

With the new forum open and a new generation of PRS players coming into the fold I'd like to know what guitar started it all for you guys.

It was PRS magazine adds and Santana, but mostly the adds, since a very early age i admired the beauty of PRS, Fender and Gibson guitars and i could only dream of ever owning one so i let my imagination fly looking at the magazines..... today, after a lots of great work i own one, two or more guitars of each brand i dreamed of.

 

[JCrowe]

Hi, I am the author of My First Guitar: Tales of True Love and Lost Chords from 70 Legendary Musicians--to give a little teaser of Paul Reed Smith's interview for the book, he actually had many 'first' guitars from different designations! The first guitar, a second guitar, a third guitar, a 'first real guitar' and 'a first real real guitar.' He says, 'For me, it's about the journey to the real guitar. Each guitar is a learning experience.' So true...

 

[AM 1986]

Hi All
I am 59 Burst guy and have just bought Alan Murphy of Go West and Leval 42 and Kate Bush PRS custom 24 with moon inlays it is one of the first 3 PRS guitars to come to the UK in 1986 and sadly Alan passed away in 1989 and the guitar has not been played since his death so I know just how lucky I am to have this guitar. I am well known for owning several 1958 to 1960 burst 's so this is new to me and a real pleasure. I have just done an interview for guitarist magazine about my PRS and am looking forward to seeing it in mag soon. Take care all.
Regards Phil Harris.

 

[gman1951]

Late '90's, I had my tax-return money in hand, looking for a new guitar and wrapped my hands around a CU22 with a WT neck. Needless to say, I LOVED it! From that point on, however, I have bought strictly CU24s because of the extended range. Currently have two: a '94 Custom 24 Studio (my avatar), and a Custom 24, 25th Anniversary. I sold a '17 Gibson Les Paul Standard HP and a '16 Suhr Modern Pro (both incredible guitars) to fund the purchases and couldn't be happier!

 

[Rider1260]

Played my first PRS in the mid/late 80s ( CU24 ) purchased my first in early 2000s ( Tremonti SE ) in around 2008 I got my first Core PRS ( a KL-33 that Sergio has now )
now except for a Strat all I have is PRSi

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Played my first PRS in the mid/late 80s ( CU24 ) purchased my first in early 2000s ( Tremonti SE ) in around 2008 I got my first Core PRS ( a KL-33 that Sergio has now )
now except for a Strat all I have is PRSi

There's my girl.

 

[Lee B.]

Hi All
I am 59 Burst guy and have just bought Alan Murphy of Go West and Leval 42 and Kate Bush PRS custom 24 with moon inlays it is one of the first 3 PRS guitars to come to the UK in 1986 and sadly Alan passed away in 1989 and the guitar has not been played since his death so I know just how lucky I am to have this guitar. I am well known for owning several 1958 to 1960 burst 's so this is new to me and a real pleasure. I have just done an interview for guitarist magazine about my PRS and am looking forward to seeing it in mag soon. Take care all.
Regards Phil Harris.

Great googly moogly, not the Phil Harris who curated Greenie for a time?

 

[Artjr]

The 1st time I seen one was in 86 . My buddy said, open the case and I thought wow what kind of guitar is this. It was Royal blue flamed with birds. I still remember when I opened the case and seen it the 1st time. It's never left my mind. He said play it. I was amazed at the way it played . Also remember being amazed it wasn't a Floyd rose and stayed in tune. ( it was the mid 80's ) . I also remember asking how much it was, he said $1200.00 . Mom wouldn't go for it.

 

[Glide-bpm]

Guy had a local shop here in a small town about 40 minutes from Charleston, SC. He started carrying them late 89-90 time frame. Actually had Paul in the store a few times. I was in college. In 1998 I finally bought my first Custom 24.

 

[Lee B.]

My first encounter with a PRS was working at a resort in Colorado in 1990, where one of my friends had a Standard 24. I was blown away by how comfortable the body was and how nice the neck felt, but I sure couldn't afford it then. I finally took the plunge a year ago when I saw my EG over at Jay Boone's store downtown, Emerald City Guitars. Jay cut me a more than fair deal on a trade in, capital guy in every way. I just got a second PRS, a burst Singlecut, off of Reverb over the weekend, and I'm already warning myself off from trying a gold top DGT Jay just got in, lest my wife cut up my Visa card or divorce me, lol. Guess that means I'm hooked!

 

[Elliot]

I had a family friend who showed me a vintage yellow PRS when I was about 10 and starting to get interested in playing guitar. It was always in the back of my mind but never thought of playing a PRS as a serious option. I was always into strats and super strats cycling through a few Kramer's when I was younger. I also went to see my buddy Carlos live a couple years ago and seeing him play live is just a special experience. If you're into PRS, it's a must, obviously.

When I picked guitar back up pretty recently I just went all in for PRS and got an SE. Got a DC 245 within half a year or so, it's been a few months or so. I'm not sure if it's just the honeymoon phase but I still love it a lot.