What was your very first PRS...??

[Russ73]

Thought this could be a thread everyone could respond to....mine was a Custom 22 from late 90s that I sold for an EVH guitar like a dummy...in '15 I would check out the S2 Mira that would lead me down the rabbit hole of PRS...still have that Mira plus 6 other s2s and a SAS...plus A PRS acoustic that I love...how bout you??

 

[RickP]

513… it answered every question I had about what people were so into about PRS. The first of many more that followed. That was about 15 years ago. Still going strong.

 

[VHTStark]

McCarty 10 top in trans black.

I had been playing Gibsons up until then and had some issues with them touring in a punk band in Canada. Last straw was new Les Paul Custom I traded in for where the fretboard cracked.

Dealer allowed me to trade that back in and I took a chance on the beautiful McCarty I saw hanging on the wall. Glad I took that chance! That led to trading more stuff for a McRosie....then for a 25th Anny artist package singlecut...

While I do not have my two original McCarty guitars, the OG McCarty remains my favourite PRS. My 2015 McCarty and 2022 Robben Ford ( a spin on the OG theme) get lots of love and playtime!

 

[Xtcclassic]

1994 CE-22 that I bought new in early ‘95. Still have it. Shortly after I bought it I started working at a PRS dealer and sold them for 18 years and managed to not buy another one in all that time. I didn’t buy my second PRS until 2021 (Vela) followed by my third in 2022 (another Vela) and my 4th in 2023 (2006 CE-22).

 

[xxxadixxx]

I drooled over PRS Guitars for a very long time and never had the "support" to buy one. After getting back into playing in 2021, I purchased a used 2018 McCarty DC594 in aquamarine. This was my way of saying, "go big or go home" about getting back into guitar. While I still have that 594, my SC594s get a lot more play time. A few Tremontis and LP Customs joined that first DC594 so now I have a nice group of guitars.

 

[watelessness]

custom 24 with VB and HFS. loved the sound, hated the neck profile

 

[Greywolf]

"Honey" and still one of my fave's

 

[21Hemispheres12]

Mine was my Reclaimed CE-24. I had been a Les Paul player most of my life but always drooled over the PRS hanging at the very top of the walls in guitar center. When I saw the Reclaimed run announced and the actual reasonable price I jumped at getting one. Of course I quickly accumulated more but the CE24 isn’t going anywhere.

https://imgur.com/a/jyzpJCx

 

[jak3af3r]

My first PRS and first electric was this SE Custom I bought when I was in middle school. I had the EMG pickups and 3rd knob added not long after I bought it.

https://imgur.com/m53bsz4

 

[Mark Ray]

'95 Custom22. Bought it new in Feb. '95 at the Atlanta guitar show. Jay Wolfe had purchased a store's inventory that had closed, and this was in that group. Still have it. (I'll get a pic in a bit)

 

[eecamichael]

My 1994 Custom 24 in orange, with 10 top and gold hardware. Bought in 1995 new for $1000 from Ward Brodt Music in Madison Wisconsin. I think they were blowing out existing inventory and no longer being a PRS dealer. There were two left when we initially went to the store, and drove back the next day from Milwaukee to pick one up. Unfortunately the store had a break in between when we left and the next day, so only the orange one was left. I think the thieves stole the wrong one - this is my #1 and has been since I bought it. All of my PRS play and sound great, but there is something special with this one.

 

[JasonE]

It was almost a 513 10 top. I had the money in my pocket and the shop I was buying pretty much everything from at that time had one in stock in the finish I wanted. It was a beautiful guitar. Once I got it in my hands, I didn't really like it. It was supposed to be hum free but was not. It just kind of turned me off.

In 2006 I found a Custom 22, 10 top, in the same finish, Dark Cherry Sunburst. I bought that guitar and still have it. I liked it much better than my experience with the 513.

 

[AP515]

An Artist package Cu24. I jumped from a difficult to play Squier Strat to a top end PRS. What a ride. Still have it.

 

[wfwhite]

I jumped in feet first with my '20 CU24 Floyd (in profile pic).

 

[markd21]

My very first was a Tortoise Shell Quilted top CE24. It had the wing tuners, HFS/VB pickups, the awful OG pickup rings that bent at the end of the fretboard....

I loved that guitar, but the A/C broke in my car. I sold it to fund the car repair. Luckily I was still young enough to gain more!

But, what I consider THE first PRS to get me on fan-boy wagon was my Scarlett Red 10-top Quilt, PLAYERS GRADE (other word for beat up, lol) Custom 22 that I got from Dave's Guitars.

It was chipped. Paint was missing from the bac of the neck. It had seen some action. THIS was the guitar for the longest time. The one that made me forgo other brands for quite a few years....

It's gone, and surprisingly I don't really miss it. The color? Yeah, I miss that, but the guitar itself - nah. Contrary to what many will truly believe here, I am equally as inspired and fulfilled by my current brood of SEs.

 

[Aahzz]

A 95-ish (not positive of the year) Custom 24 with birds, in purple, bought from Ed Roman when he was still at East COast Music Mall in Danbury CT. I wish I had a good pic of it! Alas, this is the only one I have:

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

My first ever PRS was an SE Custom back in like 2008, always wanted a core but never thought I would own one. Then a few years later, I found my dream PRS at a pawn shop in Colorado.

 

[dmatthews]

SE ONE I won in 2010...

 

[bodia]

My first was a McCarty that I bought it 1998. It was new, and finished in Angry Larry. I can't remember if it was a '97 or '98. I wasn't financially stable in those years and I had to sell it in 2000 to help pay an unexpected tax bill. I didn't have another PRS until I bought a used Cu24 from GC in 2007. I've rolled through a lot of PRS guitars in the years since then. Close to 50, I'd guess. It was my decision to roll through guitars between 2007 and today. That first one was my only regret....because I had to sell it.

On a positive note, I may have done something earlier this week to help some of those feelings of regret.

 

[shimmilou]

This is the first PRS that I ordered, 2018 S2 Studio, was on delay and took months to arrive:

So, while waiting, I found this one, 2018 Cu 22, ordered it and got it in a couple of days.

I still have and love them both