When did you first hear about PRS and what made you want to own one?

I worked housekeeping for a year at a Nordic ski resort in Colorado back around 1991, and one of my friends had a Standard 24 with the sweet switch. It was completely effortless to play, and sounded fantastic even through a Zoom box and el cheapo featherweight foam pad headphones. No way I could afford one then. That guitar was always kind of living in the back of my mind all these years, though, while I was playing my way through various models of the usual Fender/Ibanez/Gibson/Jackson culprits. A couple years ago, I saw a PRS EG at Emerald City Guitars and tried it out. I was really impressed, couldn’t keep it out of my mind, and I ended up getting it a couple weeks later.
 
I had played friends' PRSi over the years, one buddy had a koa top CU24 in the early 90s, another had a Santana. They were nice but out of my price range. In 2010ish I had started using piezo equipped solidbodys, starting with an Epiphone I modded myself and then briefly owning an import Parker. I wanted a piezo guitar that I didn't want to put right back down after finishing the tune that needed the acoustic sound.
Then I discovered Porcupine Tree and went and test drove a P22 and the rest is history.
 
I had heard about PRS but never had seen one or played one. I was in the Central Dallas GC and they had a blue custom 22 hanging around and they took it down and I was amazed at the ease of play. That was my exposure for over another decade. On a visit to Dallas from Honolulu, myself and my lady returned to the same GC and they had several on the wall, I asked for the cherry red Mccarty and they took it down and I played it. I frankly had no interest in buying it and it didn't play as well as the first over 10 yrs. earlier. I ended up walking out with the guitar as SHE bought it while I was futzing around with it. It's been my only PRS but what a beautifully thought out and made instrument. In the end, it played exactly like I wanted it.......;-) SWMBO said so.
 
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I had heard about PRS but never had seen one or played one. I was in the Central Dallas GC and they had a blue custom 22 hanging around and they took it down and I was amazed at the ease of play. That was my exposure for over another decade. On a visit to Dallas from Honolulu, myself and my lady returned to the same GC and they had several on the wall, I asked for the cherry red Mccarty and they took it down and I played it. I frankly had no interest in buying it and it didn't play as well as the first over 10 yrs. earlier. I ended up walking out with the guitar as SHE bought it while I was futzing around with it. It's been my only PRS but what a beautifully thought out and made instrument. In the end, it played exactly like I wanted it.......;-) SWMBO said so.

Sometimes, our women are so cool!
 
The studio version sounds like something they threw together to finish an album. Strange

It was kind of a “home studio” project, with Paul playing all the instruments. I think a few overdubs were done elsewhere, but it wasn’t a band project.

So that’s why it sounds like it does. However, I really like the original version; I like the live version, too. Different takes on the same concept.

Good song any way you slice it.
 
It was late 1985 and I caught a Baltimore area band named "Staggerwing" playing at a local club and their guitarist was playing one of Paul's first guitar. I was fortunate enough to be able to speak to the guitarist after the show and he filled me in on this new "guy" named Paul Reed Smith who was starting to make guitars. The fretboard inlays instantly caught my attention during the show. I kept track of Paul Reed Smith guitars as the company grew and luckily in my early 50's I was able to afford my first brand new guitar rather than a used one and I knew exactly what I wanted, a Custom 24! I now own 6 various Paul Reed Smith guitars; Custom 24, McCarty 594, 513, SE's, and a couple of S2's.
 
I was asked what really made me get my first PRS, and the short answer is that in 1991 I was looking for a new Les Paul, but the store owner said, “You should take a look at these new guitars from a small company called PRS. They’re amazing.”

I said that I’d try it, even though I had no intention of buying anything other than a Gibson.

It only took seconds for me to change my mind.

I took the guitar to the counter, and wrote a check for it (we used paper checks and things called pens in those days). Pretty short story with a good ending, right?
 
I was asked what really made me get my first PRS, and the short answer is that in 1991 I was looking for a new Les Paul, but the store owner said, “You should take a look at these new guitars from a small company called PRS. They’re amazing.”

I said that I’d try it, even though I had no intention of buying anything other than a Gibson.

It only took seconds for me to change my mind.

I took the guitar to the counter, and wrote a check for it (we used paper checks and things called pens in those days). Pretty short story with a good ending, right?

I remember those days. There was also this rectangular device that the cashier would pull from under the counter and place it on the counter top. Then, you handed them your credit card and they would put it on this rectangular thing. Next, a 3 part form with some carbon paper was placed over it. They slid this arm back and forth over the paper and your card to get an imprint of it. Amazing gizmo. They would also pull out this little book to look up the card number to make sure it wasn't stolen (some places did this with bad checks, too).
 
I remember those days. There was also this rectangular device that the cashier would pull from under the counter and place it on the counter top. Then, you handed them your credit card and they would put it on this rectangular thing. Next, a 3 part form with some carbon paper was placed over it. They slid this arm back and forth over the paper and your card to get an imprint of it. Amazing gizmo. They would also pull out this little book to look up the card number to make sure it wasn't stolen (some places did this with bad checks, too).
Knucklebusters. They're still around for when credit card machines are down or there's a power outage. I've seen cab drivers use them before Lyft and Uber were the preferred way to hail a ride.
 
I'm so old, I remember the first time My mom got a bank Charge-a-Card, maybe 1953 or so. They placed it in a device with a handle like a punch and pulled it down onto the carbon paper and she signed it. The charge-a-Card was metal...
 
In the 80's I was living in the Washington DC area and playing in a semi OK cover band that worked the Georgetown bars along Wisconsin & M st. There was this cat in another band that had a black one, and PRS or not he made all the guitarists in the area(including me) sound like beginners, after I left the DC area I heard he went on to become a session player, forgot his name but he was awesome. This was before Carlos was promoting PRS, so I was aware of Paul, after the pros like Carlos & Al D were playing them I had to put my hands on one ............ *THAT* ......was the factor, as soon as you put one in your hands, it's over baby.
 
I also subscribed to Guitar Player in the 80's. Would see the ads for PRS pop in there. Did get my hands on a used Santana at Sharps and Flats in Chicago, but my 17 year old self went for the Surf Green strat instead.
 
My story is two fold.
I think it was about 2004. I hadn't played very much for about 15yrs when a friend at work decided he wanted to play so I said I would help him with a few chords during breaks. he brought his guitar in and also had a magazine which advertised an Se,Sc Soapbar. Had to have it nagged the wife into submission and got it. Forward to 2015. Kids flown the coop mortgage payed off decided I wanted Lester. Drove 3hours to a large store over here tried a few but it just wasn't happening. In the store was a cus 24. On the way home I couldn't get It out of my head, I worked every day for nearly 4 months to own one. Wow what a day that was.(I felt i'd actually made It) I now own Cus24 £30th final 100, a Soapy, A fully modded Bernie, a W/L MCarty trem and a Sc W/L 594( Same spec as Bernie's). It Don't rain It pours guys.!!!
 
I also subscribed to Guitar Player in the 80's. Would see the ads for PRS pop in there. Did get my hands on a used Santana at Sharps and Flats in Chicago, but my 17 year old self went for the Surf Green strat instead.
In the last several years, I have come to really understand the craftsmanship put into PRS guitars. That is why I own a DGT and got my son an S2.
 
For me it was around '91 when Elderly Instruments started carrying them. I thought they were unique, but at the time they weren't using the wraptail, and I just don't like tremolos. A couple of years later the Stoptail and McCarty models were released, my interest grew. Didn't get my first one until '99, it was a '98 McCarty Soapbar in the Goldtop finish.
 
Reading through this thread and thinking about my own experiences brought back many forgotten memories. Here is the story:

My father played in a rock band with his brother for a living, and so music was always around the house. It was a family affair. Impromptu jam sessions, recordings of my brother and I singing along, and random gear hoarding were common place. One day while home sick from school, I asked my father to teach me how to play guitar, and he got teary-eyed and said, “I’ve been waiting 12 years for you to ask me that.”

Fast forward some number of years, and my father and I played together on occasion and shared a love of anything guitar. One day (probably in the early 90s) he came home and said that he had found the ultimate guitar: PRS. We poured over the catalog, discussing each option, and he decided he was going to order one. Custom 24, vintage yellow flame 10 top, cherry back, 5-way rotary, sweet switch, HFS/VB, and a wide/fat neck. My father, being a big proponent of excess, believed that wide/fat was definitely the way to go compared to “regular”. That last detail would end up being a problem. After some time, the guitar came in and we went to pick it up. We opened the case, and the guitar looked heavenly. We plugged it in, and we both played it. We were absolutely blown away. I remember being particularly surprised that even with high gain I could hear each individual string when strummed. However, I had larger hands than my father. Even though I thought it played great, I would later come to find out that he hated the way it felt, and so he had a love-hate relationship with that amazing instrument, and his most prized possession, for as long as he owned it.

Many years later my father fell on hard times and had to sell the PRS to help make ends meet. I didn’t have the means at the time to help him, and I’m not sure where it ended up. For various reasons, my father and I don’t talk much anymore. However, reading this thread brought back a flood of memories from those formative years; so much so that I called him for the first time in a while as I typed this. Of course he didn’t answer, but I left a message and we’ll see. If he calls me back, I’ll be grateful to you guys for getting us back in touch (or very angry when I remember why we don’t talk anymore ;)).

So, in answer to the OP’s question, PRS Guitars is part of a special time in my life when my father and I were close, when life was comfortably simpler, and when some things made sense even though they weren’t perfect. However, I own the instruments today because I believe they make the very best.
 
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I’ve always been a Les Paul guy and own several. But over the years I’ve seen more and more of my guitar heroes playing PRS guitars (Santana, Al Di Meola, Neal Schon, etc). Every time I turned around, someone else had those birds on their fretboards. So I was intrigued. After I played one, I understood.
 
In the early nineties: I was looking to replace my Strat (I had used it for 20+ years). It took 18 months to find a replacement. It wasn’t a PRS, but that’s when I was introduced to them. Pete the shop owner was extremely impressed by PRS and I tried a couple out. I thought they were beautiful but that was about all.

Wind forward to 2015 and a music shop in Exeter. The manager had ordered in a Godin for me to try. I didn’t like the Godin so his staff were on a mission to sell me a guitar! My mate Steve and I spent all afternoon playing their guitars. We had probably played more than a dozen, when this PRS was added to the rack. It was a SE Custom 24 and as soon as I plugged it in I knew it was coming home with me. It sounded better than everything else that day. It also handled beautifully.

Now I don’t like trem bridges, so once home I blocked up the trem cavity and put the whammy bar into the drawer with all the others. Everything else about the guitar was excellent.

I choose to take the PRS when auditioning for a band the following year (I was successful). I also choose it when recording with them months later. It had become the ‘go to’ guitar when the chips were down. It’s also has made me a fan of Korean built guitars.

It holds its own against the more expensive models I have, and I’ve gigged it many times since 2015. Nice design, build quality & sound.
 
Reading through this thread and thinking about my own experiences brought back many forgotten memories. Here is the story:

My father played in a rock band with his brother for a living, and so music was always around the house. It was a family affair. Impromptu jam sessions, recordings of my brother and I singing along, and random gear hoarding were common place. One day while home sick from school, I asked my father to teach me how to play guitar, and he got teary-eyed and said, “I’ve been waiting 12 years for you to ask me that.”

Fast forward some number of years, and my father and I played together on occasion and shared a love of anything guitar. One day (probably in the early 90s) he came home and said that he had found the ultimate guitar: PRS. We poured over the catalog, discussing each option, and he decided he was going to order one. Custom 24, vintage yellow flame 10 top, cherry back, 5-way rotary, sweet switch, HFS/VB, and a wide/fat neck. My father, being a big proponent of excess, believed that wide/fat was definitely the way to go compared to “regular”. That last detail would end up being a problem. After some time, the guitar came in and we went to pick it up. We opened the case, and the guitar looked heavenly. We plugged it in, and we both played it. We were absolutely blown away. I remember being particularly surprised that even with high gain I could hear each individual string when strummed. However, I had larger hands than my father. Even though I thought it played great, I would later come to find out that he hated the way it felt, and so he had a love-hate relationship with that amazing instrument, and his most prized possession, for as long as he owned it.

Many years later my father fell on hard times and had to sell the PRS to help make ends meet. I didn’t have the means at the time to help him, and I’m not sure where it ended up. For various reasons, my father and I don’t talk much anymore. However, reading this thread brought back a flood of memories from those formative years; so much so that I called him for the first time in a while as I typed this. Of course he didn’t answer, but I left a message and we’ll see. If he calls me back, I’ll be grateful to you guys for getting us back in touch (or very angry when I remember why we don’t talk anymore ;)).

So, in answer to the OP’s question, PRS Guitars is part of a special time in my life when my father and I were close, when life was comfortably simpler, and when some things made sense even though they weren’t perfect. However, I own the instruments today because I believe they make the very best.
Thanks for sharing your story. I think someone's peeling onions around here...

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