When/How did you first discover PRS guitars?

[gush]

I played my first PRS in 1990 or so. I was into heavier music and locking floyds and blah blah blah. I played a PRS that belonged to one of the guys I was jamming with one day but I didn't care for it. I don't really care for the HFS pickup and suspect that's what that guitar may of had. Around the year 2000 I had started to notice more people using them and started checking them out. I got the fever. Now my wife won't let me carry the checkbook!!!!

 

[László]

In 1991 I went to a store looking for a Les Paul and came out with a PRS Custom. I've been a PRS player ever since.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

In 1993 I ceased to be a goon and bought a PRS.
Still have it.

 

[ElrytNamrogo]

About four years ago, I finally got my mind right and tried one after trading in a Les Paul that disappointed me....never looked back.

 

[JMintzer]

Fall of '99. I met a buddy for lunch, then a shopping trip to WMC. I was getting back into electrics (after playing my acoustic for years) and I wanted a Les Paul (I already had a Mexi Strat).

I tried a few Lesters and my buddy was there to see about a PRS. I'd heard of them, but never played one. I came home with a Custom 22…


Jamie

P.S. It was another 4-5 years till I got that Les Paul...

 

[BobbyD]

Black Friday, 2011. I'd decided to get serious about learning guitar after playing around with an acoustic for a few months. I had absolutely no clue what a starter instrument would cost, but quality mattered a lot to me. It came down to the two top rated guitars in my price range - a Tremonti SE and a Godin model. My local Guitar Center didn't carry Godin.... and the rest is history.

 

[veinbuster]

Early 90s I had some spare time in Dallas so went to GC in the north end and saw a dragon hanging on the wall. That was all she wrote. I saved until I could afford the guitar - without the inlay it was much more affordable.

 

[geese_com]

First PRSi I saw in person (that I can remember seeing) was probably 2004 when I moved to La Crosse, WI for college. Walked into Dave's Guitar Shop and there was a whole wall full of them. Before that it was the PRS Santana from the Supernatural album. I remember watching him play them during the Grammys and seeing them in Guitar Player magazine.

 

[pjdude]

Guitar Player magazine article sometime in the '80s. Great read with tons of pics - he was using his roller nut back then.

 

[g.wizz]

I first knew about PRS guitars when i read the first review about the CU24 in Guitar Player mag in 1986 (yes i'm old and i still have it)
and i lusted after one for 22 years (living in the Middle East) while ogling at magazine ads until the summer of 2008 when i got my first CU22 McBurst
followed by another CU22 LTD with old school birds after nearly 5 years then sold both to fund my newest one 513 AP in FBJ..:cheers:

 

[92Esquire]

In 1987 I was 15 and had worked all summer saving for a new amp and guitar. I wanted a Kramer Baretta and a Marshall. One of the folks I worked for over the summer was a dentist with a lot of disposable income. He used to get guitars every other week or so from Thoroughbred in Tampa. One day he called me up and told me to come help him unbox three guitars he had just got in. His pusher at T-bred had sent them to him and swore he'd love them. So we each opened a box. I saw a scrawled signature on the headstock. The one I opened was a scarlet quilt top - looked like satin sheets that had been left bunched up. His was a blue tiger top. He plugged his into an old brown Deluxe he had in his music room.

He hit an open "G" chord and said "Sh!t, this isn't what I was hoping for. You want to buy that one? Rather than send it back, I'll sell it to you for $1000". I had the money in the bank saving for a Kramer. I was holding a gorgeous guitar (although at 15, I wanted one with a porn stars butt airbrushed on it...). I still remember exactly what I said - "Nah, Eddie doesn't play one, they must suck."

I kick myself daily. It took me until 1995 to buy mine. And even then I screwed up. After playing through every guitar that the MSP Guitar Center had, it came down to a choice between the one I bought (a 1994 Whale Blue non-10 top), and an artist package 1988 (with sweet switch) in Root Beer. The 1988 was in pristine shape, and was $100 cheaper. I wanted the new guitar.

:bawling:

 

[kingsleyd]

1982 feature in guitar player magazine.

That, and a similar article in Musician: Player & Listener (*sigh*) from around the same time. And being a Happy the Man fan, knowing about Stan Whitaker's PRS. I hit 20 in the late '70s and my experience was that current-production Fenders and Gibsons were horrible. The idea of a nicer-looking, better-made, and better-playing guitar sounded great to me. Plus, the idea of playing a Les Paul or a Stratocaster like every other guitar player on the planet seemed lame to me.

It was 1990 before I put together enough money to buy a PRS, and the first couple I owned (a CE maple top, then a 1989 Custom) didn't work out. In 1998, PRSh came by the Klein Guitars/Budda Amps booth at the Nashville NAMM show -- I worked at the Klein booth for a few years back then -- with his personal guitar, which was the Brazilian RW neck guitar he played for years. I really liked that guitar. When they came out with a production version of it (the original Modern Eagle) I bought one. Still have that guitar (it will be 10 years old this fall!) and love it. I'll never be tied to one guitar or one brand of guitars, but I have several PRS guitars that are really important to me.

 

[alantig]

I knew about PRS in the mid-80s. In 1987, my mother broke her leg, and I got together with my dad, grandmother and sister to give her money to buy a Les Paul because she'd wanted one for a long time. Took her to my local dealer, tried a few out, and I said, "Look - I've read about these, they're supposed to be really good, really versatile, and should fit what you're doing." PRS. White. I couldn't swing one because I'd bought a white Les Paul Custom (think Randy Rhoads) earlier that year. She played it, liked it, and said, "What if I buy this and give it to you and you give me the Les Paul?" The problem? I wasn't bonding w/the LP - I had issues with strings slipping off the fretboard and was never happy with the tone, and I thought "I could have this guitar..." immediately followed by "How do you trade a dog to your mother?" So I didn't. She bought a cherry sunburst LP which she almost never plays because she's afraid to scratch it.

Me? It took until 2004 to finally swing one. The same dealer had a Violin Amberburst CU24. My family was out camping with scouts and I was home alone for the weekend. I went to the dealer to buy new monitors. Picked 'em, bought 'em, took 'em to my van. Looked at the store. Looked at the van. Looked at the store again and thought "If I go in there, I'm going to cave on that PRS." I went in there. I caved. I haven't looked back.

 

[11top]

Saw a figured maple carved top in a magazine in 1994. Ordered an Artist II and a CE in natural maple that week. Still have the Artist.

 

[mithogo]

I read about them in magazines for several years. One of the major USA networks interviewed PRSH, that helped to pique my interest.

 

[markie]

January, 2003. I had heard about them thru my local Pusher......... who didn't sell PRS. He told they were the absolute best. Didn't think too much about it at the time, as I sure as hell had no intention of spending that kind of money on a Guitar. I discovered Ebay in Dec of 2002. In January I happened to see a Matteo Blue CU24 on Ebay................ It was all over!


Now my wife calls me an addict.............. Not since yesterday though :iamconfused:

 

[yankeebulldog]

Didn't think too much about it at the time, as I sure as hell had no intention of spending that kind of money on a Guitar. :iamconfused:

This statement coming from this guy, says a lot. There is no hope for us. We are all doomed! :evil:

 

[Rwdavis2]

In the mid-80s my girl friend at the time showed me an article in the Annapolis paper about Paul and, I think, his relationship with Carlos Santana. Finally acquired an Allender last year at a Baltimore pawnshop. Love the neck feel and the sound is great. I still like my Les Paul's sound a bit better. But my next guitar will probably be a PRS.

 

[Tag]

80s. I was playing in a rock band and was at a party. It was dark, and the kid whos house we were plaing at said he had a guitar I had to try. He handed it to me and I could not see the name of it. I played a few chords and I had never felt a guitar so perfect in my life. I could not wait until I could get in some light and see what it was. Of course we ended up talking and I found out it was a PRS. I wanted to buy one, but the price was way out of my range. I started saving, and it was not until the Artist 2s came out that I was FINALLY able to afford one. I purchased a purple Artist 2 with a special ordered transparent back and PUP change. I loved that guitar and had it for many years. I made the mistake of selling it for something else, and quickly purchased a CU 22 artist pack. I have had at least one PRS ever since. As everyone knows, the Artist 3 semi hollow with trem is still, "for me", the best electric guitar I have ever played, and I am old enough, and have been fortunate enough to play all most all of them.

 

[HANGAR18]

These are all GREAT stories! Way better than I expected.