Electric Guitar

Paul Reed Smith was one of the most important electric guitar makers of the last few decades of the twentieth century and introduced new designs at a time when many manufacturers continued to build based on mid-century models. He founded PRS guitars that is one of the largest electric guitar manufacturing companies of the twenty-first century. This electric guitar was a custom built instrument commissioned by Warren Esanu in 2013 for the Museum. Its design is directly to specifications of Paul Reed Smith and built by luthiers in the Stevensville, Maryland factory. It has a double-cutaway body with an outline that was designed by PRS. The top is of curly red maple and the back of African ribbon mahogany. It has purfling of red heart abalone with a natural maple wood binding. The neck is of curly maple and the fretboard is ebony and has twenty-two nickel-silver frets. The fretboard is bound in red heart abalone and there are mammoth ivory inlaid bird fretmarkers. There is a four point headstock with PRS Phase III locking tuning pegs and PRS stoptail brass inserts. The electronics include two PRS designed "408 humbucking pickups" and are controlled by volume and tone knobs and a 3-way toggle. The finish is described by PRS as a "light tiger eye micro burst."