Paul Reed Smith
In Session 1 of Behind the Scenes with Paul Reed Smith, Ken and Paul discuss his first guitars as a kid, and how he found himself building guitars, amps and cabinets at an early age out of necessity. Paul reveals that it was a process of thousands of baby steps before he built guitars that were professional grade. Ken goes on to ask what how he developed the PRS "voice" for his guitars. Paul admits that the pivotal moments were building guitars for Adrian Belew and Carlos Santana that ultimately shaped the sound for his guitars. All of this and many more gems in this session of Behind The Scenes with Paul Reed Smith.
About: Paul Reed Smith is one of the world's premier luthiers and the founder and owner of PRS Guitars. His electric guitars are played by the likes of Alex Lifeson, Carlos Santana, Al Di Meola, Dave Navarro, Mark Tremonti, Mikael Åkerfeldt, Peter Lindgren, Steven Wilson, Tim Mahoney, Marcos Curiel, Larry Lalonde, and Chad Kroeger. Smith is originally from Bowie, Maryland. Smith got his big break when Carlos Santana agreed to try one of his guitars. The story goes that Carlos thought the first guitar looked so good and played so well that it must have been an "accident of God", so he ordered a second instrument. That was an "accident of God" too, so he ordered a third, a doubleneck guitar. On the third try, Carlos realized that Paul was for real. Smith then contacted Ted McCarty, former president of Gibson and creator of the Explorer, ES-335 and Flying V guitars, and McCarty became his mentor and adviser. The result of their collaboration was the current line of PRS Guitars, which include solid- and hollow-body guitars. The Private Stock line of PRS guitars are made utilizing a vast range of exotic materials including various stones, elaborately figured tone woods, and intricate shells for inlays. -Wikipedia
Behind The Scenes: Paul Reed Smith
Thursday, May 31, 2007
