The PRS Story

The Journey Begins

From a high school shop class to an attic workshop to a state-of-the-art facility, it's been a long, tough road for PRS guitars. Paul Reed Smith built his first guitar as a challenge to his college music professor. After receiving an 'A' on that project, his dream of building guitars for a living finally seemed achievable.

In the early days, Paul was lucky to crank out one guitar a month. Once he completed a guitar, it would be field tested in the most telling way possible, by playing a gig. Paul learned from every design change. Every subsequent guitar was improved by trial, error, and feedback from Paul and other guitarists playing live. Over the course of ten years, there were three headstock changes, a few different body shapes, many tremolo designs, and various different combinations of wood and construction techniques to arrive at the perfect guitar.

Paul began hanging out at local concert venues before shows making friends with roadies and collecting backstage passes. Once he had access to the stars, it was a chance to make a sale. Nine times out of ten, there were no takers, but Carlos Santana, Al Di Meola, Howard Leese, and a few other well-known players gave him a chance.

Upon building a small following, two prototypes were built and the marketing campaign began in earnest. With the prototypes in the back seat of his truck, Paul traveled up and down the East Coast collecting enough orders to finally start his company. Factory capacity has grown, as has number of employees, level of distribution, and the number of famous artists using PRS guitars. Despite all the success, PRS continues to push the envelope to guarantee a product that has no equal. Paul Reed Smith: "That's the story of the beginning of the journey. Not so short, but very sweet. The moral? Believe in your dreams."

The Journey Continues
Not only has PRS guitars become the gold standard of quality in the guitar business, they have maintained that standard from their humble beginnings all the way to the major industry presence they are today. While success in guitar building requires a constant reevaluation of materials, tools, and procedures implemented on a daily basis, the underlying goal of building extraordinary guitars has remained their primary focus.

While other companies try to relive the success and designs of historic guitars from the 50's and 60's, Paul Reed Smith knows that the craftsmen who designed and built those guitars had a goal of producing great instruments. Those early pioneers (among them Paul's mentor, Ted McCarty) strived to build a guitar with tone that inspired better playing, a durability to last for a thousand gigs and beyond, and an elegance that made your guitar a work of art in its' own right.

Quality is the name of the game at PRS guitars. Automation and computerized CNC machinery are the wave of the future, but the essence of the magic that is PRS still comes down to a pair of hands. Every PRS craftsman has the authority to halt the construction process if a guitar falls short in any way. Quality control is an integral, organic part of the guitar building process, from design and materials all the way to construction and testing. The quest to build the perfect guitar is never finished. Paul Reed Smith: "We want players to know that no matter how great that old PRS guitar is, we're pushing for the new one to be even better."

Colin McDonald writes on behalf of PRS Guitars

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Alice in Chains: The Story of One of the Pillars of Grunge and Alternative Rock (Part 1)

Along with Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana, Alice in Chains was a very important piece of the puzzle that made a musical genre known as grunge critical and commercial success, which emerged in the early 90's. Just like the bands mentioned at the start of this article, Alice in Chains is also a band from Seattle, Washington. Layne Staley (vocals) and Jerry Cantrell (guitars) were the ones responsible for the conception of this band in the late 80's.

Staley had a metal cover band named Alice N' Chains prior to the conception of the group. The group soon broke up and Staley joined a funk group. He then met Cantrell during the time that the former was working at a rehearsal studio in Seattle. The two had chemistry and similar ideas that led them to put up their own rehearsal studio. Then, Cantrell asked Staley to join his band Diamond Lie and he agreed. They played at bars and clubs, which increased the number of their followers and fans. After several performances, the group decided to adapt the Alice in Chains name instead of Diamond Lie.

Their performances at clubs and bars paid off, as a promoter saw their potential and gave them the opportunity to have their own demo album. The demo was entitled 'Treehouse Tapes' and was released in 1988. Then, the management team that handles grunge rock band Soundgarden had the chance of hearing the demo. The team was impressed and sent it to a Columbia Records representative. Afterwards, Alice in Chains was signed to Columbia Records in 1989.

In 1990, the band was given the opportunity to record their first EP 'We Die Young' that is used as a preview of what Alice in Chains is - the sound, the attitude, and the intensity. The single off their first EP was an instant hit especially on radio stations that play heavy music. Due to the single's popularity, Columbia Records decided to give the band their first full-length album as soon as possible.

In the same year, 'Facelift' was released. It reached #42 on Billboard's Top 200 album charts and sold 400,000 copies six months after its debut. Afterwards, their single 'Man in the Box' was included to the daily playlist of MTV, a TV channel that plays music videos of different artists from different genres. It propelled the popularity of the band to greater heights and the single made its way to different rock charts across the country. In 1992, the band launched 'Dirt,' their follow up to their successful debut. It reached the sixth spot on the Billboard 200 and was certified quadruple platinum. Both albums received critical acclaim and nods from many music enthusiasts and columnists.

Alice in Chains is undoubtedly one of the pillars of grunge and alternative music. To find out more about alternative rock bands you can visit my alternative music blog at http://alternativemindset.net/

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My Childhood Story: Planting The Seed Of Music

I grew up in the 1980's. For as long as I can remember, music had always been around me. Everything from watching movies on TV, to listening to the radio in the car, listening to the radio at home, and of course, there was MTV which at the time, was 99% music videos only.

From an early age, I was exposed to music that came before my time such as The Beach Boys, The Beatles, and even Steppenwolf. My mom had those albums on vinyl and she had a big stereo with a record player. You know, it was one of those stereos from the 80's with those big bulky speakers that were about 4 feet tall. They were so cool. I used to look at the art work in her record collection while I listened, explored, and discovered new sounds.

So by the time I was 8-years-old, growing up in the 1980's, I had already been exposed to the popular music of the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Then for the majority of my childhood, I was constantly surrounded by 80's music which I still love more than any other decade. I think that's how it works. Your favorite music comes from whatever you were most exposed to as a child. I'm not sure if I listened any more or any less than any other kid, but I know I spent a great deal of time sitting in front of my mom's stereo in total fascination.

When one of my older teenaged cousins found out that I listened to music a lot, she gave me 2 vinyl records of Def Leopard. Once I heard that band, I knew I had found something special. I was 9-years-old and hooked on Def Leopard. I already knew that I was a music addict.

Since my mom knew I loved to listen to music so much, she encouraged it by giving me a "boombox" for Christmas. Since my boombox ran on batteries, I used to bring it in the bathroom with me when I had to take a shower. I think all kids hate taking showers, so I used to make it more tolerable by listening to music while I washed myself.

That's when we had moved on to listening to "tapes." Remember those things? I think the first tape I got was Michael Jackson's "Thriller" which I think every human on the planet owned at that time. I listened to that album over and over. I also got more into 80's rock, continuing with my Def Leopard obsession, Bon Jovi, and moving on to "harder" rock bands like Guns 'N' Roses. At the time, people argued whether some of these rock bands were even playing real music. My theory is if a band is playing real instruments such as a guitar, bass, drums, and you hear a melody, harmony, and rhythm, you're listening to music.

Then when I was around 11, I discovered Metallica and I just knew that I had to learn the guitar. They wrote this song "Enter Sandman," and I thought it had the coolest guitar riffs I had ever heard. It would take me 2 more years before I would actually get a guitar and make a commitment to learning a musical instrument, but in the meantime, music was at the center of my leisure time.

Once I got my first guitar, there was no turning back. I took formal lessons for 5 years and then went off to college and got a bachelor's degree in music and then a master's degree in music in jazz performance. As I got older, I fell in love with classical and jazz music. It's amazing how I went from one genre of music to another and today, I still love all of the music that I've mentioned in this article.

The point of my story is that the "seed of music" was planted at an early age. If you're a parent reading this, and you would like your child to learn a musical instrument, then you need to create an environment early on that is filled with music. All types of music: rock, pop, funk, folk, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, jazz, and classical. Always have music on in the car. Try to turn the TV off and put on a streaming radio station on your computer while you wash the dishes, while you are cooking, or while you're relaxing outside on a summer day. Your kid will get exposed to it. That's how you plant the seed.

Your child doesn't necessarily need to learn an instrument so that he/she will go off to college as a music major. That's not the goal of learning an instrument. The goal is to have a well-rounded education and musical training provides enormous benefits in other academic areas like Math, Reading, and Science.

From my own experience, I discovered in my junior year of high school that not only did I enjoy learning, but my GPA really took off from that point on. I am convinced that it was my musical training that contributed to my new-found appreciation for learning in school and improving my grades. If I had started learning an instrument sooner, I would have seen an improvement in my grades much sooner as well. It takes time before the benefits of music training show themselves through test scores and grades in Math, Reading, and Science.

So plant the seed now, get your child started in music, and watch the grades and test scores fly sky high.

Tony Margiotta is the founder of The Musiconomy, a publishing company advocates musical training as an essential focus in childhood education and development. Sign up for the Free monthly newsletter and special report here:

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Tony is the author of "A Parent's Guide: How To Get Your Child Started In Music," a step-by-step approach that takes you through the process of inspiring musical interest in your child, to making the correct instrument and book purchases, and finding the right teacher. Full of tips, checklists, and more. http://www.tonysmusicbooks.com/Parents-Guide-Deluxe-Version-Ebook-MP3-201101.htm

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