PRS
Latest PRS guitar news, new electric and acoustic guitars, signature models, artist collaborations, and releases tracked by Guitar Radar.
Guitar Radar follows PRS through 7 stories and 2 product releases, covering new gear, launches and company news as they happen. Most of it sits under industry, gear and players. The most recent story, from Sep 30, 2026, is “Paul Reed Smith joins Guitar Center’s RockWalk after five decades of guitar building”. Coverage here goes back to Jul 27, 2026. The newest product in the releases catalog is the PRS Silver Sky Defender Color Collection.
About PRS
PRS Guitars was founded in 1985 by Paul Reed Smith, who had built guitars in Annapolis, Maryland since the mid-1970s, with early customers including Peter Frampton and Carlos Santana. The company's first model, the PRS Custom, debuted at the 1985 NAMM show with a mahogany body, maple cap and a patented vibrato. Smith's mentor was former Gibson president Ted McCarty, and the vintage-inspired McCarty model arrived in 1994.
PRS builds its Core, S2 and Bolt-On guitars and its Private Stock instruments in Stevensville, Maryland, while the lower-priced SE line is made in Asia and has become one of its best-selling ranges. The Custom 24 remains the flagship design.
Carlos Santana is the brand's best-known artist and has his own signature model, and PRS also builds signature guitars for players such as Mark Tremonti and John Mayer. Guitar Radar follows PRS's Private Stock limited editions, SE models and signature releases.
Sources: Wikipedia: PRS Guitars · Reverb: A brief history of PRS Guitars · PRS: About PRS
Stories
Paul Reed Smith joins Guitar Center’s RockWalk after five decades of guitar building
John Mayer inducted the PRS founder during Crossroads in Austin, placing a living instrument designer alongside RockWalk pioneers such as Les Paul, Jim Marshall and Robert Moog.
Sep 30, 2026
PRS and John Mayer launch eight Defender-inspired Silver Sky limited editions
The Defender Color Collection puts four heritage finishes on US Silver Skys and four contemporary finishes on SE models, with the SE line getting black plastics for the first time.
Sep 23, 2026
Edgar Barrera says he is producing a Santana album — and still starts almost every song on guitar
A new PRS interview reveals that the Grammy-winning Latin producer is executive-producing a Santana album while keeping guitar at the center of his writing process.
Sep 3, 2026
Guitar Center's 2026 Crossroads collection revives Clapton's Blind Faith Tele and a 70-piece Mayer Silver Sky
The charity run, timed to this year's Crossroads Guitar Festival, spans Clapton signature Martins, a Fender Custom Shop recreation of his 1969 Telecaster and a limited PRS Silver Sky finished for John Mayer.
Aug 30, 2026
Paul Reed Smith Joins the Guitar Center RockWalk, With John Mayer Presenting
The PRS founder's handprint ceremony is set for September 26 at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in Austin.
Aug 29, 2026
PRS gives The Warning's Dany Villarreal her first signature guitar, the Astryx
A 200-piece Custom 24 in a sunset-style "Ocaso" finish, with a single sun inlay in place of PRS's usual birds.
Aug 25, 2026
PRS names its first-ever CEO — a guy who started in the woodshop in 1985
Jack Higginbotham, PRS's president for 15 years, takes the newly created role while founder Paul Reed Smith stays on as Managing General Partner.
Jul 27, 2026