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 28, 2026

Credit: Premier Guitar (via source)

Paul Reed Smith will be inducted into the Guitar Center RockWalk, the stretch of handprints and signatures outside the chain's Hollywood store on Sunset Boulevard. Guitar Center announced the honor on August 28, with the handprint ceremony scheduled for September 26 at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in Austin, Texas. John Mayer, a longtime PRS player, will give the induction speech.

Smith began building guitars in the 1970s and founded PRS Guitars in 1985, growing it into one of the largest American electric guitar makers alongside Fender and Gibson. The RockWalk, running since 1985, has inducted more than 150 players and builders, among them Les Paul, Leo Fender and Eddie Van Halen.

In a statement, Smith recalled attending Ted McCarty's RockWalk induction years earlier, with Eddie Van Halen in the crowd, and said being at the center of one himself left him without words.

Why it matters

Recognition on the RockWalk has mostly gone to musicians and a small number of instrument designers. Placing PRS's founder alongside Les Paul and Leo Fender is an industry acknowledgment that his company belongs in that first tier of American guitar building.

Sources