In January, PRS Guitars revealed numerous new 2021 models of the Core, Artist, and SE Series guitars via live virtual launch event.
Paul Reed Smith stated that, “we are proud to be celebrating an unprecedented time for our company these past few years. The support we have been shown by our dealers, distributors, artists, and the guitar community has been very rewarding and appreciated. For 2021, we are also proud to continue to offer a very strong model line up while growing in the areas we feel best serve the guitar players of the world."
"PRS Guitars to me has always been on top of their game when it comes to quality, playability, and their variety of guitars and gear they have to offer. I always found Paul (Paul Reed Smith) to be a genius. He is constantly reinventing and improving on what already is a top guitar in the market right now." PRS Pulse Artist Jared Margulies shared, "the company offers a wide range of instruments so anyone can get their hands on one, and they’re always top quality from their $700 guitars all the way up to their $10,000 guitars. They will always be a top guitar brand in the industry to me."
The new Core guitar models-- the PRS Special Semi-Hollow and the PRS Studio, feature the returning PRS Narrowfield pickups. Though the pickups have appeared in previous models, they now contain Tuned Capacitance Inductance (TCI) pickups and a sleek nitro topcoat. The PRS Narrowfields are incredibly dynamic, incorporating both the classic sound of soapbar pickups and the richness of humbucking coils to create a pickup that is completely unique to PRS.
Along with volume, five-way pickup selector electronics controls, and push/pull tone, the new Studio model has the following pickup layout: Narrowfield, Narrowfield, humbucker pickup.
The Custom 24-08 model saw some revamping in 2021, and now features a three-way toggle switch and additional color options.
The Special Semi-Hollow guitar, complete with volume, tone, and a five-way blade switch electronics layout, has a humbucker, Narrowfield, humbucker layout. The model also includes two mini-toggle coil-tap switches, which split the humbuckers to create twelve different sounds.
Mark Lettieri's new signature bolt-on guitar, the Fiore, features a brand new body shape as well as pickup and electronics layouts which allow players to experiment with their sound. The color options and their respective names were chosen by Lettieri himself, and the truss rod cover design was drawn by his mother. John Mayer and Zach Myers models have also been altered, with a new polychromatic finish on the Mayer model and an updated look on the Meyers model.
The SE Custom 24 has an updated body shape, and the new SE Custom 24-08 model will now be featured in the series. Its pickup configuration, which consists of two mini-toggle coil-tap switches that can split one or both humbucking pickups into single coils, enhances the classic sound of the Custom 24-08 and adds to its versatility. Design elements include a mahogany back, maple top, rosewood fretboard, bird inlays, 24 frets, 25” scale length, signature headstock logo, and the iconic PRS tremolo, as well as various color choices.
PRS Guitars are unique in that each model can adapt to many different styles of playing. With each tone or pickup layout of a PRS model, the possibilities are limitless, whether you're playing jazz fusion or progressive metal.
For more detailed information on the new PRS models, visit www.prsguitars.com.