Pre-Production PRS "Metal"

1985 Paul Reed Smith "Metal" Series Solid Body.

This 1985 pre-production PRS 'Metal' with a black body with custom 'rose' or purple-to-orange stripes was exhibited at NAMM 20. One-piece PRS-shape offset asymmetrical double-cutaway mahogany body with sculptured top. One-piece mahogany glued-in neck with a scale length of 25.50 inches. Single-action truss rod. Back angled three-on-a-side non veneered headstock with gold silk-screened "Paul Reed Smith" signature logo on face. Single-layer black plastic truss-rod cover wiith one screw. Individual Schaller/PRS 'Rotamatic' locking tuners with half-moon metal buttons. Ten inch radiused Brazilian rosewood fretboard with Mother-of-Pearl 'moon' and Abalone dot inlays and 24 jumbo frets. One PRS Standard 'Bass' Humbucker (with "B" engraved on the underside) in the neck position and one PRS Standard 'Treble' Humbucker (with "T" engraved on the underside) in the bridge position with outputs of 7.70k and 9.75k respectively. The pickups are uncovered as usual. One volume control, one five-way rotary pickup selector switch, and one 'mini' two-way 'sweet switch' tone filter. Black plastic barrel-shape "Speed" control knobs. Nickel-plated combined PRS six-saddle bridge and tremolo system. This amazing guitar is in near mint (9.25) condition with just the bare minimum of belt-buckle rash (nothing through the finish) on the back. Housed in the original black hardshell case with black leather ends and black plush lining (9.00).

The concept for this pre-production, heavy metal version of the PRS Custom/Standard with custom striped finish came from a respected dealer. At the time, "there was a mahogany guitar and a curly-maple guitar, it was really that stupidly simple," Smith recalls in Dave Burrluck's The PRS Guitar Book. Burrluck picked up the thread and unspooled the rest of the story: "Ritchie Ash of the Sam Ash music-store chain told Smith that PRS would need a guitar with a graphic design on the body to compete with similar instruments popular at the time. 'He told me you need big inlays and a graphic like a Jackson,' remembers Smith. "Trying to predict markets can be a tricky and ultimately expensive risk. Smith's reticence proved correct but only after they made the guitar, a 'heavy metal version of the PRS', as the first PRS brochure described the Metal."

The production Metal graphic design came from Bud Davis, a custom-car and motorcycle painter. PRS made the shortlived Metal models with white bodies and blue stripes or black bodies with purple-to-orange stripes. In fact the very first (1985) PRS brochure featured a white Metal with blue stripes on the front cover.

In a letter to the former owner this instrument which was part of his esteemed Vermont Collection of vintage electric guitars, dated May 30, 2001, Paul Reed Smith wrote: "This black Metal PRS guitar with rose stripes was a pre-production guitar, built in 1985 and was part of the "NAMM 20." It was on display at the 1985 NAMM show, held in New Orleans, LA. Congratulations on owning this fine instrument. Sincerely, Paul Reed Smith, Managing General Partner." Burrluck writes that "the Metal's graphic design came from Bud Davis, a custom-car and motorcycle painter. PRS made some of the short-lived Metal models with white or black bodies and blue stripes, while others (as on the cover of the first brochure) had black bodies with purple-to-orange stripes." Though the Metal failed to catch-on in the marketplace, "all the right people spotted the quality. You can always spot something that's made by a company that cares," said Doug Chandler, of Chandler Guitars in London, as quoted in The PRS Guitar Book.

"You know what?" Smith asks in the PRS Guitar Book. "We couldn't give them away! Now they're sought-after collector's items." As one of the few pre-production examples, this particular Metal is one of the most sought-after of the sought-afters.