Paul Reed Smith (born February 18, 1956) is an American luthier and the founder and owner of PRS Guitars, a high-end guitar maker.

Early life

Smith graduated from Bowie High School in 1974. He also attended St. Mary's College of Maryland where he began his guitar-making career. He subsequently left the college.

Mentorship under Ted McCarty

Smith contacted Ted McCarty, former president of

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

and creator of the Explorer, ES-335, and

Flying V The Gibson Flying V is an electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1958. The Flying V offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Explorer, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, which was designe ...

guitars, and McCarty became his mentor and advisor. The result of their collaboration was the current line of PRS Guitars, which include

solid Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structur ...

and hollow-body guitars. The Private Stock line of PRS guitars are made utilizing a range of exotic materials including various stones, elaborately figured tonewoods, and intricate shells for

inlays Inlay covers a range of techniques in sculpture and the decorative arts for inserting pieces of contrasting, often colored materials into depressions in a base object to form Ornament (art), ornament or pictures that normally are flush with th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Paul Reed American luthiers Businesspeople from Maryland People from Bowie, Maryland 1956 births Living people St. Mary's College of Maryland alumni People from Stevensville, Maryland