"Unique Grace and Beauty"

1995 Paul Reed Smith 10th Anniversary

This absolutely mint PRS '10th Anniversary' guitar weighs 8.20 lbs., and has a one-piece, PRS-shape offset asymmetrical double-cutaway 13 inch wide, 2 inch deep, mahogany body with an amazing 1/2 inch thick, sculptured, two-piece, book-matched, 'exceptional' quilted maple top. There is a 1/4 inch 'band' of plain maple which starts at the tip of the treble-horn and goes all the way round to the neck on the bass side. One-piece glued-in neck with a nut width of just under 1 11/16 inches, a wonderful medium-thick profile and a scale length of 25.00 inches. Single-action truss rod. Back angled, three-on-a-side black faced headstock with engraved gold-pearl "10th Anniversary" Eagle inlay. Ebony truss-rod cover, secured with one screw. Individual Schaller/PRS tuners with half-moon shaped metal buttons. On the back of the headstock is the serial number "5 23146" and  "# 97" written in gold marker. Ebony fretboard with abalone purfling and 22 medium-jumbo frets with engraved gold-pearl "Bird" inlay position markers. One PRS "McCarty Bass" humbucker in the neck position and one PRS "McCarty Treble" humbucker in the bridge position, with outputs of 7.90k and 8.78k respectively. Cream plastic pickup surrounds. Two volume controls, one push/pull 'coil-tap' tone control, and one three-way pickup selector switch. Clear black plastic barrel-shape control knobs. Combined nickel and gold-plated PRS vibrato bridge assembly. On the back of the guitar the triangular black plastic control cover is secured by four screws. The cover is signed and numbered by Paul Reed Smith in gold marker (slightly faded). All hardware gold-plated. This amazing guitar is in mint, as new (9.50) condition. Complete with original tremolo arm. Housed in the original three-latch, rectangular black leather hardshell case with black plush lining (9.25).

"The 10th Anniversary was the latest celebratory high-line guitar, a limited edition that listed [in 1995] for $6,600. "We had figured out that we could engrave the birds to put all the feathers in. It was new technology and it was beautiful." remembers Smith. The problem, he says, is that the market gets bored easily, demanding ever-more-elaborate inlays. The 10th Anniversary was obviously going to be a 22-fret guitar with McCarty electronics, top-notch timbers, and gold-plated locking tuners and Stop-Tail bridge [optional vibrato tailpiece available]. The engraved bird inlays, eagle headstock and abalone-purfled ebony fingerboard gave the instrument a unique grace and beauty." (Dave Burrluck. The PRS Guitar Book. p. 82).