PRS Private Stock 30th Anniversary "Birds of a Feather" Hollowbody I | Frostbite Glow

The PRS Private Stock 30^th Anniversary “Birds of a Feather” Hollowbody I celebrates one of the most important teams within the world of PRS Guitars, the “Private Stock” team. All PRS guitars are special, but within the world of Private Stock is where things get taken to a whole different level. Private Stock instruments give you access to the highest quality materials and the greatest level of customization available. Quite simply, if you can dream it, they can make it! Private Stock instruments truly are works of art and represent the very best that PRS has to offer. The 30^th Anniversary “Birds of a Feather” Hollowbody I celebrates not only the department, but the people who work on each and every Private Stock instrument.

This 30^th Anniversary instrument begins with a traditional PRS Hollowbody I body shape crafted from lightweight Swamp Ash, and a highly figured, Private Stock grade Flame Maple top. Together, these tonewoods produce a balanced tone that is articulate. You’ll really notice its bright, snappy nature alongside great sustain. The Swamp Ash body is stained black with white grain filler, which gives you great depth and contrast. The Flame Maple top features a Violin style carve, and an awesome “Frostbite Glow” stain, which is one of the Private Stock’s most popular finish options.

The neck is crafted from Flame Maple and features a colour matched neck stain, which works really well with the “Frostbite Glow” body stain. It features PRS’s Pattern neck shape, which feels comfortable and is a common choice for most Private Stock builds. One of the most visually striking features of this anniversary guitar is the “Birds of a Feather” fingerboard inlay. The fingerboard is crafted from Gaboon Ebony and Flame Maple. The fingerboard slowly transitions between the two woods and turns into a flock of birds as the inlay progresses towards the headstock. This inlay pattern was carefully designed by Paul Miles, who is the Director of Manufacturing and head of the Private Stock team. Here’s a direct quote from Paul regarding this inlay design. -  “I wanted to design an inlay that was simple and easy to read from across the room or on a stage but was also uniquely PRS. I have always been fascinated with inlay work and PRS has afforded me the opportunity to see the evolution from hand cut shell to intricate CNC work. For me, this was a new way of looking at inlay design, using the woods to create movement and space,” - Paul Miles, Director of Manufacturing. The neck also features a 25” scale length, a 10” radius, matching headstock veneer, and the legendary Private Stock eagle inlay on the headstock.

This guitar certainly celebrates the history of the Private stock, but also includes a design feature which has never previously been done. This is the first example of PRS TCI pickups in a Hollowbody platform instrument. These pickups are some of Paul Reed Smith’s personal favourites, they’re carefully tuned for musical balance and clarity. They do a great job at providing the fullness of a humbucker, but with the expressive character associated with single coil pickups. On top of Volume, Tone, and a 3-way pickup selector, you also have access to a pair of mini EQ switches, which work as tuner high-pass filters. They do a great job at removing some of the unwanted low end frequencies and allow top end frequencies to pass unaffected.

You’ve also got high-quality hardware across the board. This guitar has a PRS Stoptail bridge w/Brass inserts, and a set of PRS Phase III Non-Locking tuners. The hardware finish is a mix of Smoked Black / Nickel, which gives this guitar a really unique look.

Only 96 of the PRS Private Stock 30^th Anniversary “Birds of a Feather” Hollowbody I will ever be produced, with only 14 making their way over to Europe.