PRS -Materials

PRS Custom

Wood selection plays a major role in crafting a PRS guitar. The bodies are crafted of mahogany, with a maple top on most models (maple tops are graded on a 1-10 scale according to their "figure", referring to the visual character of the wood). PRS guitars often feature highly figured tops, including flame maple and quilt maple and even fantastically figured maple creating the effect of tiger stripes. PRS necks are usually made from mahogany, although some models feature maple or Indian or Brazilian rosewood necks; fingerboards are made of rosewood. PRS's signature fret markers include the lower end moons, and the higher end birds. The moons appear similar to standard dot inlays, but have a crescent more prominent than the rest of the dot. The bird inlays feature nine or ten different birds inlayed at the appropriate frets. Inlay materials have included semiprecious stones; all sorts of iridescent shells, including abalone and abalone laminates; gold; and even such exotic and costly materials as unearthed ivory from the (extinct) woolly mammoth.