1996 Paul Reed Smith Artist Series III Emerald #58
Offered is this marvelous Artist III lovingly built by PRS in 1996. The Artist Series guitars were built in very limited numbers and were the precursors to the PRS Private Stock line, which also commenced in 1996. These Artist Series guitars, which were produced between 1991 and 1997, were a step up from their regular production models in the PRS "food chain" and to this day remain very desirable as both great players and as collectibles.
The Artist III is a solid body, 22 fret, short (25") string scale, set neck instrument. This lovely guitar has a solid Mohogany body with an "Artist" grade flame Maple top and is finished in "Emerald." The Mohogany neck on this example has PRS' "Wide Thin" shape and feels much like the neck you would find on a 60's era Gibson SG; relatively thin in depth but a bit wider in girth. The fretboard is a very dark Rosewood with old style Paua Bird inlays and with very fancy shell purfling that extends onto the headstock; a cosmetic upgrade that would soon find it's way into PRS Private Stock instruments. The pickups on this guitar are PRS' open coil humbuckers wound specifically for Artist Series guitars. The included five-way rotary switch gives this guitar both humbucking and single coil tones. This guitar was built with a PRS wrap around tailpiece which the original owner upgraded to an adjustable example, although the original bridge piece and studs are included with the guitar. This instrument is nice a light with a total weight of just over 8 pounds ( 8 pounds, 1.3 ounces). As the folks at PRS pointed out to me, you will have to look very closely to see that the truss rod cover does indeed say "Artist III" rather than "Artist II". It is just that the darker Paua shell that was used for the middle numeral makes it a bit harder to see.
This guitar plays divinely and sounds even better. Please check out the brief sound sample included below. There aren't many sounds you cannot get with the very flexible electronics of this guitar. The neck is certainly isn't small, but will be best appreciated by those who prefer a medium to small neck shape.
Despite being a quarter century old, this collector-owned piece remains in superb condition. Just one little ding and a bit of very faint "finish sink" in the playing area are all that I can find in the way of flaws (see included photos). Otherwise, this guitar is in amazing condition, frets included. In comes in it' s original Artist-grade black leather case which remains in very good condition.
This guitar is priced significantly below the few other Artist Series guitars currently on the market . Make this fabulous "older" and collectible PRS limited edition instrument yours today. A very nice piece indeed!
Capital Guitars
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