PRS 408 with Hybrid Hardware Electric Guitar
The PRS 408 with Hybrid Hardware Electric Guitar is one of the exciting new PRS 408 guitars. These inspiring instruments, offered as both a maple top (MT) and all mahogany (Standard) version, bring the versatility and voicing of the Private Stock Signature and the Signature Limited Edition to PRS’s Core line. Multiple variations are available at Musician's Friend, just type PRS 408 into our search engine to see what's in stock. This one is distiguished by its all mahogany body, new Pattern neck shape, PRS tremolo bridge and hybrid hardware.

PRS 408 pickups were designed to extend the guitar’s tonal spectrum by narrowing the field of the bass pickup to increase its focus and widening the field of the treble pickup to increase its sound field (hence their asymmetric appearance). This pickup configuration (comprised of four coils and offering eight sounds) stems back to Paul’s experimentation on the Sorcerer’s Apprentice guitars in the early 1980’s. Thanks to the simple but versatile switching system featuring mini-toggle switches that provide numerous combinations of humbucking and singlecoil tones, the 408 Maple Top and 408 Standard provide stunning articulation and musical clarity.

V12 finish
Finish should enhance the look, sound, and feel of a guitar by accentuating the wood’s inherent beauty and feel without hindering its natural resonance. And PRS Guitars’ new “V12” finish does just that. Introduced at Experience PRS 2010, “V12” is a very thin, hard, and clear finish that will not crack or react with thinners. After roughly 12 years in development, it is halfway between acrylic and nitro, but with a classic feel all its own. “PRS models with this new finish feel like old instruments,” said Paul Reed Smith.

Pattern Neck Shape
Neck shapes have always been a high priority for PRS and a hallmark of their quality. A guitar should feel comfortable, like “home,” as soon as you pick it up, and the neck is paramount to that connection. Perfected after years of prototyping, the new “Pattern” neck is an updated Wide Fat PRS neck style based on Paul’s pre-factory design. These necks were found on the instruments built for Carlos Santana, Peter Frampton and Howard Leese from the late 70’s to the mid 80’s.

Whether in woodworking, machining, or cast and die work, pattern making is the art of arriving at a perfect standard, which can be duplicated or used to create new designs by “offsetting.” All PRS necks came to be as a result of offsetting from this original, Wide Fat design.

Phase III Locking Tuners
PRS Guitars Phase III tuners are new to the line up for 2011 and will come standard on SC 58, McCarty 58, ME Quatro, and JA-15 models. These very smooth, high-tolerance pegs feature an elegant design with larger buttons, an open back, and closed housing.