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Paul Reed Smith - Private Stock #614 Singlecut Jumbo Americana
Joe Knaggs’ Personal Guitar
The 1st Archtop from PRS, Hand-made by Joe. Featured in the 2008 PRS Private Stock Calendar
The 1st “Americana” Bird Inlays, Hand etched by Kevin Enoch and Inlayed by Joe
This Paul Reed Smith (PRS) Private Stock #614 is one of the most storied PRS Private Stocks ever. This guitar was Joe Knaggs’s Personal Guitar, a very special guitar to him. Featured in the 2008 Private Stock Calendar, it was the first Archtop from PRS and Joe’s PRS employee 20th anniversary guitar. It was presented to Joe at the 10th anniversary of Private Stock at NAMM by Paul in recognition for Joe’s contribution to the growth and success of the PRS Private Stock program. This Singlecut Jumbo archtop, finished in Smoky Blonde, features a Sitka spruce top, figured big leaf maple back, curly rock maple neck, and an ebony fingerboard and headstock veneer. The pickguard and tailpiece are ebony bound with exceptional curly maple.
It was also the first to use the the “Americana” bird inlay. This inlay pattern was created by world-renowned Master Bird Carver Floyd Scholz. The “Americana” inlay features a Bald Eagle in various positions of flight. Joe gave Floyd Scholz the concept of the Bald Eagle flying across the fingerboard. Floyd drew the eagles beautifully. Joe then broke down the sketch and drew all of the pieces into sections for inlay purposes. Jeff Mosby inlayed the pieces into the fingerboard and Master inlay artist Kevin Enoch hand-engraved the eagles on the fingerboard. For the headstock, Joe designed the headstock and it was drawn up in CAD. Pearlworks inlayed the design except for the eagle in the middle banner. Jeff Mosby inlayed the eagle, and Kevin Enoch engraved it. Later, Danny Dedo, PRS’s expert 3-D programmer, liked the engraved version of the birds so much he spent days programming the pattern into individual pieces to be used as a production abalone inlay. It was clear this design was something special, and PRS knew it would be used on future Private Stock guitars.
Joe cut the sides out of one block of maple, no bent sides, and glued the back to the middle block. Joe is especially appreciative of the dedication put forth by Danny Dedo and Kevin Enoch to make something unique and special for Joe.
This guitar is an exceptional playing and sounding instrument. Having owned and played many of the finest archtop guitars from Gibson, and master builders Jim Triggs, Tom Ribbecke, and Linda Mantzer, PRS PS #614 built by Joe deserves a vaulted position in this genre. Playability is exceptional, playing like your finest PRS PS electric. Feel in your hands is firm and solid. Action and intonation are spot on. Responsiveness to fingerstyle and plectrum is quick and precise inspiring the player to new heights. Sound both acoustically and amplified is full, robust and precise. This instrument has a nice smooth bottom, as well as crisp and articulate mid-range and highs.
True investment grade guitars come along very infrequently. Private Practice hand-made instruments of this quality from Monteleone, Benedetto, Ribbecke, and Mantzer take years to build and are more expensive than what this instrument will cost. However, the fortunate owner of this treasure will be truly proud to have an instrument that has historical value and outstanding investment potential. Joe’s personal PRS Private Stock employee guitar will definitely take a special primary place in the owner’s collection.