Experience PRS 2010

For the third year in a row, I recently got to attend the Experience PRS event at PRS Guitars in Stevensville, MD. In case you are not familiar with this event, basically it is an open house for guitar geeks, who flock there from all over the world, to check out new products, see artists perform, buy guitars and amps, and see clinics and seminars put on by artists and PRS staff.

Instead of me usually flying by myself or with a friend to the event, Kristi and I drove, and then split up so I could attend the event and she could spend time with her sister and brother-in-law. I stayed at the O’Callaghan Hotel in the historic district of Annapolis, MD which is the closest town to Stevensville, and where a few of the PRS hotels are for the event. After I checked in, I rested for a bit and took a walk in the area to see the historic area of town, that I had not been to in several years, and while on my walk, found the location of the original PRS Guitars shop, which is now a tavern. I had an amazing dinner and Smoked Margarita at a restuarant called Level. Yep, smoked Margarita. Even the salt was smoked. It was amazing.

The next 2 days were long and filled with guitar and amp debuts for 2011, concerts, seminars, clinics, and mingling with 2200 other guitar geeks that were there. I met several new people and hung out a bit with a local PRS dealer who was there. There were no official, guided factory tours this year, but it was open for attendees to check out anytime they wanted. Highlights for me were meeting and talking with Doug Sewell, the creator/designer of the PRS amps, as well as the Signature Club master classes held by Howard Leese, David Grissom and Davy Knowles, that I got to attend the first half of day one. And as usual, I enjoyed the new products being introduced at the show. I didn’t make any purchases at the show, but I have my eyes on a few things for the future . . .

I hope to be able to go again this year, should they have one. 2011 will mark the 5th year of doing the event, and that would make 4 out of 5 for me if I get to go. The photos above are random shots I took over the weekend of guitars and amps, just to give you a glimpse into what I saw. If you want to see the photos of Experience PRS 2010, as well as some other shots of historic Annapolis, go here. As always, thanks for reading.

Stay tuned for more.