PRS Guitars | 9 years ago
In the spirit of Private Stock’s ever forward-thinking designs, welcome May 2016’s Guitar of the Month: the 509. The 509 starts with a 5 single coil platform – with the outside two coils grouped as humbuckers. With its longer scale length (25.25”), middle single coil pickup, and two mini-toggle coil-tap switches, the 509 is perfect for single coil players who want the added tonal versatility of humbucking and humbucking + single coil sounds in one guitar. Additional premium Private Stock specification include a Private Stock grade curly maple top with African ribbon mahogany back, curly maple neck with kingwood fingerboard, headstock veneer, and truss rod cover, mother of pearl purfling, side dots, and inlays, and the Private Stock Gen III Tremolo. The May 509 models will be finished in Imperial Purple Smoked Burst. Only ten of these instruments will be made for May 2016, commemorating Private Stock’s 20th Anniversary.
The original Guitars of the Month were cased between December 1994 and March 1996. They provided the opportunity to experiment with new ideas and led directly to the creation of the Private Stock program, with the first “official” Private Stock instrument casing on April 19, 1996.
“At the time, the original Guitars of the Month program was a way for us to experiment with new designs and features. To this day, that innovation and specialization is still at the heart of the Private Stock program, and we are very excited to try out some new ideas for our 20th Anniversary year.” – Paul Reed Smith
