Mark Lettieri, interview in Paris and full visit of his stage rig

Mark Lettieri (marklettieri.com) is a regular guest on The Guitar Channel. This American musician's playing is top notch, whether it's in his own band like for this concert in Paris or in Snarky Puppy or the Fearless Flyers with Cory Wong. This time it was at the Badaboum just next to Bastille in Paris, France

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David Grissom guitar in hand interview to share his views on music and guitar

David Grissom is an American musician who has accompanied Joe Ely, John Cougar Mellencamp and many others, as well as led a solo career. Endorsed by PRS Guitars with his own signature model, here he is in a guitar in hand interview for a retrospective of his career filled with anecdotes and guitar licks. David

The Texas based guitar player Mark Lettieri (marklettieri.com) who plays with Snarky Puppy among many projects is the guest of this guitar in hand interview recorded from his home studio. The occasion was the release of his new solo album The Baritone Sessions Vol.2. Mark goes through his composition process and walks through the conception

Davy Knowles guitar in hand interview at the PRS booth - NAMM 2020

Davy Knowles is a great guitar player who has been endorsed by PRS Guitars for many years now. It was a lot of fun to record this guitar in hand interview during the 2020 Winter NAMM show. Davy Knowles interview The Guitar Channel podcast with Davy Knowles The audio version of the video is available

Orianthi interview at the PRS Guitars booth during Winter NAMM 2020

It was an interesting event to get to meet Orianthi and interview her at the PRS Guitars booth during NAMM. She talks about her connection with Paul Reed Smith, her current projects and more. Orianthi interview The Guitar Channel podcast The audio version of the video is available in the podcast on iTunes, Spotify and below:

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Here is a new interview with Paul Reed Smith recorded during the 2020 Winter NAMM in the PRS booth. We talked about his recent stay in France and many other subjects. Paul Reed Smith interview The Guitar Channel podcast The audio version of the video is available in the podcast on iTunes, Spotify and below: Until

Dave Weiner guitar in hand interview at the PRS booth during NAMM 2020

Dave Weiner has been playing live for Steve Vai for the past 20 year so we can safely say he is one of the very best guitar player in the business. It was a pleasure to record this guitar in hand interview with him at the PRS Guitars booth during the Winter NAMM. Dave Weiner

Paul Reed Smith interview - PRS showcase PRS, Paris - March 2019

The owner of the American brand PRS which bears his initials was in Paris, France to animate a showcase in the concert hall of La Boule Noire in Pigalle. A great opportunity to make a new interview with Paul Reed Smith in a quieter atmosphere than at a show like NAMM or Musikmesse. Paul Reed

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Paul Reed Smith interview - 2019 Winter NAMM
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Paul Reed Smith interview – 2019 Winter NAMM

As always the big boss of PRS Guitars, founder Paul Reed Smith was on the booth of his brand in the upper floors of the Anaheim Convention Center for the 2019 edition of the Winter NAMM. Paul Reed Smith interview Until the next interview, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre Journel.

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Rhonda Smith interview - Prince and Jeff Beck bass player - 2019 Winter NAMM

Unfortunately, it is not often that we have the opportunity to meet women musicians and even rarer when they play bass! The 2019 Winter NAMM was an opportunity to meet Rhonda Smith at the PRS booth who played for Prince and Jeff Beck. Rhonda Smith interview Until the next interview, keep on playing the guitar!

iRig Pre HD review: how to have a good electric guitar sound in a smartphone video

To follow up on the article entitled "Stop posting guitar demos filmed with a smartphone and how to do better!" here is a comparative review to show the results obtained on a smartphone video, an iPhone 6 in this case, using the iRig Pre HD from IK Multimedia. Three sound sources are compared: the internal

Paul Reed Smith (@prsguitars) interview guitar in hand - 2017 Winter NAMM

The Guitar Channel is a fan of the PRS brand, period. I know it's a brand that's less fashionable than it used to be. It is true that the trend of ultra-flamed tables is not so strong. Nevertheless I think it is a brand that tries to renew itself without stopping. I hope they will find the second wind they deserve. It should not be forgotten that when PRS started, the American electric guitar industry had reached a truly calamitous level of quality and that Paul reversed the trend almost by himself.

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John Mayer presents his new PRS amp during the NAMM 2017

One of the important announcements of NAMM 2017 was the release of a new John Mayer 100W all tube amp by PRS. As a media The Guitar Channel was invited to the press conference. Usually I am not very fan of the exercise of the press conference as it is usually limited to basically reading a press release or pretty much so.

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Pickup Shootout: PRS McCarty vs Häussel Pickups 59

As promised in the article documenting the installation of the Häussel Pickups in my PRS McCarty, here's the pickup shootout between the stock PRS McCarty pickups and the set of 59 pickups from Häussel Pickups.

Pickup Shootout: PRS McCarty vs Häussel 59
I tried as much as possible to cover the same kind of guitar playing throughout the test: with the fingers only, with a pick, light and heavy riffing, etc.

Conditions of the test

Guitar: 2005 PRS McCarty
Strings: no change of strings to keep this parameter the same between both recordings
Sound: Universal Audio Apollo Twin interface
Types

Häussel Pickups installation in a PRS McCarty
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Häussel Pickups installation in a PRS McCarty

The German pickups Häussel Pickups equip many high-end European luthiers, Nik Huber, Ruokangas and Springer to name only those three. It was necessary that The Guitar Channel studied more on those pickups.

Reviewing pickups is by definition difficult since they are necessarily installed in a guitar which itself has an enormous impact on the sound. However if we consider that the pickups are on electric guitar what an engine is to a car, we can agree that it is a very important factor. To review this "engine" built by Seymour Duncan, we used a "frame" from the Paul Reed Smith race squadron with a Custom 24 model.

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I had the opportunity to interview twice before Paul Reed Smith but doing another interview at NAMM was too good an opportunity to pass as it's always fascinating to talk guitar with him.

Themes discussed in the interview with Paul Reed Smith

His best and worse memories of the past NAMM shows
Favorite NAMM survival tip
The differences between the Musikmesse and the NAMM
What’s new for PRS this year
A look back on the past of PRS
The process to develop a new idea for his guitars

The others interview of Paul are available here.

 

 

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2014 Musikmesse Paul Reed Smith interview at PRS Guitars

It's the 3rd time I have the huge pleasure to meet Paul Reed Smith. The first time was in 2004, I was living in Montréal, Canada at the time and Paul was in town for a clinic. It was 5 years before I started The Guitar Channel so no need to say I did not do any interview.

The second time was 7 years later in 2011, it was my very first Musikmesse. I went straight to the PRS booth when I arrived in Frankfurt.

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Simon McBride interview (@smcbridemusic)

I was very happy to interview Simon McBride (aka @smcbridemusic) via Skype as his music kept on showing up when I did some listening in shuffle mode to go through all the music I receive.

And each time it happened I said to myself  "I really MUST have this guy in the show!".

That's the method I use: I hit play and if the music I hear interests me I take a note.

Here's a mini-interview with Paul Reed Smith done at the 2011 MusikMesse 2011 on Friday April 8th. Paul is the mastermind behind PRS guitars, it was a blast to be able to talk to him.