PRS | Private Stock Super Eagle

PRS Guitars introduces the John Mayer co-designed Private Stock Super Eagle, a limited run HSH thinline guitar.

This is essentially a PRS John Mayer signature, but for some reason, it does not carry the artist’s name. Still, it does carry “JM” labeled pickups, and it follows his preferred specs which include everything from aesthetics to the guitar’s neck feel and complex pickup switching.

After Mayer’s surprising split with Fender, the brand which he has been endorsing for the longest time, it was anybody’s guess which brand he would be endorsing next. While there are no official statements on how his endorsement deal broke down, many are speculating that it was because of stricter endorsement policies.

One year after his split with Fender, John posted a pic of a custom guitar that he had PRS build for him, and as expected, this guitar manufacturer welcomed him into their stable, culminating with their first collaborative effort – the PRS Private Stock Super Eagle.

PRS and John Mayer is an interesting match because they both love talking about their passion, the former about his guitar building and the latter about his music and rockstar antics. The story goes that Paul and John (not to be mistaken with the other famous Paul and John) worked closely together to design and produce a versatile instrument that features the company’s meticulous craftsmanship along with JM’s playability, tone and detail preferences. I have to admit that while I’m not a fan of the model name they gave the guitar, the instrument looks and sound stunning.

Paul Reed Smith said, “Working with John has been a truly rewarding experience. His knowledge and understanding of guitars is highly sophisticated. We were on the phone on a literally daily basis attacking this project, and I am so proud to see this guitar on stage and in the studio with John and to be able to offer it to musicians and collectors to enjoy.”

A noteworthy feature of this new PRS guitar is the use of a longer scale length of 25.375″, which strays from the usual in-between (25″) scale length that the company implements. This makes the playing feel closer to a Strat, which undeniably is the instrument that Mayer built his career on, well along with Martin acoustics.

To give this guitar its voice, PRS had custom wound 58/15 treble and bass pickups to meet Mayer’s needs. The same can also be said about the middle position “Narrowfield JM pickup”. As expected, the three pickups come with coil-tap functionality that can be triggered via mini-switches on the body.
Another distinct feature of the Private Stock Super Eagle is the use of a JCF Audio preamp with treble boost, built into the guitar. The company describes the sound of the guitar as being bright and clear, and it seems to be perfectly suited with Mayer’s current stint with Dead & Company tour.