“Smith has road-tested this guitar, refining its design and tone”: The PRS Charcoal Phoenix is Paul Reed Smith’s personal guitar of choice – and it’s already starred onstage next to John Mayer

Late last month, PRS Guitars celebrated its 40th anniversary in style with a star-studded concert at Anaheim, California’s House of Blues featuring John Mayer, David Grissom, Orianthi, Herman Li, Mark Lettieri, and the man himself, Paul Reed Smith.

Those who looked closely at video of the concert may have noticed Smith wielding a striking, charcoal-y PRS model while trading solos with Mayer and others.

According to PRS, Smith has been road-testing the guitar in question over the last year, “refining its design and tone.” Now that model, dubbed the Charcoal Phoenix, has been unveiled to the world.

To hear Smith tell it, the Charcoal Phoenix was inspired by the Private Stock John McLaughlin Limited Edition model PRS released in 2023.

“When we released the Private Stock John McLaughlin Limited Edition in 2023, I was inspired by its exceptional sound and playability,” Smith shared in a statement. “For the Charcoal Phoenix, I wanted to create something equally remarkable but with a stoptail bridge.

“Using chaltecoco for the neck and ziricote for the fingerboard, I achieved an instrument that sustains beautifully and rings with clarity. The deep crimson back and the charcoal microburst top inspired the name ‘Charcoal Phoenix,’ evoking the imagery of a phoenix rising from fire and ashes.”

Aside from those visual appointments, the Charcoal Phoenix comes loaded with a pair of PRS TCI pickups that offer “clear tones from spanky single coils to full soapbars,” the company says.

Controlling these pickups – alongside your usual controls – are a pair of EQ mini-toggles that act as tuned high-pass filters when engaged, in doing so “removing shelved low end and allowing the high frequencies through for more clarity and musical highs.”

The Charcoal Phoenix is also fitted with lightweight PRS Phase III Non-Locking Tuners, and the aforementioned PRS Stoptail bridge, which boasts curved string slots, brass inserts, and steel studs.

The Charcoal Phoenix is limited to just 150 examples, with each guitar including a 40th Anniversary certificate signed by Smith. We haven’t exact price info as of press time, but one can expect given those particulars that it’ll fetch a fair price.

For more info on the guitar, visit PRS.