The Time Paul Reed Smith Built Santana a Guitar and Changed Rock History
Long before PRS guitars became the mainstream brand that it is today, Paul Reed Smith was just another luthier, living in the Baltimore area, and hoping for his big break.
Carlos Santana, on the other hand, was a guitar god and household name with exacting demands on his band, his crew, and his guitars.
When the two met, history was made. But it wasn’t easy.
Paul Reed Smith, small-time luthier
In the 1970s, Paul had honed his craft, making his guitars by hand and selling them to musicians. He made a deal with each artist he built a guitar for: if they didn’t absolutely fall in love with the guitar, they didn’t have to buy it. He was so good, however, that this was seldom if ever an issue.
By this time, he had build custom guitars for clients such as Al DiMeola, Ted Nugent, and Howard Leese. While these were certainly talented musicians, the luthier he needed more star power to really grow his business.
Around that time he found out that Carlos Santana, one of the biggest acts of the ’70s, was playing a show near Baltimore. Paul went to work.
