V8 Interceptor Guitar
Paul Reed Smith custom
Paul Reed Smith custom
The V8 Interceptor guitar started out life as a one-off Paul Reed Smith custom. This was an early guitar that PRS custom made to be endorsed and played by a Music artist in the early 90’s. The history of what artists actually used and played this guitar are long gone in the fog of time, since musicians swap guitars all the time. But as the guitar changed hands over the years, it finally ended up in the possession of Record Executive Chuck Howard. The end of it’s first life came in the 2012 flood in Nashville where the guitar was caught in the high water and ruined. Chuck was going to toss the guitar in the trash, but instead gave it to Stacey because… well…. Stacey never throws ANYTHING away!
Guitar Restoration
Stacey immediately contacted Master Luthier Jonathan McClanahan, who specializes in restoring old stringed instruments, and got him working on the body and neck. To remove the damage, the body was trimmed and re-shaped, the neck was shaved and a new color and custom sunburst was painted on… making this the only PRS of it’s kind in existence! In the meantime, Paul Reed Smith supplied all new hardware and a set of their red hot pickups to bring the guitar up to date in the sound department.
Custom touches
Since this PRS guitar was going to be the guitar that went with the V8 Interceptor project, Jonathan also made some real wood dash inserts for the car that matched the curly maple top of the guitar, and even re-wooded the LeCarra steering wheel to match! The finishing touch is the chrome V8 emblem behind the bridge that also matches an identical emblem in the center of the grille on the 67’ Cougar V8 Interceptor project car that Stacey is building. Sharp eyed car guys will recognize that Stacey pirated those emblems from a ’35 Ford hood. So… how does it sound? How does it play? Like a frickin’ PRS on steroids! Or, in car guy terms… if a standard PRS is a Challenger, THIS PRS is a Hellcat! Flame on!!!
