A Revitalized Reimagining of PRS’s Swamp Ash Stunner
After several decades on the sidelines, the Swamp Ash Special returns to the Core line just in time for PRS’s 40th anniversary! This superlative 6-string stands apart from its maple-topped mahogany PRS Core line siblings, wearing an attractive and highly resonant slab of swamp ash for the body. Sling up the Swamp Ash Special, and its maple Pattern Regular-profile neck, 10-inch-radius fingerboard, and immaculate PRS fretwork will thrill and inspire with industry-defining playability and performance. Moreover, the Swamp Ash Special sports a triple threat of PRS pickups, including two vintage-tinged 58/15 LT humbuckers and a mid-position Narrowfield that serves up single-coil-style shimmer with completely hum-free operation. These pickups, combined with a 5-way blade switch and two coil tap switches (a first for the Swamp Ash Special!), unlock a genre-defying wellspring of tones that covers country cleans to hard-rock riffage with equal aplomb. Complete with a slick nitro finish, a PRS patented tremolo, and PRS Phase III tuning machines, the revitalized Swamp Ash Special is ready to retake its rightful place as one of Paul’s most striking and sonically flexible 6-string creations.
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Distinct swamp ash sounds
The PRS Swamp Ash Special pairs nimble pickup selections with a body carved from one of the most nimble tonewoods: swamp ash. Swamp ash grows only near the banks of the Mississippi River, the same central and southern heartlands that birthed the blues and rock ’n’ roll. Because its roots grow directly in water, it is the lightest species of ash available, with incredible balance, resonance, and dynamic response. When played politely, swamp ash strikes an ideal balance between brightness and girth. Played aggressively at loud volumes or with distortion, swamp ash reveals a gnarlier side characterized by midrange bite and snarl that cuts through any mix. One of the finest tonewoods known to humankind, swamp ash is becoming harder to come by — thankfully, PRS’s stockpiles have kept this tonewood icon available to all.
A sonic arsenal under your command
The PRS Swamp Ash Special is all about tonal dexterity, thanks to its complement of proprietary PRS pickups and its versatile switching scheme. Stationed at the bridge and neck is the 58/15 LT, which produces a rich, organic vintage tone. This is the warm and clear sonic elixir that propelled the original 58/15 pickups to the top of many Sweetwater guitarists’ favorite PAF-style humbucker lists. The 58/15 LT is based on that successful design, but it’s wound with fewer wire turns for even more clarity and nuance. Cranked through a good tube amp, the 58/15 LT can produce raging overdrive with fat, snarling tone that nevertheless maintains crystalline note separation within chords.
PRS’s Narrowfield, deployed in the middle position of the Swamp Ash Special, is a remarkable pickup that delivers the best characteristics of a humbucker, a P-90, a traditional single-coil, and a mini humbucker. Technically, the Narrowfield’s dual coils classify it as a humbucking design, while its svelte form factor is reminiscent of a mini humbucker (with which, perhaps not surprisingly, it shares certain tonal characteristics). Mini humbuckers have long been prized for their ability to maintain clarity in overdrive conditions while bucking the hum.
Switch up your sonics
The Swamp Ash Special is equipped with two mini-toggle switches that tap the pickup coils for sparkly single-coil tones, while a 5-way pickup selector switch serves up spanky reverse-polarity tones in positions 2 and 4. The immense flexibility of the Swamp Ash Special’s unique pickup and switching arrangement gives you an instrument that can serve up any electric guitar sound you could ever need for a live gig or studio session.
PRS Swamp Ash Special Features:
- The return of an all-time classic PRS creation to the company’s beloved Core series lineup
- Swamp ash body offers a striking visual and sonic contrast to PRS’s standard maple-topped mahogany models
- Ultra-stable Pattern Regular neck comfortably fills up your grip while retaining plenty of speed and finesse
- 10-in.-radius fingerboard wearing iconic bird inlays
- Dual 58/15 LT pickups capture the warmth and dynamics of an all-time humbucker classic, then elevate that formula with years of PRS pickup research
- Middle-position Narrowfield humbucker is voiced to capture the clarity and bite of a single-coil pickup, only without the hum
- 5-way blade switch and dual coil tap switches unlock a seriously flexible range of single-coil-style sounds and quacky in-between tones
- Top-shelf PRS hardware abounds, including an expressive PRS patented tremolo and PRS Phase III tuning machines with handsome wing buttons
- Gleaming nitrocellulose lacquer finish will break in and develop the more you play it, just like a golden-era vintage instrument
