Every guitar shop has heard it: PRS guitars are for dentists. The joke paints the brand's buyers as wealthy hobbyists with flawless instruments they rarely gig. This week Paul Reed Smith answered it directly, and his answer says something about who buys high-end guitars today.
The short version
In a livestream Q&A with UK retailer Andertons, Smith said the stereotype may have fit PRS in the late '80s, but no longer does.
He pointed to the SE and S2 lines as proof the brand now serves working players.
He defended Private Stock pricing, which runs roughly $8,000 to $14,000.
Separately, guitarist Jared James Nichols took aim at a different group: “blues dentists” hoarding vintage guitars.
What Smith said
A fan sent in the question bluntly, asking why PRS makes guitars only for dentists. Smith laughed first: “I didn't know Carlos Santana and John Mayer were dentists.” Then he made his case, and it was a serious one. The idea that only doctors and dentists buy PRS was perhaps true in the late '80s, he said, but not anymore. He noted that when Sweetwater ranked the most expensive guitars it sells, PRS did not make the top 10.
He also argued the company has worked hard to make its Indonesian-built SE line affordable, called the U.S.-made S2 models genuinely accessible, and said Private Stock prices are fair for the time and skill involved.
Why the joke stuck
For much of its early history, PRS sold only U.S.-made guitars at premium prices, with flamed maple tops, bird inlays and a polished look that read as luxury. The budget SE line did not arrive until 2001, more than 15 years after the company's start. By then, the reputation had set.
The irony is that PRS's most famous players are anything but weekend hobbyists. Santana has played PRS for decades, and John Mayer's Silver Sky has become one of the most talked-about signature guitars of the last decade. Mayer introduced Smith when Guitar Center inducted him into its RockWalk during the Crossroads Guitar Festival on Sept. 26.
The numbers behind the joke
The PRS lineup today is a ladder, not a single rung. The SE Silver Sky launched at $849 and has been a hot seller. The S2 series sits in the middle. The U.S.-made Core line costs several thousand dollars. Private Stock pieces such as the 40th Anniversary McCarty Dragon sit at the very top. There are outliers in the budget line too: Herman Li's signature SE costs $1,999.
Photo: PRS
That ladder is how most premium brands now work. Fender runs from Squier to the Custom Shop. Gibson runs from Epiphone to Murphy Lab. The “for dentists” label tends to stick to whichever brand's entry point is least visible, and PRS spent years without a budget line before the SE arrived.
The other kind of dentist
Jared James Nichols, appearing on Ola Englund's YouTube channel, took the joke in another direction. His target was not new-guitar buyers but collectors who own rare vintage instruments and, in his view, cannot really play them. It is a familiar gripe among working musicians, who watch prices for vintage and boutique gear climb out of reach.
The evidence is everywhere this month. Dumble amps are back, with an Overdrive Special costing about $25,000. Original Klon Centaurs sell for thousands, while Behringer offers a copy for under $80. Prime Day and “Rocktober” sales have pushed some Gibson Les Pauls down by $700 or more.
So who is buying?
The honest answer is: both groups, and the industry needs both. Heavy October discounting shows how price-sensitive much of the market is right now, even as the very top end keeps climbing. Hobbyists with money fund the high end. Their purchases support custom shops, small builders and limited runs, which in turn give brands the halo that sells their entry-level models. Working players and beginners drive volume at the bottom. The brands that do well serve both without making either feel unwelcome.
John Mayer showed the friendlier side of that this month, giving owners his blessing to modify their Silver Skys. A signature guitar is now something to customize, not just to collect.
Why it matters
For dealers, the “dentist” label is a sales problem. It can make younger players assume a brand is not for them before they ever look at an SE or S2. Smith tackling it head on, with Jack Higginbotham now in place as CEO, suggests the company knows its next generation of customers is price-conscious and online. The retail lesson is to put SE and S2 models where newer players can pick them up, right beside the Private Stock pieces that draw them into the store. For players, the takeaway is simpler. Premium brands are building more rungs on the ladder, and the joke is getting harder to make stick.