Vintage Dreams, Modern Hands: A Conversation with PRS Guitars at NAMM 2026 They were literally closing down the show floor when I grabbed Alex Chadwick from PRS Guitars for a conversation I wasn't willing to miss.
Vintage Dreams, Modern Hands: A Conversation with PRS Guitars at NAMM 2026
They were literally closing down the show floor when I grabbed Alex Chadwick from PRS Guitars for a conversation I wasn't willing to miss.
We'd been talking off-mic about something that kept nagging at me—this tension between technology and creativity that runs through everything in the music world right now. So I hit record, security guards circling, and asked him straight: Is technology helping musicians become better artists, or do you still need to learn the hard way?
His answer was refreshingly honest. Technology isn't inherently good or bad. It's a tool. When it helps people be more expressive, more creative—that's the win. When it gets in the way of that expression? That's when we have a problem.
It's the kind of nuance that gets lost in the usual gear coverage.
PRS brought some beautiful new instruments to NAMM this year. The John Mayer Wild Blue Silver Sky stopped people in their tracks—a sharp turquoise finish with the first matching headstock ever produced from their Maryland factory on a Silver Sky. Limited to a thousand pieces worldwide. For Mayer fans and Silver Sky devotees alike, this one feels special.
Then there's the Ed Sheeran Semi-Hollow Piezo Baritone. A 27.7-inch scale instrument tuned a fifth below standard, with discrete outputs for both magnetic and piezo elements. But here's what got me: each guitar ships with a signed print of Sheeran's original artwork that appears on the body. He's a visual artist too. The instrument becomes a canvas for multiple creative expressions at once.
But the conversation that really stuck with me was about vintage guitars and why we romanticize them so much.
Those 1950s and 60s instruments—the ones on posters, in documentaries, making the music that shaped entire generations—they've become holy relics. And the ones that actually sound magical? They cost as much as a house now. So how does anyone access that?
Chadwick explained something about PRS's philosophy that I found genuinely compelling. They don't go back to the fifties. They go back to 1985. That gives them freedom—they can draw inspiration from those holy grail instruments without being trapped by their quirks, their inconsistent tolerances, their aged components. They can take what made those guitars legendary and build it into something repeatable, accessible, and comfortable.
The goal, he said, is to create instruments that get out of the way. Guitars that let the person be more expressive instead of fighting against limitations.
That phrase has been echoing in my head since I left Anaheim. Instruments that get out of the way.
Because that's really what this is about, isn't it? All the gear, all the technology, all the innovation—it only matters if it helps someone find their voice. Make their own music. Tell their own story.
PRS seems to understand that. In a world obsessed with vintage nostalgia and spec-sheet comparisons, they're building for expression.
And that's worth a conversation, even when security is showing you the door.
Marco Ciappelli reports from NAMM 2026 for ITSPmagazine, exploring the intersection of technology, creativity, and the humans who make music possible.
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KEYWORDS
NAMM 2026, PRS Guitars, John Mayer Silver Sky, Ed Sheeran guitar, PRS Wild Blue, baritone guitar, guitar gear, new guitars 2026, PRS limited edition, guitar innovation, NAMM Show, musician interviews
At NAMM 2026, Marco Ciappelli caught PRS Guitars representative Alex Chadwick just as the show floor was closing for an unfiltered conversation about technology, creativity, and the new limited edition releases.
Chadwick presented two exclusive guitars: the John Mayer Wild Blue Silver Sky—the first Silver Sky with a matching headstock from PRS's Maryland factory, limited to 1,000 pieces—and the Ed Sheeran Semi-Hollow Piezo Baritone, a 27.7-inch scale instrument featuring Sheeran's original artwork and discrete magnetic/piezo outputs, also limited to 1,000 worldwide.
The conversation went deeper than gear specs. Chadwick addressed the tension between vintage guitar obsession and modern innovation, explaining that PRS draws inspiration from legendary instruments without being trapped by their inconsistencies. Their philosophy: create guitars that get out of the way so musicians can focus on expression.
On technology's role in music, Chadwick took a balanced view—it's neither good nor bad, just a tool that depends entirely on how artists use it. The goal remains constant: helping musicians find their voice and make their own art.
Quotes
Marco Ciappelli:
"People look for vintage guitars all the time. They want the 1950s, the 1970s, because they think it's a more raw, less digital sound."
"You offer the instrument and the tool to find their voice, their style."
Alex Chadwick:
"Technology is not inherently a good or bad thing. It just depends on how people use it."
"Our goal is to create a guitar that gets out of the way so the person can be more expressive."