Why do some PRS guitars have bird inlays?

Question

What is the story behind the bird inlays of the PRS guitars?

Answer 1

It's all down to Paul's mother, who was an avid ornithologist - a bird-watcher. She encouraged an interest in birds for Paul, and when he made his first (hand-made) guitar - for Peter Frampton, in April '76, as a 20 yr old, he decided to go avant-garde, and make the markings of the fretboard resemble the silhouettes of certain birds. (Peter was guitarist with The Herd and Humble Pie.) The largest being a Cooper's hawk (resident in US) for the 12th fret, that being possibly the most important landmark on the fretboard (citation needed..!).

Now, someone who orders a bespoke PRS guitar can specify which profiles go where, an I'm pretty sure ivory from old piano keys isn't used any more.

Answer 2

Paul Reed Smith said about why he chose the bird inlays the following...

“My mother was a bird watcher,” said Paul Reed Smith.

When Paul was a young boy, his mother would take him and his siblings birdwatching, and occasionally to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Paul recalled, “At the time, the Smithsonian allowed you to take out a record like a book from a library, we would get records of bird songs and listen to them. At night, we would listen to the birds in our rooms with the windows open, these were nightbird songs, whip-poor-wills.”

“My mom really knew and loved birds and exposed us to them,” he mentioned. “One time there were a few starlings in our backyard and my mom went off, she said, ’This is going to be a problem, those are scouts.’ We said, 'What do you mean?' She said, 'They're searching for a place for the entire huge flock.' In the next few days, sure enough, thousands of starlings were in our backyard terrorizing every other bird in the yard and eating everything. My mother called it, she knew what was going to happen. She called them flying rats. It was loud and raucus and we watched them fight with the cardinals and the robins.”

In April of 1976, 9 years before the official foundation of PRS Guitars, Paul was 20 years old and was building a guitar for rock musician Peter Frampton. “When it came time to put inlays on the fretboard,” Paul said, “I didn’t even have to think about it, I just went down to the store, bought a bird guide, and started designing inlays.”

Starting from the nut the birds are:

• Peregrine falcon
• Marsh Hawk
• Ruby Throated Hummingbird
• Common Tern
• Coopers Hawk
• Kite
• Sparrow Landing
• Storm Petrel
• Hawk Landing
• Screech Owl On A Branch (24-fret models only)

There has also been a number of variations on the bird theme.

Solid Birds

J-Birds

J-Birds with centers

Brushstroke Birds

513 Birds

20th-anniversary birds

SOURCE