Judy Schaefer describes her first function at PRS, in 2005, as “backup receptionist” – a brief job she took whereas she discovered what to do along with her English main. Twenty years later, she’s climbed from her entry-level place to turn into director of promoting. She’s overseen numerous product launches in addition to enormous progress for PRS – all whereas navigating a quickly shifting guitar trade, due to the explosion of the web.

In-person experiences are the gold-standard

“I bear in mind there was one yr that, when Summer season NAMM wasn’t fairly doing what we wished it to do, we began Expertise PRS to truly get our enterprise companions to return right here to the manufacturing facility. In the event you stroll by our manufacturing facility and watch our staff constructing guitars, you’ll stroll out having drunk the Kool Support – you simply get how a lot everyone on and off the manufacturing line cares.

“One of many issues I actually wished I’d have finished earlier is go into the manufacturing facility and do considered one of our guitar-making programs. I’ve realized so much from them. What I need to do is take these issues that get us excited, and get them in entrance of different individuals.”

It’s simpler than ever for a producer to attach with the general public

“Social media means individuals really feel entitled to extra instantaneous details about their guitars, and I like that. We would like you to see us. The yr I joined is the yr YouTube began, and we obtained in there early – we first began doing video round 2007. It’s humorous to return and watch movies from then. It was typically a case of giving the artwork director a digicam and seeing what Paul [Reed Smith] mentioned if we put him in entrance of it.

“And now, from the influencer facet of issues, we’ve constructed some actually nice relationships in that regard. It’s an enormous a part of what we do today. As a result of you might want to ask – the place are individuals getting this data from? YouTube is the place the search is for guitars.”

Info over hype

“Paul at all times says that PRS just isn’t a ‘model’, we’re guitar makers. He hates the phrase ‘model’ as a result of you’ll be able to lose your self in being only a hype-driven on-line presence. Making a ‘viral’ video isn’t a objective. Making a very good video? That’s a objective.

“It might appear we’re generally brash or controversial, however that always comes from us doing the boring factor, simply conveying data! In the event you’re launching a guitar, you have to have a straight-ahead demo video. It’s a guitar, you might want to hear it – then you are able to do one thing enjoyable. However we deal with the data – the product copy on our web site isn’t, ‘get onto the stage in your snakeskin swimsuit and wail on this scorching guitar!’ That’s not guitar-making, that’s being a ‘model’.”

Advertising is storytelling

“I nonetheless do lots of our writing. However it goes past placing down sentences and paragraphs – it’s storytelling. In the event you’re launching one guitar and you recognize there’s one other one coming in six months, you might want to lay groundwork to construct off of later. The human mind can latch on to tales in that means.

“It’s comparable with signatures – you will have this mythos pre-built into the instrument. You understand tons with out me having to say something. The Silver Sky is totally different, because it’s not known as the ‘John Mayer’ – so it’s not inherently related to him. However, wouldn’t it have finished as effectively if the very same guitar had come to market not being a John Mayer signature? Completely not.”

Good individuals do good work

“Once we had an intern final summer season who requested for recommendation, I simply went straight again to the concept all the things you might want to know, you realized in kindergarten. Be good, share your toys, and so forth. We’re simply all individuals, and we’re going to work collectively for a very very long time. And the guitar trade is small! However it doesn’t matter what trade you’re in – good individuals do good work.

“There’s nothing about music that isn’t group constructing, even in case you’re a solo singer-songwriter. So if we do higher, everyone else does higher, and there’s higher guitars on the earth. But when we simply run everyone else out of enterprise or bash different individuals, that’s not group constructing.”

This interview with Judy Schaefer was printed within the Guitar.com Journal Could/June 2025 difficulty

Cillian is Guitar.com’s Senior Employees Author, and has written information, options and evaluations for Guitar.com since 2019. When not writing about guitars, Cillian spends their time constructing and modding pedals, rearranging their pedalboard and extolling the virtues of the ProCo RAT.