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Add to Cart$3,995.00$2,911.95
PRS Electric Basses — Maryland Craftsmanship, Bass Done the PRS Way
Paul Reed Smith built his first instrument as a teenager, and it was a bass. That origin has never left the company, and the bass instruments PRS produces today carry the same hallmarks that have made the brand the third best-selling guitar manufacturer in the world: immaculate fit and finish, premium tonewoods selected and graded with unusual care, proprietary electronics developed in-house, and the signature bird inlays that have become one of the most recognized visual signatures in instrument making.
The PRS bass lineup spans three tiers, from the SE import instruments that deliver extraordinary value at an accessible price to the Private Stock program that produces some of the finest basses ever to leave a production facility in the United States.
SE Series Basses
SE Kestrel — The most widely circulated PRS bass in the market, and one of the most consistently praised instruments at its price point in any category. A jazz-style platform with PRS's own neck-through construction, a five-piece maple and walnut neck, alder body wings, rosewood fingerboard with the signature bird inlays, and a pair of passive PRS-designed single-coil pickups that deliver a punchy, growling, dynamically rich voice that Music Radar named the number one best mid-range bass. The Kestrel can walk a low-mid focused blues line, articulate a fretless-style part rich with harmonics, nail the scooped midrange that slappers favor, and deliver a razor-sharp rock bass line, often within the same set. At its price point, it has no serious competition.
SE Kingfisher — The Kestrel's companion model and the more modern-voiced of the two SE basses, with 24 frets, a clean pickguard-free body design, and passive humbucking pickups with substantial pole pieces that deliver a bold, thick, high-output character well suited to rock, progressive, and heavier musical styles.
Core Series Bass
Grainger 4 and Grainger 5 — Designed by Paul Reed Smith in direct collaboration with Gary Grainger, whose resume includes John Scofield, Dennis Chambers, and Frank Gambale, the Core Grainger basses represent a decade of Private Stock bass development distilled into an instrument built for working professionals. A carved maple top over a mahogany back delivers the piano-like note attack and definition of maple combined with the warmth and low-end weight of mahogany. GG4 humbucking pickups and the PRS/Grainger active electronics system, with two push-pull volume controls and a three-band EQ, give players fast, intuitive control over their place in any mix. Both pickups can be switched from active to passive independently, offering tonal flexibility that most active basses cannot approach. Rhonda Smith of Jeff Beck's band, Kevin Walker of Justin Timberlake's band, and Eric Bass of Shinedown have all made the Grainger their primary instrument. No longer available for new order from PRS but still available through dealers while stock lasts, and worth seeking out.
Private Stock Basses
The Private Stock Gary Grainger 4 and 5 represent the absolute pinnacle of what PRS produces in the bass format, built in the Stevensville, Maryland facility with the finest Private Stock tonewoods, optional wooden pickguard and ramp for players who want a fully personalized playing surface, and the full Private Stock finishing and appointment program. These are instruments built for players who want the complete PRS experience with no compromises whatsoever, and they deliver it with the authority that the Private Stock designation has always implied.
Browse our full selection of PRS electric basses, and reach out if you'd like help navigating the lineup or discussing a Private Stock commission.