Making Magic With the Sorcerer's Apprentice

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice represents a lot of beginnings. Seeing himself as an apprentice guitar maker, Paul took the opportunity to combine several of his original ideas with what he had learned as a guitar repairman to create a wholly new guitar design. Years later, many of those features still appear on our guitars today, though with refinement over time! 

With a name inspired by Disney's Fantasia, the Sorcerer's Apprentice was built in 1982 (making it a “pre-factory” model). It has 27 frets to get more high notes without compromising the location of the bass pickup. As for firsts, the Sorcerer's Apprentice boasts an early version of what would become the Santana body shape, more intricate bird inlay shapes, and a double-barrel bridge. It is also outfitted with three modified P90 pickups with two side by side in the treble position to emulate the qualities of a humbucker – an early design that would later nod to PRS’s 408 pickup design that debuted in 2011.

Watch Paul and Marc take a closer look at this historic guitar in its "From the Archives" episode, and see Paul's thoughts on the Sorcerer's Apprentice more than 40 years later!