“The Private Stock Modern Eagle V is a sophisticated instrument not only in its craftsmanship but electronically and mechanically,” said Paul Reed Smith. “Modern Eagle models have always been designed to stand up to history while celebrating tonewoods and the discovery of new tones. These instruments are the embodiment of that tradition married with the bold innovation of Private Stock and a new pickup system.” The Private Stock Modern Eagle V utilizes a hum/single/hum (five-coil) pickup configuration and introduces a new and unique switching system that gives players a vast array of tones in one guitar. The 5-way blade switch selects the pickups just as the 509 does (treble, treble and middle, middle, middle and bass, bass). The two paired mini-toggles separate the slug-side coils, turning the humbuckers into true, “TCI-tuned” single coils. There is a single volume and a push/pull tone control that activates both humbuckers when engaged; this allows players to access three pickups simultaneously. Finally, there is a third mini-toggle that changes the volume pot value from 500k to 250k, which gives the guitar a different palette of tones. This electronics design puts a whole set of classic and new tones at your fingertips. Bottom line, the Modern Eagle V Limited Edition is a special instrument, producing real, highly-musical tones for both recording and playing live. This is the first time the Modern Eagle model has been offered as a Limited Edition through Private Stock. PRS will be capping production at 120 instruments.
Paul Reed Smith on the original Modern Eagle: Excerpt from The PRS Electric Guitar Book: A Complete History of Paul Reed Smith Electrics by Dave Burrluck
“We’re in competition with other guitar manufacturers…We’re in competition with ‘days of grace.’… That’s what I’ve come to realize the Modern Eagle needs to be. You pull it out and it’s competitive with everything that’s ever been made – which is not so easy to do. Some of our guitars are like museum pieces, but the Modern Eagle is also a player’s guitar.” – Paul Reed Smith