PRS was a year short of it’s 20th anniversary when it introduced it’s first 12-string production model, but the company was hardly new to the neighborhood.

Through their Custom Shop and their elite Private Stock models, PRS had made plenty of 12-strings through the years. Consequently, the Custom 22/12 hit the market in 2004 as a fully developed model, with humbucking pickups designed specifically for a 12-string, a bridge with 12 individually adjustable saddles, and even a heastock with the straight-string-pull that had been a hallmark of PRS guitars from the first models in 1985.

The Custom 22 design provided the stiffer neck required to handle the extra string tension, along with the elegant aesthetic features of the Custom model. This model had an extra added attraction in the form of a single-coil middle pickup made by Lindy Fralin. With a coil-tap on the bridge pickup, the 22/12 had tonal capabilities unmatched by any of the classic 12-strings made by Fender, Gibson or Rickenbacker.