“Single cutaway” would not seem to be a controversial issue. After all, guitarmakers have been “cutting away” or cutting into the upper treble bout to give players easier access up the neck for decades – long before anyone ever thought about an electric guitar.

But in 2000, when Gibson pulled it’s dealership authorization from the giant Guitar Center retail chain, PRS seized the opportunity to capture some of the Les Paul market with it’s own single-cutaway solidbody.

PRS already had a single-cutaway model in development but, unlike the prototype, which featured McCarty-style, two-knob electronic controls, the production model had a selector switch on the upper treble bout and four control knobs – the same general setup of Gibson’s Les Paul Standard.

Gibson thought the Singlecut looked too much like the Les Paul shape (which Gibson had patented), and Gibson sued. In 2005, after a lengthy trial and appeal, during which Singlecut production was suspended, PRS was declared the winner.

The basic Singlecut model was discontinued after 2006 but the Singlecut design continues in several standard and artist signature model.