EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT - DETLEF BRAUNS

What is your typical working day?

I rise at around 6am and check our inventory list if we have one! After that, I have a look at my dealer’s websites to see if they are currently out of stock of any PRS items, if I can help them replace missing stock then all good, PRS is in very high demand and we are always short of guitars so they will be very happy if we have anything to replace sold items.

I recently started traveling again after two years of lockdowns, it’s great to see customers and friends once more, my territory is Germany and Austria, it’s a big area to cover! In addition I organise workshops, clinics, music fairs, and other in-market promotions, so actually there isn’t really a “typical” day!

What made you want to work in the guitar industry?

I come from a family that has worked for decades in the music industry, so music was always very prominent in my life. It really was a “no-brainer” for me to also work in music. My brother and I built up quite a big music store based in Frankfurt, Germany, I was overseeing the guitar section among others. My passion has always been guitars and we were one of the first stores to feature PRS Guitars way back in 1985. We sold the store some years back and I was pretty bored, so when the opportunity opened up to actually work for PRS in 2013 I couldn’t believe my luck! This obsession for guitars, especially PRS, has stood the test of time – I love my job!

Do you play an instrument?

Yes! I play the guitar and the piano.

What’s your favourite PRS guitar and why?

That’s a tricky one! I can’t possibly just pick one so I would have to say that my favourite PRS guitars are the Custom 24 and the Silver Sky. The Custom 24 has a wide range of sounds for every genre possible and looks great in every colour imaginable. The Custom 24 stands for the history of PRS – everything started there! On the other hand, the Silver Sky is a fantastic single coil guitar, John Mayer and Paul Reed Smith’s collaboration was perfect, a masterpiece in my opinion, so that gets equal billing here!

What’s your favourite thing to do outside of work?

Outside of work I like to go to concerts, go hiking and if I can, watch my soccer team EF Frankfurt, I also like to golf occasionally.

Favourite gig you have ever played / been to?

Definitely the Eagles. I also used to play in an Allman Brothers Tribute band – I loved every gig we did – very cool and great fun!

Your nickname at the PRS Europe office is DC, how did this name come about?

I have to thank my boss, Gavin Mortimer, for this one. When I was in Stevensville for the first time and had to introduce myself, I told everybody that my friends and colleagues call me “Deddi”. Gavin then said: “Alright, that’s cool. So we call you “Deddi Cool” – hence DC.