Gear Review: As I Lay Dying guitarist Phil Sgrosso on his PRS Torero

As I Lay Dying graced the great white north this past weekend for both the Heavy T.O and Heavy MTL festivals. AILD guitarist Phil Sgrosso sat down with me to talk gear and more specifically, what guitars he’s into currently. Though Phil’s accustomed to changing his axes, at the moment he’s rocking PRS. Here’s how the chat went.

What guitars are you using these days?
Phil: For about a year and a half I have been going with PRS guitars and I’ve been loving it, more specific I have a few Single Cuts and a Torero.

What advantages do these guitars have over your prior guitars?
Phil: Well I was using Washburn before; I had a close relationship with the A&R guy there and he would hook me up with whatever i needed. The feel of those guitars is really good, but for me they were a bit too inconsistent with what I was looking for. With PRS you know what you are getting into. I feel the Torero is more catered to the metal guitar player, with a longer scale length for drop tuning, the Floyd Rose bridge and stock EMG’s come included.

To who would you recommend the Torero?
Phil: Really anyone looking for that heavy sound for an affordable price. Some kids out there can’t really afford a $3,000 guitar, so the Torero is a great price for what you get with it.

What guitar do you think you will get next?
Phil: Well I’m hoping to get maybe something more local; maybe a company in San Diego that I can work more hands on with so I can get exactly what I need. You know more of a custom job rather then just putting an order in and hoping I get what I want.

Check out the song: “Anodyne Sea”