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NPRSD McCarty 594 Semi Hollow Ltd!


GuitarGuy65

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Saw this guitar on TGP and Reverb so I reached out to the seller and secured me a new fiddle!  I'm a huge PRS fan and had only played a 594 once and was intrigued, and when I first laid eyes on this one I was blown away by the top plus the fact it weighs only 6.84 lbs!  It's practically new (tag shows 10/29/19 date leaving the factory) in near mint condition and sports a beautiful Copperhead finish.  It has a gorgeous Brazilian rosewood board and headstock overlay and features TCI tuned 85/15 Low Turn TCI pickups that sound incredible.  Just received it yesterday and had the chance to put it through it's paces last night at rehearsal and it has an incredible mid-range response that really cuts through the mix with great clarity and punch, and sounds very full and thick with no muddiness.  Splitting the p/u's results in a more Tele-ish tone to me that has more power than typical tapped pickups.  The rest of the band agreed that it sounds pretty amazing and the fact that it weighs less than 7 lbs is a huge bonus.  The semi-hollow design gives it a more "airy" feeling without any feedback or howling issues,  and it sustains just as well as any of my other PRS solidbodies.  The neck is really nicely shaped (Pattern Vintage) and doesn't feel as big as their Wide Fat neck that my PRS Singlecut sports, and the binding on the neck and fret work is immaculate just like any other PRS.  Now I see what all the buzz was about when PRS introduced this series a few years ago...  I've got several other PRSi and love them all, but this one really has me mesmerized.  Couldn't be happier with it and wanted to share of few pics of this beauty (sent by the original owner).  What a great guitar and PRS is building them better than ever!

 

'19 PRS McCarty 594 Semi Hollow Full 2.jpg

'19 PRS McCarty 594 Semi Hollow 3.jpg

'19 PRS McCarty 594 Semi Hollow Full 1.jpg

'19 PRS McCarty 594 Semi Hollow Headstock.jpg

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That and the "Custom 22 Special Semi-Hollow" are great examples of the best from PRS. Unlike some other builders, they keep trying new(ish) things and moving the game forward by incorporating those ideas in their current builds.

Congrats!

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I have a McCarty SC 594 and absolutely love it! The Pattern Vintage neck carves are terrific, but they do vary. The one I have is comparable in feel to my ‘08 R8s I used to own, feels incredible. It is larger than my SC 245. It measures nice and beefy at .89”-.97.”

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2 hours ago, gwayne said:

They are stellar guitars

Indeed they are! I've really come to love the PRS hardware, everything they're doing is top shelf. Their tuners, the trems, the bridge and stop tails! Love the brass thing they've got going on, especially the use of those big fat, thick brass saddles. They have a great effect on the note bloom and tonality.

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PRS had a back-cover ad in the Steve Vai GW last month. They've reissued the McCarty, both with stop-bar and tuneomatic hardware. I swear I gawked at the picture for five minutes.

"Common wisdom" sez you either love PRS or hate them. I took this as to why I didn't bond with the awesome DGT goldtop I had briefly; "Welllp, guess ah just ain't a PRS guy." 

However, I know so many great and discerning players, both online and locals, that swear by them. I do NOT care for the Brazillian, abalone, super-flamed collector's pieces, just not my aesthetic. Much prefer the basic Custom 22/24, DGT, and the bolt-on Swamp ash types. But I finally admitted to myself that I was a, "bling-bigot." Yessiree, turned up my pug nose at them fancy dentist guitars that would never see the outside of Dad's, "music room."

Additionally, I think my other problem was that I was had expectations that my DGT had to at least sound/play like my Gibsons/Charvel/Fender/EBMM, etc., instead of what it actually was, what it had to offer. Big mistake, no?

So what suggestions are out there to urge me to, "love again?" It's obvious PRS probably makes the best quality, factory production guitars, at least in North America. What models/years would one suggest, or should I just take my time and try to find a good, used McCarty?

(Dang, the above is long. I must be bored...)

 

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@RobB I get where you’re coming from regarding not getting it with PRS. I felt the same until around ‘09 when I got my first DGT, and since then, they’ve only gotten better. I think if you favor LP short scale types, the McCarty 594 SC will make you very happy. I believe their very best guitars have been made in the last three years. If you snag anything 2017 or later you’ll not be disappointed. PRS went to Nitro finishes on the McCarty 594s in late ‘19. Im not sure that it makes any real difference. I’ve had their limited run 245s finished in nitro and there wasn’t really a noticeable diffence between those and the others for me.  Two of my favorite three guitars are PRS now, my McCarty 594SC, my DGT and my Monaco. I’d have a real hard time choosing if I was forced somehow to only have one. 

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I'd agree that PRS are at the top of their game right now, but I have a few AMAZING early guitars too, an '86 Pre-Standard, an '86 Custom, and an '87 Signature that just kill.  Great necks and unbelievable build quality.  His trem system was revolutionary at a time when everyone wanted a Floyd or Kahler, plus he was an early proponent of locking tuners (along with Hamer) and had his own design for them.  I find it funny that folks call them dentist and/or doctor guitars (I'm neither) just because they are beautiful and play supremely.  You may not bond with the pickups or 5-way rotary, but you can't deny the smooth and easy playability and build quality.  I've also got a 2015 Private Stock Santana that is as good as it gets from PRS, but that said this 594 just feels right to me...  I think Paul hit it out of the park with this model, kind of the ultimate PRS!  For grins, here's a few pics of my PS Santana model too, dig those matching red coral bird inlays... 😁

'15 PRS Santana Private Stock 1.jpg

'15 PRS Santana Private Stock Headstock.jpg

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My ‘89 Custom 10 Top is pretty sweet - I bought it new, and although I gigged it the most in the ‘90s, I kept it in immaculate condition.  It still has the same “new guitar smell” when I open the case.  The only PRS I’ve found since then that turned my head were the Soapbar 22 and DGT models.

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9 hours ago, gtrdaddy said:

If you snag anything 2017 or later you’ll not be disappointed. PRS went to Nitro finishes on the McCarty 594s in late ‘19. Im not sure that it makes any real difference. I’ve had their limited run 245s finished in nitro and there wasn’t really a noticeable diffence between those and the others for me. 

There are folks who swear the nitro makes a significant difference.  I'm like you - I can't say I hear anything that I can attribute to the nitro.  But you're right about the last three years - they've just hit a groove.  The 594s and the Silver Sky model have been huge hits.  Their newer pickups are much better (for most people, it seems) than the older stuff.

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Beautiful Git!! This video sparked my attention about the PRS 594. I’m a big Tim Pierce fan so I may not be 100% objective, but it is Tim Pierce doing the comparison to a holy grail LP!!

https://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/tim-pierce-howard-leese-prs-vs-les-paul.40657/

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25 minutes ago, alantig said:

Their newer pickups are much better (for most people, it seems) than the older stuff.

I’ve always like the DGT pickups, the very low output Archtop pickups, and the 57/08s, but I suppose they are more recent in the 35 year course of PRS. 

The 58/15 LT pickups are flat out amazing, and I think are the finest “factory-built” pickup set I’ve ever played. 

Just to be clear, when I said above that “I didn’t get PRS until around ‘09 when I got my first DGT”, I didn’t mean they didn’t make a nice guitar. I know they absolutely did. For me though, in the 90s when I went looking, every time I tried one out, it either didn’t sound very good, many were muddy-sounding and not vibrant, or it didn’t seem like a guitar I could bond with. Perhaps my luck of the draw in that period. But today, I find that almost each and every one I have tried in the last three years mostly, could be a keeper. For me anyway, they seem to be doing something much different, overall for the better.

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Thanks for the insights, guys. Ahhh, who am I kidding? The last thing I should do is load up on more expensive guitars. I plan to sell four soon. 

Funny; I’m too lazy to shoot pics and post them online, but super motivated to get a new one. Sick. 

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