PRS McCarty 594 w/ Artist Package

Paul Reed Smith has truly created a remarkable guitar company, and I can’t think of anyone who has mastered so many aspects of the guitar, from electric guitars to acoustic guitars to guitar amps, the range of what PRS does at a world class level is tremendously impressive. PRS makes guitars for the working musician, and magnificently ornate instruments for collectors who want museum pieces, and everything in between. They build a great guitar that is just right for anyone who has a passion for making music with six strings.

What I have always been interested in from PRS though, are guitars that capture the essence of what I love about vintage instruments. I have never cared much for ornamentation — I was, after all, a working guitarist for many years, largely cutting my teeth in the trenches of recording studios and being a side musician. I favor a simple aesthetic, with a warm and responsive tonal pallet and perfect playability. All the instruments I order from PRS follow this basic preference.

Most often I order guitars from the custom shop because they have the flexibility to focus on the details that are important to CR Guitars. This time, however, the instrument that just arrived from PRS is not from the custom shop, but the new, hot-off-the-press PRS McCarty 594 model. The 594 was imagined, designed and created to play like a modern guitar (with all the benefits of current knowledge and cutting edge technology) but to feel like an instrument that has been in player’s hands for decades. Which is basically what I have been asking the custom shop to do for CR Guitars all along! Here is the description right from PRS:

The McCarty 594 is a vintage-inspired instrument that is at once incredibly familiar and effortlessly playable. Whether you are looking for rich, authentic, vintage humbucking tones or nuanced, sweet single coil sounds, the McCarty 594 can seamlessly master both sonic territories thanks to the 58/15 LT pickups and push/pull coil taps on the tone controls. The electronics layout, a few key specifications, and PRS craftsmanship combine in the McCarty 594 to create an instrument that plays in tune, is intonated the entire length of the neck, and feels like a guitar that you’ve been playing forever.

I’m really excited about this guitar, and I’m not the only one. The great John Mayer agrees, and this is what he had to say:

"The 594 is the best new guitar I’ve played in years. It has a vintage heart and soul but without the technical limitations that usually come along with an old instrument. What good is an old guitar if you can’t get all that feel out of the upper frets, or the intonation is off? To hear that old PAF sound but be able to articulate the notes in a way that only modern manufacturing could allow is so exciting.
 
"I ordered this one with the PRS Artist Package, which offers upgraded materials to take the instrument to the next level. Meaning it's gorgeous! With a McCarty tobacco sunburst finish, the artist grade flame maple has a visual brilliance that holds your attention, and I really appreciate the subtlety of the burst fade. The figure is tight and almost looks like what I would call fiddleback maple, which is often found on fine violins. The body and neck are tight-grained premium mahogany and the fretboard is chocolaty Gaboon ebony, a wood that is fast becoming a very coveted wood for fretboards.

"The scale is worth mentioning because it is slightly shorter than the normal PRS scale of 25.” When Paul Reed Smith started making instruments he drew a line between Fender’s 25 1/2” scale and Gibson’s 24 3/4” scale, but vintage Gibson guitars, particularly late '50s instruments, were even shorter, often at 24 9/16”, very close to the scale of this new PRS model. At 24.594” there is a little less tension which makes the strings feel very responsive and smooth, and the tone is warm and full, which is one of the myriad ways the PRS team achieves a real vintage tone and vibe with this model (you may have also noticed that the model name comes from the last three numbers of the scale).

"Too, I really like the new pattern vintage neck shape, which is similar to the pattern shape, but sightly thicker, bringing it closer to the '59 Gibson feel so universally loved.

"The pickups are styled after the old PAFs, and are slightly under-wound. They have a warm tone that is rich in harmonics and the tone knobs are push-pull to activate a coil tap so you can also get articulate single coil tones, which adds significantly to the versatility of the instrument.

"Ted McCarty of course was one of the most storied designers in the guitar world, and in fact invented humbucker pickups. He was an early mentor to Paul Reed Smith, and PRS has kept the McCarty model in the line since its introduction in the early 1990s, occasionally updating and evolving the well-respected design. This evolution of the McCarty has to be my favorite, and PRS really pulled out the stops to bring to us a guitar that plays perfectly, stays in tune with balanced tone across the entire fretboard, and has the vibe and tonal nuances of a fine vintage instrument.

"From elegant solo jazz arrangements to heartfelt blues to rock and roll, this guitar will confidently play any music you can imagine, and I expect it will become the main guitar for many players lucky enough to have one. It is also a tremendous value for a handmade instrument of this stellar quality and pedigree." - John Mayer

If you'd like to find out more about this item, just call or e-mail me. It would be my pleasure to talk to you about it.

ABOUT PRS PRIVATE STOCK
Everyone has heard of PRS Guitars; they are one of America's great entrepreneurial success stories. But not everyone has heard of the Paul Reed Smith Private Stock instruments. These are special guitars, in every sense. That's what inspired us here at CR Guitars to seek them out; they conform perfectly to our vision of what "hand selected" really means. The goal behind the PRS Private Stock of instruments is not only to create the most beautiful and best playing guitars money can buy, but the best sounding. PRS works very closely with each order - through hourly discussions, experimentation, meticulous checks of every detail at each step in the process and making final tweaks when the guitar is complete - to make sure they are building the best guitars possible. If you get an extraordinary instrument from Private Stock that is equally as good as a family heirloom and a musician’s tool to make a living on, then the Private Stock goal has come to fruition.

“Whether built to your specification or ours, every Private Stock instrument is carefully guided through the process by highly talented, seasoned guitar makers, and each completed instrument is checked and signed by Paul Miles and me. From all of us on the Private Stock team, thank you for looking at and considering a Private Stock instrument. If you decide on a Private Stock guitar, we will give everything we have to make it the best instrument you’ve ever experienced.” - Paul Reed Smith