PRS SE Singlecut McCarty 594 Electric Guitar
Ted McCarty was the president of Gibson Guitars. Some of his legendary designs are the SG, Firebird, Flying V and Explorer. Paul Reed Smith met McCarty, who became his mentor, in the creation of new guitars. They collaborated on guitar design and production techniques. In 1994, PRS released the first McCarty model. The McCarty Series now includes 4 U.S.-made Core models, and 3 S-2 series guitars.
PRS SE Tremonti Standard Black
The Singlecut SE McCarty 594 gets its name from the scale length of the guitar. The number refers to the actual length of 24.594-inches. This is a really classy looking guitar. Every detail of its appearance was custom crafted.
The top of the body is straight-grained rather than flamed. It gives a beautiful, rich look, under a high gloss finish. The bird inlays and cream-white binding on the neck, add and neck. The binding and inlays are well done, and the medium-jumbo frets are nicely crowned and smooth on the tips. The nut is also level with the binding, with no sharp corners.
The nickel-plated zinc tailpiece is anchored to the body with brass studs. and There’s a TOM-style bridge with brass saddles and height-adjusting wheels. On the headstock is a set of vintage-style tuners with ivory-colored “tulip” buttons. It’s a classic setup that is complimentary of the McCarty’s sweet intonation and abundant sustain. This guitar is fun to play without plugging in.
The factory setup provided great playability, right out of the box. The vintage-style neck has a great feel. Its has a thick profile, but it is only a 10-inch radius fretboard. The guitar is well balanced, when it’s attached to a strap. The ergonomics are enhanced by a custom contour design on the back.
Vintage Sunburst
The McCarty comes with great electronics. There is a pair of low-wind PRS 58/15 LT S humbuckers. There is a three-way toggle switch on the upper body, and dual volume and tone controls knobs. There are push/pull switches for splitting the coils. You will have a variety of possibilities for blending the pickups in humbucking or single-coil mode. The SE McCarty can deliver excellent tones for just about any genre or music style..
When played, this guitar is very versatile. It can deliver sparkling clean tones to soaring deep distortion. The neck pickup produces warm sounds, while the upper mids add harmonic tones. The guitar plays solid and clear even when the volume is turned down.
The tone controls give off smooth highs, from zero to ten. When the knobs are pulled upward, it activates single-coil mode. This will give you a milder, open sound without overly reducing the output. The combination of the neck pickup and the bridge humbucker works great for rhythm playing. When both pickups are split, the guitar plays funk-style, clean tones.
SE 245 Vintage Sunburst
SE 245 Whale Blue
SE 245 Tobacco Sunburst
The 58/15 humbuckers produce great distortion. The tones are fat, with a gutsy snarl. The SE McCarty is a great rock machine, but is more powerful when paired with a high-gain amp or overdrive pedal.
PRS SE 245 Charcoal Burst
A classic in its own right, the SE McCarty 594 follows a traditional template, but is completely PRS in terms of playability, hardware, pickups and all the details that make it such a hip evolution of a vintage design. It makes sense that such an instrument would spring from an alliance between two guitar visionaries, and kudos to PRS for producing a version that’s affordable enough for more players to enjoy.
NUT:
Black synthetic, 1 11/16” wide
NECK:
Mahogany, Pattern Vintage profile
FRETBOARD:
Rosewood, 24.594” scale, 10” radius
FRETS:
22
TUNERS:
Vintage style with “tulip” buttons and nickel-plating
BODY:
Mahogany with Shallow Violin carve flame-maple veneer top
BRIDGE:
PRS two-piece bridge and stop tailpiece, nickel-plated zinc
PICKUPS:
PRS 58/15 LT S humbuckers with nickel-plated covers
CONTROLS:
Volume and tone for each pickup, push-pull switching on tone pots for single-coil, 3-way toggle switch on the upper bout
FACTORY STRINGS:
PRS Classic .010–.046
WEIGHT:
8.06 lbs (as tested)
BUILT:
Indonesia
“I think that the best riffs and the best songs come when you’re jamming and having a good time.” … Scott Ian
