Epic N5D: Private Stock SC 594 in "Cherry Tobacco Burst"!

[MA Pete]

Holy smokes!! What a great new SC 594 day!

Spec'ed in person September 7th, 2016 at the factory, with Eric of Willcutt Guitars. Spec'ed for the milestone of my 50th Birthday. So lots of pressure to be great!!

I am blown away, it is incredible!

Custom finish that I worked quite a bit with Paul Miles on, and he NAILED IT!! More on that later. Love the Diamond Knot inlays, really great on this guitar.

The neck is the beefiest 594 neck I have ever felt. If it were a Historic, it would be a '58, not a '59, LOL! It feels beefy in a good way, a little bigger than any other guitar I own, but I like it, it feels "right" with the vibe of this guitar.

The back is a special custom finish too, I very specifically asked for Tobacco with a little Cherry in it, and asked for no grain filler whatsoever, let the grain show through. The back and neck are gorgeous!

I have never seen a Mahogany Neck with such great flame, a Tobacco finish and still this is showing through!

The grain in the dark Brazzy board is killer. Subtle because the board is so dark, but up close it is beautiful, which is what I was going for.

I did the Semi-Gloss Nitro like the prototype, I love it on this guitar, like an old baseball glove.

The Diamond Knot Inlays are awesome!

The top is really great, and really nice flame, more so vintage, not too fancy. It is very 3D and parts of it become more subtle at different angles. Sure, I could have picked a sicker Private Stock looking top, but I was going for vintage for this guitar.

Most important, the tone - OMG, awesome! I am speechless in that regard. More on that later as I get to know it better. It feels amazing as well, a very unique resonance and power to the resonance, that subtle kind of stuff is important to me, each great guitar has its own personality in that regard.

Happy Belated Birthday to me!!

 

[bluenova]

That is mighty tasty right there.

 

[toothace]

Happy belated 50th and welcome to your 50's! That is a wonderful present to yourself!!

 

[dkilpatrick]

Knocked it out of the park Pete

 

[sloanthebone]

They should just replace the "Like" button with a "Gratz Pete!" button.

Anyway, Gratz Pete! Another insanely awesome addition! Love the back color. And the top color. And the brazzy board. And the knots. F#ck it, I love all of it.

 

[sloanthebone]

Oh and is this #100?

 

[MA Pete]

Thanks everyone, for the kind words!

Oh and is this #100?

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, this is my 100th PRS! I forgot about that, thanks for the reminder, John!

1 in the early 2000's , 99 since 2008. 30+ of them DC/SC 245 Ted's, and 20+ DC/SC 594's, so over half of them Short Scale PRSi! It's been quite an adventure.

This is a VERY fitting special #100!

 

[dmatthews]

Happy birthday! That is absolutely incredible!!!

 

[László]

It's one of the most beautiful, classic, and desirable guitars I've ever seen, Pete! Absolutely killer. Happy B'day (again)!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Bangin'!

Great... Now I gotta play all your guitars all over again to pick the best one.

 

[Callan]

Fantastic Pete, it looks sensational.
Great way to mark your big milestone.

 

[FJ4]

That guitar is Stunning! congrats Pete!

 

[ViperDoc]

CHERRY TOBACCO BURST, WOW. That finish is sensational, very well done, Pete. It screams classic. Enjoy!

 

[Skeeter]

Another stunner Pete! Congrats!

And that neck?!

 

[bodia]

Glorious, Pete! Simply glorious! A perfect gift to yourself. Enjoy that one. Love, love, love the finish!

 

[Elliot]

You definitely captured the vintage look. Love the finish and the flamed hog neck.

 

[veinbuster]

Happy 100, and 50.

 

[Boogie]

Epic. Now you have to start thinking about year 53's build.

 

[vchizzle]

Happy 50th. Excited to hear your thoughts on the tone given you've owned nearly every 594 built. But seriously, with the 2 proto's, you've got 3(?) main ones that are pretty close?

 

[MA Pete]

Thanks for the very kind words, everyone!

Bangin'!

Great... Now I gotta play all your guitars all over again to pick the best one.

Yeah, that would be great!

Happy 50th. Excited to hear your thoughts on the tone given you've owned nearly every 594 built. But seriously, with the 2 proto's, you've got 3(?) main ones that are pretty close?

Yes, I have 3 very close, 3 that are Private Stock or PS Prototypes, all 3 with Mahogany Body and neck and Brazilian Board. All 3 have the Semi-Gloss Nitro finish as well, which is glorious in feel and vibe, and I suspect may also affect tone. I like that finish so much, I might just have to evolve the entire collection to guitars of that finish!

The "Original" Prototype is heavier at 8 pounds 9 ounces (actually that is average for Core SC 594's). The Rumbleseat Prototype is very light at about 8 pounds even. This one is light too at 8 pounds 1.4 ounces.

All three pickups are different, the Prototype has 5815 LT's in it. Not the ones that shipped with the guitar, it had 5815 LT's, then ThroBak PG-102 Peter Green pickups (not out of phase), regular 5815's, and then back to a different set of LT's with Gold Screws from Alan/Yankeebulldog. They were all pretty darn great, but these LT's that are in there now are IMO the best of the 4 sets that have been in there. The Rumbleseat Prototype has a PRS custom wound mysterious set of pickups in there just labeled "Rumbleseat A" and "Rumbleseat B". They measure 7.85K on the Bridge, and 7.78K on the Neck, so low output like the LT's. From the notes on the back of the pickups, it seems the bridge has an Alnico 4 magnet, and the Neck has an Alnico 2. That is different from the LT's re magnets, as we know the Bridge and Neck for the LT's is identical. This new one has a regular 5815 in the Bridge, and an LT in the Neck, so it has the hottest bridge pickup of the three (probably around 8.5K?).

The Original Prototype has been declared by me as the finest guitar I have ever played, and it retained that title as the Rumbleseat Prototype arrived (but only by a narrow margin). (Sergio agreed in his assessment from his recent visit here). This new one so far is right up there with the two of them. You can hear the slightly hotter bridge pickup of this one when comparing the 3. (Which I did for a couple of hours last night!)

They all resonate very differently, they have their own personalities in that regard, all three amazing and similar, but each unique in "feel".

More on tone comparisons when I get more time with them, and get some other local Forum hands and ears on them.

Without a doubt my 3 favorite guitars ever for this style of guitar!