Info on my 2002 PRS McCarty 10 Top?

ken2esq

ken2esq

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Hi Ken,

That's a great looking guitar. I don't doubt that guitar was $3000 new...maybe even a little more. But I'm afraid used is a different story. Unless it's a special run like one of the Wilcutt's Wood Library guitars, I'd guess your guitar is worth between $1500 and $1800. You can get the full specs by reading the MODCAT code. That's a long string of letters and numbers that describe all of the various options of that particular guitar. You can sometimes find the MODCAT on the hangtag, or sometimes a sticker on the case. However, the surest way is to remove the bridge pickup and read the code directly off the sticker in the pickup cavity. There are links here for MODCAT readers.

Good luck,
bs
 
There is a flash in the pic so that makes it hard to tell for sure but it looks like maybe blue crab blue, just not sure how long that color has been around. If you have the modcat info then look up the modcat thread and that will tell you for sure.
 
Yes, the number on the back of the headstock is the serial number. Like I said, the MODCAT is a code of letters and numbers on a sticker in the pickup cavity.

ken2esq said:
So the ModCat is different from the number on the back of the headstock?

Ken
Click to expand...
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDhjKGF8e9w

Watch this video , 6:30

n8pfuwH.png


there's your sticker
 
The most likely color candidate would be Blue Matteo. It typically looks bluer than that, but it's one of those colors that varies greatly in the light. I've seen them look really rich blue all the way to an almost turquoise like this one. Got any pics in natural light? I think the flash has washed the color out.

But of course with PRS, any color is possible. Every now and then they slip interesting things into the mix...
 
I'm not going to bother removing bridge pick up to find modcat. I e-mailed PRS with the serial no., thought they might be able to pull up records from that, tell me about it, but no response yet.

I looked up the Blue Matteo and every one I see is much darker than mine.

Really, the color seems exactly like this private stock:
http://www.prsguitars.com/privatestock/gallery/2303.php
though the grain is a bit different.

This one is also very close, in shade, in the wood stain around it, and in the wood grain, too, except mine is a tad bit more turquoise (though that does vary somewhat with the lighting).
http://briansguitars.com/product/used-paul-reed-smith-ted-mccarty-dc245-wood-library-limited

This is actually the MOST identical I can find, in terms of color -- the blue is the same, the grain is near identical, the wood-tones of the sides/back/neck are the same. It would be a twin except, of course, different model, different controls.
http://173.201.187.16/index.php?product=PRS-WL0114&c=13

Here's another one that is a near twin, again with slightly different controls and maybe a hair less turquoise.
http://willcuttguitars.com/paul-ree...llery/prs-private-stock-3045-dgt-glacier-blue

Here's one more near twin McCarty, in color, though controls slightly different, has tremolo, which is private stock on Ebay for $11,000 (good luck buddy).
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/221274488301?lpid=82&item=221274488301&lgeo=1&vectorid=229466

Well, every single one of these that is a similar color to mine is listed as Glacier Blue. I have to conclude mine is Glacier Blue... Maybe I'm wrong that Glacier Blue is a private stock exclusive color? (I read it in another thread on this forum, I think, and whoever wrote that could have been mistaken.)

I know I'm obsessing over what is a minute issue -- what to call the color of the guitar -- when it is the sound that matters, and the color is what it is, I am just wondering if there's a story behind it, like one day some one happened to grab this guitar to stain it and for some reason thought it was a private stock guitar and did not realize it was not until after they had applied the Glacier Blue, so they let it slide. I guess the notion the guitar is one-of-a-kind appeals to me. But, whatever the truth turns out to be, I'm happy with it because of the quality/tone, the color is secondary to me.

Ken
 
Back in the day, if you were properly connected, you could special order things like a standard guitar with custom finish. So it's possible. Hopefully PRS will have some info. Otherwise, pulling the pickups isn't a big deal and the cavities should be marked.
 
Conclude what you will, but Glacier Blue was not an option in 2002…

It's probably Blue Matteo...
 
JMintzer said:
Conclude what you will, but Glacier Blue was not an option in 2002…

It's probably Blue Matteo...
Click to expand...
Right. Doubt glacier even existed as a color then. Most likely Blue Matteo...it is possible that it the color could've faded too.
 
vchizzle said:
...it is possible that it the color could've faded too.
Click to expand...

This! Not sure why it took this long to get here. ;)

Lots of PRS colours are prone to fading if they are kept in direct sunlight... I've seen some extreme examples, and anything with blue it in seems especially prone.

Here is a guitar that was whale blue when it was released in the 80s -
blue8505.jpg


I would bet a very large frosty beer that OP's guitar is indeed blue matteo, and it looks how it does thanks to fading and being photographed in a certain luck way.
 
Glacier Blue was not an option in 2002? Well, that would rule that out. That's a lot of fading to get from the Blue Matteos I've seen to what it is now, but I guess as Sherlock Holmes says, "Once you have eliminated the impossible, then whatever is left, however, improbable, must be true."

I did a lot of googling trying to find a definitive list of what stains / colors PRS was using year by year, so I'd know the "universe" of possibilities for this color, and then it should be easy-peasy to deduce which it most looks like, which would then 99% be what it is. I was not able to find such a list. The PRS site has only a very brief (and I've read incomplete) history of the models made over the years and tech specs, but not colors.

Anyway, if there is such a list, I'd really appreciate a link to it.

Ken
 
Is there a white sticker on the end of the case?

If so, that contains the same "MODCAT" info that's in the pup cavity. Post it here, and we'll decipher it for you...
 
I like how the OP is doing all this research, but it would be a done deal if you check under the bridge pickup. Of course if you don't want to it is your choice. But, is it time for a string change?????
 
It's Blue Matteo! I'm the original owner of that guitar as per serial number! I bought it from Guitar Rez! It had tone Pros locking studs and Dunlop strap locks when I last saw it! There was that "greening" to some of the grain in the finish if I am correct also! I think I gave it to Willcutts on consignment for my 20th Custom 24!
 
Last edited:
jbird said:
It's Blue Matteo! I'm the original owner of that guitar as per serial number! I bought it from Guitar Rez! It had tone Pros locking studs and Dunlop strap locks when I last saw it! There was that "greening" to some of the grain in the finish if I am correct also! I think I gave it to Willcutts on consignment for my 20th Custom 24!
Click to expand...

Well, there you go!

People forget how much Blue Matteo could vary in color. Maple can be very white, to yellow in color. Put a blue stain on white maple and it'll be more blue. Put it on a yellow maple and you'll see more green...
 
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