McCarty 594 darker sounding that my other guitars

[deanproxy]

I'm an owner of a lovely 2022 594 double cut. One thing I have noticed is that this guitar is a lot darker sounding that my other guitars. At first, I thought this was due to the LT pickups, so I replaced the bridge pickup with a few different pickups to see if I could get a change in tone. I tried a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates, a Custom 5, and currently have a Full Shred in there. All 3 of those are the brightest pickups I own and sound incredibly bright in other guitars I have. By comparison, when I'm playing my Les Paul with a Custom 5 in the bridge, I'll set the treble on my amp to around 11:30. With my Strat and Tele the Treble is around 10:30 - 11:00 When I use the 594, I have to push it up to around 3:00, and it still seems to lack a little something. The Les Paul sounds more open and bright, as well as the Strat and Tele, then I plug in the PRS 594 and I notice myself reaching for the tone knob immediately wondering if it's rolled down or something.

Does the 594 just have a darker tone to it? I'm wondering if all the brass contact points along with a bone nut theses things have makes the top end a lot tamer than other guitars? Or maybe it's by design and there's something with the wiring I could switch around to make it sound more open? It's a lovely playing guitar, but it is rather dark sounding in comparison. Almost a compressed sound to it. It's not muddy or anything like that, but definitely doesn't let the treble ring out as prominently as my other guitars.

 

[tiboy]

My GOM 594 is noticeably brighter than my R9.

 

[deanproxy]

Why does my 594 hate me then? We will apparently need to go to counseling.

 

[Rod/]

It’s the particular woods that they used because the same species of wood will vary in weight, tone ect
Of the same model, some guitars will be bright, some darker, some lighter, some heavier, ect……
Generally speaking, heavier guitars will sound more dense, sometimes darker and lighter guitars are more airy sounding with more highs…… but that’s just a generalization……
I’ve been down this road before as well..
Honestly, sell the guitar and if you can, try out a number of the same model and pick the one that talks to you.
I have an opposite issue with my DGT. It’s kind of bright, but I use the tone control to tame that in the bridge pickup for overdrive lead playing which works well….The neck pickup on the other hand sounds incredible….. And for rhythm work, the guitar excels masterfully…..

 

[tyfu20]

It sucks that you're not binding with the tones, I've been down that road often with guitars I should be in love with. I concur with what Rod/ said above. Good luck!

 

[garrett]

I'm going to guess it's just the particular guitar you have. Some instruments are like that. For example, my S2 Singlecut Standard was really dark. A set of Suhr Thornbuckers woke it up a bit, but I always had to bump up the treble compared to my other guitars.

While my 594 doesn't have the top end clarity of a Custom with 85/15 pickups, it's still in the same tonal universe as the other humbucker guitars I've owned (except that Singlecut).

The sucky thing is, you can tame a bright guitar, but there's not much you can do with a dark one. Brighter pickups, 1 meg volume pots, no-load tone pots, use only a short low-capacitance cable. But those are all relatively marginal changes.

 

[Ovibos]

I'm going to guess it's just the particular guitar you have. Some instruments are like that. For example, my S2 Singlecut Standard was really dark.

I had the same experience with that model - an S2 Singlecut Standard Satin. Really wanted to like it, but it was just dark no matter what I did. Sold it on.

 

[RickP]

My 594s are also relatively bright guitars, which I attribute to the lower wound pickups when comparing to similar mahogany/maple guitars. I doubt a pickup change would actually get you any “brighter” tone than a LT, short of a non-HB type. As long as you can eq it to a good tone, you’re good. I mean on its own, not in comparison to other guitars or plugging into an amp set for another guitar.

As an example, my Hollowbody Spuce guitars have Archtop pickups in them and are much darker sounding than the 594. But if the amp is set for them, they just roar! So, they’re only dark by comparison, not dark on their own.

If it’s a dead sounding dark, no matter what you do, it’s an unusual 594 that you might have to move on from. Someone is looking for that guitar, though!

 

[AP515]

I agree with all of the above. Try raising the pickups just to see how much the tone changes.

 

[László]

My 594s have been bright as well.

I wonder if something's wrong with one or both of the tone pots or other wiring/electronics?

 

[aphantomvaper]

My S2 594 was dark. I moved it on as I couldn't add what wasn't there, tonally. However there is some credence to setting an amp for the particular guitar's tone. I usually see a full range speaker with only a volume control so the S2 594 I had just wasn't for me. My SE HB II Piezo sounds amazing through that amp and has the same pickups.

Les has an excellent point. It doesn't take much to reduce tone with a wiring issue.

I really want to try another 594 though, and will someday.

 

[alantig]

Just had my 594 SC out today. Dark is not a word I would use for it.

 

[ViperDoc]

Do you have a treble bleed? Bad volume or tone pot? What value is your tone cap? How long is your cable? Do you play through a rig in front of your amp? If so, try plugging straight into your amp and see if that makes a difference (if so, look for tone suck).

 

[Explicit]

I'm an owner of a lovely 2022 594 double cut. One thing I have noticed is that this guitar is a lot darker sounding that my other guitars. At first, I thought this was due to the LT pickups, so I replaced the bridge pickup with a few different pickups to see if I could get a change in tone. I tried a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates, a Custom 5, and currently have a Full Shred in there. All 3 of those are the brightest pickups I own and sound incredibly bright in other guitars I have. By comparison, when I'm playing my Les Paul with a Custom 5 in the bridge, I'll set the treble on my amp to around 11:30. With my Strat and Tele the Treble is around 10:30 - 11:00 When I use the 594, I have to push it up to around 3:00, and it still seems to lack a little something. The Les Paul sounds more open and bright, as well as the Strat and Tele, then I plug in the PRS 594 and I notice myself reaching for the tone knob immediately wondering if it's rolled down or something.

Does the 594 just have a darker tone to it? I'm wondering if all the brass contact points along with a bone nut theses things have makes the top end a lot tamer than other guitars? Or maybe it's by design and there's something with the wiring I could switch around to make it sound more open? It's a lovely playing guitar, but it is rather dark sounding in comparison. Almost a compressed sound to it. It's not muddy or anything like that, but definitely doesn't let the treble ring out as prominently as my other guitars.

1- Check pickup height - closer to the strings, brighter.
2- Check the tone and vol pots with a multimeter and see if it goes from 0 to 500 k (with some 10% tolerance ).
3- Check if capacitor installed is .02uF

If 2 and 3 are not ok swap them with correct one´s.

However keep in mind that:
a) different guitars with different pickups sound different. My CU 24 with 85/15 is radically more bright than my 594.
a) different guitars with same pickups may sound different. My 594 is brighter than my Studio. Both have 58/15 LT but their dc output and inductance have different values. Also their bridges are different models and that has a clear impact on tone.

But you know what, get a good equalizer pedal ( I use Boss EQ-200; stay away from cheap junk) and all your tone problems are over...