McCarty 594 Hollowbody and Hollowbody II Weight Balance?

[jm9239]

I'm considering adding a McCarty 594 Hollowbody or Hollowbody II to the mix. I love light guitars because of a bad back but I despise neck dive.

That said, to those of you with either hollowbody, how is the balance? Do you experience any neck dive?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Malloc]

My singlecut HBII with a mahogany neck has what I consider “slight” neck dive, but it’s well worth it when I want the weight savings (admittedly that’s most live playing). I’ve never had a 594 to compare with though I would characterize my CU22 as more balanced by a small margin.

 

[jak3af3r]

I have a singlecut HBI with a mahogany neck and it's balance is, like Malloc said, shifted slightly towards the neck but I don't have any issues with it diving because I use leather straps. Sitting and playing, it's almost unnoticeable.

 

[Lacire]

I have a SC HB II with the piezo pickup that I bought to relieve some of the weight off my bad neck and shoulder. I don’t notice any neck dive with this one. It is a little heavier than others I’ve seen advertised at 6 lb 3 oz. I’ve always used a leather strap on my guitars and on this one I replaced the hollow metal tuner buttons with ebony, more for looks than a weight savings. Just an FYI the hollow metal Gotoh buttons on the PRS phase II tuners were 47 grams a set while the ebony weighed 12 grams; about 1 1/4oz off the end of the headstock.

 

[Callan]

I've not had any neck dive on my HBii, but same as @Lacire I use a leather strap. Balance is also great.

Good luck to your wallet if you get one in your hands.

 

[docteurseb]

I used to have a HBII with RW neck last year, and recently got a semi-hollow 594 with RW neck.
The HBII was definitely neck heavy playing in the lap and would have been worse with a strap. Even the non RW necks models will be neck heavy (these things are I the 5.5-6lbs range) but with a wide suede strap it should be no issue.
The semi-hollow 594 isn't neck heavy, it's 7lbs so a good 1lbs heavier than the HBII was.

 

[Tag]

Neither my McCarty HB or HB 594 were or are neck heavy.
Perfectly balanced. My HB weighed 5.5 lbs and my 594 HB weighs 5.9. Killer guitars.