McCarty SC594 compared to traditional LP's?

László said:
Lew, you and I think alike. There must've been something in the water in Michigan in the '60s...

And whichever guitar inspires the player is, by definition, a great choice.

"By whose definition?"

"Need you ask? Am I not the fount of all definitions?" :rolleyes:
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There was definitely something in the Rouge River. I fell in it several times as a kid in Detroit and by the time I got home my jeans were brown and stiff as a board! :oops:
 
At a young age in the 80s, I bought a 1986 LP Standard with paper route money and some help from my parents. Still have it and will never sell it. Over time, I switched out the tuners to Grover’s and have played with paf replica pickups. It has history with me.

The two PRS guitars I have are exceptionally well made. If I sell one, it will not be the SSH. That and the EJ strat that I still owe money on are just about perfect for me. Until my new amp therapist counsels me otherwise, of course.

At my age, playing is more stress relief and buying (or thinking about it) is more intellectual stimulation. That I am also finding both of those here is a testament to all of you folks.

Thanks
 
Just spent a few hours playing through my HDRX 20 and Marshall into a Captor X. Both a LP and DGT were used.
(A tele in open G also made an appearance.)

I do like the smaller nut width on the DGT, because I have normal size hands. (Some of youse guys have giant mitts.)
The DGT seems to have a bit less midrange than my LP, and its a bit brighter.

Both sound great. Different enough to own both. No regrets.
 
Lewguitar said:
There was definitely something in the Rouge River. I fell in it several times as a kid in Detroit and by the time I got home my jeans were brown and stiff as a board!
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Could have been worse. Could have been the Cuyahoga River, not far from Detroit, one of the times when the river caught on fire.
 
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El Fenix said:
This is simply not true. Les Pauls vary in resonance, as do nearly all guitars.

Some have more, some less. The most desirable ones are on the lighter side, and very resonant, especially unplugged.
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I have an Epiphone 59 Reissue Les Paul that is the best playing and sounding LP I have played. I have not played any vintage Gibsons but a friend of mine owned a real 59 sunburst and he swears the difference between it and his Epiphone “Lazarus” LP is not that far apart. I also have a new PRS McCarty 594 SE and there is a difference between it and my two Les Pauls, but it is close enough to fool people, and the neck on it is truly special.
I did play a Les Paul Studio Tribute the other day and I found it pretty “dull” sounding. Like you said, there is a lot of variation between models and years of them.
 
xxxadixxx said:
I will start by saying I love my PRS Guitars, which now make up 100% of my guitar collection. This question comes from a place of curiosity and understanding. I have never had the chance to play an "authentic" Les Paul. By the time I could afford a "real" guitar, I dove all the way into the deep end and purchased my dream guitars (the 5 PRS listed in my signature). My guitars do everything I would want and when combined with amp sims (Amplitube SLO-100 and 5150) I am in guitar heaven.

With all of that said, there is so much history and interest in Les Pauls I am curious about what I am missing. As you could imagine by the guitars and amps I play, my style is high-gain, palm mute heavy, and more rhythm focused. All of my guitars are stock and I find the various stock pick-ups perfect for what I need (almost limitless amps and EQ on the sims can do almost anything with the stock pick-ups).

With that background, I am trying to understand how a McCarty SC594 or even a Tremonti would compare to the current LP models in terms of a high-gain playing situation. What exactly would be different if I picked up a relatively new LP Custom compared to the SC594? I would imagine the Slash LP's higher gain pick-ups would be more similar to the Tremonti maybe? As the two brands play to different markets I understand there are different reasons someone would choose either. Tons of people seem to be drawn to G due the style and history while accepting some of the "design challenges" (read tuning stability, headstock breaks, etc.)

I guess what I am trying to say is when someone talks about the "LP Custom sound" I always felt like I know what they are talking about and I instinctively grab my SC594 or when I watch reviews of the Slash LP, I just look at my Tremonti. In both cases I am more than happy with my guitars, but the G hype has my questioning my thoughts as I have never played either of the LP's in person... Am I looking at this the right way or is there something about the LP's I am missing since I have never actually played one? Also, recently every guitar-related Youtube channel I followed got their dream LP (provided by the Candy pushers..) so I am trying to see if I am missing something.

A little eye candy (even if an older picture): My #1 on the right.
52346074610_c79c67110d_z.jpg
I find differences between my McCarty’s and my Les Pauls but there is a lot of variation between Les Pauls themselves. I have a friend who has owned a lot of them including an actual 59 sunburst, so I rely on him for advice. But he also urged me to try a McCarty 594 SE which he thinks sounds better than a lot of Les Pauls. Bottom line, you really should try a few Les Pauls including the Epiphone Inspired by Gibson models. Then you would have a baseline for comparison.
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El Fenix said:
I will say there is something different about a LP Custom vs a Standard. And I'm not the only person to say it. If you asked me to define it, I'd have to give you a word salad that not helpful.

That said, you're not missing this vast sea of differences. Its worth owning both. Because more guitars is more better.
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One differerce is the elegant sound of an ebony fingerboard and the different sound of a rosewood fingerboard. THAT matters. And as Paul says "Everything matters".

In the old days not all Les Paul Customs had a solid maple top. Some were solid mahogany. Some also had three pickups.

I owned one. A 58 or 59. Bought it from Gary Quackenbush. Guitarist for the SRC in Ann Arbor Michigan around 1969 or 70. Cost me $850!
 
Regarding "everything matters ", I've noticed some McCarty's are over 8 lbs while some are significantly under. I saw one listed for sale that was very close to 7 lbs. According to some the heavier guitars are brighter. Others say they have more growl. Mine has a rosewood neck. Brighter and snappier tone or darker and/or more mids, depending on who you ask. I don't have the experience of some of you but I love the rosewood and it seems to me like a tweak of a knob here or there can compensate for the differences. I even found a thread where someone was saying that they got rid of their rosewood neck guitars because they couldn't deal with the excessive mid tones. Ha!
 
Torvald said:
This is probably the main reason I thought I'd never want a Gibson, but then I went and bought an SG. I figured I could avoid breaking it. Every time I play it, though, I think that they really didn't need that much angle back on the headstock.
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If I am reading an accurate history of the Les Paul, the first 1000 or so Les Pauls were shipped with a much shallower headstock angle. That, in conjunction with the height of the trapeze bridge led to insufficient string tension. Gibson finally remedied this by increasing the headstock angle to 17 degrees and replacing the trapeze bridge with a one piece stop bar bridge. Which raises the question as to whether they went overboard on the headstock angle. Apparently someone must have thought so as Gibson reduced the angle to 14 degrees in the sixties only to change it back to 17 in 2002.
Epiphone, on the other hand has used 14 degrees on all of their Les Pauls. Most of their necks are of multi-piece construction employing a scarf joint at the headstock. Some think this is actually stronger than using a single piece of wood at the neck.
 
Lewguitar said:
One differerce is the elegant sound of an ebony fingerboard and the different sound of a rosewood fingerboard. THAT matters. And as Paul says "Everything matters".

In the old days not all Les Paul Customs had a solid maple top. Some were solid mahogany. Some also had three pickups.

I owned one. A 58 or 59. Bought it from Gary Quackenbush. Guitarist for the SRC in Ann Arbor Michigan around 1969 or 70. Cost me $850!
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I've got a Greco EGC 57-60 with 3 pickups that's all mahogany.

Rosewood fingerboard. Cool guitar.
 
Longneck Tenon said:
Epiphone, on the other hand has used 14 degrees on all of their Les Pauls. Most of their necks are of multi-piece construction employing a scarf joint at the headstock. Some think this is actually stronger than using a single piece of wood at the neck.
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It is. Simple matter of physics. With the grain, it is called.
 
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