Mccarty Setup

[PeterK]

Hi all,

I believe this is my first thread. I purchased a Mccarty recently and I am having a lot of trouble figuring out the right set up for me. I had it shipped from the factory with 11s as opposed to 10s and I have not been able to get used to it with 11s or 10s for that matter. My main guitar has been a HB2 so I figured that 11s would be a perfect fit for my newest addition

I am assuming this is a matter of setup because everything else on the guitar is 100%

My normal experience with PRSi is that they feel very lush and buttery to the touch and are very easy for finger vibrato. With mine, it feels very stiff and bending strings is very difficult. I am also having a hard time being able to grip the strings in general. Now, I have tried to adjust the truss-rod and bridge height to the best of my abilities but I haven't been able to reach that sweet spot yet.

My hope here is that someone might have some pointers to ease my mind before I take it in to my local shop for a setup. Is it the nut angle, bridge height, fret height??

Just FYI, the specs on this guitar are: Mccarty, 25" scale, hard-tail wraparound bridge, pattern neck, 11 gauge strings with a plain G. I am willing to switch to 10s if they feel right. I just don't understand why this guitar feels so off. My other guitar is a Hollowbody 2 with almost the exact same specs, only difference being the body, and it feels perfectly fine. Any help is appreciated!!

This is in no way meant to put down the good people on final assembly at PRS. Someone else could pick up my guitar and think the setup is absolutely perfect for them but I am trying to adjust this thing to my preferences and my hands.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

My main guitar has been a HB2 so I figured that 11s would be a perfect fit for my newest addition

I don't understand this. I also don't understand "...or 10s for that matter..." -- did you actually try switching to 10s?

Try playing seated. McCarty and HB are at the opposite ends of the scale, weight wise.

 

[Alan Manning]

Mmm!! Very uncommon. I recently purchased a McCarty, had it shipped over from the states
it was in customs for a couple of wks & straight out of the case all I had to do was tweak three strings (slightly)
& it played straight of the bat no problem & that's with a trem as well. I kid you not !!!
Maybe a local luthier could help ??. Mine came with stock 10s btw.
Hope you have success.

 

[PeterK]

I don't understand this. I also don't understand "...or 10s for that matter..." -- did you actually try switching to 10s?

Try playing seated. McCarty and HB are at the opposite ends of the scale, weight wise.

I probably should have clarified that I'm running 11s on my HB. I figured that if I put 11s on my Mccarty, it would feel similar to the HB, tension wise

 

[PeterK]

Mmm!! Very uncommon. I recently purchased a McCarty, had it shipped over from the states
it was in customs for a couple of wks & straight out of the case all I had to do was tweak three strings (slightly)
& it played straight of the bat no problem & that's with a trem as well. I kid you not !!!
Maybe a local luthier could help ??. Mine came with stock 10s btw.
Hope you have success.

Thank you! I'm hoping the local luthier here will set it up right!

 

[vchizzle]

Funny, that's what most solidbody players say when they try a hollowbody!

 

[dogrocketp]

I play 12`s on my archtops, and 9`s or 10`s on my solid bodies. Take it to your luthier, Take your hollowbody so he/she can see what you like, and then follow their advice. Make sure you take it to a good luthier, not GC or some place where a guy fixes guitars because he`s the only one there who knows anything.

 

[László]

Not saying this is the case, because I don't actually know, but perhaps the neck angle and other details for the Iollowbodies are a little different, thus affecting the string tension.

I'd put .010s on it and not worry about it.

 

[Mixstar]

I personally wouldn't dream of using any higher than tens on a solid body. I did have twelve's on a Canadian archtop I used to own, damned hard work. I'd slap tens on there and beat the hell out of it.

 

[markintime]

10's are on all of mine, except for the '07 McCarty I just got this week which came with 9's. I changed my very first SE CU24 to 9.5's and liked it quite well, but it has been sold. On the 2 SE's I have now, I have fine sanded the nut slots to make sure there is no binding and tuning is great with 10's. They all work quite well for me. I will take my time with my new McCarty before deciding about any changes... honeymoon time!

 

[PeterK]

Funny, that's what most solidbody players say when they try a hollowbody!

haha right?

 

[PeterK]

I play 12`s on my archtops, and 9`s or 10`s on my solid bodies. Take it to your luthier, Take your hollowbody so he/she can see what you like, and then follow their advice. Make sure you take it to a good luthier, not GC or some place where a guy fixes guitars because he`s the only one there who knows anything.

Really? Interesting, how is it switching guitars with such different string gauges? I'm finding it very interesting how a lot of people here use heavier gauges on their HBs and regular gauges on their solid body guitars

 

[PeterK]

Not saying this is the case, because I don't actually know, but perhaps the neck angle and other details for the Iollowbodies are a little different, thus affecting the string tension.

I'd put .010s on it and not worry about it.

I think that's what I'll end up doing. The ones I have played in shops feel perfectly fine with 10s. I thought 11s would work but I guess solid body guitars like 10s better

 

[PeterK]

I personally wouldn't dream of using any higher than tens on a solid body. I did have twelve's on a Canadian archtop I used to own, damned hard work. I'd slap tens on there and beat the hell out of it.

I think that's what I'm going to do. Just out of curiosity, why wouldn't you put 10s on a solid body?

 

[PeterK]

10's are on all of mine, except for the '07 McCarty I just got this week which came with 9's. I changed my very first SE CU24 to 9.5's and liked it quite well, but it has been sold. On the 2 SE's I have now, I have fine sanded the nut slots to make sure there is no binding and tuning is great with 10's. They all work quite well for me. I will take my time with my new McCarty before deciding about any changes... honeymoon time!

That's quite a collection you have! Really cool how different guitars like different gauges. I guess it's not a one size fits all situation

 

[Russ73]

OP try 9.5s if 10 is feeling stiff, I have them on my satin and they bend easy...

 

[dogrocketp]

Really? Interesting, how is it switching guitars with such different string gauges? I'm finding it very interesting how a lot of people here use heavier gauges on their HBs and regular gauges on their solid body guitars

The technique for archtop is very different. Basically, you learn how to beat the crap out of the hollow body strings. We`re talking big band or 20`s jazz, so unfortunately Paul doesn`t have that yet. It means an archtop at least 3 inches thick, one pickup and usually no cutaway.

 

[rugerpc]

The technique for archtop is very different. Basically, you learn how to beat the crap out of the hollow body strings. We`re talking big band or 20`s jazz, so unfortunately Paul doesn`t have that yet. It means an archtop at least 3 inches thick, one pickup and usually no cutaway.

...ummmm, you mean like this?

And regular archtop said can still be had on the used market f it doesn't HAVE to be a single cut. One pickup? Ignore the other one.

 

[dogrocketp]

These are nice archtops, but you can`t get a Freddie Green, Bucky Pizzarelli type sound on them.Think Epiphone Emperor, pre war L-5, Genuine D`Angelico, Old Gretch Synchromatic, Stromberg archtop. In other words, old Jazz box. They all have what we call "bark"when you pound on them, and they`re really only good at that one sound. PRSi are much more versatile, but don`t do the straight four thing to my liking. it`s about the top vibrating. Two pickups changes the vibrations a lot. Even cutting a hole for one pickup changes the sound a lot. It`s about outmoded design, not price. Remember, only a banjo sounds like a banjo.

 

[Mixstar]

Just out of curiosity, why wouldn't you put 10s on a solid body?

I personally wouldn't dream of using any higher than tens

Mainly because I don't notice any real difference, sonically, going to 11's or 12's and with the gammy fingers on my left hand 10's are about as much as I can handle. Archtops seem ok with 12's to me although I did sell mine as I couldn't get on with it