Eseffinga
Hermit
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2013
- Messages
- 99
When I started 2024 I had only 1 PRS. That was all I needed.
Back in the mid-late 90’s, the McCarty soapbar was the guitar that taught me what my musical wheel house was.
And the 2001 antique white guitar felt like a very fresh and seemingly rare color choice when I picked it up. More often than not, I am generally a less-is-more person when it comes to guitar aesthetics.
I “upgraded” this McSoapy with a few more modern PRS appointments, and it’s a stunner IMO. No flashy flames or fancy woods. Just a super classy instrument. At least it outclasses me to be sure. And it sounds wonderful with a set of Wolfetones, that I find preferable to the Duncans PRS was doing back then. I dunno what PRS puts in for soapbars now.
I had felt the PRS itch was firmly scratched by the soapbar, and I was proud of myself.
They say pride comes before the fall. Autumn was here, and off the wagon I fell. Lightning had struck with the 594 I didn’t know I needed.
You see, I fell out of love with the whole of the PRS line for a long time. Maybe a decade. Going from having over a dozen in the beginning of the 2000s, with many of those being McCartys of many varieties. 1st year 94s, McCarty trem (the pre-DGT, we’ll come back to this), multiple Rosewood necked McSoapy standards. McSoapy trems. CU22 soapbar NAMM guitars, etc. And musically I lived and breathed that McCarty sound. And loved finding rare and proto variations to try.
But then medical things happened, and I think I needed a total mental reset of sorts. And so away went the entire PRS fleet. Not all at once, but in pretty short order. One or two at a time. And eventually, nearly all my guitars.
And after a bit of time away, I started finding myself playing again. But differently. My home base was, and maybe forever will be on a Gibson. An old dogged out walnut “The Paul” Les Paul I picked up as a teen was my first real guitar. Long gone, but that scale just always felt right.
When I departed ways with my hoard of PRS, everything was the original 25” scale. And just as I was walking out, PRS was starting to bring in the 245s. I think had I tried one, I would have been an early adopter, but that wsn’t where my head was at.
And so I had watched from afar, as the PRS line has shifted and evolved over the ages. But I went “home”. Picking up a heavily used Les Paul R6, and then eventually, an R7. And then came others. But after a decade away, the nostalgia for PRS crept back in a few years ago, first an early 2000s McCarty that I played a bit and eventually sold… and then the Soapie happened. So I was happy.
But over the last decade and a half, I have had an eye on all the PRS offerings. Watched demos. Played in a store here or there. Had my eye on a DGT once or twice, a Korina McCarty or three, and especially as the 245 gave way to the 594 guitars.
It took me a while to warm to the blocky vibe of the bridge system, but the functionality was undeniable. But still, no matter what I saw or tried, there was a disconnect. And I already had LPs. So the 594 just felt… unnecessary. If not sonically, then mentally. But I couldn’t stop looking.
For years and years I looked. And even though I thought for sure I’d eventually end up with a DC version because it’s different, and came veryyy close to buying one from a shop in March of this year…. I waffled on it for a couple days, and when I finally caved and went back for it, it was gone. Doh!
Buy my fate ended up being for a different 594 entirely.
I ended up finally picking up this 594 Wood Library, with BRW board, and a Korina neck and body.
Korina was my pre-PRS dream and post-PRS revelation. It could have happened during my PRS heyday, as back in 2000 PRS refused to build a guitar out of Korina for my Private Stock order. This was way back in the “if you can dream it we can build it” PS era of mandolins, doublenecks, 7 strings, etc. So not the current pick off the list PS order sheet. Their reasoning was… a separate discussion. I went another way, had a Korina guitar with P90s built elsewhere, and my sonic world shifted immediately.
I loved Korina (why I asked PRS for it), and I knew it would make an amazing PRS. It took PRS another 7 years to finally jump onto the Korina train…I digress.
But this new 594 is just chef’s kiss, perfect for me. It’s not a Les Paul variation. It’s a killer PRS that really rocks in a complimentary vocal way. Feels great. Absolutely rips. Love the all Nitro. And bonus, it is as pretty a piece of over the top maple as I could ever want. “Less is more” went out the window.
So I thought, OK… 2… and done!!!
And then a used 1 year old DGT popped up for sale just a couple weeks later, and nearby the factory. So I drove up to MD and checked it out, a great price, and despite my best efforts to avoid more guitars, I bought it. I am usually NOT a matching guitar guy. I kinda go out of my way to avoid it. And yet here I am.
We are in the proverbial “honeymoon” phase. I am still making some mostly aesthetic tweaks to it. It feels like the McCarty trem of my dreams though. I dunno why it took me so long to actually get one. The 2 volumes is fantastic. Everyone said you gotta try… I felt like I’d been there and done that many times. I should have gotten to it sooner.
And that is where my 2024 PRS journey would end. What a ride...
Until yesterday when I made a hail mary offer on an ‘08 Korina McCarty that needs some help. To my surprise, the seller accepted, and now I have an “upgrade” resto-mod type project on the way here. Supposedly I could have it in hand before the 1st of the year… but it needs proper pickups, tuners, and such to undo some bad choices. So some time before I get it back to usable.
Oh lord.
I should also add, this is NOT a normal gear year for me. I go years without buying things. It has not been a huge money $plurge either. Though it still feels like it. But I sold off some pretty spendy but sonically redundant Les Pauls, with no intention to buy more guitars. It was to “simplify” for less guitars. hahaha. Joke is on me. More of a sideways shuffle. Argh.
But this is it. No more guitar musical chairs. I’ll play these. An over abundance of musical riches. Figure out what is really gonna stay, and go from there. Feeling too old to continue doing big gear shuffles.
Feels weird with this many PRS guitars in the house again. But also excited at the prospect of music to come.
Sorry for the tl/dr.
Bonus points for anyone reading my rambling history. I thought it might explain some of my own mindset, as I don’t post much, and haven’t since the Birds and Moons board days. Consider it a year’s worth of sharing posts all at once.
Share your 2024 recap if you like.
I’ll read em.
-e.
Pictured:
2023 DGT, 2024 WL 594, 2001 McSoapy
Back in the mid-late 90’s, the McCarty soapbar was the guitar that taught me what my musical wheel house was.
And the 2001 antique white guitar felt like a very fresh and seemingly rare color choice when I picked it up. More often than not, I am generally a less-is-more person when it comes to guitar aesthetics.
I “upgraded” this McSoapy with a few more modern PRS appointments, and it’s a stunner IMO. No flashy flames or fancy woods. Just a super classy instrument. At least it outclasses me to be sure. And it sounds wonderful with a set of Wolfetones, that I find preferable to the Duncans PRS was doing back then. I dunno what PRS puts in for soapbars now.
I had felt the PRS itch was firmly scratched by the soapbar, and I was proud of myself.
They say pride comes before the fall. Autumn was here, and off the wagon I fell. Lightning had struck with the 594 I didn’t know I needed.
You see, I fell out of love with the whole of the PRS line for a long time. Maybe a decade. Going from having over a dozen in the beginning of the 2000s, with many of those being McCartys of many varieties. 1st year 94s, McCarty trem (the pre-DGT, we’ll come back to this), multiple Rosewood necked McSoapy standards. McSoapy trems. CU22 soapbar NAMM guitars, etc. And musically I lived and breathed that McCarty sound. And loved finding rare and proto variations to try.
But then medical things happened, and I think I needed a total mental reset of sorts. And so away went the entire PRS fleet. Not all at once, but in pretty short order. One or two at a time. And eventually, nearly all my guitars.
And after a bit of time away, I started finding myself playing again. But differently. My home base was, and maybe forever will be on a Gibson. An old dogged out walnut “The Paul” Les Paul I picked up as a teen was my first real guitar. Long gone, but that scale just always felt right.
When I departed ways with my hoard of PRS, everything was the original 25” scale. And just as I was walking out, PRS was starting to bring in the 245s. I think had I tried one, I would have been an early adopter, but that wsn’t where my head was at.
And so I had watched from afar, as the PRS line has shifted and evolved over the ages. But I went “home”. Picking up a heavily used Les Paul R6, and then eventually, an R7. And then came others. But after a decade away, the nostalgia for PRS crept back in a few years ago, first an early 2000s McCarty that I played a bit and eventually sold… and then the Soapie happened. So I was happy.
But over the last decade and a half, I have had an eye on all the PRS offerings. Watched demos. Played in a store here or there. Had my eye on a DGT once or twice, a Korina McCarty or three, and especially as the 245 gave way to the 594 guitars.
It took me a while to warm to the blocky vibe of the bridge system, but the functionality was undeniable. But still, no matter what I saw or tried, there was a disconnect. And I already had LPs. So the 594 just felt… unnecessary. If not sonically, then mentally. But I couldn’t stop looking.
For years and years I looked. And even though I thought for sure I’d eventually end up with a DC version because it’s different, and came veryyy close to buying one from a shop in March of this year…. I waffled on it for a couple days, and when I finally caved and went back for it, it was gone. Doh!
Buy my fate ended up being for a different 594 entirely.
I ended up finally picking up this 594 Wood Library, with BRW board, and a Korina neck and body.
Korina was my pre-PRS dream and post-PRS revelation. It could have happened during my PRS heyday, as back in 2000 PRS refused to build a guitar out of Korina for my Private Stock order. This was way back in the “if you can dream it we can build it” PS era of mandolins, doublenecks, 7 strings, etc. So not the current pick off the list PS order sheet. Their reasoning was… a separate discussion. I went another way, had a Korina guitar with P90s built elsewhere, and my sonic world shifted immediately.
I loved Korina (why I asked PRS for it), and I knew it would make an amazing PRS. It took PRS another 7 years to finally jump onto the Korina train…I digress.
But this new 594 is just chef’s kiss, perfect for me. It’s not a Les Paul variation. It’s a killer PRS that really rocks in a complimentary vocal way. Feels great. Absolutely rips. Love the all Nitro. And bonus, it is as pretty a piece of over the top maple as I could ever want. “Less is more” went out the window.
So I thought, OK… 2… and done!!!
And then a used 1 year old DGT popped up for sale just a couple weeks later, and nearby the factory. So I drove up to MD and checked it out, a great price, and despite my best efforts to avoid more guitars, I bought it. I am usually NOT a matching guitar guy. I kinda go out of my way to avoid it. And yet here I am.
We are in the proverbial “honeymoon” phase. I am still making some mostly aesthetic tweaks to it. It feels like the McCarty trem of my dreams though. I dunno why it took me so long to actually get one. The 2 volumes is fantastic. Everyone said you gotta try… I felt like I’d been there and done that many times. I should have gotten to it sooner.
And that is where my 2024 PRS journey would end. What a ride...
Until yesterday when I made a hail mary offer on an ‘08 Korina McCarty that needs some help. To my surprise, the seller accepted, and now I have an “upgrade” resto-mod type project on the way here. Supposedly I could have it in hand before the 1st of the year… but it needs proper pickups, tuners, and such to undo some bad choices. So some time before I get it back to usable.

Oh lord.
I should also add, this is NOT a normal gear year for me. I go years without buying things. It has not been a huge money $plurge either. Though it still feels like it. But I sold off some pretty spendy but sonically redundant Les Pauls, with no intention to buy more guitars. It was to “simplify” for less guitars. hahaha. Joke is on me. More of a sideways shuffle. Argh.
But this is it. No more guitar musical chairs. I’ll play these. An over abundance of musical riches. Figure out what is really gonna stay, and go from there. Feeling too old to continue doing big gear shuffles.
Feels weird with this many PRS guitars in the house again. But also excited at the prospect of music to come.
Sorry for the tl/dr.
Bonus points for anyone reading my rambling history. I thought it might explain some of my own mindset, as I don’t post much, and haven’t since the Birds and Moons board days. Consider it a year’s worth of sharing posts all at once.
Share your 2024 recap if you like.
I’ll read em.
-e.
Pictured:
2023 DGT, 2024 WL 594, 2001 McSoapy
