NGD- ARRIVED! (Sprucing Up The Music Room, McCarty HB Spruce)

RickP said:
Other than adding some strap locks, I’ll likely just play the devil out of it for a while. You have to get to know her before you start swapping earrings and such!
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Hehe, that was my thought exactly reading thru the replies. I’m also not normally a fan of opaque guitars, but that really looks classy and even more so being a hollow body. I wouldn’t change a thing other than strings unless it broke :)
 
Arrived this afternoon. This thing is magnificent. I was a little concerned the Archtop pickups would sound dull. They actually have a uniquely full sound, tilted a shade to the round side, but they can bite when you dig into them. It plays as expected, and is light! I mean feels-like-half-of-a-594 light. It's an absolute joy to play standing. Added the gold strap locks, as mentioned, and a nice white Levy's leather strap I had in the room, and I was off to the races. And did I mention how light it is?

The spruce top definitely sounds different, in a very good way. It's woodier in tone, if that's a good way to say it. It feels like it vibrates more, making the guitar a touch louder acoustically than expected, but in a different way that I am having a hard time describing. Not that it sounds at all like one, but the closest thing I can think of to it is the resonance a banjo has, like putting strings on a snare drum. It has that "everything here is part of what you're hearing" thing going on. I don't know that I've heard the wood used in a top ever make that much of a difference in the sound. @sergiodeblanc was definitely on the money here. Spruce tops are the shiznit of these HBs!

Score:
Sergio 1
Doubters 0

Even the case is different from any PRS case I have seen, and looks very custom shaped to the guitar, cradling the body and neck exactly when in the case. Condition was exactly as Guitar Chimp said it was, and is pretty spectacular for a 21 year old instrument. It looks, as many have noted, classy. It can sound very much like it looks, but turn up the gain and it gets a snarly cutting sound that I really like.

Final Word: It's a winner!
 
RickP said:
Arrived this afternoon. This thing is magnificent. I was a little concerned the Archtop pickups would sound dull. They actually have a uniquely full sound, tilted a shade to the round side, but they can bite when you dig into them. It plays as expected, and is light! I mean feels-like-half-of-a-594 light. It's an absolute joy to play standing. Added the gold strap locks, as mentioned, and a nice white Levy's leather strap I had in the room, and I was off to the races. And did I mention how light it is?

The spruce top definitely sounds different, in a very good way. It's woodier in tone, if that's a good way to say it. It feels like it vibrates more, making the guitar a touch louder acoustically than expected, but in a different way that I am having a hard time describing. Not that it sounds at all like one, but the closest thing I can think of to it is the resonance a banjo has, like putting strings on a snare drum. It has that "everything here is part of what you're hearing" thing going on. I don't know that I've heard the wood used in a top ever make that much of a difference in the sound. @sergiodeblanc was definitely on the money here. Spruce tops are the shiznit of these HBs!

Score:
Sergio 1
Doubters 0

Even the case is different from any PRS case I have seen, and looks very custom shaped to the guitar, cradling the body and neck exactly when in the case. Condition was exactly as Guitar Chimp said it was, and is pretty spectacular for a 21 year old instrument. It looks, as many have noted, classy. It can sound very much like it looks, but turn up the gain and it gets a snarly cutting sound that I really like.

Final Word: It's a winner!
Click to expand...
Dayum son... that rocks!
 
88prs said:
Too funny, both dogrocketp and I were waiting for tax returns to see who was first to get this! haha

Congrats! Great guitar
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Believe it or not, I bought an SE hollowbody Standard when I saw Rick bought this beauty. A little flutter of financial uncertainty made me pull the trigger. The fact that it was 30% off didn’t hurt either. Looks like the bridesmaid not the bride for me.
 
dogrocketp said:
Believe it or not, I bought an SE hollowbody Standard when I saw Rick bought this beauty. A little flutter of financial uncertainty made me pull the trigger. The fact that it was 30% off didn’t hurt either. Looks like the bridesmaid not the bride for me.
Click to expand...
Looking forward to hearing your review! Not to rub it in, for sure, but I really wonder how this one lasted so long... must be one of PRS's best kept secrets.
 
One Week In Update:

After a week of near-solely playing this guitar I can say that first impressions are holding quite easily. Amazingly adaptable to different sounds and surprisingly resistant to feeding back. The playability is not really a surprise, but is certainly there. I am very pleased with this purchase, and am thinking about taking it out for a gig or two if we ever get to play live again! Honestly, I wouldn't mind having a second one!

Yeah, I know, still honeymoon phase but it would suck to be less than impressed at this point, and that has definitely happened with some previous guitars. If anything, I am more impressed now than I was when it first arrived.

Thanks, Sergio. You were right.
 
Awesome guitar Rick and as already said by the others, very classy indeed. Glad that you like it so much and are impressed by it. Nice to read about it. Sorry I missed thread but you know what they say, better late.....
 
Wow. That color combo is perfect. I have an olympic white strat with rosewood board, but adding that gold takes it to another level!!

Post more pics!
 
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