littleredguitars2
New Member
ooooh yeah thats a beaut. i love that finish
NGD: McCarty Wood Library
- Thread starter László
- Start date
Welp, I went into the studio to record a clip for everyone, but after I warmed up, things got a bit fiddly trying to lift the guitar with one hand, deal with the headphones, adjust the mic in front of the amp, etc.
The playing was OK, and I got about 40 minutes in, but I can't manage the one-man, one-hand, recording rig just yet. I'll have someone come over and give me a hand with the mic stands, etc.
So it's gonna be a few more days, and you'll just have to take my word for it that the guitar sounds great! Incidentally, the coil splits are superb, I did remember to try them this time.
The playing was OK, and I got about 40 minutes in, but I can't manage the one-man, one-hand, recording rig just yet. I'll have someone come over and give me a hand with the mic stands, etc.
So it's gonna be a few more days, and you'll just have to take my word for it that the guitar sounds great! Incidentally, the coil splits are superb, I did remember to try them this time.
Dusty Chalk
alberngruppenführer
Reminds me of a joke. Woman writes a note to her husband, "I know you read slow, so I'll write slow..." So take your time, I love ambient post-rock, heh-heh.
Kazz
Kaptain Kazz of the Triple Sickle Alliance
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2015
- Messages
- 272
Nice guitar, I look forward to hearing it, but I'm much *more* happy to hear that your hand is already doing so well after the surgery!
Congrats on both. I know I'm not the only one who's happy you're still playing and posting here.
Congrats on both. I know I'm not the only one who's happy you're still playing and posting here.
Nice guitar, I look forward to hearing it, but I'm much *more* happy to hear that your hand is already doing so well after the surgery!
Congrats on both. I know I'm not the only one who's happy you're still playing and posting here.
Thanks! The healing still has a way to go, that will take time; but...it's definitely coming back now. I can already do some of the things I lost the ability to do a few months ago. Medical science - amazing stuff. I'm so thankful!
Hahaha! This reminds me of a thing my wife does.
I think she's having a little trouble with her hearing (though she doesn't admit it). But sometimes if I speak in a normal tone of voice, and she's not near me, she doesn't hear what I'm saying and doesn't respond. So I'll repeat it louder. Then she'll say, "What?"
And I'll say it really loud.
Then she'll say, "Stop yelling at me!"
On the other hand, my amps don't seem to bother her much now.
markintime
Wood Grain Devotee
Heh, my wife got hearing aids. Now I really have to be careful what I say around her. D@mmit!Hahaha! This reminds me of a thing my wife does.
I think she's having a little trouble with her hearing (though she doesn't admit it). But sometimes if I speak in a normal tone of voice, and she's not near me, she doesn't hear what I'm saying and doesn't respond. So I'll repeat it louder. Then she'll say, "What?"
And I'll say it really loud.
Then she'll say, "Stop yelling at me!"
On the other hand, my amps don't seem to bother her much now.
And I have to close the door, play with lower volume so it doesn't hurt her ears. She won't let me play the car radio, even.
Alan Manning
Well Love a Duck Mary Poppins.!!!
Well there's a happy man. good to hear your on the up Les
On the down side looks as if I've lost the cleaning job in the studio!!!
On the down side looks as if I've lost the cleaning job in the studio!!!
thanks guys!
Looks like you had a heckuva NGD, my friend, that is a gorgeous guitar in your thread!
Looks like you had a heckuva NGD, my friend, that is a gorgeous guitar in your thread!
Korina Jack
New Member
I posted more or less an "incoming" thread last week, but honestly, this NGD post is more than deserved, because the guitar is that good. And when I say, "good," I really mean, "great." It's superb in every way.
After letting it acclimate for about an hour and a half, I couldn't hold my horses any longer. The guitar was still a little cold, but...whatever. First, the pic doesn't do it justice. There's a depth and glow to the grain and the color that can't be appreciated in a picture. It's also very, very light weight!
There are specs for these Wood Library models on the Northeast Music site, so I won't belabor things. Suffice it to say that Paul Smith helped Jack Gretz select the wood for this run, and they spent a lot of time tapping planks.
OK, the looks part is out of the way, and the weight part is out of the way. Let's talk tone. First of all, I just got the cast off my arm that had an ulnar nerve operation last week to fix my fretting hand, and things are very sore and stiff still, right down to the fingers. So I couldn't play it for more than about 40 minutes before I felt I'd better not push things any longer.
I'll also say up front that my tone preference is mahogany neck guitars. This is one of those "the tone I hear in my head" kind of things. It can't be explained. You, I, and the American people know that personal preference is very hard to figure out. It just is. Accept it, and move on. Compared to the maple neck, I'd say this one sounds more caramel. I know. It's not food. But I can't describe it any other way that seems to do the job at the moment.
So I played and played, and switched between amps, and you know what, when you're getting that "this is my thing" kind of tone, it's hard to remember to be a good tester and do the things that testers do. Before I stopped, the hand was cramping a little, and the arm was hurting, and discretion being the better part of valor, I had to stop.
As a result, I forgot to try the coil splits! Doh!
Well, I don't often use coil splits, and that's my second excuse. But I did try it with three amps - the DG30, the HXDA, and the Lone Star 100 Watt. So at least there's that. And I do use the volume and tone controls a lot when I play. And I tried it with pedals.
My first reaction to the tone and feel was, "How can this not be a Private Stock?" It sustains forever, it feels perfect (great setup, Jack, thank you, even with the bad hand I could play the stock .010s!), and everything about it seems right to me. It was easy to conjure up a bunch of great tones with all 3 amps, just working the tone and volume knobs, and it's one of few guitars that I think sounds very much at home on all three of them. In addition, it sounded wonderful with my pedals.
Maybe with a maple neck the McCarty is a little more like it was made for the Mesa - on the clean channel only -- hard to say, and I'm splitting hairs a little. Probably that has to do with the Lone Star being more in the Fender Blackface camp. The DG30 amp seems to favor this new one a titch. I mean, a small amount. The HXDA loved this guitar on both pickups, it doesn't much care what you plug into it, it's just gonna always sound awesome, but as you know, my preference for 'hog made it that much more special for me.
As I've discovered before, the 58/15s have a really nice clarity and crispness to them, without losing their warmth. The neck pickup is "that" classic neck 'bucker tone, and the bridge is clear, open and bright, with plenty of cut, but it does this without your ears bleeding from too much high end.
With this bridge, there is no "plink." There are solid fundamentals, very defined overtones, and the bottom has a very firm feel with lots of articulation.
Construction: The guitar has an African ribbon mahogany back, East Coast maple top, dead quarter sawn 'hog neck, and BRW fretboard. The pickups are the 58/15s, standard issue, the bridge is the Paul's Guitar bridge with the brass inserts. Everything is flawless.
I've found over the years that the African mahogany sounds very resonant and most pieces made from it feel light.
My tone description of this guitar would be that it sounds partly like the PS 594 demo that I loved, and partly like the McCarty demos that we've all already heard many times. Or that I've heard many times, since, you know, I do that listening to PRS demos thing, and you may not.
Anyway, whether it's the grade of mahogany for the back, the fretboard BRW, or something else, it does lean somewhere in the middle of 594 and standard McCarty. That ain't bad, my friend!
This one has an absolute boatload of gorgeous sustain; and it's warm and beautiful sounding without losing any clarity. Did I, um, mention the boatload of sustain? Not being a high gain player, I have nothing to say about playing through high gain amps. I did run it for a bit with a boost pedal into the HXDA and it sounded great, but high gain players would have asked for more gain, so there's that. It'd probably be good to know that my tone inclinations are more along the lines of Albert King, BB King, Allmans, Bonamassa, Grissom, SRV, etc., and I don't spend much time listening to guys who do high gain stuff. In other news, I respect the heck out of players like Vai and Satch, but their tone isn't my deal. So there's your caveat on this review; guys who play with more gain than Vai should utterly ignore me, and metal players should kick this review to the curb. Where, let's face it, any review by me really belongs.
Finally, the case: black paisley. Cool.
So there you have it. This guitar will no doubt become a real workhorse for me, it does its thing extremely well.
Stunning. Wow!!!
Thanks, Jack!
The best part is, the more I play it, the more I'm enjoying the feel and tone. You know how sometimes you instantly bond with an instrument?
Within about a minute, I knew I'd be doing a lot of work with this one. It's one of those guitars that you reach for and write with, record with, travel with, etc. Just a real familiar, sweet, and comfortable instrument for doing the work I do.
It's not perhaps as exotic in tone as my PS guitars, but it's got a really inspiring vibe. I'm absolutely in love with it. Plus, with the coil splits, it's versatile as can be.
If I do more travel gigs, this is the one I'd take with me.
Brad737
This space for rent...
Beautiful guitar, Les. I'm happy to hear your hand is getting better!
andy474x
Knows the Drill
Still jelly over here. Interested to hear how it compares to your HOTG, any comments?
Actually, I do have a few comments (surprise, surprise!)...
Both guitars have what I'd call a classic/vintage tone, but with differences.
There's an intensity with HOTG, a strong resonance, and oomph. This is especially noticeable on the neck pickup, where the additional bottom end on the thicker body is very strong. The bridge pickup on HOTG seems more vintage, and harmonics seem to jump off the fretboard. When you play the HOTG, you feel as though you're playing a very powerful instrument that's going to unleash your amp.
The McCarty is very open and clear, but is warm at the same time - kind of hard to describe in words, but you know it when you hear it; of course the coil splits on the McCarty sound great. It also has a vintage vibe, but it does so many things i'd consider it more of an all-'rounder. More midrange comes through on the neck pickup because there isn't quite so much bass resonance, so you might want to perhaps do a wider variety of styles with it, though, I'm probably splitting hairs when I say that.
Both guitars sound like they're from the same lineage, however. I'll do some clips soon so you can really compare the two.
I love them both, and don't feel that they overlap too much, even though there is a strong "family vibe" between them.
I kind of think of it as HOTG is a fullback, McCarty is a power tailback. Guitars and football. Makes no sense at all, but it kinda makes sense to my addled brain.
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andy474x
Knows the Drill
Actually, I do have a few comments (surprise, surprise!)...
Both guitars have what I'd call a classic/vintage tone, but with differences.
There's an intensity with HOTG, a strong resonance, and oomph. This is especially noticeable on the neck pickup, where the additional bottom end on the thicker body is very strong. The bridge pickup on HOTG seems more vintage, and harmonics seem to jump off the fretboard. When you play the HOTG, you feel as though you're playing a very powerful instrument that's going to unleash your amp.
The McCarty is very open and clear, but is warm at the same time - kind of hard to describe in words, but you know it when you hear it; of course the coil splits on the McCarty sound great. It also has a vintage vibe, but it does so many things i'd consider it more of an all-'rounder. More midrange comes through on the neck pickup because there isn't quite so much bass resonance, so you might want to perhaps do a wider variety of styles with it, though, I'm probably splitting hairs when I say that.
Both guitars sound like they're from the same lineage, however. I'll do some clips soon so you can really compare the two.
I love them both, and don't feel that they overlap too much, even though there is a strong "family vibe" between them.
I kind of think of it as HOTG is a fullback, McCarty is a power tailback. Guitars and football. Makes no sense at all, but it kinda makes sense to my addled brain.
Well said! I'll keep that in the vault for the day I make my pick. I have a feeling it's going to come down to a McCarty and an SC245 (of some kind).
It's funny, you and I think alike in many ways, and this is one of them. I've had both a McCarty and SC at the same time at several points in my long PRS journey. Both guitars float my boat and always have. And if I only could have and live with one, either model would make me happy. Having both is a plus and a stroke of good fortune.
I think of my CU24 and PS20th as different "playmakers," to return to my football analogy. I think of the CU24 as a guy who can catch a pass out of the backfield and make a lot of people miss with his footwork. The PS20th is Megatron (Calvin Johnson) or Charles Woodson in his heyday, a completely different kind of player who can line up just about anywhere and make a play. And none of this really makes sense, right? Except I kind of know what I mean...
OK, in car terms, you have the HOTG - a Top Fuel Dragster, or maybe a '65 Cobra; the McCarty, a hotrodded '65 'Vette; the CU24, a sweet Jaguar E type, a bit more nimble in the turns; and the PS20th, your basic Testarossa. And this doesn't really make sense either, does it?
But this is the way I think. In things that are kinda-sorta analogous to one another. But not really. LOL!
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dkilpatrick
Makes guitar faces
It doesn't matter what position they play, I want both on my team.
It doesn't matter what position they play, I want both on my team.
It's all about The Team!
Now I'm going to wonder if I should have the ones that aren't McCarty Burst refinished so they all have the same uniform....
Wait! I have the solution. Away uniforms and special Bowl game uniforms!
Whew, I'm safe. Another person with an overactive imagination saved by the odd rules of football.
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