Question for 594 Soapbar owners

[Ste76]

In the search of a P90 guitar (first idea a Gibson LP Special DC TV Yellow, second a P90 Telecaster) i've found a used '18 594 Soapbar DC.
I've read great things about the 594 model, and i've fallen in love with the P90 of my Nik Huber Krautster II. So the 594 Soapbar can really be the answer to my current GAS.

I can't test the guitar and i will have to purchase it online. I'd like to ask to the owners of this model about tone range, versatility and everything good about this 594.

I play rock (mainly Pearl Jam) and Blues Rock.


Thanks

 

[Tucson Thump]

I can only speak for myself but my first P90 guitar was (is) a 1965 SG Special and I was always looking for a LP Junior SC when I tried the 594 DC Soapbar. As far as I am concerned it is a wonderful guitar, partially because the 594 design feels like it was made for me and also because the real magic is in mixing the two pickups together. I play it through tube amps or an AX8 and have never been disappointed.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=prs+594+soapbar

 

[RickP]

I have the SC594 Soapbar and it is, without a doubt, the best sounding and playing P90 guitar I have ever owned or played. The S/D Antiquity pickups they used on the limited P90 594 run are the real deal, and combined with this guitar have the P90 tone I remembered but had very little luck finding.

I don’t know if there is any difference between the DC and SC models, but can say the SC one I have is a keeper. It is heavier than a Junior or Special, if that is a concern.

 

[Ste76]

Thank you.
This is exactly the kind of hands on experience i'm looking for. Someone that have also tried the other models (see Special or Junior) i was considering and can make some comparison.

Weight is not a concern. I'm looking for pure tone and pleasure. And all these great reviews of the 594 model just makes me want to have one...please, just don't make me GAS for a standard 594 and a 594 HBII too!

 

[RickP]

And all these great reviews of the 594 model just makes me want to have one...please, just don't make me GAS for a standard 594 and a 594 HBII too!

No promises there... I started out with a 594. One. Then got another. Now I’ve had four! Oddly, it wasn’t the standard ones I stuck with, though they were great guitars. The two I kept and play most every day are the 594 HB II and the 594 Soapbar Limited. But I’ll tell you the others were sold or traded to (case #1) get an awesome, one of a kind PRS amp I couldn’t pass up, and (case #2) to fund the HB II. If money was not a limitation in both instances, I’d still have all four!

Go get one!

 

[GADonis]

I don't have a 594 with P90s, that could be corrected if I came across a SC Goldtop, but I do have a P90 Korina McCarty which is a great guitar. Currently I have it tuned down a half step and when I'm wanting to go to a happy place, I plug it into my Boogie TC50 on the red channel and all is right with the world for those brief moments.

 

[Serious Poo]

I have the SC594 Soapbar and it is, without a doubt, the best sounding and playing P90 guitar I have ever owned or played. The S/D Antiquity pickups they used on the limited P90 594 run are the real deal, and combined with this guitar have the P90 tone I remembered but had very little luck finding.

I don’t know if there is any difference between the DC and SC models, but can say the SC one I have is a keeper. It is heavier than a Junior or Special, if that is a concern.

My experience has been similar. The P90 Antiquities have impressed me so much so that I'm now thinking about replacing the P90's in a couple of other PRS's I have. Oh, and because TTIWWP...

 

[Ste76]

My experience has been similar. The P90 Antiquities have impressed me so much so that I'm now thinking about replacing the P90's in a couple of other PRS's I have. Oh, and because TTIWWP...

Wow, what an amazing guitar!
The one i've found is Faded Jeans Blue...I'm more a traditional sunburst guy, but i'm starting to dig it...and i don't have a blue guitar

 

[Ste76]

No promises there... I started out with a 594. One. Then got another. Now I’ve had four! Oddly, it wasn’t the standard ones I stuck with, though they were great guitars. The two I kept and play most every day are the 594 HB II and the 594 Soapbar Limited. But I’ll tell you the others were sold or traded to (case #1) get an awesome, one of a kind PRS amp I couldn’t pass up, and (case #2) to fund the HB II. If money was not a limitation in both instances, I’d still have all four!

Well, i'm single, so i can do whatever i want, right? No one is going to say NO MORE!, right?...Let's say the limit is the (Silver) Sky ...ehm no, the credit card limit

I can't reserve 4 spot on the list for 594 only, but for 4 PRS sure...i'm waiting for the new Special Semi Hollow to arrive here in Italy (expected around November), i really want to test one. Then i surely "need" a maple Silver Sky to pair with my Tungsten (500 Limited first run)...then 594 standard or HBII ...but for that to happen there's high chances that i will be looking at HBIII or IV...

 

[Ste76]

when I'm wanting to go to a happy place, I plug it into my Boogie TC50 on the red channel and all is right with the world for those brief moments.

So speak a wise man!
Thank you

 

[elvis]

I never had a P90 guitar until I got an SE One. I love it. It's essentially a LP Jr P90 thingy. I wanted a DC, but don't care that much about it. It's been a blast getting so many tones with just a volume knob. I can get King's X, Rush, blues, Zep, name it.

 

[elvis]

Still thinking about a Noventa Tele tho...

 

[dmatthews]

594 soapy is a hands down winner. Love it.

 

[Ste76]

Still thinking about a Noventa Tele tho...

I'd wait for that PRS John Mayer's "tele" i've seen on some other post around here...

I love Teles, and i'm sure that with a good P90 it'd be a blast to play (but i am biased as i adore Eddie Vedder... )

 

[Going Modal]

It's really hard--but not impossible--to go wrong with a PRS dual-soapbar guitar.

And when I say "not impossible," it's because I myself had acquired a McCarty 594 Singlecut Soapbar a few years back that was by all measures THE guitar of my dreams in the "soapbar" realm. Well... unfortunately it was my first "594" guitar and I just didn't get comfortable with the Pattern Vintage neck shape. And this is MY problem not the guitar's--because it's an amazingly well-crafted guitar--but the neck just wasn't a great/seamless fit for my left hand.

Fast forward to now, and I've actually got TWO McCarty Soapbar guitars (regular ol' ones with "wide fat" necks, not the "594" spec Pattern Vintage) and I think they're both just the best. Like, as in, they might be the best single-coil guitars I own... and I still have a couple strats & teles!

 

[Ste76]

It's really hard--but not impossible--to go wrong with a PRS dual-soapbar guitar.

And when I say "not impossible," it's because I myself had acquired a McCarty 594 Singlecut Soapbar a few years back that was by all measures THE guitar of my dreams in the "soapbar" realm. Well... unfortunately it was my first "594" guitar and I just didn't get comfortable with the Pattern Vintage neck shape. And this is MY problem not the guitar's--because it's an amazingly well-crafted guitar--but the neck just wasn't a great/seamless fit for my left hand.

Fast forward to now, and I've actually got TWO McCarty Soapbar guitars (regular ol' ones with "wide fat" necks, not the "594" spec Pattern Vintage) and I think they're both just the best. Like, as in, they might be the best single-coil guitars I own... and I still have a couple strats & teles!

Hi, that's why you should always play and try a guitar, not be sold only by the specs. But Italy has a limited market, and only a few good shops very far away, so i have to relay on online shops around Europe.
The free return policy is the only assurance for an online shopping: you can test it and if you don't like you can return ii. BUT consider that for us European, Brexit (UK that left EU) was a big blow as most of the best shops are located in the UK. Now to buy from UK is equal to buy from USA: the shop price is without VAT, then you pay your country VAT + import duties when the good arrive at your custom. For a guitar it approx 27%, so if you buy a guitar from a UK shop and don't like it, the shop will only refund you their part, and you immediately loose that 27%...a little pricey for a tryout.

So It's really hard around here to go "Guitar Safari" like Bonamassa as you can only relay on 4-5 very good and trusted shops that carries the best guitars the world has to offer.

But expert advices from wise men like PRS forum members will surely help!

 

[LowEndLefty]

I love everyone in here talking about playing a guitar before you buy it. You righties are so spoiled So I've had my PS Lefty McCarty 594 Soap bar for about a month now. This was a 2 year build having never held or even seen a McCarty 594 Lefty nor had I ever owned a guitar with soap bars but I picked every component and knew I wanted soap bars solely based on that Gibson LP Gold Top P90 sound that I'd always been amazed by. My only comparison was my Gibson LP and wanting the PRS Les Paul equivalent scale-wise but not as heavy.

Now that you have the abbreviated version of the background behind my build, let me say I'm absolutely blown away by the range of tone these PRS Soap Bars have. They completely nail the glassy/twinkly tone that you'd expect from a P90 but the low end growl is as good or better as any humbucker- which I did not expect at all. I have two Custom 24s and a Custom 22 with the 59/09s, and a custom 22 and a Hollowbody II Piezo with the 57/08s. All this being said, the Soap bars in my McCarty 594 are now my fav PRS pickups. Yes- even with matching burled maple covers. The reason I mention it is because somebody posted somewhere that they thought wood covers would effect the tone in a negative way. If anything they've enhanced the tone. But then again, I don't have any real frame of reference either.

I do have a PS in the oven that's gonna be a Paul's 85 but SingleCut and Lefty (obviously). I'll be curious to see how the TCIs they put in the Paul's 85s compare as far as tonal range goes.