Rosie McSoapy vs 594 Soapbar

[dmatthews]

Oooooohhhhhhh
That wavy neck is to die for...

 

[P90s]

Rosewood necks were indeed an option, along with Soapbars in the mid 2000s; I had an Artist McCarty with Soapbars that was made for one of the NAMM shows back then. These may have been rare birds, but they were a spec sheet option, and not one-offs or weird runs.

It was a really nice guitar, very articulate, very midrange-focused.

I also have one of the 594 Soapbars currently, along with a 594 with humbuckers. Here are my thoughts:

The 594 Soapbar’s pickups are a more accurate reproduction of vintage 60s P-90s (I have a ‘65 SG Special) than the McCarty Soapbar, and of course, the guitar itself has the ability to get different sounds by blending the pickups creatively. If you’re after a vintage sound, the 594 Soapbar has it in spades.

The McCarty RW Soapbar has a brighter sound with a harder attack, probably due to its combination of less vintage pickups and the RW neck. I’ve also had a McCarty Soapbar with a mahogany neck, and CU22 Soapbars with Maple neck and fretboard, and maple neck/RW fretboard. The pickups were the same as those on the McRW Soap, except that the guitars had more sparkle up top than the RW version.

The RW neck version had a more piano-like, less rounded lower midrange.

My preference is for the tone of the 594 Soapbar, possibly because I grew up playing that SG Special, and the tones I get from it feel more familiar. However, it’s also the case that I prefer mahogany to rosewood as a neck material.

I also had a McCarty RW with humbuckers that I liked a little better than the McRW Soap; maybe the RW neck/humbuckers is a more suitable combination for what I wanted at the time, but I still got a ton of use out of that McRW Soap, and I’d enjoy comparing it to the 594 Soap.

I had a Great Selloff of a bunch of guitars and amps ten years ago, when I was obsessed with the idea of sinking some dough into studio hardware, and it was a pretty dumb move. I’m ready for my do-over, Mr. DeMille!

Why do you prefer mahogany to rosewood for necks? Just curious.

 

[bodia]

Looks great! LOVE the neck!

 

[László]

Why do you prefer mahogany to rosewood for necks? Just curious.

Just slight personal preference, really. I’ve had a few RW neck PRSes, and they were great, but the RW neck tone is a little thicker and more low-midrange focused than mahogany, while I want an airier sound.

I should note that I’m not a high gain player; I find that RW necks seem to work best with higher gain sounds, thick Santana-style leads, etc.

In the “feel” department, while lots of players love that bare wood feel, I like a gloss-finished neck. Also, the RW feels amazing at first, but in my hands, it gets “furry” after a few plays, and then I have to use micro mesh to smooth it out, treat the wood, etc. Too much maintenance for my taste!

 

[P90s]

Just slight personal preference, really. I’ve had a few RW neck PRSes, and they were great, but the RW neck tone is a little thicker and more low-midrange focused than mahogany, while I want an airier sound.

I should note that I’m not a high gain player; I find that RW necks seem to work best with higher gain sounds, thick Santana-style leads, etc.

In the “feel” department, while lots of players love that bare wood feel, I like a gloss-finished neck. Also, the RW feels amazing at first, but in my hands, it gets “furry” after a few plays, and then I have to use micro mesh to smooth it out, treat the wood, etc. Too much maintenance for my taste!

I love the feel of mine, but upper registers on my BRW neck are the issue. A sound guy came up to me once and said, "On the solo, when you went up high on the neck....the sound of your guitar disappeared in the mix." When I've EQ'd for better high end, I lost the character that I loved with the mid-range. Could be the pick-ups on that guitar, or that specific piece of rosewood, but it's discouraged me from using it outside playing these days.

 

[László]

I love the feel of mine, but upper registers on my BRW neck are the issue. A sound guy came up to me once and said, "On the solo, when you went up high on the neck....the sound of your guitar disappeared in the mix." When I've EQ'd for better high end, I lost the character that I loved with the mid-range. Could be the pick-ups on that guitar, or that specific piece of rosewood, but it's discouraged me from using it outside playing these days.

I’m not sure I’d take sound guys too seriously. A lot has to do with microphone positioning, phase cancellations, etc. It might be just fine.

Most folks who do sound in clubs aren’t all that good. Hell, most sound folks in medium sized concert venues have issues. Only the few at the top of their game can really do a band justice.

A few years ago, my son was in a band that opened for 30 Seconds to Mars at a 6,000 seat venue in my area. There was another band as well. The Mars guys let the band my son was in use their sound guy, the one they traveled with, knowing that he was in his home town. It sounded fantastic.

Then the regular sound guy at the venue (who’s highly regarded here by some) took over for the third band on the bill. It was horrendous. Couldn’t hear a thing but the bass - not unusual for this venue’s mixer.

So, yeah. It can be kind of disappointing with some sound reinforcement engineers.

 

[Matte82]

Looks great! LOVE the neck!

Thanks. That’s the main thing I was looking for. It’s also why my 594 is satin. I’ve found I don’t like gloss. It sticks to my hands. I put a RW neck on a strat style guitar and fell in love. It was also a chunkier style neck. So I’ve decided to sell off my guitars with thinner gloss necks and replace them with non-gloss thicker necks. Couldn’t be more happy. Except I’ve bought more than I’ve sold. So I need to work on that part. I’ve honestly had no desire to take the old guitars out of the case since I started going PRS. They’re great guitars, just these fit me better.

 

[Atomic]

That’s a looker matte. Looks just like mine.

I don’t have any pics of mine on my phone but you can see it in my old video.

 

[Matte82]

Thanks. I played her today at church. Man does she sing. Sounds very similar to yours. They both have a great low mid growl with nice clarity. At least imo. Really enjoyed playing it. Only played the 594 for one song. And they def compliment each other quite well. The 594 is maybe a bit more “refined” sounding or something.

Then I played my mutt strat for a couple of songs this evening. Also a nice compliment to the others. Thinner with more chime, but not bright or harsh in anyway. Just not as thick and powerful as the other 2. So those 3 have made themselves keepers in the upcoming purge. But man can I cover a lot of ground with just those 3.

 

[Matte82]