SC58. Love.

[László]

So...this SC58 with the ebony fingerboard and 53/10s...

I wasn't sure about what I'd be able to play with it for the first few days. But now that I've put in a few weeks learning the guitar, it has become a true go-to instrument:

First, it's a great match for the HXDA amp in my studio. Second, it sounds amazing. I'm using it as much, if not more than, the A-V. The sound is huge, notes fly off it effortlessly, and it's got a great vintage tone. Third, I love the 2 piece bridge, the feel of the ebony board, and the overall playability.

Just a super instrument, and it even looks kinda ok.

 

[hemantooth]

Love hearing about this one - It's a combo I've been thinking about ever since the artist package was announced. I think it would compliment my '03 McCarty very well. How about some more pics?

 

[László]

Love hearing about this one - It's a combo I've been thinking about ever since the artist package was announced. I think it would compliment my '03 McCarty very well. How about some more pics?

With the ebony board and 53/10s, the guitar is different from, say, a stock SC58 or Stripped 58. The ebony gives the note attack a bit more presence. I find that where the 57/08s accent the upper midrange a bit more, giving the pickups a classic bite, the 53/10s seem to produce a rounder note. PRS has said they were inspired by a '53 single coil sound (Tele?), and you can hear that in these pickups. So it makes for a really interesting guitar with very sweet tones. Yet it still has that vintage vibe, and with the SC body, it has oomph!

Here's another shot of the guitar, note that the color in the sofa shot is a little more true, though a lot depends on the light:

I ordered it to compliment the Stripped 58 I had, but while waiting for it, needed a piece of studio gear and sold the Stripper, which was a mistake, because it was great, too.

 

[László]

I think it would compliment my '03 McCarty very well. How about some more pics?

It'd be a very different sounding guitar from the McCarty. So yeah!

The guitar refuses to pose for more pics. It's a very willful instrument. Does whatever it wants.

 

[László]

I'm resurrecting this thread because I feel the urge to talk about this guitar a little more.

The more I play it, the more I love it. Last night I plugged in a TC Nova delay in front of the HXDA and just played clean with the slightest touch of breakup on the neck pickup, set to around 7 with the tone rolled off to about 5-6. I set the delay to a tape kind of sound. Very simple. The tone was mesmerizing.

I got this thick, smoky, almost jazzy thing going. It was definitely one of those tones that you wouldn't necessarily expect from this amp, this guitar, etc., and it was gorgeous to work with, a thing of beauty. Definitely was one of the nicest tones I've ever gotten on the clean side of things, and here I am getting it on a freakin' plexi style amp! I mean, come on!

The guitar is so subtly responsive to the pick! At first that took some getting used to, but I am so glad I stuck with it and put in the time to experiment. Yeah, the guitar rocks, but it also rolls.

And the 53/10 pickups are capable of great subtlety.

 

[wilerty]

Les: Have you ever tried a Strymon El Capistan delay? You should ...

 

[László]

Les: Have you ever tried a Strymon El Capistan delay? You should ...

Bill, I have heard the Strymon, it's excellent! Absolutely the best digital re-creation of a tape delay I've heard in a pedal. I've got history with the old Echoplex (you probably do, too), and though the real thing is still something to consider (I'm thinking about the Fulltone EP as well, it's real tape), being able to put a pedal on a board and shlep it around to sessions is a very cool thing.

I also do like the TC pedal. TC gear has a "sound" and I've been using TC delays in the studio since I had an M5000 rack unit back in the 90s and 00s. I've also used the old 2290s a lot. So the Nova pedal gives me that TC thing, when it's what I need. F'rinstance, when a client wants that 2290 U2 kind of sound, with the automatic ducking of the delay sound when you strike a note, the TC is a no-brainer, since the Nova is based on that algorithm.

Until very recently, I had a whole pedalboard full of analog pedals that did certain things I liked a lot. But the Strymon stuff is very, very tempting. Their Lex and Flint pedals also blow me away.

 

[hendrik7]

Very beautiful guitar

 

[László]

Thanks Hendrik!