Longneck Tenon
New Member
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2023
- Messages
- 465
So my friend scored a Bernie Marsden the other day and asked me if I could bring my new MC 594 SE over to a comparison with it. We also pulled down an SC 245 just because it was there. He really wanted play the MC 594 first since it didn’t stay in the shop very long. All of them were played through a floor model Supro Keeley Custom 12 which happens to be one of two amps I play in a wet/dry rig. No pedals were used in the comparison.
McCarty 594SE: has a sound unlike anything we have played. It has a sweetness to it and sustained better than anything we played. The notes just bloomed after the initial attack. It was just a joy to play and sounded great in every pickup selection.
Bernie Marsden SE: This guitar was inspired by the 59 Les Paul that Bernie owned nicknamed “the Beast”, and it lives up to the nickname. Not surprisingly it sounded more like a Les Paul than the MC 594. It is a great rock and roll guitar, whereas we thought the 594 was bluesier to our ears. Both of us wondered what the BM would sound like with a set of 58/15 LTS pickups in it. The stock 245 pickups we good but didn’t have the sweetness of the 58/15’s.
SC 245 SE: Initially, this guitar sounded flat compared to the other two. We took a look at the pickup height which seemed pretty low so we adjusted them accordingly which gave it a badly needed lift. We liked the neck shape of the other two, but this was a very good guitar for the money. Again, we couldn’t help thinking what a pickup swap could do for it.
There was a SE Pauls Guitar there as well but we ran out of time. We are hoping an S2 or Core McCarty 594 will show up soon as well, but it was a lot of fun!
McCarty 594SE: has a sound unlike anything we have played. It has a sweetness to it and sustained better than anything we played. The notes just bloomed after the initial attack. It was just a joy to play and sounded great in every pickup selection.
Bernie Marsden SE: This guitar was inspired by the 59 Les Paul that Bernie owned nicknamed “the Beast”, and it lives up to the nickname. Not surprisingly it sounded more like a Les Paul than the MC 594. It is a great rock and roll guitar, whereas we thought the 594 was bluesier to our ears. Both of us wondered what the BM would sound like with a set of 58/15 LTS pickups in it. The stock 245 pickups we good but didn’t have the sweetness of the 58/15’s.
SC 245 SE: Initially, this guitar sounded flat compared to the other two. We took a look at the pickup height which seemed pretty low so we adjusted them accordingly which gave it a badly needed lift. We liked the neck shape of the other two, but this was a very good guitar for the money. Again, we couldn’t help thinking what a pickup swap could do for it.
There was a SE Pauls Guitar there as well but we ran out of time. We are hoping an S2 or Core McCarty 594 will show up soon as well, but it was a lot of fun!