Surprise NGD, traded my Silver Sky…
- Thread starter RickP
- Start date
Shreve
Katzenjammer Kid
Love dem old(er) McCs. And I’ve been through a lot of McCartys. Good trade 
toothace
Zombie Thirteen, DFZ
Sweet top!
RickP
Established 1960, Still Not Dead
Thanks for the comments, all! No “morning after” regrets here; still feel it was a good move and that I did the right thing on the trade. I’m a big fan of that classic McCarty finish, and it’s in surprisingly nice condition for a 25-26 year old guitar that saw some gigging in those years (case has a band name stenciled on it).
I just had a brief go on it using the Axe Fx through phones last night, using a Morgan AC20 Deluxe model. The fast impression was it sounds like a slightly overwound PAF. Decent brightness and clarity in the top, good midrange for a crunchy drive tone, a bit subdued bottom end. Overall, at least through that amp, a good classic rock and blues pickup, and should sound nice clean, as well. I’ll get a better listen today and see if that impression holds.
I just had a brief go on it using the Axe Fx through phones last night, using a Morgan AC20 Deluxe model. The fast impression was it sounds like a slightly overwound PAF. Decent brightness and clarity in the top, good midrange for a crunchy drive tone, a bit subdued bottom end. Overall, at least through that amp, a good classic rock and blues pickup, and should sound nice clean, as well. I’ll get a better listen today and see if that impression holds.
ElrytNamrogo
My name be scrambled
Wow! That's gorgeous, congrats!
FragileThunder
The Space Between The Notes
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2022
- Messages
- 662
Nice score, beautiful guitar!
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
That's a good trade. Win, win, for sure.
garrett
...
Gotta love an early McCarty.
Buildermike
Can you have too many?
Congrats! My favorite PRS line.
CandidPicker
Tone Matters. Use It Well.
Congrats, Rick. Good trade, and for a piece in very good/excellent condition of that year.
I absolutely love it, especially the moons. Had one that was very similar around the same time. It was a WONDERFUL guitar, and may yours be even better!Wasn’t really looking for anything but another NF3 at a sub-crazy-market price, but in my shopping I ran into a nice 1997 McCarty in decent shape. The owner was looking to sell, but mentioned he’s a Strat guy and was hoping to find a Silver Sky. I loved my SS, but being a humbucker guy, rarely played it. And I do have a Strat and Tele when the single coil urge strikes, so I thought it might be a win-win. We got together, he loved the SS, I thought the McCarty felt really familiar so we did the trade. I got it home and, even though it isn’t set up with my strings or action, it sounds good and plays well. All original, even still has the “McCarty Model” written on the back of the headstock. Nice one piece back, pretty top.
I might get another SS in the future, but feel I did well for myself on it. And, btw, my first ever “moons” guitar! Here’s one of his pics:
Enjoy the heck out of it!
RickP
Established 1960, Still Not Dead
Thanks Les! I’ll give it a little tlc and get it playing as good as it looks.
Andrew Paul
The cat's meow
Great trade!! Totally beautiful classic McCarty, beautiful top, love the moons and color.! Congrats
Rod/
Vibrato & String Bender
My first McCarty had Moons! Nice! They’re great guitars
RickP
Established 1960, Still Not Dead
Ok, set up now and dead strings replaced, it plays like I expected, and sounds really nice. It’s a very familiar feeling guitar, and not at all awkward to play like some new-to-you necks can be. Of course, I have been playing a lot of guitars with “McCarty“ somewhere in the name over the last few years, and played a lot of guitars Mr. McCarty had a lot to do with over the years, so I suppose this should be expected!
I did get a better listen to the pickups, albeit with the effect new strings have, though these are Elixer 10s, so they’re not piano-bright like some can be. This is a follow up for @jak3af3r but might be useful for others. I still say it’s darker than a genuine PAF or T-Top Gibson pickup, which is akin to the 58/15LT in PRS winds. It’s not anything extreme, but sounds like the McCarty pickup is wound a bit over that because it isn’t as clear on top and pushes the input a bit more. Surprisingly, among my PRS guitars, it sounds most like the Hollowbody Spruce, which has Archtops in it. I know that sounds weird, and the differences in the guitars they’re mounted in are skewing a pure pickup comparison, but guitar to guitar they sounded similar. I didn’t measure resistance because I didn’t want that knowledge to make me “hear” the readings.
So, to my ear, I still say they sound like a slightly hotter PAF. Still in the ballpark, but with that downshift in frequencies and uptick in drive that a pickup somewhere between stock and JB hot-rodded gets. I like the sound.
I did get a better listen to the pickups, albeit with the effect new strings have, though these are Elixer 10s, so they’re not piano-bright like some can be. This is a follow up for @jak3af3r but might be useful for others. I still say it’s darker than a genuine PAF or T-Top Gibson pickup, which is akin to the 58/15LT in PRS winds. It’s not anything extreme, but sounds like the McCarty pickup is wound a bit over that because it isn’t as clear on top and pushes the input a bit more. Surprisingly, among my PRS guitars, it sounds most like the Hollowbody Spruce, which has Archtops in it. I know that sounds weird, and the differences in the guitars they’re mounted in are skewing a pure pickup comparison, but guitar to guitar they sounded similar. I didn’t measure resistance because I didn’t want that knowledge to make me “hear” the readings.
So, to my ear, I still say they sound like a slightly hotter PAF. Still in the ballpark, but with that downshift in frequencies and uptick in drive that a pickup somewhere between stock and JB hot-rodded gets. I like the sound.
