The new sticky CAB finish

[Oscar Ammer]

I recently bought a new McCarty SC 594 in Fire Red Burst.
I really love the look and sound of the guitar, but I really hate the new CAB over Nitro finish. It’s super sticky and chips really easy.
I got a big chip on the back of my neck by barely touching it with my vrist watch.

I used to be endorsed by PRS through the swedish distributor back in the day and toured all over the world playing the original Singlecuts. The finish on those were pretty much indestructible.

PRS - For the first time ever, I’m disappointed with your product

 

[Birdsofprey]

Oscar, I’ve played PRS for thirty plus years and none of my guitars have been damaged. I also don’t wear jewelry or belts ( I untucked my shirt when playing) none of my guitars have buckle rash etc. I have brand new all the way back to 1989 PRSi btw.

 

[Oscar Ammer]

Same here. Started playing PRS guitars in 1997 and I’ve had about 50 of them since then. They’ve always been built like tanks, but this new finish is not up to the task

 

[tedtan]

Some of the newer finishes seem like they’re going for a thinner, more vintage style finish rather than the more durable poly finishes they started out with.

 

[ElrytNamrogo]

I agree that the new CAB finish seems softer than the previous finishes. I've found that simply resting the guitar against a hard-edged corner will put a small divot in the finish.

I will say, though, I find the newer CAB finish to resonate a bit different than the previous finishes, giving my guitars finished in the CAB finish a different acoustic vocal quality. Whether it's better or worse sounding is purely subjective, but I really enjoy the way the guitar sounds with the new finish.

Circling back around though, I do wish it was a bit more resilient.

But it is what it is....

 

[ruger9]

My 2022 DGT chipped all by itself. It wasn't even in a "wear area". I sent it back and got it fixed under warranty, but not looking forward to years of chips. I would MUCH prefer just plain poly, especially on a guitar I don't WANT to relic.... these DGTs are so gorgeous, I'd rather keep them as clean as possible, unlike my other guitars (Fenders), which the natural relicing process (from use) I'm fine with.

 

[ruger9]

I agree that the new CAB finish seems softer than the previous finishes. I've found that simply resting the guitar against a hard-edged corner will put a small divot in the finish.

I believe this happened on my DGT; divot in the neck (back) right at position 1; I never dropped or rough-handled this guitar, it was brand new, had never left the house, and I was gentle with it. But I now rest it against the amp only on the fretboard side. The reason I started resting them on the back-of-neck side was, I have a Fender PRRI in raw wood (knotty pine), and that wood is so soft that resting my guitars on it caused imprints of the strings in the pine.

 

[WEDGE]

Don’t set it down hard fret side first or you could put a string ding in a fret. Got in an R9 once with a slot on one fret that could only have been from the string bashing it.