Okay guys! Just getting around to a more complete report on the Private Stock Vault visit, and the 2 McCarty 594's put in the oven.
Had a great day at the factory! It was very different for me, this is a new phase of my journey with the 594, so everything seems very different. I was very focused and had more patience and took more time than on previous trips. I did two, one for my 50th Birthday next year (hard to believe, as I still feel like a kid), and also one for my 25th Wedding Anniversary next year, to replace the 20th Anniversary Guitar I did in 2012, which I sold this year after declaring it had the incorrect scale length. (Which sloanthebone appreciated!)
The Short Scale Doublecut is really "my model", has been since 2009, and these are intended to be really special guitars and lifetime keepers (I really mean it this time! - having personalized inlays on heel caps!!), so I better do it them exactly as should be for my dream guitars. With the 594 (for me), the Doublecut IS the Singlecut. No Singlecut required. 594 with SC thickness? Will no doubt be amazing, especially with the body and neck I picked, which were picked first and foremost for tone, the way they ring when you tap them.
I did for a moment consider doing one in a McCarty Singlecut with the 594 scale, especially after learning I could now do that with a Santana Headstock with no CNC upcharge, since someone else had spec'ed one and paid for that work to be done, which was not the case when I was there March 1st. But as I thought about it, I decided I would rather do a McCarty 594 with the Singlecut thickness. That is my Singlecut...
I am doing the second as a 594 with Standard 594 thickness, and everything else standard about a 594, with a Korina Neck. I had a DC 245 Ted from the 3rd Willcutt's Ted run with a Korina Neck, and the tone was awesome, to die for. So trying that again here.
I have learned to be very conservative on the wood selections in Private Stock, as in not doing fancy woods for the heck of it, and end up getting a PS I don't love the tone from. So the SC is Mahogany Body, Mahogany Neck (there was some very sick very highly figured neck blanks there!), Brazilian Board, and the 594 is Mahogany Body, Korina Neck and IRW Board (I did not want the "USA Only" restriction on that 594). That said, my theory is that the Core and WL 594's are so awesome, that if you are going to do a Private Stock, at least do a few things unique to make it special, which I think I accomplished. My 594 I put in the oven in March is Semi-Hollow with no F-Hole. So all 3 are pretty much straight down the middle 594's with one thing each unique about them - Semi-Hollow, SC thickness, and Korina neck.
I am doing binding, but not Maple Binding. There is another plastic binding alternative that Paul Miles suggested that has a texture to it, and it is more so a yellowish tone versus the stock Ivoroid binding. I am doing that on both, with Cream Pickup Rings versus Ivory. I think that will look more "vintage" and unique versus the Maple binding. (Also doing it on all 3 sides of the board.)
Here is a shocker - no Birds! There is a whole series of "Knots" inlays available that have been designed, since the Celtic Knots are no longer available in Private Stock. All I have seen done so far are the "Chain Knots". I like those, I was going to do one in Chain Knots and one in another one I really liked called "Edge Knots". I think I am just going to do them both in the Edge Knots. This is the first time a PS with "Edge Knots" has been done, so I don't yet have pics. Pretty cool that mine will be the first!
Also no 1-Piece quilts this time around! My 594's call for something more vintage. Did 2-piece Flame Tops on both. That is a change for me considering I have done nothing but 1-piece quilts for everything I have done since like 2013 or 2014. But that is for me what the 594's call for! (My March 1 spec is a 1-piece quilt, so I will still have one at least.)
Traditional vintage finishes for both - have to keep you guys guessing on SOMETHING, right?
And 58/15 LT's for pickups, of course!! Man, those are awesome pickups.
Spent some time with Paul Reed Smith, but he wasn't able to join for dinner. But it was great to be able to spend a few minutes with him. Had a great time with Paul Miles, Eric Cummins, Tina, and a couple of other folks from PRS over the course of the day, and for dinner. Paul M and Tina are really terrific to work with, very helpful, and patient!
Another interesting and different thing these days is the wait. It used to be (several years ago) something like 4 months give or take. Now it is 8 months plus. The PS I spec'ed March 1 is not done yet. (The 594 SH.) So while this was an AWESOME trip, and I am really looking forward to these guitars, I almost have to forget about them and go back to my enjoying my Core and WL 594's, my new PS one, and look forward to the March 1 spec'ed one to come in.
I guess the increased wait is a sign that the PRS Private Stock program is going very well for PRS, and I think that is great for them, and for the prospect of this awesome program continuing on well into the future.
I am excited, and more so just humbled and honored to have the opportunity to collect and play these great instruments.
I want to wrap this post up my talking about a really important part of the experience for me in going to the Private Stock Vault to personally spec a Private Stock. The Woods in the vault are Cherrypicked as the finest woods to begin with, for tone and/or figure, or from their source or whatever reason, and then from there you can hand-select each piece from several by selecting for tone. When I select a body or neck, I probably go through 20 or so pieces of wood for each, painstakingly tapping each one and comparing the tone, get it down to the best 3 or 4, and then narrowing to the final selection with input from Eric and Paul Miles. It is a lot of work, but in my opinion a critical part of the equation in optimizing for the finest possible instrument. After 5 years of doing this, I have also learned to not only select based upon the most musical pieces of wood, but also where they resonate best (middle is better than the edges, as a lot of the wood from the blank goes away), and how they resonate and ring, what frequencies and what sounds pleasing to me. It is a very in inexact thing, but it is my number one focus in making the effort to taking a trip to be there in person, first and foremost for the body and neck selection for tone, and a fairly distant second is the Maple top for looks...
I am hoping and expecting they will be awesome. The adventure and journey continues!
P.S. I will post some more pics when I get a chance.
