The Official "Singlecut 594" Love Thread!!

[MA Pete]

Okay guys, so I started "The Official "McCarty 594" Love Thread!!" back in February, when the GOM run of 26 of the McCarty 594 came out, and blew us all away. It has been a fun and exciting thread! It went guns blazing as those of us acquired the 26 from the GOM run. It went a bit quiet until the Core model was announced in June, and has exploded since then with all sorts of great Core and Wood Library acquisitions, and lots of appreciation and love for all the great attributes of that awesome PRS model!!

Well, THIS happened last week:

This is a Private Stock Prototype of a Singlecut, with the 594 scale and other various 594 features.

I have no inside information on if and when this will ever become a Core model, for the record. If you guys recall, the 24.5"-scaled 2014 McCarty Singlecut started out as a Prototype, and eventually became an orderable Private Stock model, but never a core model. Whatever the plan or destiny is for this 24.594"-scaled SC, I would bet this is not the last you see of it.

So given the fact that many people will like to talk about a 594-scaled SC and not the Doublecut, for instance those of you who think a three way toggle on the upper horn is a complete travesty (you know who you are!!), let's start a thread here about this "Model" and see where Paul and Team take us on this topic!

My apologies for the redundancy of this post here today with the NGD thread from Friday and over the weekend, but an NGD thread is "one-and-done", and this thread should live on as a fun and informative guide for those interested to consume - the McCarty 594 thread is 49 pages (and 974 posts) as of this posting, just since February of this year!

More pics of this beauty:

Awesome "Blade Knots" and a gorgeous Brazilian Board!!

Killer Headstock Veneer - Matches the board great, love how the grain is intentionally at an angle:

BTW, it is THICK! Thicker than a traditional SC, at least as thick as the McCarty Singlecut, which was thicker than the SC 245's and SC 58's. Makes for major tone mojo! (I dig the out of focus McCarty 594 lurking in the background, feeling so skinny...)

The McCarty Singlecut did not have a "belly cut", it was flat on the back. This is thicker but has the Belly Cut, I like it just like this, AWESOME!

One rule I will set for this thread here to show respect for Paul and for PRS, for myself at least, if others choose to follow, that is great, if not, that is fine too. There is a guitar model I will refer to as a "Classic Singlecut" that is named after a famous and deceased guitarist. I am going to chose to not call out that guitar but name, because this guitar is so great in its own right, that I don't think any other Singlecut model needs to be directly called out. This one is "inspired by", not a copy. And this particular example happens to be better for me than any Classic Singlecut I have ever played!

Thank you, Paul and Team!!

More to follow here, and everyone feel free to chime in on your thoughts of this as a potential PRS Guitar...

 

[bodia]

Pete, I didn't notice when I looked at the pics in the other thread over the weekend, but does this have a little "glow" finish to it? Or, is it just the way the light is playing with the carve? Sure looks a little lighter around the bridge p/u and the two piece.

Either way, it looks hot! Looking forward to where this goes!

 

[MA Pete]

Pete, I didn't notice when I looked at the pics in the other thread over the weekend, but does this have a little "glow" finish to it? Or, is it just the way the light is playing with the carve? Sure looks a little lighter around the bridge p/u and the two piece.

Either way, it looks hot! Looking forward to where this goes!

Sharp eye! Yes, it definitely has a subtle "Glow" finish, where they sand it a little in the middle, like my former Citrus Glow, Jade Glow and McCarty Glow guitars. More subtle on this one though. There is no sprayed Burst on this guitar whatsoever, which I love about it, makes it very vintage looking no Burst and that slight Glow!

Still waiting to hear the official finish name, will post that when I find out!

 

[MA Pete]

Came across this photo from the Amp section tonight, my first McCarty Singlecut in 2014:

Compared to the Singlecut 594 Prototype, with the standard PRS Headstock:

I was a huge fan of the Santana Headstock on the Singlecut McCarty. I guess at the time I was REALLY used to the Santana Headstock on both the DC's and SC's from 5 years of collecting Ted McCarty's, so I really resonated with it at the time.

But the PRS Headstock is really growing on me for the SC 594. I got used to it again pretty quickly on the Doublecut McCarty 594, and after obsessing about that model for the last 6 months, the PRS Headstock on the SC just looks more right to me now.

What do you guys think?

Also, this is a good side by side comparison to show the SC 594 knobs in the same position as the McCarty 594 position, very familiar to those of us familiar with that Classic Singlecut layout.

(Notice my poster and Framed CD in the same spot two years later, funny. The walls are even repainted a slightly different color, this time with a faux finish, somehow the pictures made it back to the same spots...)

 

[Dusty Chalk]

It's going to be a short thread, unless someone else follows suit -- which wouldn't be unheard of, I'm sure there are other people interested in a 594 Singlecut.

 

[CVS]

Pete, beautiful looking guitar! How does it play when you are sitting down (vs standing)?

 

[MA Pete]

It's going to be a short thread, unless someone else follows suit -- which wouldn't be unheard of, I'm sure there are other people interested in a 594 Singlecut.

I wouldn't say it will be a short thread, I would say it will get off to a slow start, for now. Several dealers have Private Stock Singlecut 594's on order now, with deliveries projected in late 2016 and early 2017. Which is cool, but potentially bad for my wallet!

Pete, beautiful looking guitar! How does it play when you are sitting down (vs standing)?

Plays great sitting down, in my opinion. I don't find it body-heavy all sitting down, despite it being a heavier guitar relative to the McCarty 594's, at 8 pounds 9 ounces. I think the reason is because the geometry is a little different, the neck is a little further out to the left relative to the body.

Standing up on a strap, it also feels great, and balanced. That is where you really appreciate the belly cut that the McCarty Singlecut lacked. It really does lay up against the body nicely with that, better than the Singlecut McCarty did in my opinion. Ergonomically it is much more comfortable than a "Classic Singlecut". I would be comfortable gigging with it, that's for sure.

That being said, for me that is still where the McCarty 594 shines, for playing standing up on a strap, I prefer the more compact geometry of the Doublecut, the left hand being closer to the body, and the lighter and thinner guitar. And the tones are 95% as good as the SC.

So far as I digest this new guitar, that's sort of the delineation between the two models for me, noodling around at home I would play both and enjoy the heck out of both, but heading to a gig, I would likely grab a Doublecut most of the time, and maybe every once in a while mix it up with a Singlecut (which is what I have done over the years with the 245 scale DC's and SC's). I am between bands right now, but have a potential gig later this year with the old band, I plan to take a McCarty 594 for that, partially because of those ergonomics, and partially because this SC 594 is too precious to gig at this point...

 

[django49]

Being the current (very satisfied) owner of half that duo, I feel compelled to call "DIBS!" in the off-chance you eventually find something you like even more!

In the meantime, that is a nice comparison, in particular with the knob placement.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I wouldn't say it will be a short thread, I would say it will get off to a slow start, for now.

That's probably more accurate.

 

[László]

Definitely more accurate, I'm already starting to dream a little dream...

 

[MA Pete]

Definitely more accurate, I'm already starting to dream a little dream...

Yes, I have several dreams going already!

Some involve the Private Stock Vault and the endless possibilities.

Others are much more simple, like a Singlecut version of this!! (But with my Ivoroid Tuner upgrade, of course!)

Green Metallic would be fine too, to make for a matching set!

 

[Spikedog007]

Brian has a WL run of SC's going on but won't give much more detail....I wonder if it's going to be these! Pure speculation of course but who knows.

 

[Snoopygore71]

This guitar seems to make perfect sense to me.

 

[clasbtenn]

It's just my personal opinion, which means nothing at all, but if I owned the "Prototype" Grail, there is no way that I would sell or trade it off for some other SC 594. I'm not saying that I would stop here, and not buy any other SC 594's, but that guitar represents something special, and it was intentionally held for you, Pete. ymmv

I would play it out and enjoy it as with any other guitar. When I am gone, I would have no control over who had it, or where it wound up, but I would make sure that I enjoyed it while I was here.

 

[CakeEater]

So, how might a hypothetical core singlecut 594 compare to a sc245?

 

[MA Pete]

It's just my personal opinion, which means nothing at all, but if I owned the "Prototype" Grail, there is no way that I would sell or trade it off for some other SC 594. I'm not saying that I would stop here, and not buy any other SC 594's, but that guitar represents something special, and it was intentionally held for you, Pete. ymmv

I would play it out and enjoy it as with any other guitar. When I am gone, I would have no control over who had it, or where it wound up, but I would make sure that I enjoyed it while I was here.

Yes, that is the plan, LIFETIME keeper for me for this one!! I feel that way more so about this guitar than any previous guitar I have owned.

It was good karma that this guitar made its way to me, and that needs to be honored!!

And yes, I would play it out, as I have done with most of my Private Stocks over time, these guitars are meant to be played! My Private Stocks over the years have been sent to the PTC to fix broken pickup rings, buckle rash, etc. - nothing wrong with that!

So, how might a hypothetical core singlecut 594 compare to a sc245?

• Scale length, obviously, which for me is the big thing, I just love this scale length. It is killer on the McCarty 594, but somehow is even more awesome on this guitar, I don't know why, it is hard to explain...
• Pattern Vintage neck (beefier than Pattern)
• Perhaps a slightly thicker body than the SC 245, if it is kept like this prototype (see above pic)
• No doubt 5815 LT's (which sound great in the McCarty 594, but even more epic in this thicker and heavier guitar IMO)
• The difference in the knob layout, as highlighted above
• No doubt other super secret Paul mojo tweaks as usual!

 

[RedGuitars]

Yes, that is the plan, LIFETIME keeper for me for this one!!

 

[MA Pete]

Ha!! I *REALLY* mean it this time!!

 

[Basauri]

That guitar is... WOW, just... WOW

 

[Forrest]

The more I peruse the models offered by PRS and some of the "used" offerings across the web, I just keep falling more and more in love with the various singlecut beauties. I love the model shown in the 245 landing page and how the flame lines radiate from the center. Simply gorgeous! Also the faded whale blue looks stunning on the singlecuts.

Congrats on your fine instrument! Hopefully we see these offered at some point