Okay, so here is some explanation on the two years on reflecting, and the impact of the 2016 SC 594 Prototype “Holy Grail” guitar.
So for many years for me, as shared with many of you on BaM, Vintage Rocker and here on the PRS Forum, it was all about the journey, and the adventure always progressed and things seems always get more and more interesting and exciting. Journey timeline highlights:
- 2008: Started collecting and obsessing about PRS Guitars (Started with some 5708 Limited Editions - Cu24, McCarty, SC 245, and then the Sunburst series and DGTs…)
- 2009: Joined my first band, a company Band that turned out to be quite an adventure. First gig was with a terrific DGT Goldtop. Also, in the fall of 2009 my beloved DC 245 Ted was launched! The beginning of my long adventure with the deep love for the PRS Short Scale guitars.
- 2010: Performed at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in the finals of the Battle of the Corporate Bands (with a Shootout McCarty - which was an amazing guitar)
- 2011: The Willcutt Guitars Wood Library DC and SC Teds arrived - these were much better in tone than the previous Teds and SC 58s, with the hand-picked woods. These WL 245’s dominated the collection for the next couple of years, until the next phase with the Private Stock 245s
- Spring of 2012: Went to PRS to spec out my first personally spec’ed Private Stock. Also went to Paul’s Home Studio with Eric from Willcutt with Paul, and jammed out with a 408 and a hot-rodded Original Sewell - it was an awesome experience!
- Summer of 2012: Met up with Howard Leese and some of the Paul Rodgers band, at his hotel the night before a show in Chicago, with BrianC and a bunch of guitars. Howard wanted my purple SC IRW WL Ted (formerly 11Top’s) but I wasn’t ready to part with it at the time. That started a trading relationship with Howard that lasted for a few trades, later. Howard showed us the “correct way” to play “All Right Now”. The next night we saw him in concert, we were front row center, it was awesome
- Fall of 2012: Performed again the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, again in the finals of the Battle of the Corporate Bands, this time with a TGS Obeche Cu24 (didn’t want to take my newly acquired TGS Private Stock DC 245, which was later traded to Howard Leese, he called it “Root Beer”) - This time around it was more meaningful for me, we were as a band much better, and my wife and kids joined for this one. Around this same time, my beloved Jade Glow DC 245 PS came in. That was a killer guitar!
- 2013: Continued to gig around the country with the corporate band. Built a Private Stock collection of 5 awesome DC and SC 245s. Traded a Beach Crossfade DC 245 to Howard Leese, I rushed it to him so he could play it on the Jay Leno show, which blew my daughter’s mind
- 2014: The Ted McCarty SC 245 Private Stock came out - that took the SC Ted to a new level of greatness! Got one from the first run, then a dealer spec’ed one, then spec’ed my own, which came out amazing. My favorite two guitars to-date were the Jade Glow DC 245 and the Citrus Glow Ted McCarty SC 245. My main gigging guitar was an Aquamarine Obeche-bodied DC 245 with 408 pickups, it was nice and lightweight and easy on the back for rehearsals and gigs
- 2015: My band dissolved, everyone at our company moved on to other jobs. We had an amazing “Farewell” gig in April of 2015
- 2016: The DC 594 GOM came out in February - and it BLEW MY MIND!! This model was so much better than any other Short Scale PRS before it. PThe beginning of the next adventure. I scooped up just about every Core and PS DC 594 I could find
- Fall of 2016: The “Holy Grail” SC 594 Prototype arrived and changed everything!! Totally blew my mind!
From there, things got disrupted by this magical SC 594 Prototype. I went through a bunch of Core and WL 594s, and couple of PS SC 594s. But none really measured up to the Holy Grail. The Private Stocks were great, better on average than the Core and WL ones, but couldn’t hold a candle to the Prototype. So I was a bit lost - I went through 8 years of a tone quest, where I was always finding improvements and newer better things, all while having the experience of a lifetime with a great band. And then all of a sudden it seemed like the destination was reached, and there was no more journey. No band, no exciting new guitars. The culmination was when I put a lot of energy into spec’ing out a killer SC 594 PS for my 50th Birthday. It came in and was good, but quite frankly the Prototype was so much better than the rest that it didn’t seem to make sense to have more than one SC 594. That was actually quite frustrating. (Again, First World problems, I know!
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That’s when I went down a different path in frustration, collected a bunch of R9s and other guitars, searching for something new and exciting. I wasn’t gigging anymore, so that sort of changed the criteria. That fizzled out after about a year, it wasn’t rewarding anymore. I sold all but a few guitars in 2018. (I did have a fun phase with Strats, playing nothing but Strats and Strat type guitars for a year, still have two Fender Custom Shop Jimi Hendrix Strats that are terrific.) I didn’t play much for the past year or two, just let the madness go and found some perspective.
Now I have the urge to start playing more again. I realize that the journey doesn’t have to be over, it can just evolve. The band was an amazing experience, but I don’t have the time for another one now. The tone chasing can continue and still be fun, but just be about the subtle nuances of a much less crazy experience, with this great guitar as a true keeper as the center of my collection. And perhaps one or two more complementary 594’s (DC again? SC SH?), with experimentation with pickups, amps, pedals, etc. And oh yes, playing, technique and skills.
And I am okay with that now! In looking back now, it seems silly that I bought and sold all of those guitars, I think I was little crazy for about a decade there. I just seemed to have an insatiable appetite for finding the Holy Grail guitar. Thank goodness I finally did, I think!
Whew, sorry for the long post - but I wanted to share this with you guys here a bit of context behind the hiatus, and the return now. And thank you guys for all of your support along the journey...
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