The Unofficial 2020 McCarty 594 Love Thread!!

[MA Pete]

So, @MA Pete, can I play in this thread if it's a 2019 with all the new goodies?

Well, okay...

 

[grausch]

These are flying changes. The 594 guitars were the first ones to make the transition to nitro, but by November 2020, all Core guitars have nitro finish and TCI pickups. January 2020 all Bolt-on guitars have nitro and TCI, February 10, 2020 all S2 models will have nitro finish, although the pickups are still making the transition to TCI.

The 594 guitars ordered while Phase III tuners were stock, will deliver with Phase III tuners, unless the dealer specifically asks us to change their orders to include the vintage style tuners. The TCI and Nitro are being changed on all 594's, so the dealers do not have to request anything special to get those features.

Apologies for being a little slow, but does this mean that all S2 594s will have the same nitro finish as the regular Cores?

Edit: If this applies to all S2s then the 35th Anniversary is also becoming even more appealing...

...goes off thinking where to hide new guitar purchases from wife.

 

[bodia]

Apologies for being a little slow, but does this mean that all S2 594s will have the same nitro finish as the regular Cores?

Edit: If this applies to all S2s then the 35th Anniversary is also becoming even more appealing...

...goes off thinking where to hide new guitar purchases from wife.

All S2's will be nitro starting in February.

 

[bodia]

Had to join in on the fun and see what all the fuss was about

Well?????

 

[bodia]

This one disappeared today. You know anything about that @MA Pete ???

 

[Bob Hundemer]

That's nice!

 

[yankeebulldog]

This one disappeared today. You know anything about that @MA Pete ???

I noticed they dropped the price 10% today so I assume someone jumped on it.

 

[MA Pete]

This one disappeared today. You know anything about that @MA Pete ???

I am not responsible for THIS particular guitar disappearing today.

I had seriously considered this one, as the colors in this Dark Cherry Sunburst are about the most perfect I have seen in a PRS 594! Historically the base color has been too red for my tastes. An Amber color in the middle with a dark red for the Burst looks GREAT!

But alas I already have three terrific Solidbody SCs, the 2016 Prototype, the 2020 Prototype and the 2020 in Charcoal, so at this moment I am focused on a DC Solidbody.

Whoever snagged this one, congrats!!

 

[yankeebulldog]

Well?????

I like it so far. The nitro finish and the TCI pickups are a definite upgrade. My only other 594 I currently have is a WL SC594 with an ebony board and non-stock pickups so I'm basing this mostly from memory. I could go either way on the vintage tuners. It stays in tune better than my LP, but I'd still prefer the locking tuners unless the tone difference is really that dramatic. My take on the pickups is they tend to sound better than the prior version, especially with higher gain tones. The high end on the bridge pickup is a little tamer, which was my big complaint with the old LTs and the 57/08s, etc.

 

[Bob Hundemer]

Who was selling it?

 

[clmazza]

Incoming... Early next week.

This thread had me Jones’n.....

 

[MA Pete]

Incoming... Early next week.

This thread had me Jones’n.....

Nice!!

Glad to be of a bad influence!

 

[László]

The crazy thing is, I love my 594 DCs, and love my McCarty Singlecut, but I kinda Jones’d for another regular McCarty, the non-594 version, so I’ve had one on order since a day or two after the changes were announced.

I don’t mind the traditional tuners, I mean, who cares, I change my strings basically out of guilt, not because they really need changing. So it’s not all that often.

But I wanted that nitro finish, bad! I really think nitro sounds different, and I like it a TON.

 

[MA Pete]

The crazy thing is, I love my 594 DCs, and love my McCarty Singlecut, but I kinda Jones’d for another regular McCarty, the non-594 version, so I’ve had one on order since a day or two after the changes were announced.

I don’t mind the traditional tuners, I mean, who cares, I change my strings basically out of guilt, not because they really need changing. So it’s not all that often.

But I wanted that nitro finish, bad! I really think nitro sounds different, and I like it a TON.

You might be onto something with the 2020 McCarty, Les!

On the Tim Pierce / Howard Leese video, the 2020 25" McCarty sounded amazing. On the Brian Ewald 2020 demos, the McCarty sounds equally amazing. Difference between the McCarty and the DC 594? The scale length and the Stoptail bridge. I am not saying the McCarty sounded better than the 594, just amazing in its own way, that in the two videos mentioned above, I was taken aback on how great the McCarty sounded.

I prefer the feel of the 594 scale. But I always have dug the 245 Teds, and I had one of those "Shootout McCartys", it was awesome. In seeing the two videos mentioned above and thinking about it a bit, I have thought of doing a Private Stock DC 594 with the Stoptail Bridge, in homage to my great love of the Teds from 2009-2016, the "pre-594" era for me. That would be great fun, and an interesting experiment!

And yes - the Nitro definitely makes a difference! I can vouch for that from a pretty large sample size of Nitro, V12 and Poly PRSi over the years...

 

[bodia]

I like it so far. The nitro finish and the TCI pickups are a definite upgrade. My only other 594 I currently have is a WL SC594 with an ebony board and non-stock pickups so I'm basing this mostly from memory. I could go either way on the vintage tuners. It stays in tune better than my LP, but I'd still prefer the locking tuners unless the tone difference is really that dramatic. My take on the pickups is they tend to sound better than the prior version, especially with higher gain tones. The high end on the bridge pickup is a little tamer, which was my big complaint with the old LTs and the 57/08s, etc.

Thanks for this. My itchy index finger is trying hard to hold out until after 594 Fest. Not sure I’ll be able to!

 

[clmazza]

Nice!!

Glad to be of a bad influence!

HAHAHA! Interesting to note... mine has a January build date but with the regular tuners (explained earlier).... and it's eerily similar to your beauty, Pete

 

[László]

You might be onto something with the 2020 McCarty, Les!

On the Tim Pierce / Howard Leese video, the 2020 25" McCarty sounded amazing. On the Brian Ewald 2020 demos, the McCarty sounds equally amazing. Difference between the McCarty and the DC 594? The scale length and the Stoptail bridge. I am not saying the McCarty sounded better than the 594, just amazing in its own way, that in the two videos mentioned above, I was taken aback on how great the McCarty sounded...

I was archiving some of the ad tracks I did with my last McCarty WL, and they sounded really good. So I started thinking I might need...ok...want...another one.

Then I saw the two videos you mention, and that pushed me over the top, so I placed my order.

I’m mostly a short scale fan, too. But I also have the CU24 30th PS, and it’s great. The 25” scale and wrap tail of the McCarty has a different voice, and the nitro finish? Take my money!

 

[bryanewald]

I was archiving some of the ad tracks I did with my last McCarty WL, and they sounded really good. So I started thinking I might need...ok...want...another one.

Then I saw the two videos you mention, and that pushed me over the top, so I placed my order.

I’m mostly a short scale fan, too. But I also have the CU24 30th PS, and it’s great. The 25” scale and wrap tail of the McCarty has a different voice, and the nitro finish? Take my money!

Yes for sure the scale and bridge differences are a big part of the sonic difference between the original McCarty and DC 594, but don't discount the 2 vs 4 knob and placement (distance) of the toggle. That makes a substantial tonal difference, too. Two beautiful, however quite different voices.

 

[László]

Yes for sure the scale and bridge differences are a big part of the sonic difference between the original McCarty and DC 594, but don't discount the 2 vs 4 knob and placement (distance) of the toggle. That makes a substantial tonal difference, too. Two beautiful, however quite different voices.

You bet! I love my 594s for what they do, too (have both the humbucker and soapbar models, and give yourself a pat on the back for convincing me to get those as well!).

 

[MA Pete]

Yes for sure the scale and bridge differences are a big part of the sonic difference between the original McCarty and DC 594, but don't discount the 2 vs 4 knob and placement (distance) of the toggle. That makes a substantial tonal difference, too. Two beautiful, however quite different voices.

Bryan:

Thanks for chiming in here!

We appreciate your great demos, they really do an excellent job on demonstrating the variety of tones on tap from a particular model. Especially helpful when you do clean, slight gain and medium gain across all of the pickup settings, as you have done for the 2020 McCarty and McCarty 594 models.

With regards to your comment of "don't discount the 2 vs 4 knob and placement (distance) of the toggle. That makes a substantial tonal difference, too" - I heard you mention that in the context of the S2 594 Thinline in some of the NAMM interviews - interesting! Food for thought for my next DC 594 Private Stock spec...

-Pete