The Unofficial 2020 McCarty 594 Love Thread!!

[bodia]

Well, it happened today. I brought home a 2020 594 DC 10 top in McCarty burst. My other two cores are artist package, but the top on this new 594 might be the nicest top.

I’ll get some pics later, but this is an amazing guitar. I have a Hollowbody II AP, a Custom 24 AP and now the 594. Whoa, the 594 is really, really good!!

Awesome!

 

[MA Pete]

Well, it happened today. I brought home a 2020 594 DC 10 top in McCarty burst. My other two cores are artist package, but the top on this new 594 might be the nicest top.

I’ll get some pics later, but this is an amazing guitar. I have a Hollowbody II AP, a Custom 24 AP and now the 594. Whoa, the 594 is really, really good!!

Excellent, congrats!!

 

[dmatthews]

Well, it happened today. I brought home a 2020 594 DC 10 top in McCarty burst. My other two cores are artist package, but the top on this new 594 might be the nicest top.

I’ll get some pics later, but this is an amazing guitar. I have a Hollowbody II AP, a Custom 24 AP and now the 594. Whoa, the 594 is really, really good!!

Nicely done sir!

 

[goof1073]

So I really wasn't looking for another guitar, especially with Experience coming up...but I borrowed a buddy's WL CU24 (Swamp Ash fat back / maple neck) for a couple of months and really started to get into the extra attack the neck brought to the mix and how the Swamp Ash colored the tone too. So a while back this WL offering came up for sale at Dave's Guitar and they made me a very nice deal on the guitar...

...I need to get some of my own pictures, but I've been too busy with the honeymoon phase to do so!!!

 

[g.wizz]

So I really wasn't looking for another guitar, especially with Experience coming up...but I borrowed a buddy's WL CU24 (Swamp Ash fat back / maple neck) for a couple of months and really started to get into the extra attack the neck brought to the mix and how the Swamp Ash colored the tone too. So a while back this WL offering came up for sale at Dave's Guitar and they made me a very nice deal on the guitar...

...I need to get some of my own pictures, but I've been too busy with the honeymoon phase to do so!!!

What a beauty congrats, goof.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Congratulations to both you guys! Well and truly knocking it out of the park!

 

[bodia]

So I really wasn't looking for another guitar, especially with Experience coming up...but I borrowed a buddy's WL CU24 (Swamp Ash fat back / maple neck) for a couple of months and really started to get into the extra attack the neck brought to the mix and how the Swamp Ash colored the tone too. So a while back this WL offering came up for sale at Dave's Guitar and they made me a very nice deal on the guitar...

...I need to get some of my own pictures, but I've been too busy with the honeymoon phase to do so!!!

Bada$$!!!!

 

[Summer]

Great info. My 2018 is a double cut and it's fantastic. Question: do you like the new vintage tuners as much as the Phase III ? Tuning stability just as good? As a side note, do you know what company manufactures the core Phase III tuners? thanks much

Not to try to outdo Bodia's 5, but my count shows I owned 26 594s in the 2016-2017 timeframe, 18 Core/WL and 8 Private Stocks (including the Original Feb 2016 GOM DC 594). Wow, how did THAT happen??

Here in 2020, I picked up two more Pre-TCI Private Stocks, and also several 2020 Core SC and DC 594s, plus a 2020 DGT and McCarty. The difference in my opinion is huge, I think mostly from the combination of the Nitro and the TCI pickups. Back with the 2016/2017 guitars, to me there was a huge difference between the feel and tone of the Private Stocks and the Core/WL guitars, I think it was mostly the Nitro. As always, some of the Core/WL ones were better than others, the luck of the draw on how the woods come together. But none really came anywhere close to the better Private Stocks.

Flash forward here to 2020, and *all* of the 2020s I have tried so far have been consistently amazing. If the 2016/2017 Core/WL guitars were 70% as good on average as the Private Stocks, these 2020s are 90 to 95% as good on average.

I apologize to two sets of people in making those statements - (1) folks who own 2016-2019 594s, if that makes you bummed about your 594s. You shouldn't be, the 594s were the best Short Scale PRS Guitars ever made in the history of PRS, for that target of a vintage voiced short scale PRS. They just made the 2020s a little better. And (2) I do feel bad for the dealers who may have a harder time selling the many 2019 and previous 594s they have in stock, with all the buzz with the 2020s. That goes with the territory in being a PRS dealer though, Paul and team have always been innovating and marketing the new latest and greatest best thing ever. I think the 2020s create two marketplaces for new 594s for buyers - pre Nitro/TCI ones that can be had at an extra discount, and the shiny new 2020 toys that won't be discounted as much.

So my sincere apologies for offending anyone with my comments - my intent is positive, and I am pretty sure many of you here count on me to provide feedback based on my unique approach of consuming A LOT of PRS Guitars in the spirit of the tone chasing, experimenting and experiencing.

In addition to declaring the Core 2020 594s being very close to Private Stock 594s in tone and feel, I am starting to make another discovery that (to quote Mike Cantrell) is giving me a bit of an "Identity Crisis". In the 2016-2017 594 timeframe, I became very enamored with the SC 594 over the DC 594. In a *BIG* way, partly fueled by the fact that the 2016 Prototype was the best sounding and feeling, playing and sounding guitar I had ever owned or experienced. But even after that I preferred most of the Core/WL SC 594s to any of the DCs, more often than not. At the time, that was a pretty big shift for me, as the DC 245 had been my number one guitar from 2009-2016, and while I liked the SC 245s, I only dabbled in them, by favorite was still the DCs. (The Private Stock McCarty Singlecut model in 2014+ did already start to shift me in that direction though. Also the shift was somewhat enabled by the fact that my band from 2009 forward dissolved, so I wasn't playing out anymore.)

So here is my "other new discovery" that I am coming to realize - with the 2020s being improved with the Nitro finish and the TCI pickups, I am noticing that (for me at least) there seems to be less difference of tone and mojo between the DCs and the SCs.

I had been the self-proclaimed SC 594 Club President since the 2016 Prototype arrive in Oct 2016 (a couple of months before the SC 594 was officially announced, which was cool). But something strange has happened to the mix within my collection this year, do you guys notice the trend?

I may have to step down as SC 594 Club President and start and lead a "2020 594 Club"..

 

[Summer]

I think the + means Gooder. But that's just a guess.

Not sure if you have purchased yet, but some insight. I'm not quite your age but creeping up. Look hard and be patient for a light guitar. Most of the single cut 594's are heavy which is why mine is a double cut and it's awesome. Weighs 8.1 lbs which is very manageable. Anything above that kills my neck and back so weight is everything. I don't personally care for them but a hollowbody of course will be lighter and if you want to switch gears, Paul's guitars seem to be lighter. Anyway, maybe it's just me but weight is everything to me personally so ya gotta be careful with alot of these SC 594's. Just a heads up. Having said that, they're all awesome. Have fun.

 

[RickP]

So I really wasn't looking for another guitar, especially with Experience coming up...but I borrowed a buddy's WL CU24 (Swamp Ash fat back / maple neck) for a couple of months and really started to get into the extra attack the neck brought to the mix and how the Swamp Ash colored the tone too. So a while back this WL offering came up for sale at Dave's Guitar and they made me a very nice deal on the guitar...

...I need to get some of my own pictures, but I've been too busy with the honeymoon phase to do so!!!

Beautiful!

 

[MA Pete]

So I really wasn't looking for another guitar, especially with Experience coming up...but I borrowed a buddy's WL CU24 (Swamp Ash fat back / maple neck) for a couple of months and really started to get into the extra attack the neck brought to the mix and how the Swamp Ash colored the tone too. So a while back this WL offering came up for sale at Dave's Guitar and they made me a very nice deal on the guitar...

...I need to get some of my own pictures, but I've been too busy with the honeymoon phase to do so!!!

Wow, that's KILLER!! Congrats!

Now that I have my best 594 collection yet, I am thinking about one with a Maple Neck to mix it up re tone. This beauty makes me think about that even more!

 

[MA Pete]

Okay, so I have been back from Hiatus for a couple of months now, and I have built a cool collection of 594s, a 25" McCarty and a Silver Sky. Great fun!

One really interesting thing about having a bunch of different versions of a PRS model line (the 594) is seeing that subconscious thing of when you want to play, what are your favorites over time? It turns out that for me it is the 2020's, and more so the Singlecuts.

The 2016 Prototype still beats out the 2020 Prototype by a hair head to head on tone, but for whatever reason, I like the 2020 more now. It is my favorite guitar at this point. I think part of it is whole package of the feel and vibe of it, combined with the great tone. I love the Cherry Back and Neck, and the Binding painted Yellow like the Teds that were my favorites for so many years. I really dig the look and vibe of the vintage tuners, visually it looks so "right" to me. Those 2020 5815 LT+ TCI pickups which are a special wind just for the SCs are fantastic! I have a few pretty awesome Private Stock 594s, but somehow this is still my favorite guitar!

I have my Charcoal 2020 SC 594 in my CA Apartment, along with my Yellow Tiger 2020 DC 594, and while both are great, I prefer the SC there too. (In today's crazy world - who knows when I will be out there again, though! )

These 2020s are amazing! I was so inspired by this realization that I somehow ordered another one today...

 

[dcm_guitar]

It's been about two weeks since I got the 594. With the Bay Area's shelter in place decision for the last week I have barely left home for 8 days. I've had this 594 in my hands for every day, and it jsut gets better and better. This is a fabulous guitar. It actually makes me appreciate my HBII and 2408 even more, but this 594 just has something extra that makes it HARD to put down. If yu can, you REALLY need to get a 2020 594.

 

[Black Blade]

So I really wasn't looking for another guitar, especially with Experience coming up...but I borrowed a buddy's WL CU24 (Swamp Ash fat back / maple neck) for a couple of months and really started to get into the extra attack the neck brought to the mix and how the Swamp Ash colored the tone too. So a while back this WL offering came up for sale at Dave's Guitar and they made me a very nice deal on the guitar...

...I need to get some of my own pictures, but I've been too busy with the honeymoon phase to do so!!!

Beautiful and unique!

 

[MA Pete]

Following up here with some additional thoughts on the 2020 594s, and the 2020 Guitars overall.

On one of my NGD threads in February for a Private Stock 594, FJ4 posed this question, a good question:

It’s interesting to me that even though you have some guitars with the new TCI pickups the ones with the standard 58/18 LT’s still your favorite ones.

I responded (perhaps a little defensively ):

Actually, I don't think it can at all be looked at that way. That is comparing Apples and Oranges. What I have said is that the 2020 Core 594s are significantly better than the Core/WL 594s of 2016/2017, which are likely pretty much the same as the 2018/2019 Core and WL guitars, on average. What I likened it to is that if the Core V12 finished pre-TCI 594s were on average 70% as good as an average Private Stock 594, then these new ones are on average 90%+ as good as the average Private Stock 594.

These two guitars are the very best 2 Private Stocks out of about 25-30 Private Stock guitars I have owned, and 11 Private Stock 594s I have owned. So you are talking about two pretty big degrees of separation between the two things being compared.

Also the 2016 SC Holy Grail prototype does not have 5815 LTs or 5815 LT'+s in there. I wish it did have the 2020 5815 LT+'s in there for comparison, but I like my other 2 2020 SC 594s too much to take them out of them to try them in the 2016 Prototype. Also the Throbak Paul Kossoff pickups in the 2016 Prototype are pretty awesome, I don't want to pull those out right now. They are so good that I am thinking about getting another set to put in a mere mortal guitar to more directly compare to the 5815 LTs or LT+'s.

I am also tempted to take out the 5815 LTs from one of the 2020 594s to put in the Aged DC 594, but then I would have to age the covers.

Why mess with perfection when the 2 holy grail guitars sound incredible as is.

But I don't think the conclusion you drew or thought you found interesting is valid in the context mentioned. Apples and Oranges. The 2020s are the best Core 594s ever, I stand behind that 100%, and I think the group at the 594Fest agrees.

Thanks though for posting the comment, it was a good thought to express, to elicit this clarification and context response!

An update here - a couple of months later, I am indeed actually preferring the Core 2020 guitars over the Private Stocks! I have traded away 3 of 5 Private Stocks (not including the 2016, which is really sort of a Private Stock without a PS number, it has Private Stock specs). I traded away the 3 that were basically reproducible in a Core/WL guitar, other than the aesthetics - the SC 594 SH, the Aged DC 594 Solidbody and the DC 594 Hollowbody. I am keeping the 2 very unique ones (the BRW-necked DC 594 and Triple Soapbar SH DC 594), at least for now.

The three I traded away were incredible guitars, both tonally and aesthetically, but I just digging the Core 2020s so much that they are getting almost all of the playing time these days - mostly the SC 594, the 25" McCarty and the new Paul's Guitar I posted an NGD on this morning.

I do have one of the trade deals still in motion now, one of the three mentioned traded Private Stocks is outbound now in exchange for a full 2020 spec 25" McCarty (my existing 2020 has the Phase III Tuners and the "regular" 5815 pickups) and a 2020 spec DC 594 (I currently don't have one of those at home, the one I have is out in my CA Apartment these days). (Stay tuned for those here!)

So following up here to state with full confidence that I dig these 2020 Core Guitars so much, that I am actually preferring them over many of the Private Stocks. Since I wrote the above, I did get another 2020 SC 594 (that I never bothered to do an NGD on), and it is also fantastic. It is mind-blowing to me that these Core 2020 Guitars are so consistently great.

As I stated previously, the 2020s are so good that it makes me rethink what a Private Stock and is should be, at least for me - a rare configuration/combination of spec for something unique, like my 2 remaining ones, otherwise these amazing 2020 Core Guitars are all that is needed!

 

[shinksma]

@MA Pete , you continue to not help in suppressing my GAS for a 2020 SC594!

And with the production line shutdown, that really doesn't help, because it means there simply aren't that many out there to procure, even if I did have the spare cash (and I don't).

Gaaaaahhhhhh!

 

[dcm_guitar]

Just to kick in...... MA Pete actually bought the 2020 594 from my local dealer as I was considering it. When my dealer got a 2020 DC 594 I thought about it for week or so and then picked it up.

I don't have anywhere close to his collection. I have an AP 2408 with an EIRW neck, an AP HB II with a flamed maple neck, an Anderson Super Raven with the short scale, a Triple Play Strat and an S2 Vela to go with the 2020 DC 594. It took about three days for the 594 to become my #1.

These 2020 594 models are really something special. If you are "waffling" about whether you should or shouldn't get one I can safely say you wont have buyer's remorse due to the guitar's performance or feel. These are trying times, and dropping that kind of money on a guitar can be scary right now. However, if you are in a financial position to get one without hardship then absolutely do it. I'm not sure what pixie dust they sprinkled on these things, but it works!!

 

[bodia]

These 2020 594 models are really something special. If you are "waffling" about whether you should or shouldn't get one I can safely say you wont have buyer's remorse due to the guitar's performance or feel. These are trying times, and dropping that kind of money on a guitar can be scary right now. However, if you are in a financial position to get one without hardship then absolutely do it. I'm not sure what pixie dust they sprinkled on these things, but it works!!

Totally agree with this. Bottom line..........DO IT!

 

[ducmike]

For those that are curious..........

Before:

After:

And, for inquiring minds; the difference in weight.

Might have been a little more if I had weighed the Phase III before I put the Faux Bone tuners on. The metal tuner buttibs may have added more to the weight difference. Still, I was surprised it was half an ounce.

Did the P3 tuners drop in, or did you have to enlarge the holes or use adapters?

I'm looking at few 2020 spec 594s, and a couple have the new vintage tuners. I love the P3 tuners on my Santana.

 

[bodia]

Did the P3 tuners drop in, or did you have to enlarge the holes or use adapters?

I'm looking at few 2020 spec 594s, and a couple have the new vintage tuners. I love the P3 tuners on my Santana.

P3 tuners were drop in. No modifications required.