YOUR FAVORITE PRS MODEL. IF YOU CAN OWN ONE AND ONLY???

Stephen Rudnick said:
Can anyone chime in and tell me the difference in tone between a maple neck/rosewood board and a IRW or other type rosewood neck with a rosewood board, please, all else being equal? I haven't been able to understand how these different neck woods will affect the tone I might be looking for.
My fret board preference would be brazzy.
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Before ordering PS, you really owe it to yourself to go somewhere they have a good selection of PRS and play a bunch. This, even if you have to travel; after all, the cost of travel is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of the guitar. Right now you have no base of comparison, and you're utterly shooting in the dark.

As an example, the 594 scale length sounds different from the 25" scale length, and its bridge produces a different tone from the McCarty and Violin, too.

The "PRS sound" the company is most known for is its mahogany back, maple top, mahogany set-neck, RW fretboard, humbucker guitar. This starting point gives a balanced sound, with good sparkle in the high end, and nice definition in the mids and bass.

Substitute a maple neck for the mahogany, and you tilt the frequency balance toward the high end, change the characteristics of which frequencies sustain, and scoop the mids. Use rosewood for the neck, and you tilt the frequency balance toward the lower midrange, change the characteristics of the sustain in that direction, etc, so the impression is added warmth and punch. The guitar is usually heavier, too.

The shorter scale length on the 594 focuses the mids a bit, and the 2 piece bridge tends to add a more vintage, woody, tone.

Whether any of these is the right choice for you is impossible to say, since you have no experience with any of the Core models to have an idea as to what you'd like to change about them. My own experience has been that PRS electric guitars sound more like what I want to hear with a mahogany neck (yes, I've had a McCarty with maple/Braz and two with RW/RW). But that's a personal thing; I go for a vintage 'bucker type of sound, grew up in the 60s with Gibsons, etc. The further I get from that kind of tone, the less the guitar does for me, so all 3 of my PS have 'hog necks. YMMV
 
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Thank you Les! I believe you have answered the questions I need answered! :) I am looking for a well balanced sounding guitar which can play any style acceptably. I, as well, grew up on Gibsons in the 50's and 60's, and my ear naturally wants to hear that. I also prefer low wound pickups that are not at all muddy, and on which the bridge pickup sounds like a tele on steroids.

That is the sound I heard on a 59 burst I played at The Guitar Trader years ago. I had played over 150 bursts and that one sounded the very best of any of them by a long shot.

The one option I am thinking about strongly is a graphite model neck truss rod, as my Vigier has them and my carbon fiber XOX Handles have them. No dead spots, lots of natural sustain, and no worries about weather affecting the guitar. My string gauge is .007-.032, due to left forearm nerve loss, and the graphite truss rod really helps the guitar sound fatter then the string gauge would normally allow for.
 
Stephen Rudnick said:
My string gauge is .007-.032, due to left forearm nerve loss,
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Wow, I didn't even know they made that light a gauge set, but I can identify with that. I put pieces of sticky back sandpaper on my picks for better grip due to nerve issues on my right, we do what we can to keep making music.
I always preach the benefits of acupuncture and (pestered Les about it before his surgery), he had to go another route but it's the only thing that helped me keep playing. If you have the opportunity, give it a shot, may help.
Good luck.
 
My favorite model is the Custom 24. It is the one guitar that I cant do without. It has just enough of everything I need.
 
I LOVE singlecuts and SCs are gorgeous, but if I can pick only one... McCarty is PRS in its pure essence for me.
 
I have to vote for my Paul's Guitar over all the others. With a IRW/BRW neck and all 'Hog body, it feels great and gives me the best 'character' and versatility in switching humbuckers to single coils. And it can growl through my setup.
 
For myself, if it has to be "my one and only", it's hands down my DGT gold top (and I own 2 Private Stocks, a DGT and a DC 245!). It's bloody great, tones to die for in all settings, especially that "tele" snap with the bridge pick up split, and 'bucker tones' more than deliver the goods too! I was out playing last weekend with it and folks and a fellow guitarist were commenting on the classic Duane tones from the fillmore it was evoking! Seriously though, I really like the 11's, the elasticity, the bigger frets and how it came set up from the factory. If I had to keep only one of my three PRS's, it would be this one "hand's down"!
RonnieD
 
I don't have the breath of experience that most here have. I've owned only 5 PRS guitars and played a few more on a limited basis. But the PS McCarty 594 is my one. I now consider myself married- ok to look, but not touch.
 
Can I change my answer? Cause I've been really loving this one lately...
IMG_0189_resize_zps2e74329e.jpg
 
HB II with 57-08's and piezo - Covers lot of musical territory from Jazz to Hard Rock to acoustic (and covers it well)
 
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