PRS (Paul Reed Smith) S2 McCarty 594 Double Cut: (2020)
Vintage style meets modern PRS construction. The S2 McCarty 594 edges closer towards a retro look than what you might already be familiar with from PRS, but this gorgeous guitar still incorporates their excellent construction techniques and push/pull coil split for access to both humbucker and single coil tones. A mahogany body and neck with a figured maple top provides the foundation for the traditional feel McCarty.
Some quick specifications are its patented 24.594-inch scale length neck means jumping between the 22 frets is fast and silky smooth. Combined with the Pattern Vintage neck shape. You get the trusted hard tail PRS Two-Piece Bridge and Vintage-Style tuners to keep your sound up to scratch. Equipped with two 58/15 “S” humbuckers, a personal innovation of Paul Reed Smith in the pursuit of great tone. These are classic low output pickups, delivering exceptional clarity and a focused midrange. The bridge position 'bucker has a boosted treble, while the neck pickup has a wider balanced frequency range. Pull the coil split knob to access those glorious vintage single coil sounds.
Personal Comment:
PRS was new to me in 2019 but I soon became familiar with Paul's history with Gibson's Ted McCarty which would inspire the 594. It was early in my return back to guitar playing and I was still feeling my way around, all the old school guitars I was very familiar with but I was looking for something with a more modern build, yet still with a vintage vibe, and the 594 double cut looked to fit the bill.
The moment I took the guitar into my hands, I very much appreciated the build quality, it is very good! This particular model is made in the USA although the electrics are from the Asian factory. Now that's not a bad thing! but it does mean they are made to a price point. Now without a doubt, this is a very nice guitar to handle and play, tuning and intonation stability really is superb. While the pick-ups are pretty good I do feel they just lack the clarity the more expensive USA pick-ups have which really adds to the price. And here's the thing, I was in 2 minds as to whether I bought new electronics or just sold it and bought another guitar with pick-ups that would cover the type of lead guitar tones I needed in my recording work. Despite these guitars being made to a high standard, they do not appear to hold their value very well, particularly if they have a scratch or ding. This made me think twice about simply selling it off.
As it turned out I eventually decided to try out a Les Paul 60s Standard with Burstbuckers and it does exactly what I need. Will I keep this 594? I'm not sure, it's a very nice guitar to play and certainly very capable at covering a range of tones, however, as I mention in the video review, PRS guitars just feel odd to me and I find it difficult to really connect... it's difficult to explain, perhaps I'm just an old dog that does not want to learn new tricks... . If you want to know more about this guitar drop me an email.