PRS McCarty 594
The most vintage-feeling PRS.
£4333 at thomann.de | £4299 at andertons.co.uk
The McCarty SC594 is the PRS for people who want a vintage-feeling instrument with modern appointments and stability. The 594 was first available as "Private Stock Guitar of the Month" in 2016. The response to the model was so overwhelmingly positive that PRS released a Core model a year later, with S2 and SE models following soon after.
Scale Length Explained
The 594 name comes from the guitar’s scale length, which is 24.594 inches. There are many rumours regarding the origin of this. Some say Paul kept tinkering with the scale length until he reached the perfect number – 24.594. Others say the real Burst Les Pauls from 1959 had a scale length of precisely 24.594 due to a tooling error. The truth is much simpler and somewhat annoying. Here is an excellent video explaining the Gibson scale length.
The total scale length (distance from nut to bridge) for Gibson guitars is indeed 24.75''. The distance from the nut to the 12th fret should be exactly half of that (12.375'') to ensure perfect intonation. However, this is not the case for Gibson guitars, regardless of whether you look at the legendary burst Les Pauls from 1959 or current production models. The distance from the nut to the 12th fret is actually around 31.2cm or 12.28''. What is 12.28'' multiplied by 2? 24.56'' or almost exactly 24.594''. Mystery solved!
The PRS McCarty 594 has the same distance from the nut to the 12th fret as any Gibson Les Paul (whether a vintage one from 1959 or a current standard production model) and a full-scale length of 24.594” to ensure perfect intonation throughout the entire fretboard. The end result is slightly less tension on the strings, making them easier to bend.
For most people, this doesn’t matter too much because the force with which you press down on the strings will ruin intonation much more than the small discrepancy in the Gibson scale length. However, this does explain why session musicians gravitate toward PRS guitars.
Other Features
The rest of the specifications are an excellent mix of vintage features with modern appointments. The neck is made from a single piece of mahogany with a bound rosewood fingerboard and 22 Jescar jumbo frets. At this price point, I would expect stainless steel frets, but that would not be in line with the vintage heritage. The nut is made of bone, in line with the vintage specs. The 594 used to come with Phase 3 open gear locking tuners, but PRS replaced them with vintage-style plastic tuners. I am not a fan of this change, but according to Paul, this improved the guitar’s resonance. The neck shape is Pattern Vintage. It is very chunky and asymmetrical, slightly thicker where the thumb would wrap around the fingerboard. I love it, but if you want something that plays faster - consider a PRS Tremonti signature instead.
The body is mahogany with a two-piece flame maple top. The figuring on the maple tops easily rival anything from the Gibson Custom Shop and come in a wide variety of colours. The guitar has a PRS two-piece bridge with brass saddles for improved sustain. The tailpiece has little screws holding it in place, so it does not fall off when changing strings. Whether it is the thicker body or the brass saddles and tuners, the PRS 594 sustains for longer than any other guitar I have ever played.
The 85/15 LT humbuckers are my favourite pickups on any guitar I’ve played. They are slightly underwound compared to the 85/15 pickups found on their other guitars. This results in a warmer tone that still retains plenty of definition. These pickups are absolutely perfect for blues and jazz, although they also work extremely well with distortion. Both pickups can be coil tapped individually with the push-pull pots, although I find the single coil sound is less convincing than on the Custom 24.
Playability
The 594 Singlecut really does play and feel like a vintage instrument, but it was not designed with ergonomics in mind. For the best playing comfort, you will have to look to the Custom 24 or at least the double-cut version of the 594.
The lack of the upper cutaway and thicker body result in a rather heavy guitar. I get shoulder pain after about 40 minutes of playing it sitting down. Standing up with a strap is more comfortable, but it will still be less balanced than the double cutaway variant.
The chunky neck feels very comfortable and fast because of the flawless fretwork and rolled fingerboard. In fact, it quickly replaced my Custom 24 as my go-to guitar, not least of all because of the incredible 85/15 LT pickups.
Competition
At about £4,000, the PRS McCarty 594 SC is very expensive. You can buy a 50s Les Paul Standard and a Fender American Vintage Reissue Strat for that and be very happy. Comparing the 594 to a £6,000 Gibson Custom Shop 59’ Les Paul paints a very different picture. The PRS will almost certainly have better playability, tuning stability, fit and finish, and attention to detail. Furthermore, you can safely buy a PRS online because they make every guitar with perfect precision.
Bottom Line
The PRS McCarty 594 Singlecut is a truly special instrument. It will deliver a distinctly vintage experience and sound with the unmatched reliability and attention to detail that PRS are known for.