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drkorey « Great For Leads Big Hands Needed »
Published on 04/08/11 at 17:50I owned a USA made 2002 PRS McCarty in dark blue, moon inlays, wide-fat neck, thicker than standard mahogany body, maple top with 22 frets. It had light vintage style tuners and one-piece stoptail bridge. 1 push/pull Tone knob and 1 volume control and 3-way switch. The nickel silver covered McCarty pickups had been replaced with an EMG 81 in the bridge and an 85 in the neck.
The guitar was used and had some dings here and there but the high quality of build was still very apparent.
UTILIZATION
20-22 fret areas, you may need to bend your wrist a bit awkwardly, depending on your hand size and reach. It was the same with my 1996 PRS standard and definitely not as easy to access as the PRS SC 250's and 245's I've had.
The neck was a HUGE wide/fat, so much so that I could not do sweeps and some other lead moves that I was accustomed to. There are differences between PRS necks, even if they are labeled W/F. I had a PRS 250 SC standard that was listed as a W/F but was more like a W/T or regular carve. I posted this observation and the birdsandmoons (PRS) forum and others commented that there is some hand finishing at the end of production and some necks may get sanded down more than others, even if they are labeled the same thickness.
The guitar weight was fine - but in the end the really thick neck forced me to sell it rather quickly.
SOUNDS
I used this guitar with custom built Peters amplifiers, which are kind of a cross between a Peavey 5150 and high gain Marshall/VHT with a little Boogie thrown in. The amp was paired with a 4x12 that had Celestion Gh12 -30's and a Splawn 4x12 with Governor/ManOWar speaker combo.
I usually go for a nice thick Jerry Cantrell AIC tone, to use with my modern rock/metal band.
The guitar had a very open and deeper bass sound to it. It seemed to muddy a little under high gain playing. This made it sound somewhat undefined during rhythm playing. The EMG's couldn't prevent the inherent bass of the guitar from coming out and gave it the generic EMG clean tone.
The guitar had very nice and thick lead tones and it was best suited for that. In the end, it was too bassy of a sound and it didn't fit the best for my style of music.
OVERALL OPINION
I liked the lead tones the best. Absolutely could not stand the thick neck and was not happy with how the guitar responded under high gain rhythm playing. I was looking for another PRS to match up with my '96 standard and in the end the '96 blew this one out of the water with playability and sound.
For being used, the action, fit and finish were very good. I have been through many guitars and had a number of years where I would buy, try and flip, which enabled me to have many guitars around to try out.
I'd recommend trying them before you buy, because each neck will be a little different. I got a good deal on this one but was not able to play it before purchase and I would not have made the same choice, even though I made out even on it's resale.
These are high quality instruments if you like thick necks. You can get good deals on them used, so I still think they are a good value for the used price.
The guitar was used and had some dings here and there but the high quality of build was still very apparent.
UTILIZATION
20-22 fret areas, you may need to bend your wrist a bit awkwardly, depending on your hand size and reach. It was the same with my 1996 PRS standard and definitely not as easy to access as the PRS SC 250's and 245's I've had.
The neck was a HUGE wide/fat, so much so that I could not do sweeps and some other lead moves that I was accustomed to. There are differences between PRS necks, even if they are labeled W/F. I had a PRS 250 SC standard that was listed as a W/F but was more like a W/T or regular carve. I posted this observation and the birdsandmoons (PRS) forum and others commented that there is some hand finishing at the end of production and some necks may get sanded down more than others, even if they are labeled the same thickness.
The guitar weight was fine - but in the end the really thick neck forced me to sell it rather quickly.
SOUNDS
I used this guitar with custom built Peters amplifiers, which are kind of a cross between a Peavey 5150 and high gain Marshall/VHT with a little Boogie thrown in. The amp was paired with a 4x12 that had Celestion Gh12 -30's and a Splawn 4x12 with Governor/ManOWar speaker combo.
I usually go for a nice thick Jerry Cantrell AIC tone, to use with my modern rock/metal band.
The guitar had a very open and deeper bass sound to it. It seemed to muddy a little under high gain playing. This made it sound somewhat undefined during rhythm playing. The EMG's couldn't prevent the inherent bass of the guitar from coming out and gave it the generic EMG clean tone.
The guitar had very nice and thick lead tones and it was best suited for that. In the end, it was too bassy of a sound and it didn't fit the best for my style of music.
OVERALL OPINION
I liked the lead tones the best. Absolutely could not stand the thick neck and was not happy with how the guitar responded under high gain rhythm playing. I was looking for another PRS to match up with my '96 standard and in the end the '96 blew this one out of the water with playability and sound.
For being used, the action, fit and finish were very good. I have been through many guitars and had a number of years where I would buy, try and flip, which enabled me to have many guitars around to try out.
I'd recommend trying them before you buy, because each neck will be a little different. I got a good deal on this one but was not able to play it before purchase and I would not have made the same choice, even though I made out even on it's resale.
These are high quality instruments if you like thick necks. You can get good deals on them used, so I still think they are a good value for the used price.
