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MGR/Mike « Paul Reed Smith McCarty »
Published on 11/24/03 at 15:00Guitar Center, East Brunswick, New Jersey. Paid $2600. I bought this guitar because I was looking for a guitar that was versatile enough to play an entire show without changing instruments (barring a string break).
This guitar is VERY versatile and sounds unbelievable. The humbucker sounds are tremendous, and the single coil sounds are very good. I bought one with an East Indian Rosewood Neck. If you decide on a McCarty, I HIGHLY recommend you look into one with this neck. The playability of all PRS's is great, but with this neck, it's unspeakable! Finally, the tone is outstanding. Dark, rich, and complex. However, this guitar, though awesome, is not for everyone. See below.
I have one very minor complaint: no locking tuners. Not that we buy guitars for their tuners, but they would have been nice.
Now, though I only have one complaint, I do have two major caveats. Make sure you understand the following before you buy this awesome (and very expensive) guitar. First, if you want a Les Paul or a Strat, get one. The humbucker sound on a McCarty is fatter than other double cutaway guitars, but it doesn't even approach the fatness of a Les Paul. The single coil sounds are very nice, but not "twangy" like a strat. Nothing does a Les Paul and Strat sounds better than Les Pauls and Strats. With that said, when you want to get "similar" sounds out of one guitar, this one can do it. Second, this guitar is very strong in the mids. Yes, the highs are sweet and the lows are smooth, but when your playing chords, its big on the mids. So if you're the type that likes playing with a scooped-mid sound, this guitar is not for you. Try a Custom 22 or 24 (with and without the trem system) instead. The McCarty is a great rock guitar, and it can do some of the heavier stuff if you ask it to. But if the heavy stuff is your thing, move on.
It's a PRS... construction and quality are nothing short of perfect. The set-up performed at the factory is better than any tech I know could ever do.
The McCarty is very versatile. It can come close to Les Paul and Strat sounds. But what makes this guitar worth the money is what you don't hear about enough-- the PRS sound. It's got its own sonic character that is dark, rich, and complex. If you don't like the mids, try a Custom 22 with a tail stop. To overly generalize, the McCarty is more vinatage sounding and the Custom 22 is more modern sounding. Good Luck!
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
This guitar is VERY versatile and sounds unbelievable. The humbucker sounds are tremendous, and the single coil sounds are very good. I bought one with an East Indian Rosewood Neck. If you decide on a McCarty, I HIGHLY recommend you look into one with this neck. The playability of all PRS's is great, but with this neck, it's unspeakable! Finally, the tone is outstanding. Dark, rich, and complex. However, this guitar, though awesome, is not for everyone. See below.
I have one very minor complaint: no locking tuners. Not that we buy guitars for their tuners, but they would have been nice.
Now, though I only have one complaint, I do have two major caveats. Make sure you understand the following before you buy this awesome (and very expensive) guitar. First, if you want a Les Paul or a Strat, get one. The humbucker sound on a McCarty is fatter than other double cutaway guitars, but it doesn't even approach the fatness of a Les Paul. The single coil sounds are very nice, but not "twangy" like a strat. Nothing does a Les Paul and Strat sounds better than Les Pauls and Strats. With that said, when you want to get "similar" sounds out of one guitar, this one can do it. Second, this guitar is very strong in the mids. Yes, the highs are sweet and the lows are smooth, but when your playing chords, its big on the mids. So if you're the type that likes playing with a scooped-mid sound, this guitar is not for you. Try a Custom 22 or 24 (with and without the trem system) instead. The McCarty is a great rock guitar, and it can do some of the heavier stuff if you ask it to. But if the heavy stuff is your thing, move on.
It's a PRS... construction and quality are nothing short of perfect. The set-up performed at the factory is better than any tech I know could ever do.
The McCarty is very versatile. It can come close to Les Paul and Strat sounds. But what makes this guitar worth the money is what you don't hear about enough-- the PRS sound. It's got its own sonic character that is dark, rich, and complex. If you don't like the mids, try a Custom 22 with a tail stop. To overly generalize, the McCarty is more vinatage sounding and the Custom 22 is more modern sounding. Good Luck!
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com