NOS: 2018 PRS McCarty 594 wood library semi hollow

[darylcrisp]

arrived wednesday. sounds and plays excellent.

i had taken notice of this guitar about this time last year, march 2021. Willcutt guitars had it listed and i noticed it had 2018 on the headstock. i don't think they had a lot of NOS McCartys at the time and it made me wonder what might be wrong with it. it looked good in the shop photos, was listed as 6.1 lbs(NOT, its 7 lbs even, but thats ok, it balances and feels fine, seated or standing).


about a month ago something caught my attention regarding the 594 hollowbody II. i've always been a huge fan, and prefer, semi or full hollowbody electrics. i have a thinline 60's Tele that is ash and weighs 5.5 lbs and is such an awesome guitar(it is the one that has spoiled me and is what all other electrics are compared too). i was chasing a hollowbody II, but also interested in a semi hollow 594(but these were hard to find). i remembered the 2018 at willcutt guitars and looked online. there it was. still for sale. hummm, something evidently had to be wrong with that guitar. rolled thoughts around for 3 days and finally called in the order. they have a 7 day return window, so you do have a chance to not be rushed if there is anything happening in your life when fedex drops off your box. was given a fair price(i am in Ky so there is the tax addition, but he took that into account).

it arrived wed midday, but i was fully occupied until 2am thursday. finally had time to open the box and case and visually was blown away. it looked soooo much better than the pictures on the website. lifted it out of the case and it was brand new in condition and had that "new case" smell. the case is one of the black paisley editions and very classy......and very heavy(i weighed guitar in case and it was around 23 lbs).

out of the case, the action was very good, and it played extremely well immediately.

i had 3 unknowns that had been stalling me on this purchase.
(1)i wondered if the vintage pattern neck would be too thick or bulky for me(its not, i think its even a better fit for me than the pattern thin that is on the CE 24 and thinline S2 594).
(2) i wondered if the guitar didn't sound good or something else and why it had not been purchased.
(3) very impressed with this(first core model i've played) and now i cannot remember the third concern i had.........

i did remove some relief and dropped the string action a little. i need to adjust pickup heights since i moved the action down, and i'll check intonation. everything else is perfect. fretwork, tone, feel in the hand, such an amazing instrument. it has a classy look that is not "too much". the bridge components function, adjust so easy and are rock solid.

the cocobolo fretboard and headstock veneer are a nice touch. i like subtle colors of reddish brown like bubinga and coco on fretboards. love the phase 3 tuners. not a thing i would change. (i know the truss rod cover is missing in the pics, i keep them off a day or two after adjustment).

[GoPappy]

What a beauty! I can't imagine what caused it to remain unsold for so long, but it looks like it was your good fortune to rescue it. Looks like a keeper. Congrats!

[Dru Edwards]

Wow! Congrats Daryl on another NGD. I understand what you mean about the case being heavy... my PRS CE-22 case is one of my heaviest guitar cases I have if not the heaviest.

Is it a keeper? It must be .

[marty bradbury]

Very pretty guitar! Enjoy!

[J.R. Rogers]

That’s a beauty! And those are usually pretty lightweight too. I like the case design, also. Really nice couple of amps!

JR

[Chickee]

What a beauty, Daryl! I’m a hard core sucker for a good semi hollow guitar. Can you clarify about the neck for me please. Are you saying it’s thin and fast, or just thinner than you were expecting? Best of luck with this new axe!
frank d.

[KevWind]

Excellent congrats ....I give it

[darylcrisp]

Originally Posted by Chickee

What a beauty, Daryl! I’m a hard core sucker for a good semi hollow guitar. Can you clarify about the neck for me please. Are you saying it’s thin and fast, or just thinner than you were expecting? Best of luck with this new axe!
frank d.

Here are specs on the different neck profile shapes on the PRS site.
https://support.prsguitars.com/hc/en...-Neck-Profiles

two PRS i own have the Pattern thin(S2 McCarty 594 thinline/ CE 24). Its a C shape, and i think its the thinnest(as in depth) they offer.

my Mira has a Pattern Regular-slightly thicker in depth than the Pattern Thin but still does not feel overly large or thick. It is slightly more filling in ones hand-slightly.

this McCarty 594 has the Pattern Vintage. from PRS " slightly thicker front to back and features an asymmetrical carve with a little less meat on the bass side of the neck toward the nut end and a little less meat on the treble side of the neck from the twelfth fret to the heel."
I do not see the asymmetrical shape with my eyes, nor do i feel it in my left hand. it is extremely comfortable(even though i have never cared for "full" neck shapes that fill ones hand. i can detect it is more full than the Pattern Thin that are on the two, and slightly deeper than the Pattern Regular on the Mira, but its not the "baseball bat" type fullness i've felt on some vintage Fender models. hope that helps.

the one neck shape from PRS that i do not do well with and feels like the "baseball bat" and actually tires my left hand, is the Pattern Wide Fat. It feels huge to my hand. It comes on the Zach Myers signature edition(or it used too).

i think(and i'm not a studied PRS player so keep that in mind) the neck shapes go in a consecutive order and get deeper as they go-there is one or two that gets slightly less wide but not by much-you can see that on the tech list supplied in the link above.

Pattern Thin/Pattern Regular/Pattern/Pattern Vintage, i'm not sure where the Pattern Wide Fat fits in but i'll put it last as being overall the largest filling and "feeling" for me personally. and to make more confusion, and again, i could be wrong on this, but i think some of the current Pattern versions are similar to older versions but renamed. after a short time trying to get all this together-your face will feel like its going to explode-lol

unless you study the tech sheets PRS supplies(and they have a lot of info on the website, very free giving brand as to specs and how to on setups and such), it can be a little confusing at first.

[Chickee]

Originally Posted by darylcrisp

Here are specs on the different neck profile shapes on the PRS site.
https://support.prsguitars.com/hc/en...-Neck-Profiles

two PRS i own have the Pattern thin(S2 McCarty 594 thinline/ CE 24). Its a C shape, and i think its the thinnest(as in depth) they offer.

my Mira has a Pattern Regular-slightly thicker in depth than the Pattern Thin but still does not feel overly large or thick. It is slightly more filling in ones hand-slightly.

this McCarty 594 has the Pattern Vintage. from PRS " slightly thicker front to back and features an asymmetrical carve with a little less meat on the bass side of the neck toward the nut end and a little less meat on the treble side of the neck from the twelfth fret to the heel."
I do not see the asymmetrical shape with my eyes, nor do i feel it in my left hand. it is extremely comfortable(even though i have never cared for "full" neck shapes that fill ones hand. i can detect it is more full than the Pattern Thin that are on the two, and slightly deeper than the Pattern Regular on the Mira, but its not the "baseball bat" type fullness i've felt on some vintage Fender models. hope that helps.

the one neck shape from PRS that i do not do well with and feels like the "baseball bat" and actually tires my left hand, is the Pattern Wide Fat. It feels huge to my hand. It comes on the Zach Myers signature edition(or it used too).

i think(and i'm not a studied PRS player so keep that in mind) the neck shapes go in a consecutive order and get deeper as they go-there is one or two that gets slightly less wide but not by much-you can see that on the tech list supplied in the link above.

Pattern Thin/Pattern Regular/Pattern/Pattern Vintage, i'm not sure where the Pattern Wide Fat fits in but i'll put it last as being overall the largest filling and "feeling" for me personally. and to make more confusion, and again, i could be wrong on this, but i think some of the current Pattern versions are similar to older versions but renamed. after a short time trying to get all this together-your face will feel like its going to explode-lol

unless you study the tech sheets PRS supplies(and they have a lot of info on the website, very free giving brand as to specs and how to on setups and such), it can be a little confusing at first.

Thank you Daryl for that comprehensive lesson on PRS neck design. I am not familiar with the brand at all. Now at least i know a little about them! Thanks again.
frank d.

[Glennwillow]

Oh, Man, Daryl!

What a great looking guitar! Congratulations!

- Glenn

[1neeto]

Wow what a beauty! Wood library too! Yep that’s a keeper.

[letterk]

Congrats! I’m a bit partial to these guitars myself.