PRS Paul Reed Smith Private Stock McCarty Singlecut 594 Guitar, Apricot W/ Smoked Burst

Player’s Perspective

Music Store Live is proud to offer up this McCarty Singlecut 594 from the Paul Reed Smith Private Stock department. It truly does not get any better than this. Inspired by a true classic, this is the perfect guitar for the Les Paul enthusiast that wants unparalleled PRS quality and superiority! This is the singlecut to rule all singlecuts. The Brazilian rosewood fretboard provides the absolute perfect amount of brightness and twang in the top end along with warmth and fullness in the low end of the sonic spectrum. 

The foundation of this one is PRS’s singlecut design inspired by Paul’s time working with Ted McCarty. This custom apricot with smoked burst finish is something that we came up with along with Paul Miles at the Private Stock department to get a really classic vibe in a special color. All of the woods for this guitar were hand-selected in the PRS Private Stock vault by Music Store Live. We traveled out to Maryland to spec out a few Private Stocks and we were absolutely thrilled when this one arrived in. It came out better than we could have hoped. It’s meant to be a guitar that clearly shows where it came from (i.e. what it was inspired by) but also is thoroughly prepared to give you so much more versatility than those guitars of old ever did, not to mention the unmatched playability that you’ll find on this one. There’s nothing else out there that will compare!

While in the Private Stock vault, we picked out a beautiful flame maple top that was well matched and has a nice tight grain. We wanted to stick with the traditional mahogany body and mahogany neck tonewoods that made so many Les Paul’s of old so special, but we needed them to have that Private Stock look to them. So we scoured the vault for a gorgeous piece of African mahogany that had some fantastic resonance to it and sounded really great as well. For the back and a highly flamed chunk of fiddleback mahogany for the neck. While there were a lot of fretboards to choose from, we went with the holy grail of all tonewoods and gave this beauty a Brazilian rosewood fretboard. Unlike a standard McCarty Singlecut 594, we also had the fretboard and headstock binding for this Private Stock guitar made out of curly maple. Just to add some more beautifully figured wood to look at here. From top to bottom, every square inch is beautiful to look at, feels incredible to hold, and the overall guitar sounds absolutely incredible.

This stunning piece of art is a true collector’s piece, but will also beg to be plalyed as soon as you plug it in for the first time. Owning a PRS Private Stock is so much more than just a status symbol… But let’s be honest, it will definitely help get you noticed.

Private Stock represents the highest quality of materials, the most personally crafted instruments, and the greatest level of customization available from PRS. Whether you choose one of our Private Stock models or spec a Built to Order instrument, every Private Stock is carefully conceived and built with a “one-off” mentality. Through this program, we strive to deliver heirloom-quality, musical instruments. All woods for this guitar were hand-selected by the dealer during a trip to our Private Stock vault in Maryland.

“I have never seen anyone playing guitar in a bad mood. There’s something magic about guitars because they are simultaneously art, musical instruments, treasured possessions, and tools to joyfully spend time with. If you get an extraordinary instrument from Private Stock that is equally as good as a family heirloom and a musician’s tool to make a living on, we have done our job.” – Paul Reed Smith

The McCarty family of guitars are born from passion and precision: built passionately to embody vintage appointments and tone while utilizing the precision of PRS’s modern manufacturing techniques. Whether you are looking for rich, authentic humbucking tones or nuanced, sweet single-coil sounds, the McCarty Singlecut 594 can seamlessly master both sonic territories thanks to the 58/15 LT pickups and push/pull coil taps on the tone controls. The electronics layout, a few key specifications, and PRS craftsmanship combine in the McCarty Singlecut 594 to create an instrument that plays in tune, is intonated the entire length of the neck, and feels like a guitar that you’ve been playing forever.

The McCarty Singlecut 594 has been meticulously spec’d to deliver a familiar feel and warm, vintage tone, featuring a bound, 22-fret, 24.594” scale length Pattern Vintage neck, a slightly thicker back for enhanced tone and sustain, and 58/15 LT+ treble and bass pickups, which have now been through the TCI (tuned capacitance and inductance) process. 58/15 LT+ pickups offer exceptional clarity, focused midrange, and vintage character. The McCarty Singlecut 594 model is anchored by a zinc two-piece stoptail bridge with brass saddles and studs for added resonance and vintage-style tuners.

“One of my sayings is that everything that touches the string is God – well, that’s really the bridge, the nut, and the tuners. The updates to the McCarty family make a huge difference in their tone. The guitar sustains longer and the tone has more character,” said Paul Reed Smith.

It’s All in the Details: TCI-Tuned Pickups

Paul Reed Smith is known as a man who studies history, scrutinizes the details, and never stops applying what he learns to his own instruments. It is that passion, care, and tenacity that has permeated PRS Guitars’ culture and led to the constant evolution of PRS products. Last year, PRS announced TCI (tuned capacitance and inductance) pickups on the Paul’s Guitar. But, TCI is more than a pickup, it’s a process. That process has now been applied to all PRS pickups offered on our Core line of instruments, with the exception of a few artist Signature models.

“TCI stands for Tuned Capacitance Inductance. When you wind a pickup, the coils are capacitors, resistors, and inductors simultaneously. Our more refined ability to be able to tune those factors is what we have incorporated into TCI pickups,” said Paul Reed Smith. “To our ears, the results are very musical. We are very proud of how far we’ve come in the understanding and making of pickups. It’s been a fun process.”

PATTERN NECK SHAPES

Neck shapes have always been a high priority for PRS and a hallmark of our quality. A guitar should feel comfortable, like “home,” as soon as you pick it up, and the neck is paramount to that connection. These new neck shapes reflect modern tooling and programming that allows us to even more preciously shape and consistently reproduce our necks. The “Pattern Vintage” neck has the same width measurements as PRS’s Pattern neck but is 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.

Our in-house guitar tech will inspect, test, set up, and clean all of our instruments on site prior to shipping. All of our instruments are guaranteed to be fully functional upon arrival.

Music Store Live is one of PRS’s top independent dealers and is one of only a select few PRS Signature Dealers. If you still haven’t found what you’re looking for, we are more than happy to help you custom order your next Paul Reed Smith instrument. Our PRS experts can help guide you in purchasing a new SE, S2, CORE, Artist Package, or even your very own Private Stock guitar or bass. Call or message us for details!