NGD - PRS McCarty Stoptail with Rosewood / Ebony Board

[mermer]

I have been thinking about getting a PRS with stoptail bridge for a long time, recently sold some stuff so have fundings for one now. I have two candidates: a PRS McCarty from 2023 or an employee guitar which is an Artist grade McCarty (from 2023 as well) with Ebony board. The latter costs around 30% more. My main guitars are Les Paul Customs so very like and used to the feel of an Ebony board, but in this context, I am not sure which direction to go. I played the former in the store, it had a great attack and the neck shape felt very good. I did not have a chance to check the latter one.

The Polymath video of Nolly made for Bare Knuckle is basically my reference point for what I want out of this guitar. Worth noting he used a Modern Eagle II with a rosewood board as his main guitar for years (talks about it in the Neural DSP breakdown video), so I don't think ebony is automatically the "correct" choice for that kind of tone. I am curious about your experiences with different wood combinations on PRS guitars. And is the Artist-grade jump worth 30% over a standard McCarty?

 

[Texsunburst59]

I personally would go regular McCarty myself.

I just can’t see spending that extra 30% for the extra visual appointments that do little to the tone.

To me, the tone and feel matters way more than what an Artist grade guitar offers.

 

[peterc52]

I would prob take the regular one. I have a ninetees artist custom 22 with stop tail and a beautiful rosewood fretboard. Amazing guitar. I have a ragnarok in it right now.

Only i cant stand the tuners

 

[mermer]

I personally would go regular McCarty myself.

I just can’t see spending that extra 30% for the extra visual appointments that do little to the tone.

To me, the tone and feel matters way more than what an Artist grade guitar offers.

I agree, the 30% might be spent more wisely.

I would prob take the regular one. I have a ninetees artist custom 22 with stop tail and a beautiful rosewood fretboard. Amazing guitar. I have a ragnarok in it right now.

Only i cant stand the tuners

Some variance would mot hurt as well; currently I own LPCs only from various years, another guitar with an ebony board with a premium price would be a bit too much.

I am considering the Polymath set for that guitar, the lower price gives me room for the pickups as well.

But yeah the artist looks super nice anad abalone bird inlays pop on that ebony board

 

[PiggySmallz]

I would prob take the regular one. I have a ninetees artist custom 22 with stop tail and a beautiful rosewood fretboard. Amazing guitar. I have a ragnarok in it right now.

Only i cant stand the tuners

If its a 98 or 99 you can swap to the phase 2 as a direct replacement. Otherwise you can either send them to John Mann and he can convert them or you can buy his schaller set that drops right in. I just bought a schaller set for a 90s custom 22 project.

Love the phase 1s though, they just take a lot of getting used to. Once you have them figured out they're pretty solid!

I agree, the 30% might be spent more wisely.

Some variance would mot hurt as well; currently I own LPCs only from various years, another guitar with an ebony board with a premium price would be a bit too much.

I am considering the Polymath set for that guitar, the lower price gives me room for the pickups as well.

But yeah the artist looks super nice anad abalone bird inlays pop on that ebony board

I agree with the consensus, dont do the artist. Not worth the upcharge for a nicer top. If you can get a 90s or 2000s McCarty, those were great guitars! I have a set of polymaths in a different guitar but can see them working really well in a McCarty. If you decide you want something a little different, I really liked the Ragnaroks too

 

[mermer]

If you can get a 90s or 2000s McCarty, those were great guitars!

The guitar is from 2023, used and currently in a store. It has the LT pickups, which sound like a beefed up tele to my ears. For some applications they can be great but I want a bit more push.

Ragnarok might be too much for me; I am mostly a low output pickup into high gain rig guy. Even not sure if Polymath’s would be too much for me, they sound great indeed but Nolly can make anything sound good

 

[Holy-diver]

I would buy the one I liked the look and feel of more but this thread is useless without pics

 

[Rackman]

I like the feel of ebony boards much more than rosewood, especially as the availability and quality of rosewood gets worse and worse.

 

[mermer]

I would buy the one I liked the look and feel of more but this thread is useless without pics

Let’s go!

 

[mermer]

I like the feel of ebony boards much more than rosewood, especially as the availability and quality of rosewood gets worse and worse.

Same here. But the rosewood on the regular one looks, feels super nice as well. With some conditioning it would be even darker and smoother considering it’s sitting on a store for some time

 

[PiggySmallz]

The guitar is from 2023, used and currently in a store. It has the LT pickups, which sound like a beefed up tele to my ears. For some applications they can be great but I want a bit more push.

Ragnarok might be too much for me; I am mostly a low output pickup into high gain rig guy. Even not sure if Polymath’s would be too much for me, they sound great indeed but Nolly can make anything sound good

Have you looked at the PolyPaf? Has a bit less output more suited to a Paf pickup

 

[mermer]

Have you looked at the PolyPaf? Has a bit less output more suited to a Paf pickup

Yes, considering it as a neck pickup. At the same time I would like to add parallel wiring since both guitars already have push pull pots

 

[PiggySmallz]

The polymath neck is one of my favorite neck pickups of all time. Absolutely perfect for cleans. I dont really play leads on my neck pickup but the split tones get really dynamic if you roll the volume back. Dont think you can go wrong with either one

 

[mermer]

The polymath neck is one of my favorite neck pickups of all time. Absolutely perfect for cleans. I dont really play leads on my neck pickup but the split tones get really dynamic if you roll the volume back. Dont think you can go wrong with either one

Thank you for your feedback, I need to hear them! There are not many demos of this set, and the most of the existing ones tends to focus on djent applications which I am not very interested in

 

[Holy-diver]

Let’s go!

Much prefer the tobacco one

 

[stratjacket]

I own 2 McCarty’s and love them. I’d also recommend going for the standard McCarty. I don’t think you’ll find much, if any, difference in quality, playability or sound. I’d only go for the Artist if you love the visual and if that makes you bond more than maybe it’s worth it.

 

[PiggySmallz]

Thank you for your feedback, I need to hear them! There are not many demos of this set, and the most of the existing ones tends to focus on djent applications which I am not very interested in

Ill try to get a sound clip for you. The bridge pickup isnt my favorite to be honest. Its got something in the upper mids that im not in love with, can't get it to sound like the demo at all. It could be thats in an ash guitar with a bolt on neck. Its almost fizzy on single notes. Its a monster for chords but something is definitely there. I also only have a single control for volume so a tone pot and having a thicker guitar like a mccarty may be the right fit. Tempted to swap them into my les paul and try it there.

 

[mermer]

Ill try to get a sound clip for you. The bridge pickup isnt my favorite to be honest. Its got something in the upper mids that im not in love with, can't get it to sound like the demo at all. It could be thats in an ash guitar with a bolt on neck. Its almost fizzy on single notes. Its a monster for chords but something is definitely there. I also only have a single control for volume so a tone pot and having a thicker guitar like a mccarty may be the right fit. Tempted to swap them into my les paul and try it there.

Many thanks! What I meant with “I need to hear them” was the comments and experiences on these pickups but yeah a sound clip would work great as well.

In none of the videos online the tone is somewhere similar to the demo tone. That makes me hesitant about them because they are very expensive. If they do not do exactly the thing then it’s not worth it. I can check some Motor City’s as well

 

[cobrahead1030]

I’d lean toward the regular McCarty, unless the color & top on the artist grade absolutely blew me away.

 

[mermer]

I’d lean toward the regular McCarty, unless the color & top on the artist grade absolutely blew me away.

The biggest factor is the Ebony board. The colour, flame top etc. is not very critical unless they are unbearable