PRS McCarty 594 Charcoal

Special PRS McCarty 594 upgrades: TCI pickups and nitro Charcoal finish!

First and foremost, the Charcoal finish is naturally striking, perhaps even more stunning thanks to the updated CAB (nitro) finish formula. Since its introduction a few years ago, the McCarty 594 has become a true classic in the PRS lineup. The guitar owes the second part of its name to its 24.594-inch scale length and is inspired by vintage LP-style guitars from the 1950s. However, as befits PRS, this traditional formula has been given a new, more reliable, and innovative look. Consider, for example, the 58/15 LT pickups, which can be switched from humbucker to single-coil using push/pull potentiometers, for a wide range of beautiful, vintage-oriented tones. These Low Turn humbuckers have a slightly milder output than most double-coil pickups, resulting in an incredibly warm sound with just the right amount of definition. These pickups were always incredible, but thanks to the new TCI tuning, the split-coil modes sound even more convincing. The McCarty 594 also features the special "pattern vintage" neck profile. This profile is a combination of the finest '50s necks, but has the unique feature of being asymmetrically sloped. This means that the neck is slightly thicker on the bass side than on the treble side at the higher frets, making the neck feel comfortable in your hand along its entire length. And don't underestimate the impact of the PRS Two-Piece Cast Zinc bridge. This bridge sounds much fuller than many TOM bridges, and therefore has a huge impact on the overall sound. The traditional combination of a mahogany body and neck, maple top, and rosewood fingerboard completes the look. Regarding the changes for 2020: the latest 594 models are equipped with Vintage-Style tuners (no longer locking tuners), the aforementioned CAB finish, and TCI-tuned pickups. In our opinion, these upgrades give the guitar an even more traditional feel, without sacrificing the modern and reliable character of PRS. Absolutely fantastic!

What is TCI?

TCI stands for Tuned Capacitance and Inductance treatment . This method of fine-tuning pickups originated during the design process of the Silver Sky, in collaboration with John Mayer. Both Paul Reed Smith and John Mayer were obsessed with accurately replicating the Stratocaster single-coil pickups from 1963 to 1965, with precisely the right balance between high and low frequencies. When a pickup is wound, the coils are simultaneously capacitors (capacitance), resistors, and inductors (inductance). Until now, these three elements could not be influenced independently, but Paul Reed Smith cracked the code to isolate these factors and finely tune them. Thanks to the TCI treatment, the pickups are now even more perfectly tuned to the guitar, producing the purest guitar sound yet. TCI is more than just a new type of pickup; it is a completely innovative process. That process is now applied to all PRS pickups offered in the Core line, with the exception of some Signature models.