PRS has paid tribute to the late, great Ted McCarty with the McCarty SC56, a limited edition singlecut that promises Golden Era electric guitar tone with modern reliability and playability – and, crucially, without the vintage price tag.
Yes, a Paul Reed Smith guitar does not come cheap, but these things are all relative. They might only be making 400 of the McCarty SC56, which are released as part of the Maryland company’s 40th anniversary celebrations, but they are at least getable.
Sure, it’s dream guitar money. Who among us has the dough to pick up a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard in today’s vintage market?
“The SC56, signifying Singlecut and 1956, model is our most recent tribute to my late mentor Ted McCarty and his impact on the guitar industry,” said Paul Reed Smith, founder and managing general partner at PRS Guitars. “We started with our take on a classic late ‘50s singlecut body. 1956 marks the year that Ted first had guitars made with his newly coined ‘humbucker’ pickups. It also happens to be the year I was born.
“Bringing vintage design into the modern era, we loaded this model with our McCarty III pickups, meticulously designed to deliver warm, clear, vintage tone with exceptional note separation and dynamics.”
PRS presents those McCarty III humbuckers just as nature intended, with each pickup controlled by its own volume and tone pot, a three-way pickup selector switch mounted on the shoulder. No messing around. No coil-splitting here.
This is a McCarty model so expect a generous piece of mahogany topped with a thick figured maple cap. There’s a lot of wood in all that. As per the guitar that inspired it, all this timber can make for a heavy guitar, but PRS has applied some patterned weight relief in this, strategically chambering the body.
And yet, within those chambered there are blocks of wood connecting the top to the bottom so that it weighs in lighter but you lose none of the solid-bodied sound. All in all the weight relieving shaves 2/3 of a pound off the total weight.
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“It reminds me of some of the best Golden Era instruments that I have had the honour of playing, but with the reliability, playability – and most importantly – the consistency of PRS’s modern manufacturing,” says Bryan Ewald in the demo video. “Dare I say it, it is much more attainable than the original instruments that inspired it.”
Other key details include the 40th Anniversary truss rod cover, that avian headstock inlay, Phase III non-locking tuners and two-piece bridge.
These SC56s come with a glued-in Pattern Vintage mahogany neck, topped with a rosewood fingerboard with bird inlays and a 10” radius, and are available in McCarty Sunburst, Translucent Black and Faded Blue Jean, and they are priced £5,289/$4,950.
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PRS’s 40th Anniversary releases have produced some sweet limited edition electric guitars these past few months. April saw the return of the cult-classic CE22 bolt-on. March saw PRS give its SE models a limited edition SE Exotic Veneer makeover.
And going back to January, the Standard 24 Satin was unveiled as a “roadworthy workhorse” while the Swamp Ash Special made a comeback.
For more details, head over to PRS Guitars.
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