PRS CE22 vs. McCarty

[fuzz_factor]

After 20 years of lust, it's finally time to buy a PRS. The two models that appeal to me the most are the CE-22 and the McCarty (with the Mira in a distant 3rd).

My budget and my guitar spend-o-meter top out at around $1500, so I'll be going used here. Since PRS are sort of rare in Portland (except for very expensive shop worn Guitar Center examples), I might not be able to try before I buy.

I definitely want a lightweight (7.5 lbs or less) guitar with a Wide Fat 22 fret neck. I'm looking for something with a good humbucker sound that is an all around versatile, light and easy to play guitar. I tend to lean towards Fenders, but I have four of them and have that sound and feel well covered. I also love my Les Paul, but at over 10 lbs., it doesn't come out of the case very often. I want a PRS that will become a #1!

What are the general differences between the CE-22 and the McCarty tone and feel wise?

Which would you recommend given that I already have two Strats, a Tele, Jazzmaster, Les Paul and an SG Classic?

In general, the McCarty's tend to be lighter, right? Is it hard to find a 7 1/2 lb. CE-22?

What about Korina? I love the look of it and a Korina McCarty will certainly be light, but also spendy, no?

Thanks!

[Mullenski]

CE22 + McCarty = Swamp Ash Special

Not intending to derail, but have owned a CE22, two McCartys, as well as Swamp Ash Specials. Kept the Swamp Ash -- it's an '04 which means it has McCarty pickups. Like the CE22/Swamp Ash maple neck much better, as well.

However, you won't go wrong with any of them!

[Stormin]

Originally Posted by fuzz_factor

I definitely want a lightweight (7.5 lbs or less) guitar with a Wide Fat 22 fret neck. I'm looking for something with a good humbucker sound that is an all around versatile, light and easy to play guitar. I tend to lean towards Fenders, but I have four of them and have that sound and feel well covered. I also love my Les Paul, but at over 10 lbs., it doesn't come out of the case very often. I want a PRS that will become a #1!

The McCarty's tend to be a bit heavier dur to the fact that the body is thicker than on a CE-22 or a Custom 22. It's not a bunch heavier, but definately some heavier.

That said, there are two main differences between the two: 1) the CE is a bolt-on neck and the McCarty is a glue in. 2) the McCarty is "usually" a stoptail and the CE is "usually" a trem guitar.

I've owned 2 CE's, 3 McCarty's, 2 SAS's (also a bolt on) and 1 Custom 22. As of this point I only have the CE-22 and the Custom 22. I liked the McCarty's plenty, but I find that for me, I prefer the PRS guitars that have trems over the stoptails.

Tone wise, the CE will be a bit more modern and the McCarty will be a bit more vintage, but that can easily be changed with pickup swaps.

Here's a pic of my current PRSi (the CE is the one on the right).

[The Funk]

I find the CE-22's to be the best guitars PRS ever made. I'm probably not popular in that opinion, but there it is. The main difference is the bolt on vs set neck, but they also have a different body thickness, electronics, hardware, etc. A CE is essentially a bolt on Custom 22.

For some reason I've never played a McCarty that I liked. I've played a few customs that were cool, but EVERY CE-22 that I've played was cool.

No idea why.

[fuzz_factor]

Originally Posted by Mullenski

CE22 + McCarty = Swamp Ash Special

Not intending to derail, but have owned a CE22, two McCartys, as well as Swamp Ash Specials. Kept the Swamp Ash -- it's an '04 which means it has McCarty pickups. Like the CE22/Swamp Ash maple neck much better, as well.

However, you won't go wrong with any of them!

Interesting. While I've seen the Swamp Ash Specials, I've tended to discount guitars with the middle pickup. I'll keep them in mind too. Thanks.

Do they tend to be lightweight or are the weights of the ash bodies all over the map (like with Teles)?

[gixxerrock]

I think of McCarty as a little closer to a Les Paul and CE as a little closer to a super strat. CE is bolt on and maple neck (very old ones had alder neck), while McCarty is mahogany. My CE has Wide thin Neck, where McCarty's generally have wide fat.

Also CE has 5 position rotary switch which many don't like. I don't mind it.

[jignant]

I own a 95 CE22 and a 2007 McCarty. They are my number one and number two respectively. The CE has been my number one since '95. It is light weight, the Dragon 1s rock hard in overdrive and clean up nice for classic tones. Oh, and the guitar feels like an extension of my fingers and the tremolo is flawless. That is what sold me on PRS in the 90s. The satin finish on the neck does not get grimy and the hard rock maple gives a snap to the guitar that mahogany necked PRS don't have. I got used to the rotary switch early on and the tonal spectrum for phase/out of phase is broad.

The McCarty also plays like butter and I love the feel of the wrap around bridge under my hand. Muting is made easy on this bridge for me and it's comfortable. The McCarty pickups are more vintage oriented or PAFish. Not exactly Les Paul territory though. The McCarty switching has it's advantage in a live situation, with one volume and one tone and the three way, you always know where you are. That is why I bought an SCT instead of a singlecut hardtail. That's my number three. I guess I like both rotary and McCarty switching.

It sounds like one of your decisions should be tremolo or hardtail. I love both the CE and McCarty and get great tones out of both these guitars thru my rig. A Marshall DSL50 head thru a Soldano 2x12 Eminence Legend loaded cab with minimal effects.

Good luck in your search. To me, you can't go wrong with ANY PRS!

Mine:

[fuzz_factor]

Thanks for the info guys. At this point, I think I'm leaning a little more toward Les Paul than Strat (although not looking for a guitar that sounds exactly like a Paul). I'm also leaning towards stoptail. I almost never even have the bars in my Strat. I prefer the Jazzmaster trem, but even then I don't use it much.

I left out that I also have a Super Strat type of guitar: an old Ibanez RG-550. Bought it cheap on a whim from a friend. It's cool but doesn't sound that great. The pickups are too hot and I don't have much use for a Floyd. My kid sister kind of likes metal so I'll probably send it her way some day.

jignant: Your post makes me want both! Who knows, maybe I'll ditch some of my other guitars and go PRS.

[jignant]

You will not regret a McCarty!!!

[Stormin]

Originally Posted by Mullenski

Not intending to derail, but have owned a CE22, two McCartys, as well as Swamp Ash Specials. Kept the Swamp Ash.

Interesting - I got rid of my Swamp Ash Specials first - I like the mahogany/maple bodied models better.

[DetroitBlues]

I think the Studio is rather nice too. But the CE22 seems like a safe bet... You'll have a hard time find a McCarty for $1500 I think.

[jignant]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1997-PRS-McCARTY-IN-SUPER-GOOD-CONDITION-/251057879022?pt=Guitar&hash=item3a743737ee

Green with moons...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PRS-McCarty-vintage-1997-Paul-Reed-Smith-Humbuckers-coil-tap-Case-NICE-NR-/261014761259?pt=Guitar&hash=item3cc5b12f2b

1997

[fuzz_factor]

Originally Posted by jignant

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1997-PRS-McCARTY-IN-SUPER-GOOD-CONDITION-/251057879022?pt=Guitar&hash=item3a743737ee

Green with moons...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PRS-McCarty-vintage-1997-Paul-Reed-Smith-Humbuckers-coil-tap-Case-NICE-NR-/261014761259?pt=Guitar&hash=item3cc5b12f2b

1997

If that first one was blue instead of green... The second one isn't bad either!

After reading everyone's responses again, I'm going to have to spend some quality time with a CE-22 before I decide.

I played a McCarty at the Guitar Center the other day, and that's what led to my PRS epiphany.

In the past, I've only played PRSi for a couple of minutes at a time. For some reason they felt uncomfortable; like the bridge was in the wrong place. The GC wasn't crowded and I spent some time playing a McCarty. As I adjusted to the guitar, a light went off and I realized it was probably one of the best feeling guitars I've ever played. The neck, which I think was a Wide Fat, was just perfect. If the guitar wasn't priced so high for the amount of wear it had, I would have bought it. Either way, in that moment all my Gibson GAS evaporated, or at least transmogrified into PRS GAS.

[AaeCee]

Originally Posted by fuzz_factor

If that first one was blue instead of green... The second one isn't bad either!

After reading everyone's responses again, I'm going to have to spend some quality time with a CE-22 before I decide.

I played a McCarty at the Guitar Center the other day, and that's what led to my PRS epiphany.

In the past, I've only played PRSi for a couple of minutes at a time. For some reason they felt uncomfortable; like the bridge was in the wrong place. The GC wasn't crowded and I spent some time playing a McCarty. As I adjusted to the guitar, a light went off and I realized it was probably one of the best feeling guitars I've ever played. The neck, which I think was a Wide Fat, was just perfect. If the guitar wasn't priced so high for the amount of wear it had, I would have bought it. Either way, in that moment all my Gibson GAS evaporated, or at least transmogrified into PRS GAS.

I personally prefer the McCarty. Like the scooped vintage tone and overall thump. Had one and miss it. The 22 is surely nice, as is the Cu/Ce-24 (my personal favorite), but the McCarty gets way closer to that vintage type tone, but with lots of versatility and typically great PRS playability. Look for a minty used non-10 top. They are definitely around and go for very reasonable prices.

[Sean French]

Originally Posted by fuzz_factor

If that first one was blue instead of green... The second one isn't bad either!

After reading everyone's responses again, I'm going to have to spend some quality time with a CE-22 before I decide.

I played a McCarty at the Guitar Center the other day, and that's what led to my PRS epiphany.

In the past, I've only played PRSi for a couple of minutes at a time. For some reason they felt uncomfortable; like the bridge was in the wrong place. The GC wasn't crowded and I spent some time playing a McCarty. As I adjusted to the guitar, a light went off and I realized it was probably one of the best feeling guitars I've ever played. The neck, which I think was a Wide Fat, was just perfect. If the guitar wasn't priced so high for the amount of wear it had, I would have bought it. Either way, in that moment all my Gibson GAS evaporated, or at least transmogrified into PRS GAS.

That '97 on ebay looks great.
I've got a '97 McCarty and it is my fav humbucker guitar. This is coming from a life long LP player.

I put steel studs and DGT pickups in mine.
Luv the neck on mine.
Heck, I dig everything about it.
My McCarty will never go anywhere.