Brightening up a McCarty

rlw

As per the title, I have a McCarty from way back with the original pickups in.  It's dark, the neck especially so.  It appears to have a rosewood neck too, which may contribute towards the darkness.

So.....how to brighten it up a bit?   I play, badly, bluesy stuff mainly although I am always tempted by country twang, which my CE24 does extremely well.  The CE24 has a VHII at the bridge and a Jazz at the neck, which works pretty well, although I still find the bridge a bit jangly.

I quite fancy a set of humbucker size P90s in it, or some combination including a P90 in the neck. Don't suggest a JB as I just got rid of one of those in the CE24 as I hated it beyond reason.    I also have a Sheraton with Stormy Mondays in it, which I like but may be too subtle for the MCCarty, and an LP with Classic 57/57+, which I also like but is not the most dynamic combination.  Any thoughts?

richardhomer

The original McCarty pick-ups do lack high end - though I quite liked them when I owned one.

The obvious choice would be 57/08s, wired with the partial tap that PRS use on their latest guitars.

ChuckManual

If you want to stay all PRS in the McCarty, you could consider their Starla bridge p/up for a bit of twang. Throaty and bright in full humbucker mode, but sparkly when tapped. I've got one in a potentially dark-sounding solid mahogany Vela and I'm very happy with the snap it gives.

guitars4you

richardhomer said:

The original McCarty pick-ups do lack high end - though I quite liked them when I owned one.

The obvious choice would be 57/08s, wired with the partial tap that PRS use on their latest guitars.

to a degree I'd go 57/08 as it keeps the PRS connection going - If you want PAF flavoured I'd look at OX4's or S Duncan Antiquities - To improve the coil tap option then go with the partial coil tap as used on the PRS DGT - If you can find  a used pair of PRS DGT pick-ups at a sensible price then well worth looking at 

If you are looking at a P90 in a humbucker casing then the Bare Knuckle Mississippi Queen or Nantuckets are worth looking at 

Roland

I’ve had the same issue. The previous owners had tried swapping pickups for something more mid-rangy. I’ve done two things. First, replaced the volume pot which had got a bit hot with previous pickup swaps. This had a big effect, but not enough. My rig is set up for Teles, and I didn’t want to change it, so I needed even more treble. After a conversation with @TheGuitarWeasel I fitted two of his Creature humbuckers. These achieve brightness by having different wind counts on each coil. So far I’ve got away with a straightforward tap, rather than a partial tap, and have less of a volume drop.

guitars4you

Roland said:

I’ve had the same issue. The previous owners had tried swapping pickups for something more mid-rangy. I’ve done two things. First, replaced the volume pot which had got a bit hot with previous pickup swaps. This had a big effect, but not enough. My rig is set up for Teles, and I didn’t want to change it, so I needed even more treble. After a conversation with @TheGuitarWeasel I fitted two of his Creature humbuckers. These achieve brightness by having different wind counts on each coil. So far I’ve got away with a straightforward tap, rather than a partial tap, and have less of a volume drop.

the partial coil tap for me is not so much about 'less drop in volume' it is more about a single coil voice that i snot so thin - Many coil tap/split options deliver a weedy voice - Partial tap makes them for 'realistic'

OilCityPickups

guitars4you said:

Roland said:

I’ve had the same issue. The previous owners had tried swapping pickups for something more mid-rangy. I’ve done two things. First, replaced the volume pot which had got a bit hot with previous pickup swaps. This had a big effect, but not enough. My rig is set up for Teles, and I didn’t want to change it, so I needed even more treble. After a conversation with @TheGuitarWeasel I fitted two of his Creature humbuckers. These achieve brightness by having different wind counts on each coil. So far I’ve got away with a straightforward tap, rather than a partial tap, and have less of a volume drop.

the partial coil tap for me is not so much about 'less drop in volume' it is more about a single coil voice that i snot so thin - Many coil tap/split options deliver a weedy voice - Partial tap makes them for 'realistic'

The Creature has a fatter 'tapped' (you really mean split) tone by virtue of the fact that the coil 'left on' is the more powerful one ... nearly up to a full single coil winding level. 

crunchman

Some of it will be the guitar.  I had a rosewood necked McCarty for a while. It's the one guitar I kind of regret selling.  It doesn't sound the same as the regular mahogany necked McCarty.  It is darker sounding. I loved the guitar for noodling around on at home, but I never used it live.  It had this really rich warm mid range, but didn't cut through a mix well.

A pickup change will help.  McCarty pickups are quite dark, but with the construction of the guitar it will never sound like a Tele.

jeztone2

I’d put a PRS m in the bridge. 

57Deluxe

stand it amongst some brightly covered soft furnishings or maybe put it out in the sun...??

https://i.imgur.com/d2jRiNy.jpg

https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--3kkEzoQ9--/a_exif,c_limit,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_south,q_auto:eco,w_1280/v1492724326/hox4dsoukuy1josezywa.jpg

fretfinder

57Deluxe said:

stand it amongst some brightly covered soft furnishings or maybe put it out in the sun...??

https://i.imgur.com/d2jRiNy.jpg

https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--3kkEzoQ9--/a_exif,c_limit,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_south,q_auto:eco,w_1280/v1492724326/hox4dsoukuy1josezywa.jpg

I swear that first pic is my old one, and my garden furniture! Did you get it from an ‘interesting’ American chap who lived in Bournemouth?

HAL9000

Brightening up a McCarty...? Buy him a new left-handed Hofner violin bass.

rlw

Wrong colour guitar, wrong furniture.  Maybe I should get it a yellow bow tie.

Collings

You could just try removing the covers on the original McCarty pickups.

handsomerik

Maybe try some brighter sounding strings on it? (NYXL and Pro Steels are supposed to be much brighter than standard Nickel wound.) This is something i'm about to try on my naturally dark guitar. 

Keefy

57Deluxe said:

stand it amongst some brightly covered soft furnishings or maybe put it out in the sun...??

https://i.imgur.com/d2jRiNy.jpg

https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--3kkEzoQ9--/a_exif,c_limit,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_south,q_auto:eco,w_1280/v1492724326/hox4dsoukuy1josezywa.jpg

I had one of these. It was plenty bright-sounding until I backed off the volume control at all, at which point a load of top end disappeared. I rectified this with a treble bleed setup of 1nF cap in parallel with 150k resistor between hot and wiper of the volume pot.

crunchman

@Keefy good point about the treble bleed capacitor.  Unlike the PRS Customs, the McCarty doesn't have one.  It shouldn't make a difference at full volume, but if the OP does play with the volume backed off, that will be part of the reason it sounds darker compared to a Custom.

rlw

I do play at full volume but with the amp turned down.  With the amp turned up, the sound is very acceptable - but very loud.

KrisGee

For me McCarty is the only PRS I wouldn't change a thing about, it's just right there in that sweet spot for me. 
Good call by @handsomerik , curious what results you will get whichever way you go.

crunchman

KrisGee said:

For me McCarty is the only PRS I wouldn't change a thing about, it's just right there in that sweet spot for me. 

The rosewood necked version does sound different to the standard one.  It has a lovely warm sound, with a lot going on in the low mids, but it really doesn't cut through in the same way.

guitars4you

crunchman said:

KrisGee said:

For me McCarty is the only PRS I wouldn't change a thing about, it's just right there in that sweet spot for me. 

The rosewood necked version does sound different to the standard one.  It has a lovely warm sound, with a lot going on in the low mids, but it really doesn't cut through in the same way.

agree - more 'sultry' - but very nice IMO and sounds better the less gain you use with it - not for a shredder !!!