PRS - McCarty - 2002 'special' solid roesewood neck - sold £2750

vettahead

We are excited to present a truly exceptional guitar for sale today. This guitar from a private collection that I have been given the honour of selling on his behalf. this guitar is beleived to be a is an above Private Stock (according to paul himself and the see privae stock in the cavity) model (boasting a Tiger Eye finish that was exclusively available t o privae stocks during its time. The level of construction precision and playability far surpasses PRS Core standards. It was originally sold to its owner as a custom PS build.

Now, what makes this guitar truly special?

The case included is a PRS Artist case, rather than a standard PS case.

The neck is labeled with a "10," but according to Paul (Reed Smith), it exceeds that quality level.

Solid indian rosewood neck, more on this later.

First thing  you will see. No Moons or birds there are no fingerboard inlays besides the top markers carved into the Brazilian rosewood fingerboard.

Equipped with Dragon 2002 hardware, the original "McCarty" pickups were sourced from a Dragon 2002 model. These were replaced with 57/08 pickups due to their dark tonal character. While there's potential to revert to the McCarty pickups after a discussion, please note that only one set of pickups will be included with the sale.

The guitar boasts a lightweight Mahogany body, contributing to its comfortable playability.

In summary, this offering presents a rare and exceptional opportunity to acquire one of only six meticulously handcrafted PRS instruments. Remarkably, this coveted piece is available at a significantly lower cost compared to conventional Private Stock models due to its mystery status. 

We are unable to entertain trade offers for this unique item, as it stems from a collector's initiative to downsize their collection.

more detail in following post due to limits on text

Price is a staggeringly good £2750

 

vettahead

Upon meeting Paul Reed Smith himself, it was revealed that these guitars were part of a limited run of six. Three were distributed among friends in the USA, and the remaining three were designated for Headline Music. This particular guitar, marked with the number three within the cavity (as evident in the provided photo), has a history intertwined with Headline/Gavin Mortimer also stated in the  cavity. Its previous owner acquired it through John Priest at Peach Guitars, coinciding with a change in the shop's location. This guitar features a blank hang tag, and intriguingly, the MODCAT database yields no records. Paul indicated personally this is due to its status as a private run, separate from the retail offerings of the Private Stock line. While he didn't elaborate extensively during face-to-face discussions, Paul did share captivating insights into his trip to India to source an "incredibly straight-grained" Indian Rosewood log, which was utilized in the crafting of over 40 Private Stock guitars, including this masterpiece Additionally, Paul requested to borrow the guitar to experiment with effects pedals and amplifiers in the shop at the time, a creative exploration that extended for a significant duration (see photo).

Interestingly, another similar guitar surfaced for sale in the northern regions of the UK. This counterpart bore a handwritten dedication,  linked to the offspring of a notable Hollywood film producer—unfortunately, the exact name eludes memory. This intriguing parallel adds an element of mystique to the guitar's narrative. Among its limited edition counterparts, other Headline guitars found homes with a prominent collector and a highly regarded Fender endorsee, though the latter's identity remains undisclosed.

wizbit81

'We are excited to present a truly exceptional guitar for sale today. This guitar from a private collection that I have been given the honour of selling on his behalf. this guitar is beleived to be a is an above Private Stock (according to paul himself and the see privae stock in the cavity) mode.'

Hello, just a few questions/points if I may...

You started off with 'we are excited' Are you a shop or an individual? Clarity on this helps so people know the situation.

Aside from the fact that the 3rd sentence is possibly the worst sentence ever written in the English language could you clarify what you mean by 'above Private Stock' In your posts you never mentioned Paul saying anything about 'Above Private Stock' just that he'd sourced a very straight grained log that had been used for 40 or so guitars, of which some were Private Stock, and that this guitar was part of a run of 6 built for friends which wasn't done on the book so to speak, hence blank hangtag and lack of modcat info. I did notice you differentiated Private Run from Private Stock, which leads me onto the next question.
Regarding the 'see Private Stock' in the cavity, I'm pretty sure that just relates to the finish as Tiger Eye is a special order colour that they don't do on the Core line. It's referring the stainshop guys to look for the Tiger Eye colour they are going to apply in the Private Stock stuff imo, although could be wrong. If it was built by the Private Stock team using Private Stock woods that would be different, are you saying it was? Even if that was the case what would make it 'above Private Stock?'
The '10' on the neck doesn't refer to the neck it refers to the top, it's a 10 top McCarty. Do you know much about PRS? Asking because that's a really basic thing and it raises questions if you didn't know that. 
You said the fretboard wood is Brazzy Rosewood, that's obviously a nice selling point, do you have that in writing from PRS or on any of the sale information?
You also said it far exceeds the core range for build and playability.....I'd just like to ask how you assess/quantify that.
Thanks.

vettahead

Hi there. wizbit.  

Hello, just a few questions/points if I may...

You started off with 'we are excited' Are you a shop or an individual? Clarity on this helps so people know the situation.  

selling on behalf of a friend who doesn't do the internet.

Aside from the fact that the 3rd sentence is possibly the worst sentence ever written in the English language

Sorry if i offended you. anyway lets get through the rest of the post. 


could you clarify what you mean by 'above Private Stock' In your posts you never mentioned Paul saying anything about 'Above Private Stock' just that he'd sourced a very straight grained log that had been used for 40 or so guitars,

the log refers to the neck.  apologies if the post confused you, he also stated he thought it was above a 10, again apologies if the post didn't give full clarity.   


of which some were Private Stock, and that this guitar was part of a run of 6 built for friends which wasn't done on the book so to speak, hence blank hangtag and lack of modcat info. I did notice you differentiated Private Run from Private Stock, which leads me onto the next question.


Regarding the 'see Private Stock' in the cavity, I'm pretty sure that just relates to the finish as Tiger Eye is a special order colour that they don't do on the Core line.  especially when the guitar was produced 


 It's referring the stainshop guys to look for the Tiger Eye colour they are going to apply in the Private Stock stuff imo, although could be wrong.
opinion noted


 If it was built by the Private Stock team using Private Stock woods that would be different, are you saying it was? Even if that was the case what would make it 'above Private Stock?' again im gong off what was told


The '10' on the neck doesn't refer to the neck it refers to the top, (that is correct) it's a 10 top McCarty. Do you know much about PRS? Asking because that's a really basic thing and it raises questions if you didn't know that.  I'm not even going to answer this one besides saying i think you just took wha t i wrote wrong, i assumed everyne who woud be lookig at this would know what a 10 in corner meant. 

You said the fretboard wood is Brazzy Rosewood, that's obviously a nice selling point, do you have that in writing from PRS or on any of the sale information?  this was stated by peach guitars when they sold it. as i said the modcat is blank

You also said it far exceeds the core range for build and playability.....I'd just like to ask how you assess/quantify that.

i have 3 core prs.  a custom 22, a prs 1990 studo maple and a mcarty.  I assesed it on A/B ing these. 

Thanks.

Just for  the record here, this guitar sold  in under 20 mins, even with Aside  that the 3rd sentence is possibly the worst sentence ever written in the English language.

N2112

That is/was a stunning guitar... Not surprised it went so fast.

vettahead

N2112 said:

That is/was a stunning guitar... Not surprised it went so fast.

thanks for the kind words mate.  its an amazing thing

wesker123

Nice guitar. Goes to 11.....

wizbit81

Messaged you rather than comment again. Congrats for the sale.

prudd

Too late to the table on this, but I would like to know what it was up for, hopefully it was expensive because I'd be pissed if I could have afforded it and missed out

DrCornelius

prudd said:

Too late to the table on this, but I would like to know what it was up for, hopefully it was expensive because I'd be pissed if I could have afforded it and missed out

£1225 plus shipping

I'm joking - it was about £2750, I'm hoping @chris78 or another one of the PRS nuts snaffled it rather than some flipping flipper

mrkb

Wheres the details/ price gone?.

vettahead

I've removed the post, cant seem to find where i remove everything.  wasnt keen on how it was received so thought it was best all round to just pull it.  The guitar has sold as stated.   thanks for the kind words posted here

vettahead

prudd said:

Too late to the table on this, but I would like to know what it was up for, hopefully it was expensive because I'd be pissed if I could have afforded it and missed out

it was up 2750

vettahead

mrkb said:

Wheres the details/ price gone?.

apologies i  removed. I've readded the price but removed everything else as i cant see how to delete the entire post

prudd

Thanks @vettahead (and @DrCornelius ) . A decent price I think, probably a touch more than I could have spent at present but on another day, who knows

I have let 2 Rosewood necked PRS's go over the years and definitely regret it.

Moloch

vettahead said:

mrkb said:

Wheres the details/ price gone?.

apologies i  removed. I've readded the price but removed everything else as i cant see how to delete the entire post

As far as I'm aware, I believe it's actually against the forum rules to delete any of the ad at all.

tony99

Got any flying V's @vettahead ?

vettahead

Moloch said:

vettahead said:

mrkb said:

Wheres the details/ price gone?.

apologies i  removed. I've readded the price but removed everything else as i cant see how to delete the entire post

As far as I'm aware, I believe it's actually against the forum rules to delete any of the ad at all.

well after this little debacle today thats totally ok. im going to remove my account and just move on . thanks for all that were kind.  

vettahead

tony99 said:

Got any flying V's @vettahead ?

ive got 2  but just on my fingers

DrCornelius

vettahead said:

Moloch said:

vettahead said:

mrkb said:

Wheres the details/ price gone?.

apologies i  removed. I've readded the price but removed everything else as i cant see how to delete the entire post

As far as I'm aware, I believe it's actually against the forum rules to delete any of the ad at all.

well after this little debacle today thats totally ok. im going to remove my account and just move on . thanks for all that were kind.  

I think starting the for sale post with ‘ we are excited to present ….’ is a red flag because it’s the sort of language used by bedroom dealers . This rightly gets a lot of people’s backs up on here as some community bargains have been hoovered up by those parasitical folk to be instantly resold at large mark ups and elsewhere.

In saying that it was a lovely guitar sold at a very reasonable price .  Your opening sentence meant that unfortunately some folks had the pitchforks ready and jumped on some other aspects of your post that they may not have otherwise.

Hopefully you stick around - you were unlucky to be selling a PRS too which in my experience often attracts the more forensically minded buyers who really appreciate the fact based minutiae  !

Benm39

Damn,  if only I'd been wearing my extra long coat with internal PRS pockets...