I've had this '99 McCarty for about six years now and it's always been a really good (maybe even great) guitar - certainly the equal of any other McCarty (with McCarty humbuckers) I've played.
Thanks to Z, I've also had a pair of 57/08s sitting around for the last 18 months while I (a.) find some time in my workshop diary to do something with them and (b.) decide which guitar to put them in. I did try them temporarily in my Warmoth/2Tek Strat that I whacked last year and although they were a perfect match, I thought they should go into a PRS. I considered my ME, but after tweaking the RPs and changing string gauge and make, decided it would be best left alone. I came to the same conclusion with my SCHB Std, with the added complication that I didn't fancy replacing the pickups in a hollowbody myself
So finally this weekend the McCarty was stripped down. I decided to change the knobs for a pair of lampshades I had and destroyed the push-pull pot in the process - luckily I had a suitable spare push-push one to replace it with. I also rounded the fret ends, rolled the fretboard edges and gave the frets a fresh polish. Here's a few pics of the during and after phases.
The 57/08s are a glorious match for this guitar, it's hard for me to describe sounds, but there's a harmonic richness and complexity that very few other guitars seems to be able to produce. I rewired it to match as closely as possible, the MC-58 wiring and it seems to suit the pickups very well.
Count me one very happy camper - and huge thanks to Z again
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