Violin McCarty #41 of 50 Black Gold #2744

Super Rare 2010 Private Stock 'Violin'. This is number 41 of 50 built and was sold by us new. Widely regarded as the best sounding PRS ever, these rarely come up for sale.. Based on a McCarty model using ultimate tone woods, they were built to rival the Sunburst Les Pauls of the late 50's. Paul managed to secure the Curly Maple he used on these tops from the forest where the great violin maker Stradivarius harvested the maple he used on his fabled instruments. The  neck is made from equally rare (and now unavailable) Pernambuco, one of the best of the tone woods and normally used on the 40k Violin Bows!! Everything about these is all about the Tone..In very good condition, there are a few small marks on the back in the nitro finish, but hard to see and even harder to photo (see pics). apart from that, its in excellent condition. It has a Copy certificate and Original Brown leather Private Stock Case with a couple of scuffs on. Super Resonant and one of the best sounding and most collectable PRS' out there..

Neck Wood : Pernambuco

Fingerboard Wood : Madagascar Rosewood 

Top Wood : European Curly Maple

Back Wood : South American Ribbon Mahogany

Headstock Veneer : Madagascar Rosewood 

Neck Carve : Wide Fat

Side Dots : PRS Stock

Colour / Stain : Black Gold

Fingerboard Inlays : Abalone, Paua Heart Banded Melon Celtic Knots

Headstock Veneer Inlays : Abalone Paul Reed Smith Signature

Finish : Leese / Lutz Gloss Nitro

Pickups : Treble 57\08  - Bass 57\08

Electronics : McCarty

Hardware : Nickel PRS Stoptail with Gold Studs and Nickel Locking Tuning Pegs

Case Type : Private Stock Leather

Specials : Black Gold Leese/Lutz High Gloss Nitro Finish. Abalone, Paua Heart and Banded Melon Celtic Knot Inlays as well as an Abalone Paul Reed Signature on the Headstock Veneer.

Please note: The UK's 20% VAT CANNOT be deducted for customers outside the UK or VAT registered musical related companies on this item.

Paul says;

“If it was up to me, all we’d make would be ‘Violin’ guitars,” he confides. “Violins don’t come in different colours. They have different characters — some are subtle, some are not so subtle but they make a huge difference to the musician, right? I mean this is a musician’s guitar but guitars are such art it’ll probably end up in an art collection.”
Like his Paul’s 28, the ‘Violin’ McCarty uses a neck made from pernambuco. ““Pernambuco sounds great. Have you heard a piece of it ring? It’s really expensive! It’s South American. It was used as a dye wood but the violin guys worked out somehow that it made great violin bows but it was never thought of as a musical instrument wood: it was thought of for making dyes. They used to chip it up into powder and make dyes out of it. So if you saw an old English dress from way back that was bright purple, it was probably pernambuco.”
But the ‘Violin’ guitar is so called not just because of its neck wood. “We’ve found Stradivarius’ maple supplies. We found where the forest is, right near his shop. I mean look at it… it looks like an old violin; it is European ridiculous curly maple, right?”
It’s not the first time I’ve talked about the legendary violinmaker, Stradivarius, with Paul Reed Smith. “I’m interested in Stradivarius but also in Guadagnini [another important violin-maker]. I’m interested in Anthony Torres… these guys that fundamentally developed something… but they were trying to make a living.”
“Torres? If it wasn’t for him and that little guitar we x-rayed this one [he points at a PRS Acoustic] would never have happened. I’m looking in the rear view mirror but it’s not just one guy. Torres has my heart because he was trying to raise a family and kids.”