My guitar collection - PRS

 
 

Brazilian rosewood is an endangered species as evidenced by its Appendix 1 classification under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES). Guitar builders have to rely on whatever they have in stock or on the limited supply obtained by harvesting trees that have succumbed to wind or water and happened to be salvaged. The first Customs build by Paul Reed Smith all had a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard. His Private Stock and several other limited models could even be gotten with a solid Brazilian rosewood neck. But all over the guitar building world, Brazilian rosewood has been replaced by other rosewood species; predominantly East Indian rosewood. However, once in a while an electric guitar model is released with a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard. The 2003 McCarty Brazilian Limited Edition (BLE) produced in a limited number of 500 signed guitars is a prime example of this. It has a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and headstock veneer, pink heart abalone birds, 10-top figured flame maple (or quilted) top, mahogany back and, as an upgrade on this model, a solid East Indian rosewood neck. The headstock has the signature inlaid with pink heart abalone and ‘BLE’ in green abalone ripple. It is supplied with McCarty pickups in neck and bridge positions with brushed nickel covers. It has a 3-position pickup selector, volume control and a push-pull tone control to split the pickups. The other hardware is mixed gold/nickel. More info on this discontinued model can be found at: https://www.prsguitars.com/support/article/model_history.

 

mccarty Brazilian Limited edition Indian RoseWood neck

The story behind this guitar

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Blame me, I just fell in love with the top! When this guitar appeared on the Willcutt Guitars website I was sold right away. As attractive extras, this guitar has a solid Indian Rosewood neck. When the guitar was received, the sound was fantastic too. Always something to be nervous about when you purchase something unseen, or in this case unheard. The only problem I had was that I was not smart enough to swap the signed cavity plate with the supplied standard one. After playing a couple of times, I noticed the signature was starting to fade. But here it was once more demonstrated what a great company PRS is. I mailed them with my problem and the offered right away to have me send the back plate so Paul could sign it anew. Thanks again Paul!

The story behind this guitar

2003

3 80896

D’Addario EXL110 Nickel Wound Regular Light (10-46)