Show Full Spec Comparison
| Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335 | PRS McCarty | |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Brand: | Epiphone | PRS |
| Year: | 2023 | 2020 |
| Configuration: | HH | HH |
| Strings: | 6 | 6 |
| Made in: | China | United States |
| Series: | Artist | Core |
| Colors: | Red | Gold, White, Black, Blue, Green, Black Burst, Orange, Purple, Yellow, Red Burst, Gold Burst, Dark Cherry Sunburst, McCarty Sunburst, McCarty Tobacco Sunburst |
| Left-Handed Version: | Yes | No |
| Body | ||
| Type: | Semi-Hollow | Solid Body |
| Body Material: | 5-ply Layered Maple; AAA Flame Maple Veneer | Mahogany |
| Bridge: | LockTone Stop Bar | PRS Stoptail w/ Brass Inserts (Optional:PRS Adjustable Stoptail) |
| Neck | ||
| Neck Joint: | Set | Set |
| Tuners: | Grover 502C Roto-Grip Locking Rotomatic | Vintage-Style |
| Fretboard: | Indian Laurel | Rosewood w/ Faux Bone Binding |
| Neck Material: | Mahogany | Mahogany |
| Decoration: | Pearloid Small Block | Birds |
| Scale Size: | 24.75" | 25" |
| Shape: | 60s SlimTaper, Rounded C | Pattern |
| Frets: | 22 Medium Jumbo Nickel Silver | 22 Medium Jumbo Nickel Silver |
| Fretboard Radius: | 12" | 10" |
| Nut: | Ivory Tusq | Bone |
| Nut Width: | 43mm (1.693'') | 42.1mm (1.656'') |
| Electronics | ||
| Bridge Pickups: | Alnico Classic PRO (Humbucker / Passive) | PRS 58/15 LT (Humbucker / Passive) |
| Middle Pickup: | ||
| Neck Pickup: | Alnico Classic PRO (Humbucker / Passive) | PRS 58/15 LT (Humbucker / Passive) |
| Switch: | 3 Way | 3 Way |
| Knobs: | Bell | Speed |
| Pickup Mods: | Coil Split, Phase Out | Coil Split |
| Volume Controls: | 2 | 1 |
| Tone Controls: | 2 | 1 |
| Hardware | ||
| Strap Lock: | No | No |
| Hardware Color: | Nickel | Nickel |
Show Diagrams Comparison
Reasons to Get
Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335 over PRS McCarty
Reasons to Get
PRS McCarty over Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335
Other Key Differences
Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335 vs PRS McCarty
Shared Features
Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335 vs PRS McCarty
Common Strengths
- High-Quality Nut
- Expensive Wood
Common Weaknesses
- Neck-Through Build
- Stays in Tune (Evertune)
- High-Quality Frets
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Luminescent Sidedots
- Strap Lock
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Price History Comparison
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Hand Size Comfortability
After taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that both favor small hands .
Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335:
PRS McCarty:
Beginner Friendliness
Both meet 5 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players. If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, you can't go wrong with either of them.
New Player Friendliness
Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Locking tuners
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
New Player Friendliness
PRS McCarty- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Tall frets
- Narrow nut
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
Sound Quality Comparison
The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.
Woods Used in Both
Mahogany is a fairly rare wood nowadays. It's used mostly for bodies due to its relatively lightweight. Gibson popularized it with their Les Paul guitars during their golden years, so this wood has a lot of good reputation behind it. The most expensive type comes from South America and it's still used by Gibson even today. Find out more about Mahogany.
Woods Used in the Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335
There are many types of Laurel, but East Indian is the most common for guitar building. Its color can vary from dark to light brown with black lines. Many people find its tonality similar to Rosewood, which favors the warmer frequencies. Find out more about Laurel.
This wood has beautiful patterns only found in specific types of maple.
Woods Used in the PRS McCarty
Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.
Winner: Tie.
Pickup Configuration
Both pickup configurations are HH. Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.
Pickups Quality
The PRS McCarty pickups from a more specialized brand than the Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335. Its pickups should give you a fuller, richer sound, although it all depends on what type of music you're going to play. We recommend these pickups for Hard Rock and similar genres.
Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.
Winner: PRS McCarty.
Versatility Comparison
Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.
Switch Options
Both are equal when it comes to the pickup switching option.
Both give you different pickup mod options.
The Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335 offers Coil Split, Phase Out.
Coil Split lets you disconnect one of the pickup coils. When used with humbuckers, it turns them into single-coil with lower output and cleaner tone.
When the Phase Out option is activated, the pickups will ''work against each other'', meaning that they will cancel out their shared frequencies. The result is a very thin sound, instead of a full, rich tone. This is an interesting sound for genres like reggae or funk and has also been used in classic Hard Rock.
On the other hand, the PRS McCarty comes with the following: Coil Split.
Coil Split lets you disconnect one of the pickup coils. When used with humbuckers, it turns them into single-coil with lower output and cleaner tone.
When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.
Winner: Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335.
Final Sound Quality Scores
Build Quality Comparison
When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335 compares to the PRS McCarty.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335 is built in China while the PRS McCarty is made in United States.
China has a bad reputation when it comes to building quality. However, times have changed and now respectable brands use China's cheap labor to build good instruments for a lower price. Don't discount a guitar only because it was built in China, but also expect more quality from countries like Korea.
The United States is considered one of the best electric guitar manufacturers in the world. A guitar made in this country is supposed to have world-class quality control. Nowadays, guitars made in other countries can beat some of the ones made in the US, but most of the time, this country offers the best you can get. Of course, that comes at a price.
Winner: PRS McCarty
Nut Material
If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.
The Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335 has a Ivory Tusq nut. Ivory used to be considered the best material for guitar nuts due to its beauty, durability, and the rich harmonics and sustain you could get from a guitar with it. However, the way to obtain it is simply unethical. Enter TUSQ ivory nuts, which are made synthetically to imitate ivory. Technically, it's better than ivory because it is consistent piece-to-piece, while natural materials can vary a lot, even if they're made from the same.
On the other hand, the PRS McCarty comes with a Bone nut. It's a type of nut found in high-quality instruments. They sound similar to Ivory since they give a lot of sustain and a bright sound (at least when striking open strings). The only problem they can run into is that you may get a bone piece that simply doesn't sound as well as others because that's just how natural materials are.
Winner: Tie.
Fret Material
Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.
Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.
Winner: Tie.
Bridge
The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.
Both come with a similar bridge: Fixed. It's a simple bridge that is very beginner-friendly since it doesn't require any set-up. You can swap strings easily. It might also give more sustain since it doesn't have complex moving parts that make the strings lose vibration. However, it doesn't have the same versatility as a tremolo bridge.
Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.
Winner: Tie.
Tuners
The Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335 has the best tuners of the two because they are locking tuners. They'll help to keep your guitar in tune because they allow you to tune it without wrapping the strings around the posts. This avoids variations in the tuning due to the strings changing position at the post after a bend. They come at the disadvantage of being slightly heavier than regular tuners. Also, it makes it a lot easier to restring.
Winner: Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335.
Neck Joint
Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.
Both have a Set neck joint. This neck is tightly glued to the body. They give you the least versatility because you can't swap them for a neck that fits your hand better if you want to, unlike bolt-on necks. Some people think this gives more resonance and sustain, but there's no real difference if the bolt-on joint is well built.
Winner: Tie.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335
- Locking Tuners
- Expensive Wood
- Ivory Tusq Nut
- Coil Split, Phase Out Pickups
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- Made in China
- No Top Brand Pickups
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
PRS McCarty
- Made in United States
- Expensive Wood
- Bone Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Coil Split Pickups
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Final Build Quality Scores
Playability Comparison
Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.
Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.
Nut Width
The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, the Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335 has the wider nut with 43mm (1.693'') vs 42.1mm (1.656''). This is a 0.9mm (0.037'') difference
This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335, especially closer to the nut. However, it's also easier to play without muting strings accidently. This favors people with big hands.
Scale Length
The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.
The PRS McCarty has the longest scale: 25". The Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335 is only 24.75" long. This is a 0.25'' (6.4mm) scale length difference.
This longer scale means that the strings need more tension to get in tune. This is good if you want to avoid fret buzz, which can happen when the strings are too loose and touch the frets while vibrating. This is especially important when playing in lower tunings. This will also let you reduce the gap between fretboard and strings (low action) to make them easier to press down. However, this higher tension will also make it harder to perform bends and vibratos as the strings will feel stiffer.
This also means that the frets have a longer separation between each other, so this will make it harder for people with smaller hands when playing some chord positions.
Another characteristic of a longer scale is that it makes the guitar sound 'snappier' or brighter. This is due to the extra separation between harmonics and overtones produced by the tension. This influences tone more than any other factor (except the pickups).
Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.
Neck Profile
No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.
Both the Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335 and the PRS McCarty have a C-shaped neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.
Fretboard Radius
Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.
In this case, the PRS McCarty's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335's. This extra arc will make playing chords easier in this model. You won't be as likely to mute the strings, especially if you have big hands. However, playing single notes and bending will be easier on the Epiphone Marty Schwartz ES-335.
Fret Size
Both have a Medium Jumbo fret size. These are slightly shorter than full Jumbo frets, so you'll still feel the fretboard when pressing down the strings. However, they interfere less with your fretting hand than medium-size frets. This is a good size if you like easy-to-press frets, but would still like to feel a bit of the fretboard when playing.
