The PRS McCarty was introduced in 1994 - the first 100 produced were signed and numbered. The McCarty model was named after Ted McCarty a pioneer of electric guitar design and production and president of the Gibson guitar Corporation from 1950-1966. He later became a mentor of Paul Reed Smith: Smith noticed McCarty's name amongst numerous Gibson patents and hired McCarty as a consultant. Despite his long history in the Gibson company the PRS McCarty was the first instrument to bear McCarty's name.

It had a mahogany body (with maple top), mahogany neck and 22 fret rosewood fingerboard. In 1998 rosewood necks became an option. The pickups were covered Dragon Bass PRS humbuckers (changed to McCarty Series pickups in 1995).

The original McCarty model was discontinued around 2007 and was replaced by the McCarty 58 model in 2010.