Guitar Gear

Tweed Demon's Goldtop PRS

There’s nothing like someone sharing their personal experience with gear. This post comes courtesy of Paul Garvey, aka “Tweed Demon,” a Guitar Gear reader who shares our passion for gear. Read on!

BTW, the picture is of his personal gear – I love the Victoria amp!

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I’ve always loved goldtops from the first time I was 12 years old and sneaked my way into a high school dance just to watch the band. I was transfixed on the guitarist who was wielding an early Les Paul Deluxe with soapbars… I thought that was about the coolest looking guitar I’ve ever seen. I saved my nickels and dimes bagging groceries until I had enough money to buy my own a few years later (that was in ’78). I bought my first PRS about a decade later after getting that same feeling watching that guitarist with Joe Ely’s band who everyone now knows- David Grissom. Then in ’92 my wife gave me a goldtop PRS Custom 24 for my wedding anniversary present (yup, she’s a keeper). Needless to say, I’ve always loved goldtops and I’ve always loved the versatility of PRS instruments as the name PRS has become synonymous with quality high-end production guitars. For a guy that plays a lot of covers, I always felt these guitars were a necessity for anyone who doesn’t want to carry a carload of axes to every gig. I’ve always been a believer that good tone comes from the hands….a great amp helps…and big strings equals big sound. Then in 2007 when I read that PRS was coming out with a David Grissom signature model I felt intrigued.

I’ve tried all the PRS models to date and frankly, I liked the McCarty’s, but I felt the pickups were a bit vintage sounding to my ears and lacked a bit of clarity. In addition, I like the spongy feel to string bending that a trem can give a guitarist – particularly one who uses heavier strings (I use 11s on all my guitars, 12s on my ES-175). So when I read the specs on the DGT, new neck carve, jumbo frets, more open sounding pickups, added a trem, twin volume controls, and it comes in a goldtop… I knew I had to have one.

When I picked up my DGT at my dealer, the first thing I noticed was the finish. This is a nitrocellulose lacquer finish over a poly seal coat. The finish on this guitar is truly amazing. I have a nitro re-issue Fender, and that finish is downright soft by comparison. The finish on the DGT is very thin and hard…very hard. Hard like glass. I tapped on the back of the neck with my knuckle and the wood rings like a bell. Acoustically, I would describe it in a word- “resonant”. The gold was much deeper and brighter than my other goldtop PRS which appeared almost beige or buff colored by comparison (see attached photo). The deep gold with the mahogany back and neck really look like those great Gibson’s from the mid to later ’50s. Very cool. One drawback is that the finish is very fragile and will pick up a few dings very easily. On the flip side, it will break-in nicely and you can “relic” it the old fashioned way…by playing it.

The bigger frets (6100s) are great. I’m used to using 11guage strings, but these frets make 11s seem like 10s from a bending perspective. The neck again is much more “vintage Gibson-like” than any other PRS I’ve played. I would compare it closer to the D-carve on my Custom 22 Soapbar only narrower. The feel was very comfortable, and it almost immediately felt like an old friend. If you’re not used to a nitro finish, you will notice a bit of stickiness to the feel, which will fade with time as the guitar breaks in. And if you’ve never smelled newer nitro, it gives off a scent all its own – which may take some getting used to in a small practice area. But that too, should get better with time.

The phase II locking tuners are top notch. I have the same tuners on my CU22 and love them. The only difference is the “Kluson-type” vintage look to the ivory buttons. In addition to the cool look and function, they seem to keep this guitar well balanced by reducing a bit of weight in the headstock area.

My first night out with the DGT I would have to give it the grade: Incomplete.

Half way through my first set I was really starting to open up with this instrument. Then I felt like I wasn’t playing in tune and it was driving me nuts. My intonation was really whacked. I picked up my CU22 Soapbar and finished the set. On break I noticed two of the screws holding my saddles in place loosened up, one fell out completely, and the hex nut holding my trem was 80% out of its threads. Wha the? I did manage to find the lost screw, but the DGT rode the bench the rest of the night. Anyway, to fix the problem, I added a dab of medium (blue) threadlock to the bridge screws and re-intonated the guitar. Problem solved. A word of advise – let all threads dry first if you use threadlock, it will take off the finish if the chemical comes in contact with any painted surface. I use this stuff on my motorcycle everytime I replace any screw. Maybe PRS should start using threadlock in its production process. If I only had one guitar with me, I would have been screwed…literally.

The second night out with the DGT was with much better results…Grade: A. The first thing you notice about this guitar is just how spot on David Grissom was with his pick-up design. I understand about a years worth of R & D went into them. The pick-ups quite frankly are the best sounding PAF-like pickups I’ve ever played. The picks are very balanced with incredible clarity. Comparing them to my CU24, I would say clearer, more pronouced lows and highs and very open sounding pleasing harmonics, with far better sustain, which surprises me do to the clear clean sounds. The split coil sounds are also very clear and open. I would say the split bridge pickup delves more into Telecaster territory rather than Strat. Very snappy. The split neck can give you some nice strat-like neck tones. However, if you’re looking for the strat out of phase “quack” sounds, they’re not here. You may better appreciate a Custom 24, Swamp Ash Special, CU22 Soapbar, or a 513. But, if you want the beautiful open sounds of a great PAF, with some tele spank, this is THE guitar.

Another interesting and well thought out feature of this guitar is the dual volume controls. The versatility with this feature is endless and I found myself immediately using it. One of my favorite positions in the single coil mode, dual pickups is to roll the neck pickup back to about 8.5 or 9 just to give the mellow center position a little more snap. Very cool.

Looking under the hood on the DGT you will notice that the volume pots each carry an extra capacitor used as a treble bleed. There had to be a lot of research and trial for the proper values used here. The volume controls ARE volume controls! No loss of tone. You can roll the volume back with incredible clarity. It made me realize what I was missing all these years. It was a real eureka-type moment. A great feature for old school surfing of that saturated zone with a great cranked low-wattage tube amp- just by manipulating that volume control. What fun.

I normally don’t feel compelled to write these kind of reviews for any new piece of gear. But, I feel this guitar is special. I used to think the Modern Eagle was PRS’s crowning achievement in production-level guitar. The DGT almost gave me an epiphany of sorts. I really believe the DGT is this generation’s 59 Les Paul Standard only incredibly more versatile. In fact I felt so strongly on how great this guitar was, that I e-mailed David Grissom himself and told him job “well done”. David e-mailed me back and said how much he appreciated my comments and that he likes to see his guitar in the hands of “players”. Somehow I know he’s going to get his wish – in big way.

(any guitar gear heads can email me with questions/comments at: pgarvey222 (at) yahoo dot com.)

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Okay… jealousy sets in… 🙂 Thanks to Paul for this wonderful, personal analysis!!!