Saw this on Facebook and had to share it. Here’s the accompanying blurb:
Gibson Custom has reformulated its Goldtop finish to match the original’s deep, dark, gold luster. The Goldtop’s back is also reformulated to match the original from the 1950s.
In the case of the updated Gold, you will notice a deeper, richer finish with a slightly “greener” caste. On the guitar’s back, you will see a noticeable increase in the visibility of mahogany grain and a more severe effect on the final color that comes from the wood’s individual personality. As it was in the 1950s, each guitar back results in a very individual look, based on the use of vintage finish formulations and application techniques, and the characteristics of each individual piece of wood.
That’s pretty awesome if you’re into Les Pauls, and a part of me is saying, “Oooh. I want one.” But the more pessimistic side of me is peaking out and saying, “Nice. Now let’s see what surcharge they’ll apply to these…”
Just got these pics in. Goldie is really starting to take shape now. Adam took a couple of weeks for the glue to cure between the mohagany and maple top and the ebony fretboard and maple neck, which explains the temporary hiatus of pictures on the build progress. I am SO amazed about how it’s looking!
I really love the first shot where you can see how the body was cut from the mahogany and maple billets. I’m so stoked about this!
Note that I am not affiliated with Saint Guitar Compay, but I have gotten to know both Adam and Jon (who runs their ops), and they’re a great couple of guys who are totally passionate about what they do. Be sure to drop them a line!
You ever pick up a guitar and just can’t seem to put it down? For the past few years, that has been “Pearl” my Blizzard Pearl Strat. I just love the way she sings, and she sings oh so sweetly. But ever since I got “Goldie,” a Saint Guitars Goldtop Benchmark to test out, I just can’t seem to put her down. It’s tough because ever since she arrived, I’ve been splitting my time between the two… Wish I had the problem with women when I was single. 🙂 <sigh> Oh well…
“Goldie” is a very special guitar, with a mahogany body, maple top, and solid rosewood neck. I know, I’ve already reviewed her, but she’s absolutely the perfect guitar – at least to me. The tone from the woods are so balanced and warm that when you play her, you have to just close your eyes and let her take you for a ride. And her neck… ah, her neck! What a thing of grace and beauty. The open-pore finish of the rosewood is so wonderful to the touch, you just want to run your hands up and down the fretboard and feel the sensuousness of her gentle curves. I know, I’m sounding kind of weird, but it’s the best I can come up with to draw a metaphor of how it feels to play this guitar!
Tonight, after I returned home from a quiet date for a cup of tea with the love of my life for Valentine’s Day, I retired to my studio to play around with Goldie. I was just noodling when I played a phrase that just begged to be laid down. So I figured out the chord progression that would go with the phrase, and here’s what I came up with:
Goldie has a bright, big voice, and true to all Saint guitars that I’ve had the priviledge to play, she has an even, dynamic range in all strings, up and down the fretboard. Unlike other guitars where you pluck the top two strings, and you get a loss in volume, forcing you to dig in when you play those strings, especially about the 12th fret, not so with any Saint guitar – it’s uncanny, and a mark of the care Adam Hernandez has put into his designs to ensure his guitars are resonant in any frequency!
Having a great amp to bring out the best in a guitar doesn’t hurt either. The amp I used is a soon-to-be-released prototype Aracom Amp, based upon the RoxBox 18 Watt, but with different tubes, and slightly different power handling. Sorry, I can’t be more descriptive at Jeff Aragaki’s request. You can be assured that once Jeff gives me the go-ahead, I’ll be writing a review of it, and it will be good. 🙂 This amp in particular is very pedal friendly, and I used a Tube Screamer to give me some grit on the lead, plus my new Hardwire Reverb.
In any case, I just wanted to share my excitement about this guitar. It simpy kicks ass, and paired with a dynamite amp, I’ve got a winning combination on my hands!!!
Summary: I never ceased to be amazed at the guitars Adam Hernandez builds. Here is yet another incredible tone machine but with classic looks and even better sounds.
Pros: This guitar oozes both visual and tonal bliss. The rosewood neck, mahogany body, and maple top combine to create thick but bright resonance that just stirs the inspiration juices.
Tone Bone Rating: 5.0 – There is literally nothing not to like on this guitar. It truly rocks the house!
Like a lot of folks, I love vintage and vintage-style gear. There’s a certain, je ne sais quoi, perhaps mojo (I know, it’s an overused term) about vintage gear that seems to harken back to the “good ol’ days” when things were handmade and sturdy. But when that style is expressed in a modern way, at least for me, something stirs in my soul, and I’m totally inspired. It has been this way with every Saint guitar I’ve had the priviledge to play, and that continues with the Goldtop Benchmark.
The Goldtop's Bridge
When I did my first Saint Guitars review of the Faded Blue Jeans model, I couldn’t believe how perfect the guitar was. The walnut body and neck, combined with the quilted maple top produced a bright and resonant tone that just begged to be explored to eek out all the possible tonal variations. With the Goldtop, the experience is still the same, but with that absolutely gorgeous finish, I’m experiencing a bliss that’s coming from both visual and aural sources.
Fit and Finish
The Goldtop's Body and Neck
I’ve come to realize that there are some things in life that you can’t avoid describing with the heavy use of grandiose phrases, and the Goldtop definitely falls within this category with respect to how it looks. It’s perfect in every way. The creamy gold finish that almost looks white under light is a wonder to behold, but that’s just part of the equation. The gloss-finished mahogany body and open-pore rosewood neck add a certain sensuousness to the look of the guitar. I love that Adam had the foresight to keep the rosewood in as natural and organic state as possible. It feels absolutely wonderful when you grip the neck.
If I were to come up with a metaphor for how this guitar looks, it’s like admiring a beautiful woman that’s nicely dressed, but doesn’t need any makeup or other adornments to enhance her beauty. She’s self-aware and confident in how she looks, but doesn’t come across as aloof or unapproachable. In other words, this is a woman that has a purely natural and organic magnetism, and someone to whom I’d want to be close. That’s the response I have to this guitar.
Playability
I love the feel of natural grain, which is probably why I love my Strat so much with its maple neck. Again, for me there’s a certain sensousness in feeling the wood’s grain in my hand, and the Goldtop doesn’t disappoint in this department. When I first held the guitar, I was surprised and a little worried about the neck profile, which is wide by design, but add to that the C-shape, and I didn’t know if my relatively short fingers could reach all the frets, especially in the upper registers to hit the 6th string. But to my very pleasant surprise, I could get to those notes with ease.
As with all Saint’s that I’ve played, the Goldtop has a fast neck. The frets are just how I like them: Not too deep, but really lending themselves to a nice vibrato when you dig in a bit. And moving up and down the fretboard is a pure joy. The fret spacing is just right. As a guitar player himself, Adam really took great pains to get this part of the guitar right. For me, as I’ve said in the past, I’m not a really great improv guy, but I do play chords up and down the fretboard, and being able to move and nail the chords is very important. It’s as if precision was built into this guitar!
Adding to the playability is the arrangement of the neck and body. It’s very Les Paul-like, and that’s a good thing, which means that the higher frets are very easy to reach when the guitar hangs naturally from the straps. With my Strat, to get to the high frets, I have to physically shift the guitar to the left a couple of inches. Of course, part of that has to do with my gut 🙂 and it’s not really a problem, but I don’t have to shift the Goldtop at all.
How It Sounds
This is one of the best pickup combinations I’ve ever heard. The Pearly Gates in the neck has a nice, sweet, and smooth vintage tone. I liken it to a sip of a 25 year old Scotch. It’s warm and sweet and totally comforting. The Custom 5 is bright, but with a nice, taut low-end. When you turn up the gain on this pickup, you get the expected bright bridge tone, but because of the solid bottom-end, there is absolutely no “tinniness.” It’s just brighter sounding. This is a trait I’ve become accostomed to with all Saint Guitars. They’re the only guitars I’ve ever played that at least to me, have a usable bridge pickup. Combine the two in the middle switch position, and it’s pure heavenly tone. I could keep the guitar in this setting for practically everything I play, unless I wanted to get a super-smooth tone (neck), or need a bright tone to cut through the mix for a lead (bridge).
To me, the mark of a truly great guitar is balance in the dynamic response; more pointedly, that when you play high notes, the guitars volume doesn’t suddenly dive down. I don’t know how many guitars I’ve played that when I get above the 12th fret, the first three strings’ volumes literally sink, forcing you to really dig in with your pick to make them sound louder. That makes for a much more difficult playing approach, and is one thing that bugs me about my PRS SE II Soapbar. With that guitar, the first three strings are quite a bit lower in volume than string four through six. I’ve learned to compensate with my volume knob which thankfully is in a good position for on-the-fly tweaking. But with the Goldtop, and all the Saint’s I’ve played, this is not a problem. The dynamic response is balanced through all strings. It’s a testament to the resonance of the guitar. It picks up all the frequencies!
One thing I’ve learned about testing guitars is that the really important tonal properties are exposed when you play the guitar clean. I’ve played a lot of guitars that sound great when they distort, but just sound weak and hollow when you play them clean. Remember the beautiful woman I described above? This is her speaking voice: It’s rich and sensuous, and something you can listen to and never tire of it. Here’s a clip to prove the point:
I used an Aracom Amps Custom 45R that was re-tubed with 6L6’s from the stock KT-66 tubes, and Jeff kindly installed a Jensen Alnico speaker, replacing the Governor that I was testing with it. Both served to really open up the tone quite a bit with much more midrange – it started out very low-end focused.
What was amazing about this clip was that I wrote it earlier in the day, then recorded it 15 minutes before I had to leave to take my son to his lacrosse game, and just saved the audio file. When I finally sat down to listen to it, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Mind you, the clip is not EQ’d or mastered in any way. That’s the natural sound of the guitar out of the Custom 45R. I added just a touch of reverb on the amp, but other than that, it’s just the guitar, and the tone is – at least to me – amazing! It almost gives off a chorus effect. I thought it was due to the reverb at first, but when I came home, I played the song without any effects, and that chorusy tone was still there! I was blown away!
Overall Impressions
I didn’t think you could improve upon perfection, but the Goldtop is now my standard of perfection. As I wrote in a previous article, I’ve been in a bit of rut with writing music as of late, but with the Goldtop, I’m getting inspired again. It’s a marvelous guitar!
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!!!
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