As you may know, I own a Prestige Guitars axe – actually one they no longer have in their current model lineup (though they list it in their models area) – the Heritage Elite, which I call “Sugar” because she actually smells sweet in addition to sounding sweet. The Heritage Elite is a very ornate take on a Les Paul copy; a lot of people actually don’t like how busy all the decorations are, which might account for why it’s not on their current model lineup. But the tone and sustain are wonderful, so that guitar is a keeper for sure. But I suppose in an effort to be a bit more “true to form,” Prestige has come out with a new axe, called the “Classic,” that I am sure will turn heads.
The Classic is a very nice take on a classic Les Paul design. It features a AAA flame maple top, on a super-light, carved, mahogany body and mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard. As with the Heritage, it sports the classic Seymour Duncan 59/JB Neck/Bridge pickup combination, independent volume and tone knobs, and a 3-way selector switch. Not sure what the bridge is, but when I last spoke with Prestige, they were moving away from Gotoh Tone-o-matic to GraphTech. Sure looks like a Gotoh to me, but I’d have to see it up close to tell.
When I look at the picture, if it weren’t for the lower horn, I’d swear this was a Les Paul! I dig the mother of pearl inlays on the fretboard, and the graceful lines of the body; speaking of which, the back is contoured, so in addition to being light, it is apparently incredibly comfortable as well. Great combination!
Here are specs from the Prestige Site:
- 24 3/4” scale length
- 1 11/16” nut width
- Carved mahogany, maple bound body
- AAA Grade flame maple top
- Mahogany neck
- Bound rosewood fingerboard
- Mother of pearl trapeze fingerboard inlay
- Mother of pearl prestige logo & decal
- Seymour Duncan SH1-59 (neck) SH4-JB (bridge) humbucker pickups
- 2 Vol. / 2 Tone / 3-way toggle controls
- Grover tuners
- Tune-o-matic bridge & Stop Bar
- All chrome hardware
- Available in natural sunburst finish
And to top it of, here’s a Guitar World video demo of the Classic:
Even with the low quality video, you can hear how that guitar just sings. It has a sweet sound, but can also get really aggressive. That’s one of the reasons I love playing my Sugar, which is a great guitar. But I might just have to get me one of these classics to gig with… OMG! More GAS!!!!
For more information, check out the Prestige Guitars product page!
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