Paul Reed Smith DGT
Paul Reed Smith DGT
Paul Reed Smith DGT
I’ve been using this model guitar since its release back in 2008. I believe I’ve owned about 12 DGT guitars over those years. Yeah, that’s crazy. I’ve been using various models of PRS since I purchased my first one back in 1991. That first one was a CE in electric blue. I’m not going to go on a PRS rant here, but I’ve had the chance to own and play almost every model.
For some reason, PRS seems to be the most disliked guitar I’ve come across in the guitar player community. I understand some of the reasoning behind this attitude toward them. Personally, I believe PRS makes some of the best quality guitars around. When I purchased my first PRS, I was searching for a guitar that I could call my guitar. Taking a PRS guitar off the wall and playing it for the first time resonated with me. I was coming out of the 80’s guitar craze, where every guitar I owned had to have a Floyd Rose on it, and I was getting tired of that. The PRS trem took some time to adjust, but I liked it. Anyway, PRS released a model called the McCarty model, which suddenly became my favorite guitar. The McCarty model came with no tremolo, and after playing that model for a while, I realized that I wanted a trem on my guitar. I asked PRS if they would build one for me, but they said it would only be available in Private Stock. $$$$… Can’t do it. I knew of David Grissom from the John Mellencamp record called Whenever We Wanted. That first chord on Love And Happiness smoked me..haha… Well, I became an instant David Grissom fan. David has been working with and using PRS guitars for a long time, and I kept my ears and eyes on what he was doing. David was using a PRS Custom Gold Top for quite some time, so I waited. Then it happened, I believe it was in 2008, the PRS DGT was released. It was essentially a McCarty model (I really think Dave designed the McCarty model first) with a tremolo. BINGO! I had to have one.
So, what’s the big deal?
Out of all the PRS guitars I’ve owned over the years, the DGT is just in another zone. I always hear the statement that the DGT is a Les Paul killer, well, not exactly. I have a Les Paul guitar and compare them all the time, so I have some experience with that statement. In my opinion, nothing kills a Les Paul, nothing. The same goes with a Fender Strat. These guitars are icons for a reason, and just out of respect, I can’t go there. Nothing sounds or plays like them. Ok, let’s get back to the DGT.
The DGT has so much character, and sometimes I forget how versatile this guitar can be. It incorporates properties of the Les Paul tone with a touch of the Telecaster sound. I call it The Swamp Tone. The notes are very big and defined with plenty of sustain. Chords have clarity that the LP doesn’t have. The LP definitely feels more relaxed, and I think it's due to the 24 3/4 scale length, whereas the DGT has a 25-inch Scale. The scale length has its own effect on the feel and sound. The DGT neck has fatness and sustain to the single notes that my LP doesn't seem to have, and I feel that's one of the major advantages it has over the LP. The DGT has a warmer sound, maybe more low mids. When you roll back the volume, it retains its characteristics, and a more tele-like character comes through. The split sounds are really nice, I like rolling back the volume in the full humbucker mode, and that seems to do the trick for me. I set the action low, that seems to be the trick to get it closer to the tele/strat vibe. I like to balance the action between 1/16 and 3/64 at the 12th fret. I love having the bird inlays, it seems to be a PRS trademark that I grew accustomed to having with all my PRS guitars. This guitar gives me the vibe of mixing a Telecaster with a Les Paul.
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Some issues I've had with the latest DGT versions I've owned since 2020:
Major tuning issues with the new nut. Ever since PRS switched over to this new bone nut, I've had nothing but problems with the tuning. The first DGT I received with the new nut had a major ping/string hangup problem. It actually went back to the factory twice for a new nut replacement, and even after that, there were problems. I wound up selling that guitar and waiting a few months to get another one. I thought maybe they were working on that issue, and I would give it time to clear up. I purchased another DGT months later, and guess what? The same issue existed with the new guitar. I tried dealing with it, but again, I wound up selling it. I waited a year before I purchased another one, and again, tuning issues. I decided to change the nut to the old black nut, and wouldn't you know, absolutely no issues whatsoever. I recently found another DGT-Gold Top (2023) that I like, and fresh out of the box, it plays great with no nut/tuning issues whatsoever. The store that I purchased the Gold Top from shipped the guitar detuned, which caused two stress cracks, one on each end of the body, where the tremolo rests on the body. I don't know why anybody would detune the guitar down for shipping. I've handled thousands of guitars over the years (Yes, that's thousands) from all over the world and never had an issue due to keeping the guitar fully in tune. It also had a funky pickup selector switch that would not connect properly in the bridge position. I made some adjustments, and so far, so good. The switch also moves around, and I can't seem to tighten it enough without doing some damage to the finish. Another issue I'm having is that the tuning buttons are loose, so when you play the guitar, they vibrate enough to be annoying. I contacted PRS, and their advice was to put some LocTite on the threads of the button screws. I hope this isn't a new standard for PRS quality control.
Update: I was able to fix the button screws by tightening every button. If you don't hold onto the button, the screw won't tighten.
Another Great update for my 2026 DGT:
PRS has gone back to using the old-style nut. No issues right out of the case.....Wahoo!
This turned out to be longer than I expected.
The PRS DGT is one of my favorite all-time guitars that I own, and I hope to be able to keep one for a long time. It’s just a great all-around guitar to have, and I keep going back to it. I got over all the negative things that have been said about these guitars and enjoy them for what they are. It’s inspiring to play, and now I have that McCarty with trem I was looking for.
Thank you to David Grissom for all the inspiration.
John Price
Go check out some pictures of the PRS-DGT guitars that I’ve owned over the years in the guitar photo section.
You can also hear me playing the DGT on my new album, Somebody, on such tracks as Remembering, Bear, and Over Mountains.
It's also used on the track Vomit Face from the album Ambience In Guitar Sounds
Check it out in the Practice Room where I do some interesting jams with it.
