NGD Joe Banamassa Epiphone 1955 LP & PRS DGT SE Gold Top

[rnolan]

So I now have the 2 guitars I bought from my friend just before he passed.  RIP Cookie.

Pics to follow (when there's daylight).

Played them both last night.  Very different guitars to each other (doh).  I started with the Joe B LP.  I've never had P90s before.  Love them.  Nice chime, very musical and LOTs of gain.  I had to back the pots off on my rhythm patch.  Nice guitar, neck is a '59 C profile.  I haven't set it up yet, really needs it.  It was lots of fun.

And then I played the PRS.  Wow, also really nice, great sounding PUs (under wound I think, which is great).  I attacked it big time and it loved it...

Tonight I had a mini rehearsal with our singer and played the PRS DGT SE.  Had a great play, sounded great also love the DGT PRS PUs, but it too was crying out for a set up.  So after rehearsal I put on a new set of DR 10-46 tight wounds, and set it up, oiled the FB, tightened everything (e.g. machine head top bolts were a little loose), less neck relief, lowered the action, set the trem height etc. The intonation was still fine... they got that bit right.  It now plays beautifully.  These cost $1400 AUD here and they are worth every cent.

The PRS is Indonesian built, great build quality, wood and good hardware.

The Joe B LP is Chinese and also great build quality, wood and good hardware.  Love the P90s.  Back is 2 piece but nice big chunks of Mahogany and Lorrel FB.  The top copper finish is to die for.  I'll probably set it up tomorrow...

[Harley Hexxe]

Richard,

That's good to hear and a bit surprising to me. Most guitars I've tried from Indonesia had really cheap hardware. I've never tried any name brand guitars from China, but I'm surprised that the hardware is good there too. I would have guessed they were the worst of Asian manufacturing, since they try to do everything as cheaply as possible.

Enjoy

[Dante]

That sounds great  Richard, can't wait to see the pix

[rnolan]

Hey Harley, I was surprised as well.  Normally the first thing you'd want to do is change all the hardware.  Not so with either of these.  Both really solid, quality build and hardware, PUs sound great, go figure...  Obviously the setup on them was generic but that's easily fixed.

So scuttle butt I heard is that Epiphone have a dedicated factory in China now.  The Indonesian stuff also has a dedicated factory which makes a bunch of brands and have been pretty good for a while now.  The cheaper Music Man stingrays are really good (for the money), I've set a few of those up and was very impressed.

@Dante, I'll take some pics on the weekend when I'm home during the day (light) but if you check the pics online, they are the same.  And also they detail the specs and bits and bobs.

Interestingly,  the Joe B '55 LP is 12" radius 24 3/4" scale and the PRS DGT SE is 10" radius 25" scale.  The LP is greater neck angle, same as my JPLP ('59 replica) than later post 60's LPs, (which I like), kind of wraps around you better.

Slight down side (and a great problem to have as you guys no doubt know) is which ones to take to a gig (as I only need 2 for that).  But next gig I'm taking these 2 as a tribute to my friend. Moreover, any reticence I had in my mind (i.e should I also take the Anderson or my SG) is fading fast.  They are both going to be fun...

The PUs in both sound so good I'll do some sound clips and post them...

[rnolan]

Ok update.
I just gave the Joe B LP a go over.

So first thing was to get rid of the scratch plate.  I don't need one and IMHO LPs looks better without them, as does this one.

So I did the usual, oiled the FB, tightened all the screws, some were ok some were a little loose.  This was telling me already about attention to detail (or lack there of). I gave it a little less neck relief which I backed off half of later.  Some of the fret ends were a little sharp (not so on the PRS it was nice) so I did a little filing and 1200 paper.  I turned all the saddles the correct way around.  Normally LPs have the A and E reversed as the LP bridges are too narrow, this had the D the wrong way around as well.  However doing this I could tell the bridge was on the cheaper end (as Harley eluded to earlier) but it came up ok and still had enough adjustment for the intonation. It came with 10-46, I put on DR tight wound 10-50 which I prefer on the shorter Gibson scale length.  The Laurel FB is a bit grainy and not as nice as the PRS Rosewood FB.  Also the frets are on the skinny side so I might re-fret it down the track with some bigger stainless frets.  It came up quite nicely in the end but overall, IMHO the PRS DGT SE from Indonesia is a better built guitar and cheaper.

Then again, these are both mid/low priced instruments and they both sound great.

[Harley Hexxe]

Richard,

Is that a copy of a LP Custom? The Custom does have smaller frets than the other LPs, that's why they are a breeze to play.

[rnolan]

Hey Harley,

" Renowned guitarist Joe Bonamassa has one of the world's most enviable guitar collections. One prized instrument is a 1955 Les Paul Standard with a very rare Copper Iridescent finish that was originally created for display at the 1955 NAMM Show. As Joe noted, "From a distance, it looks brown, but in direct light, it has gold metal flake in the finish." Epiphone's Joe Bonamassa 1955 Les Paul Standard faithfully recreates this special guitar. It features the same Copper Iridescent color, a pair of Epiphone P-90 PRO pickups wired to CTS® potentiometers and Mallory™ capacitors, a Custom '59 Rounded C neck profile, long neck tenon, and a "Nerdville" graphic hardshell case. "

Check it out here Joe B 55 Epiphone copy

[rnolan]

You check out the PRS DGT SE here PRS DGT SE Gold Top

and here

[Harley Hexxe]

Nope, that should have the tall aggressive frets that LPs are known for.

[rnolan]

Hey Harley, the frets are ok (but the finish wasn't great, sharp fret ends...), and to be fair I haven't really used the LP in anger yet. Also it has a '59 C shape profile, my JPLP has a modified '59 C shape (which I like allot), the standard '59 C shape, mmm not so much.

Tonight I did a rehearsal with the (now set up) PRS DGT.  Loved it, went really well.

So I now have to give the Joe B LP a decent play (with the band), I love the P90's in it and I've set it up now.