PRS SE DGT David Grissom Signature Solidbody Electric Guitar - Gold Top Reviews

I have been wanting one of these since they rolled out last year. Finally pulled the trigger in early January. Came in much sooner than expected. I had high expectations of this guitar after reading all the reviews and all i can say is that this guitar beat every one of them. I play in a couple Classic Rock Bands and the DGT outplays anything i have in my arsenal. The pickups beautifully capture that classic Overdriven vibe and the neck feels like shaking an old friend's hand. For years, my Tremonti has been my #1 guitar for stage but the DGT has easily taken that slot. Amazing guitar from Headstock to Bridge! 10/10!

First a HUGE thanks to Rob Amaral for getting me set up with my DGT! He always delivers.

This is quickly becoming my favorite guitar. It looks amazing and the fit and finish is perfect. I made a very small adjustment to the action and it was good to go. Tonally it can do so much and the pickups are stellar. Using the volume and tone knobs along with the coil tap allows incredible versatility and I am able to get some of the best tones I've ever experienced. This one really solidified for me that the SE line is the real deal.

This is the first time I have bought a guitar I haven't played ahead of time. After watching countless videos and reading just as many reviews I decided to leap. Of course, being that these seem to be back-ordered almost everywhere getting my hands on one was next to impossible in my area. I did find a few online being sold by private sellers as used ones and a few dealers selling new ones. Since I have no experience buying from these places I decided to pre-order one from Sweetwater and try to be patient. It turned out to be the right decision. I placed my order on November 8 and they got a shipment in and I received my Goldtop SE DGT on November 27. That's much quicker than I thought it would be. Can't beat Sweetwater as far as I'm concerned. Tony Watson helped from start to finish and did a great job, as usual. The guitar came very well-packed with absolutely no damage. I unboxed it and let it sit on a guitar stand for about 24 hours to warm up as it was a cold trip to my house. Tuned it up and played for about 2 hours. I am very pleased with the whole process. Thanks to tony and Sweetwater for everything.

I am very pleased with the guitar I purchased from Sweetwater. This is my very first PRS guitar and I'm very impressed with the sound and overall quality of this guitar. Like everyone else who has seen the 3 part series on this guitar, I just had to have one! When I checked on this guitar a month ago, it was on back order until end of December, so I decided to write an email to a sales engineer about shipping dates for this model. To my surprise, I received a response within 5 min from my guy T.J. saying he located two of them and I jumped on it for him to ship me one. I got the package in 3 days and I have been jamming on this thing since I got it. Overall, I am very satisfied with everything Sweetwater does and I think they are one of the top companies to purchase gear from. I have been a customer since the late 90's and have never been disappointed at all. Thanks again T.J. and Sweetwater!

Very comfortable to play. And it sounds amazing.

Other than personal setup new strings and a fret polish, fairly perfect out of the box

Amazing and worth the wait. The volume and tone knobs are cool looking but the numbers are not easy to read. Once you start playing, it's not a factor. Very nice gig bag. Very Happy.

This was my first PRS guitar. I had to wait 8 months for this guitar to come in. I watched the 3 part making of the SE DGT videos on YouTube and that had me hooked. I ordered the gold top because as I much prefer the moon inlays to the birds. To me, this guitar is like a mix between a Les Paul and a Strat. You can get some of the tones of either (IMO). The pickups are fantastic. The coil split is very usable. The neck is on the thicker side, 0.844 inches @ 1st fret, 0.953 inches @ the 12th fret. Having said that, it is very comfortable. The body is thinner and thus lighter than a Les Paul. This guitar will replace my Les Paul as a gigging guitar. I can get the tones I need, and it will be easier on my back. The provided gig bag is good for storing at home, or carrying on your shoulder to a gig or practice. If you're going to put the guitar in a van or a truck I would not use the provided gig bag. The guitar was perfectly setup and clean when I pulled it out of the box. The QC was very good. I'm sure sure Cor-Tek is trying to keep up with the demand, but they didn't compromise the quality control I wish I had looked at PRS long ago. I really like this guitar.

I almost gave up on receiving this guitar, it took about 8 months, but it was worth the wait. First, it is beautiful in person, the gold top looks flat in pictures, much more vibrant in person. The back is not black, just a dark, almost blood, color. Straight out of the bag, it played great. Well tuned and decent intonation, low action, well-balanced. Neck is chunky (I've been told it's a typical PRS neck), but it feels good to me. It is so easy to play. It sounds amazing in every pickup position. I find the middle is my favorite, some tweaking of the knobs and I get a warm but clear sound that isn't thin at all. The split coil is better sounding than the split coil I have in another guitar, volume doesn't drop out much and more true to single coil sound. Turn the volume up and the bass roll off all the way up and you get some growl. Back off the volume and bass a bit and it gets such a clear clean sound. I've played it clean, with a ZZ Top level of fuzz and distortion, and with lots of ambient effects. Still need to push it to see how it does with metal tones, but I think it's gonna handle it.

Just love this guitar. It's the first PRS I've played but I'm hooked. The one upgrade I made was switching out the tuners to PRS SE locking tuners. For the price, this guitar is easily the best bargain out there. If you can get your hands on one, you will probably feel the same way.

Over the years, I have played many different electric guitars, but this one, is the best yet!
Gibson Les Paul, Fender Strat Ultra Luxe, Fender Tele Ultra, Fender Tele Jimmy Page, PRS Fiore and many others have come and gone. None of those played as easily as this one. (I also have a G & L Doheny for the single coil sound).
Of course, it is all relative, but for me, this one is the winner.
When I picked it up and played it unplugged, I was blown away at the sound and resonance.
Once plugged in, it sounds "big and beefy" and you are able to tweak the 2 Volume knobs and 1 Master Tone knob, in order to get the sound you want.
This is my fourth PRS and yes, I do have seller's remorse for those that I let get away.
I am a "bedroom" player and have never gigged, but I can appreciate a well-made guitar (no matter where it is made) and this is one!

Just want to say thanks to the most awesome Sweetwater Sales Engineer, Erik Molenaar, who has always been there for me and knows what I like and advised that this guitar would be a great fit for me. I waited 6 months for it and am so glad I heeded his advice, yet again. I have spent thousands of dollars on gear over the past 4 years, and Erik has been patient with me and is always willing to assist, as I search to appease my "Gear Acquisition Syndrome" addiction. Call and ask for Erik - he knows his s&^t and is alwasy a pleasure to work with. Customer Service is top notch and I will only shop at Sweetwater these days!

I ordered one of these way back when they were first released, and had to wait a bit, but it FINALLY arrived.
The shipping was super fast as it usually is from Sweetwater, and the outer box was a bit broken, but everything looked good, no blemishes, scratches, dings at all. The set up was almost spot on, and I made adjustments, and we hit the road.
There was 2 spots on the fretboard where some fret glue is visible, I can take care of that, everything else seems to look fine at the moment.
The strings it came with were pretty good, action seems pretty solid, and intonation was right on, so I began to run it through the initial inspection, and sound check.

First off THANKS IAN ANGLE you always take care of me, and this is may favorite purchase so far from you guys.

NOW!!
I have plugged into my JVM 2105H, and my trusty Friedman Runt 50, this guitar sound gorgeous on clean, any position, but shines with a touch of drive to where it just starts to break up. I then began to play with my standard gain and with my pedals, and OH MY GOSH this guitar is just unbelievable, I would not have expected this to sound and play this good, especially in this price point. It is a rock guitar, with the ability to do it all. I play in a cover band her in my neck of the woods, and I took her out for the initial gig. I was a bit worried that tuning would not hold up, because it does not come with locking tuners BUT tuning was awesome, it sound s big, full, and FAT!! The pickups are actually one of my favorite details about this guitar. I took 3 guitars because we normally play 3 sets and it is pretty humid and hot here so strings do not last with my hands. Well I had strung it with some D'Addario NYXL 10-46 and the entire set was NO PROBLEM. I did not want to stop playing that night, and this baby is a true keeper.
I have several high quality guitars and love them all Fender USA Strat, with JB HSS, Suhr Metallic Classic S, PRS Custom 22/24/CE 24 Semi Hollow/ and my Fiore. I do not know what is in the water at PRS right now but they are KILLING it. This guitar will be my go to for many years to come.
Now for a little bit of a downer, the pickup selector had an issue at the gig, and the middle position went silent at one point, probably losing contact somehow, but I wiggled it a bit and bam it was on and the set continued. A bit of a downer, but not a problem at the moment, so I will update to see what I end up doing or if it happens again, but for now. I am one happy camper

So I have 2 Core models, a Tremonti and an C24 Piezo and I love them both. In a livestream a few years ago Paul himself responded to a my concern of the switch placement on my Piezo that I needed a DGT. While I have wanted one since then I hadn't been able to play one and obviously the Core models aren't cheap. I believe they are definitely worth the price, they are hands down the best guitars I own but it's not something purchased without good deal of financial planning... at least for me.

When the "making of videos" came out I called my wonderful rep Jordan and asked to pre-order. While I wasn't early enough to get on the first shipment, I made the second. We had hoped I would have mine in late Jan but I didn't get it until the end of Feb... It was worth the wait! So before I go on, if you are ordered now and it may take a while... just get it on order.

While I believe the SE models are a great value the ones I have played are amazing for the price but something is always lacking. The feel is great and they play great but the pickups are replaced almost immediately. The frets are usually good but not perfect.

I'm not sure what David H and team did working with Cort on this but it's a close to a Core as I have ever seen. If someone handed it to me blindfolded I would think it was an S2 from the carve not being as deep but I wouldn't have believed it was an SE.

While it was gigable right out of the box I wanted to make some tweaks. From Sweetwater the action with no buzz was .16 on the low E and .125 on the high E... almost exactly the way I want it. The neck seemed almost perfectly straight and the frets were highly polished, smooth edges (would have been a 5 on Phil's sock test if you watch his channel) and not a single high fret. The nut was also perfect. Thus my work today easy. New strings, hydrate the neck then check everything.

The neck relief was at .008 so just a tad bit of relief and only the B string needed a slight twist of the screw in regards to intonation. I like my guitars even lower, I was able to get the low E to about .14 and the high E to .12 and I have no buzz on any string. This type of tolerance is something I definitely have on my core models but other guitars costing 3 times this much just can't get there without more neck relief.

I do plan to make a few mods, will definitely add the PRS lampshade knobs and maybe the SE locking tuners... I planned to order them immediately but it stays in tune without them. It sure would be nice if other manufactures could pull this off with their trem systems.

When I ordered this I thought if I liked the neck carve, which from my measurements is about 1MM less than a 50's LP Standard, I would start saving for a Core... at this point, I don't think I need to do that. Oh and the weight is about 7.2 lbs... nice on the back for longer gigs.

I buy, sell and trade a lot... looking for those "keeper" guitars, this one fell into that category right out of the very nice gig bag. It truly sings, it sustains as well as my Core models or my LPs. Again... how PRS and Cort pulled this off I have no idea. While I usually review my purchases almost all are good... this is above and beyond.

The pickups... I love them and I haven't even needed to adjust the height. They sound exactly as I had hoped or better, they will stay in this guitar, no need IMHO to even consider replacing them.

As I noted earlier, just get it. Whatever genre you play, this guitar can pull it off right out of the box and is worth much more than what it costs, you will not be disappointed.

These guitars are amazing and were everything I expected and more! I bought both the Goldtop and the McCarty Sunburst. They shipped separately, the Burst showed up first then the Goldtop second. I've been away for work and finally got home to start messing with them. They're worth the money and the wait!!!

I know PRS sets them up before leaving the factory and Sweetwater inspects them ( I know they really do inspect the guitars prior to shipping, I've got a buddy who I went to school with is a tech there!), but you're gonna need to set them up for your playing. Both of my guitars, once tuned up to pitch, were setup identically! String height, intonation, neck relief, depth of the nut: all were identical.

Fret edges were a LITTLE railroad tracky in a few spots: blue painter's tape in between the frets and took my Fret Guru leveler with 600, 800, 1000 a couple swipes each grade on both sides and polish with micromesh pads and it was done.

The G string on both nuts were high AND THIS IS DONE INTENTIONALLY BY PRS so the customer can decide if you want your G string high, you can leave OR you can file it down until it's comfortable for your playing style.

The action/string height was extremely high for me and after playing the guitar for a couple of minutes, I knew I was going to bring it down to my specs, which I'm still tweaking since I'm getting used to these necks.

The electronics on mine function the way they're supposed to. I personally have been just playing on the bridge in humbucker mode with the tone at 2 or 3 and using the volume control to clean up the amp, I hardly use my boost pedal or overdrive at all.

The trems work great, the guitars stay in tune. They're lightweight, they resonate wonderfully.

I'm upgrading both with the locking tuners and adding the additional trem spring for tuning stability because I might be going to a heavier string, after the first sets wear out.

All in all, I'm happy...no complaints or disappointments.

PRS and Mr. Grissom have hit a home run with this model. This is my fourth SE model. Didn't bond with the earlier ones (Tremonti & Santana) but I still have the SE hollowbody I got a few years back. The SE models keep getting better. This guitar is an incredible value! After playing it a week and putting on my preferred strings and doing a setup yesterday, this is one of the best new production guitars I've ever purchased. Tone, fit & finish, pickups, it's got it all. I'll mention a couple minor concerns. First, the corners of the nut are sharp and not rounded off. Second, the tremolo claw seemed a little flimsy. Minor complaints on an otherwise stellar guitar.
I wasn't planning on buying another guitar, but had been on the lookout for an SE DGT for years now. Worth the wait. Highly recommended.

Looks to be an incredible value in a quality guitar.

Believe the reviews. This really is that good. I have owned 4 PRS SE's in my lifetime. All of them high quality and good sounding . This is next level in excellent build and outstanding tone. His is near S2 quality. I have only one slight con. There is a noticeable volume drop when switching from hum-bucker to coil split. This is more pronounced than my custom 24. The tone is still excellent. Thumps up to my Sales Engineer Josh Lively. Trust Sweetwater…Trust the reviews

Disclaimer to start: I am a PRS fanboy. I play only PRS and Taylor guitars because the quality is top notch, the support is outstanding, and they suit my playing style. In other words, your mileage may vary...but it shouldn't...

Not to put too fine a point on it, I've lusted for a DGT since I first played a core DGT in 2012'ish. The DGT is the whole package for me. Since then, and many purchases/trades later, I finally got my electric guitar collection down to a PRS Core Custom 24 and a Silver Sky. Perfection achieved, right? Incorrect. I still yearned for a DGT but just could not justify to myself or my wife (the far more important half, I assure you) the cost of another Core instrument. Even the very few used DGTs I came across crossed the mythic budget line. I grew to believe that finally having a DGT of my own was a beautiful dream. And THEN, PRS and David Grissom introduced the DGT SE! My dreams might come true at long last!

As soon as I found the DGT SE on the Sweetwater website as a product, I pre-ordered it (around mid-January). I received mine around the end of June and the long and worthwhile wait was over! I unboxed it, tweaked the tuning and took it to a gig the next day. Here are my impressions:

Fit and finish:
Superb. The fretwork was immaculate, no voids or inclusions in the finish, the nut did not have the sharp edges that some have reported (I think PRS listens to their dealers and customers very closely), and the electronics and hardware are well above the price point.
A minor issue with tuning: I did at first struggle a bit with tuning slippage and some tuning stability in the trem. I figured it might be minor set up issues and the outside possibility of tuning machine problems. Once I got the strings stretched in well, the tuning stability improved markedly but was not quite there yet. I did notice that out of the box with original strings, the action seemed a tiny bit high for my taste, but I'm always willing to work with a guitar for a bit before I go tweak happy. The gigs I used this guitar on were outdoors, so perspiration began to rust the strings (not unusual). I decided to swap the tuners for the locking version because I am lazy as heck on replacing strings and I've found that locking tuners seem to assist in tuning stability. Here is where something very interesting happened: when I cut the original strings loose, a couple of them hung up in the nutslots. Thinking I might need to apply a slot file and perhaps lube at the contact points, I changed the strings to a balanced set (slightly heavier low E, A, and G). Here is where the weird kicks in: I tuned it up, stretched the crud out of the strings and all of the tuning stability and action issues disappeared. I suspect that the original strings might have gotten a build up of some sort in the nut slots, especially as they are shipped from overseas. I can now do dropped D tuning, rack the hell out of the trem, and voila, it stays in tune as well as my Core model! I recommend loosening the strings and cleaning the nut slots when you first unbox the guitar. Sure fixed my minor issues.
A word on the neck carve: The DGT neck carve is beefy. If you are a fan of D-shaped or wizard necks, the DGT probably isn't to your taste. In PRS terms, if you like Pattern Regular, the DGT will feel like home base. If you prefer Pattern Thin, try before you buy.
The electronics: The DGT SE pickups are unbelievable! From crunch to spank, these babies deliver with a minor adjustment of the nicely tapered volume knob. The treble bleed works beautifully and the tone knob is tapered just exactly to my taste (I ride the tone knob a lot to get shading). The DGT control layout takes just a bit to get familiarized, but once you grok why it was laid out that way and how tweakable it is, you are going to wonder why no one else thought of it before.
In short, I am over the moon (no inlay pun intended) with the DGT SE! I have rarely played an instrument so resonant, well constructed, well balanced, and inspirational at this price point. If you need tough and tender Texas tone in a well crafted instrument, look no further. Order yours today!
As always, a huge shout out to Sweetwater, especially my man Joey M.

First off, thanks to Anthony Longano and the Sweetwater team for getting me this guitar! I was on the list early and this is a great guitar for those wanting the core model but seeing that model out of reach for you financially.

The fit and finish are great on my guitar. I will second the comment about the corners of the nut being a bit pointy but 2 minutes with a file and it's good to go. I purchased the Gold Top and I love the color and moon inlays. The natural maple binding is very nice and I also like the natural look of the rosewood fingerboard ends; It looks to be un-dyed and is a nice contrast to the dark colored neck. My fingers do get a little black when playing so I assume the face of the fingerboard is dyed somewhat.

My current setup is NY XLs, 9-42, with action set at .065 at the 17th fret. Relief is .006 at 8th fret. No buzzing and the frets were finished and detailed nicely. I tech on my guitars (and others too!) so making adjustments is comfortable for me but this guitar didn't really need anything but tweaks for personal preference. The string clearance at the first fret was .014 to .011 across the strings which is great. I know that was an important thing for David G and PRS/Cort delivered it on my guitar. The guitar has a soft playing feel for me at my setup and the 25" scale contributes to that as well.

The neck profile is very nice for me and I would describe it as comfortable but not overly big. My LP Jr. Special is certainly much bigger and chunky compared to this. I'm not overly "neck sensitive" but this neck is in familiar territory for me having LPs, Strats, Tele, Gretsches, and a bunch of other things too!

The pickups are great and I love the split tones. I would describe the tone of this guitar as "muscular." If you like "Texas tone," this guitar will be up your alley! The standard treble bleed works well but I did the Kinman mod on mine just because I can :). I don't find this guitar dark but if you're a single coil guy/girl, you might want to roll off a bit of the bottom. I found the Kinman modded volume pots to balance things nicely for me throughout the pot's range.

I need to deduct half a star because when I was in the electronics, I discovered that the factory wired the pickups directly to the selector switch and then to the wiper of the volume pot which placed them in parallel with the pot, output jack, and switch. Surprisingly, the guitar sounded fine but the volume pot action was weird. I rewired my guitar as a core DGT with the pickups going to terminal 3 of the pot and the output (2) going to the selector switch and it works as expected now.

This is my first PRS and it is a great guitar for me. It reminds me of my Carvin CT6 (which is also a great guitar). I own over 30 guitars which run the racks of every permutation of configuration you could imagine and this guitar stands with all of them. This is a great guitar for those wanting to explore the PRS ethos.

Buy it; play it; love it!

For this price point, this is an awesome deal.
The workmanship is really good for under $.
Sound is really nice and has a fairly versatile tone range.
Playability is good but I'll need to set it up for my style of playing.

The only thing that I don't care for is that the wammy bar has a slight looseness between making the note sharp or flat.
I'll need to check to see if there is an adjustment for this.

Overall, I'm glad that I purchased this instrument.

I have two PRS SE DGTs, a gold top (purchased from SW) and a burst (purchased elsewhere) Overall, great playability, and I found the pickups to be fine out of the box. I cannot speak to the tremolo as I blocked mine immediately. Overall great playability, sound, etc.

Both had the same issues though, and these were purchased months apart from different dealers, so the QC from the factory may be suspect.

The two issues:

1. The G, B, and high E strings WILL NOT stay in tune for any length of time. And yes, the guitars were set up and the strings stretched. Any amount of tuning would cause them to go extremely out of tune. I replaced the standard pegs with locking ones. Still happened. Put nut lube on, still happened but it did reduce the issue.

2. The G string in tune open and at the twelfth fret, with intonation set, is perfectly in tune. Check the B note on the G string against open B? Extremely sharp. Open chords sound like poo.

The nut is the cause of both issues.

Issue number one - the stock nut, even with lube, binds the strings causing the tuning issues after bends or even playing.
Issue number two - the nut is too high causing too much pressure on the strings when fretting.

I am having the nut replaced on both instruments to resolve the issue.

So to recap: $= for the guitar, for a hard shell case, roughly $for locking tuners, and roughly for the new nut (I went with a zero fret)

With all these costs, to get a usable instrument, might be better to look at a different PRS option.

$ for an instrument that cannot stay in tune is not acceptable in my opinion.

Not sharing the positive experience others have, unfortunately. Bought elsewhere due to availability. A lot of waiting involved.

Pros: nice frets and fretboard. Cool finish. Light weight.

Cons: Muddy, generic sounding. Not a huge variety of usable sounds. Decent on bridge when rolling volume back a bit. Sounded better in the room than on the recording a/b test I did. EQ helped, but the 'B' in my test didn't need any EQ.

Pull pot isn't particularly useful. Speaking of the pots/knobs. They were all wobbly when turned.

Worse part involves some apparent build issues. Saddle height was almost maxed out with factory spec setup (proper bridge height (level for floating tremolo) perfect relief in neck. Wondering if there was an angle issue with the join of the neck and body. I've been setting up guitars for over 20 years. Nothing more could be done for this one.

Still had buzz on the wound strings and couldn't raise the action any more via the saddles (also introduces other issues with the saddles so high up).

Great marketing and hype machine by PRS. Just not a product worth the hype.

This is the second SE I've run into with serious issues (the other was an serious intonation issue).

I had wanted a PRS for quite a good 20 years and was interested in the SE DGT based off the massively positive reviews and and almost immediate first run scarcity. I love the looks of this guitar, and the playability is ok. I will caveat this review by mentioning that I did not get this professionally set up yet, but I did make in home adjustments. From the factory, the set up is shockingly atrocious. But I'm not commenting on playability.

Where this guitar really fails is tone. It is muddy and dull. Comparing relative pickup combinations between this guitar and my LP Standard, LP Junior special, Friedman Tele, Strat, and Epiphone 335, it is noticeably inferior. As a straight up humbucker comparison, my LP and 335 have so much more clarity, that switching from one of those guitars to the PRS sounds like there's muffling on my amp. Beyond the horrible tone, I have no idea what people are talking about with regard to the tremolo system. It is completely unresponsive. I've tried to adjust the trem and nothing works. Just absolute trash. Oddly the D string comes out of tune in the + direction defying the laws of physics. The coil split is also completely worthless. But when your pickups are terrible, coil splitting mods will also be terrible.

Maybe I'm just not a PRS guy. This is the most uninspiring, soulless and over-hyped product out there. Huge mistake.