NGD - 2020 DGT (with TCI Pickups)

MA Pete

Pattern Thin Convert!
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Apr 27, 2012
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Well, in the spirit on sampling any and all 2020 TCI PRS Guitars with a vintage slant, a belated NGD for a 2020 DGT I picked up last week, just got it back from my tech with new strings (9s) and a setup.

Uncharacteristically for me, it is a non-10-top. I dug the simple look of it, sort of like a Classic Singlecut "Plaintop" from the 50's. Plus being a non-10, I got it for a great price. I have owned several DGTs over the years, and I know I love the tones but the Neck Carve and the Frets are really not for me, so I figured a non-10 would take less depreciation if I later sold it. I wanted the 2020 with TCI pickups, otherwise I would have considered a used one.

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The first two pics above show more flame than it usually actually shows, it looks more like these two below with very little flame that just barely peeks out every once in a while. I dig that about this guitar, a plain top with the killer McCarty Sunburst finish (with that Teardrop versus Contour Burst that the DGTs have) and the Cherry Back.

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They were doing them with binding for a while, looks like they went back to no binding. Bummer! ;)

Interesting that they went to Speed Knobs this year.

Tones are GREAT! My tech really dug it. He liked the snarly tones versus the more subtle tones of the 5815 LTs in my many 594s (he loves the 594s as well, especially the 2 SCs and the Hollowbody).

I still don't love the neck carve or the Jumbo Frets. :) With regards to the neck carve, it is more about the resulting string spacing (strings are closer together with the 1/16" narrower nut width) than the neck carve itself. 594 Frets are basically DGT frets flattened off to be shorter - so if I decide to keep it longer-term, I can have the frets done to match the 594s.

I am not as much minding the 25" scale this time around, on this or the 25" McCarty. I still prefer the 594 scale, my favorite ever and "home" for me, but I so far find the 25" scale good to mix it up with regards to both feel and tones.

One of these days maybe I will do a Private Stock DGT with a Pattern or Pattern Vintage Neck Carve and 594 Frets, with Binding. That to me would be a perfect DGT. Maybe with the adjustable Stoptail. (I had two DGT Stoptail back in the day, one from the Willcutt WL run, and one from the Wildwood PS run, they were both pretty great! Although I think I liked my Trem ones slightly better re tone - my best one was a Willcutt WL Trem.) Probably wouldn't be first on my list though, I have some other thoughts for this year for a potential Private Stock that would be centered more around something 594.

Wildwood did that 594 Scale PS DGT run a couple of years back - I was intrigued to try one of those, but I wasn't buying guitars at that time. They actually have one of them back there now as a used one, which I considered, but I didn't care for the top or finish, and it was more than I was willing to spend on a DGT, at a time where here in my return from the guitar hiatus is focused much more so on the 594s (where my focus has been since the Feb 2016 GOM, almost exactly four years ago!).

Love these DGT pickups! A nice contrast to the 594s. Sounds great through the new DG 30 - but that shouldn't be a surprise! ;)
 
Thanks, everyone!


Notice any discernable difference between the TCI and standard pickups?

They sound amazing! I will get a chance to A/B them with a pre-DCI DGT this weekend, will report back.


I love the cherry back. Did you put the speed knobs on there?

Me too re Cherry Back, especially with the contrast against the McCarty Sunburst. I love McCarty Sunburst!!

Nope re speed knobs. They appear to be stock for 2020. The PRS Website pics show Speed Knobs. Maybe DGh is using them now and asked for them to be changed? I will run with them for a while and see if I like them. Visually I prefer lampshades, but no big deal...
 
They sound amazing! I will get a chance to A/B them with a pre-DCI DGT this weekend, will report back.
I’m really interested in your feedback on what the TCI version brings to the game. Reeeaaallly interested!

Also, how do you like 9s on a DGT? I recently put 10s on mine - for tonal reasons - but never minded how 11s felt. With the strength of those pickups, did they get brash? Did your tech adjust the pickup height, too? Asking for a friend. ;)

The cherry back is the perfect match for the DG30s front panel. :cool:
 
I’m really interested in your feedback on what the TCI version brings to the game. Reeeaaallly interested!

Also, how do you like 9s on a DGT? I recently put 10s on mine - for tonal reasons - but never minded how 11s felt. With the strength of those pickups, did they get brash? Did your tech adjust the pickup height, too? Asking for a friend. ;)

The cherry back is the perfect match for the DG30s front panel. :cool:
I'm running 9s on mine. They sound great, to me. I did not touch the pickups. Although, it's a WL run from 2009 and has a 59/09 in the neck.
 
I’m really interested in your feedback on what the TCI version brings to the game. Reeeaaallly interested!

Also, how do you like 9s on a DGT? I recently put 10s on mine - for tonal reasons - but never minded how 11s felt. With the strength of those pickups, did they get brash? Did your tech adjust the pickup height, too? Asking for a friend. ;)

The cherry back is the perfect match for the DG30s front panel. :cool:

Will do re feedback.

I like the 9s on the DGT a lot, they feel great to me. This is my only Trem PRS, and it sure is different with the Trem springs giving way a bit to bends and vibrato. It is fine, just different.

Tone is great, these pickups ARE brash relative to the 5815 LTs - but in a good way! ;)

Yes, my tech does fine tune the pickup height with his setups. He does it to a spec and then fine tunes based on what he thinks sounds the best. I like the setups he does, I am so used to them now that no guitar feels right to me until he has put strings I like on there and done his thing.

My favorite 9s for the last couple of years have been the ThroBak Pure Nickel Strings, I dig them with regards to feel and tone.

I don't often play with the pickup heights. I should. It has been on my to-do list for a while. (Like 5 years...) :)
 
Just noticed the knobs on the stock photo, interesting change. Is that also a bone nut? Surprised they did that on a trem equipped guitar. How well does it stay in tune with whammy use?
 
Really nice!!! I have a similar one coming on Friday. Very classy looking. Enjoy it and do give us a report on the TCI pickups and if there is anything unusual under the hood
 
Congrats! The last photo is my favorite and highlights everything so perfectly.
 
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