NGD: DGT, struggling with brightness

Dingola

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Jun 27, 2021
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I bought a used but stock 2020 DGT a week ago. It sounds great with volumes full up and playing rock sounds. However roll the volume down to 6 or 7 and it's too thin. I don't like treble bleeds. So I clipped one leg from each treble bleed resister on each volume pot. It didn't really help.

I gigged with it yesterday and at gig volume I liked it better, but it was still thin especially when the volumeIs not full on. That's a problem for me because I really use the volume knobs to control gain.

I also cannot get happy doing this:
I usually play around 6 and turn up for more gain as i need it. Sometimes, I will blend humbuckers, having the neck pick up on just a little bit, like at 3 to add a little warmth to the treble pickup. For the life of me, I cannot get the DGT to behave the same way, which I do easily on my strat, Les Paul, 335 and Firebird.

It has to be the wiring?? Has to be, right? I thought cutting the treble bleed would really make it better. I had a DGT around 2012 And had the same problem. It was much better after I clipped the resistor. I clipped it entirely off. It seems there was only one resistor at the time but I can't remember. The Guitar I have now is a 2020 model whereas the one I had years ago was a 2008 model. The wiring has changed since then.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
I usually play with the guitar around 6, too. You probably know all the next questions, and have tried them all, but I'm gonna ask anyway:

Have you tried adjusting the treble, brightness and/or presence controls on your amp, or rolling off the tone knob on the guitar? I generally find that the amp tone controls take care of business for me. YMMV, of course.
 
I did not adjust the amp's EQ settings yet. Was hoping not to, as its usually not necassary when i switch guitars on stage. Switching between my 335 or LP and my brighter suhr strat is not a problem. The suhr tone knobs work great. I also use the tone knobs on my 335 and LP too when necessary.

So i usually can handle brightness adjustments fine with only using the guitar tone knob. The DGT pickups/guitar is likely on the bright side, but the perplexing thing is the tone knob just doesnt seem to be that effective. Vol contrils too seem to stull act like the bleed circuit is working.
 
Hmmm interesting.
My DGT is one of my darker guitars.
The treble bleed keeps your treble when you roll off the vol so the tone does not get muddy when you roll back the vol so the EQ is similar full up or rolled back there is no reason the tone would be thin when playing at 6/7 other that the pickups are lower output than your other guitars causing a weak/thin sound.
Try raising the pickups a bit with your vol rolled back another thing to check is you coil taps are not engaged ( shorted ) somehow measure you pickup out put

Herin 1 - 1 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/152274366@N08/
 
Double check to make sure you didn’t clip one side of your tone knob.
The tone pot is fine. I didn't do anything to it. Only the two volume pots.


Hmmm interesting.
Try raising the pickups a bit with your vol rolled back another thing to check is you coil taps are not engaged ( shorted ) somehow measure you pickup out put.
I will measure the pickup outputs and report back.

I experimented some raising the pickups late last night on the bridge, raising the bass strings side more, as well as just making it even. I could hear it increased the output, but got ear fatigue. I still felt it was thin when you roll down volume. Regardless, I will have to try it again at louder volume. Ear fatigue and doing that test at lower volumes makes it difficult and frustrating when trying to detect changes and find sweet spots. I'll report back.

The coil taps sound fine. They don't seem shorted.

Thanks for posting the specs. However, it doesn't seem to show the little resistor on each vol pot, which is what I clipped. I wonder if this is an old spec? Or am I missing it.
 
There is no resistor on the volume pots , it is a 180pf capacitor it is there to maintain balanced highs as you roll off the volume.
If your guitar gets thin sounding when rolling off the Vol there is some other issue IMHO might be time to contact PTC and see what they have to say on this .
Another thing I remember David Grissom saying he plays with the tone way down to get his tone.
Be careful with your hearing if you are getting ear fatigue testing pickups you are playing to loud IMHO work on getting your tone at a lower volume, yes I sometimes like to play loud but mostly play at a talking level when practicing and even jamming its easier to play longer then
Best of luck
 
DGT pickups are surprisingly hot. Amp settings can embrace this or exploit it and bring the sizzle. And in my experience, some guitar/amp combos need their own thing from other guitars. I’ve swapped pickups in other guitars to fix this issue or simply not chosen that guitar with others that don’t fight the amp for a gig.

On a used guitar buy, carefully go over the electronics and confirm nothing has been improperly messed with. Especially shorts, cold solder joints, and “experimental” rewirings. I’ve seen some terrible things done to otherwise good guitars.
 
There is no resistor on the volume pots , it is a 180pf capacitor it is there to maintain balanced highs as you roll off the volume.
If your guitar gets thin sounding when rolling off the Vol there is some other issue IMHO might be time to contact PTC and see what they have to say on this .

Another thing I remember David Grissom saying he plays with the tone way down to get his tone.
Best of luck
My mistake. It's a capaciter that I clipped (not a resistor) on each vol pot.

On Grissom playing with the tone way down, thanks. That makes sense and is how I'd use it when on the bridge pickup. My Firebird is like that too. I have to put the town way down.
 
DGT pickups are surprisingly hot. Amp settings can embrace this or exploit it and bring the sizzle. And in my experience, some guitar/amp combos need their own thing from other guitars. I’ve swapped pickups in other guitars to fix this issue or simply not chosen that guitar with others that don’t fight the amp for a gig.

On a used guitar buy, carefully go over the electronics and confirm nothing has been improperly messed with. Especially shorts, cold solder joints, and “experimental” rewirings. I’ve seen some terrible things done to otherwise good guitars.
I have used this guitar on a Fender DR and home/lower volume and through a Two Rock Classic Reverb at gig volume. Playing at gig volume was a better experience, but still bright. I can dial in a nice sound, but it's just that I have to go way out of current adjustments to do so. The amp EQ was set for my 335 and Suhr classic strat (with 3 single coils). I have no Problem switching between those guitars. For the DGT, I had to sweat working guitar controls and switching/mixing ODs to find warmer tones; making drastic changes. At that time I was covering tunes requiring cleanish with a bit of breakup overdrive. Although I could adjust the EQ on the amp, I would want that to be a last resort. I can switch between a beefy sounding 335 and a brighter sounding strat treble pickup with no problem. The DGT should be no problem.

It could be 1) it's a brighter guitar and 2) the pickups are different and I, like some people, just don't bond with it. I COULD get a descent tone at the gig, so I don't think it's a cold soder joint or a problem. The first DGT I had, I struggled with the bleed circuit and overall brightness, but could still didn't have to adjust as much like I do now. In that guitar, all I had to do was clip the treble bleed capcitor(s) and I was ok. The vol and tone seemed to behave fine and I was comfortable.
 
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Just bought a 2021 DGT and finding some specific amp-based differences. Through my Mesa Boogie Fillmore 25 (head+ 2x12 Fillmore cab), the DGT sounds amazingly full and beefy, with no shortage of low end. Slight variations to amp EQ (compared to settings I used for my PRS 408, 594SC) are all that's needed. However, through my Marshall 2525H Silver Jubilee (w/ 2x12 Marshall 2536A cab), it's a totally different story, and sounds like OP's experience: starting with 'flat' the DGT sounds overly bright, a bit thin and fizzy. Changing to scooped setup or mid-forward does little to change this, and in my limited time spent trying to dial in a better tone, what I've found so far is that I need to crank the tone knob on the DGT down to 2, and dial the Bass on the Silver Jube head up to 7 or 8 (keeping both Mids and Treble around 4).

Some of the brightness is likely because the 2536A Marshall cab is brand new, when I plugged in my Orange 2x12 OB, it was somewhat better balanced and had better lows, but still needed more EQ adjustment that I expected.

I have the Mesa CabClone IR+ Attentuator and will see if using that with different settings on the Marshall yields a better overall tone.
 
Just bought a 2021 DGT and finding some specific amp-based differences. Through my Mesa Boogie Fillmore 25 (head+ 2x12 Fillmore cab), the DGT sounds amazingly full and beefy, with no shortage of low end. Slight variations to amp EQ (compared to settings I used for my PRS 408, 594SC) are all that's needed. However, through my Marshall 2525H Silver Jubilee (w/ 2x12 Marshall 2536A cab), it's a totally different story, and sounds like OP's experience: starting with 'flat' the DGT sounds overly bright, a bit thin and fizzy. Changing to scooped setup or mid-forward does little to change this, and in my limited time spent trying to dial in a better tone, what I've found so far is that I need to crank the tone knob on the DGT down to 2, and dial the Bass on the Silver Jube head up to 7 or 8 (keeping both Mids and Treble around 4).

Some of the brightness is likely because the 2536A Marshall cab is brand new, when I plugged in my Orange 2x12 OB, it was somewhat better balanced and had better lows, but still needed more EQ adjustment that I expected.

I have the Mesa CabClone IR+ Attentuator and will see if using that with different settings on the Marshall yields a better overall tone.

Interesting. I sent mine to the PRS tech center to address a fret falling of the edge issue. I also asked them while it's there to check the wiring, pickup height, etc. and see if there is a way to warm it up; like possibly set wiring back to standard, as I clipped the treble bleed caps. We'll see.

It was bright on the two amps I tried it on: a Fender DR and a Two-Rock Classic Reverb. As I said, I didn't adjust the EQ, as I shouldn't have to. I could have, but again, i can use four different types of guitars and that have varying degress of brightness on the same rig and the tone knob solves the problem: a bright Firebird, a Suhr strat that's on the brighter side, even the neck pickup (which is great), and a 335 and Les Paul. Seems the DGT is further out there. It just doesn't seem like it should be this way. So wanting to have PRS check it and hopefully they're experts can dial it in or spot a wirking problem.
 
update - I'm still kind of struggling with my DGT through my Marshall 2525H, as juicing the bass and lowering the treble effectively removes the shrill-like brightness on G-B-E strings, it also deadens the sound with too much bass on E-A-D strings. Really odd how the DGT sounds so different (better) through both my Revv 20 and Mesa Fillmore 25, the Marshall sounds great with my 408 and 594, but doesn't get on at all with the DGT. I'm pretty frustrated and now thinking of trying another Marshall head (SV-20) this weekend at a local store to see how that sounds. I like the DGT too much to return it, and it does sound great with other amps.
 
update - I'm still kind of struggling with my DGT through my Marshall 2525H, as juicing the bass and lowering the treble effectively removes the shrill-like brightness on G-B-E strings, it also deadens the sound with too much bass on E-A-D strings. Really odd how the DGT sounds so different (better) through both my Revv 20 and Mesa Fillmore 25, the Marshall sounds great with my 408 and 594, but doesn't get on at all with the DGT. I'm pretty frustrated and now thinking of trying another Marshall head (SV-20) this weekend at a local store to see how that sounds. I like the DGT too much to return it, and it does sound great with other amps.

Frustrating. It shouldn't be that big of a problem. You should be able to use it with most amps and be fairly happy. It's suppossed to be a swiss army knife of guitars. Technically it should be. It's a Gibson, strat, has tremelo, split coils, can get hot tones. I think they need to address it. It's great full up on solo tones.

I've had two DGTs. The one from 2008 was bright, but was good after I clipped the treble bleed cap. THis 2020 DGT just doesn't work. I'll be intersted to see if the PRS tech center can dial it in. I hope something is wrong with it (a wiring issue that they can fix), but I bet not.
 
It’s odd that my DGT sounds so good through the Revv D20 and Mesa Fillmore…makes it hard to say it’s the guitar’s fault…likewise the Marshal 2525H sounds fine with my 408 and 594, so can’t really blame the Marshall.

will demo both an Sc20 and Sv20 this weekend and may swap the heads
 
Does the guitar sound right, natural, and good when you adjust the amps EQ?
 
Not entirely, hard to balance brightness on G-B-E without making E-A-D overly bass-y.

And EQ adjustments seem ‘extreme’ vs what I’m used to…this guitar/amp combo is only one I’ve had where Bass is on 7 or 8 to sound less shrill.
 
Interesting. I sent mine to the PRS tech center to address a fret falling of the edge issue. I also asked them while it's there to check the wiring, pickup height, etc. and see if there is a way to warm it up; like possibly set wiring back to standard, as I clipped the treble bleed caps. We'll see.

It was bright on the two amps I tried it on: a Fender DR and a Two-Rock Classic Reverb. As I said, I didn't adjust the EQ, as I shouldn't have to. I could have, but again, i can use four different types of guitars and that have varying degress of brightness on the same rig and the tone knob solves the problem: a bright Firebird, a Suhr strat that's on the brighter side, even the neck pickup (which is great), and a 335 and Les Paul. Seems the DGT is further out there. It just doesn't seem like it should be this way. So wanting to have PRS check it and hopefully they're experts can dial it in or spot a wirking problem.

It may just not be the guitar for you. No one is a bigger PRS fan than I am and they have been my #1 guitars for 25 years. The DGT and Santana models however just do not work for me. I can only get odd tones that I really dislike. Give me the McCartys, 594s, Modern Eagles or Cu22s and I am in heaven! That's why they make different models. Hope you can get it sorted to your liking though of course!
 
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