Do you remember a while back I worked on a project called, What Kind Of Privilege Is This? And, do you remember that I recorded all the bass and guitars for that project at D’Angelico guitar’s New York showroom? And do you remember that the D’Angelico Premier Brighton was totally a favorite?
Regardless of whether you answered yes or no to any of those questions, I returned to D’Angelico’s showroom to spend more time with the Premier Brighton.
Background
When I used the Premier Brighton before, I approached it as any other solid body guitar with humbuckers, expecting a relatively fat sound.
But, what I didn’t realize is how versatile it was, namely because of its coiltapping function. However, because I was trying to cover an awful lot, I didn’t have time to really explore that, and just did my usual solid-body-guitar-with-humbuckers thing.
So, I wanted to reconnect with the Brighton, and see if could be more than just my usual solid-body-guitar-with-humbuckers thing.
What if I could get the Premier Brighton in the same ballparks as the three guitars I normally use in recording? That would make it the one guitar to rule them all.
Wouldn’t that be something?
D’Angelico Premier Brighton: specs
| Body | Basswood |
| Neck | Maple |
| Fingerboard | Ovangkol |
| Pickups | Seymour Duncan designed HM 101 in the neck, and 102 in the bridge |
| Number of frets | 22 |
| Neck shape | C-shape |
| Neck joint | Set-thru |
| Scale | 24.75″ |
| Fingerboard radius | 14″ |
| Fretwire | Medium |
D’Angelico Premier Brighton: in use
In order to test my theory, I returned to D’Angelico’s showroom to record all the guitar parts for ¿Dónde Está El Baño? with the Premier Brighton. I felt lucky.
In order to help you, here’s a video of what I recorded.
Solid body guitar with humbuckers
As I have noted in a previous post, I regard this as essentially the foundation of recording electric guitar. Certainly, this is what I wanted to do with the Premier Brighton in the first place.
Therefore, I played my usual thing for this type of guitar: power chords on verse parts, and open chords on chorus parts, with both humbuckers on, and volume and tone maxed out.
The sound was not as fat as what I would expect from a twin humbucker guitar. Particularly in the open chords. But, this could be a combination of not being dedicated humbuckers, and that I’m used to mahogany bodies on such guitars, rather than basswood.
This isn’t a bad thing – just different. As long as the power chords sound good and grungey, I’m happy!
Semi-hollow body guitar with humbuckers
Because the previous tone was quite aggressive, I needed to dial things back to find a sound that would vaguely equate with my semi-hollow body guitar. Which I use for playing open chords all the way through a song.
Following a decent amount of tinkering, I thought that both humbuckers engaged, rolling of the neck volume to about 1, and the bridge tone to about 5, was not that bad.
Certainly, it took some of the harshness away, and moved more towards the warmth more familiar from semi-hollow guitars. As I recall, I also rolled of the drive a little to help with this.
I was certainly satisfied with it. You can hear the results from 0:25 to 0:47 in the video.
Solid body guitar with single coil pickups
Ordinarily, I use the middle pickup of my Strat for everything. In order to get that “middle ground” sound on the Premier Brighton, I opted to use both pickups tapped.
So, I record a few different things with a solid body guitar with single coil pickups.
- Firstly, I record some kind of a melody as some “coloring-in” over the rhythm parts throughout the song – 0:48 to 1:05 in the video
- Secondly, I record barre chords in the choruses of the song I’m recording, to give them a bit of a lift – 1:05 to 1:23 in the video
- Thirdly, I record a guitar solo – not in the video because it’s short and not very good, but here’s an MP3 if you really want
The Brighton already has bite in it, but coiltapping really pushes it up to 11. It’s reminiscent of a Les Paul Junior. Due to the punky nature of Dónde…, is a pretty great fit!
D’Angelico Premier Brighton: conclusion
Pros and cons
| Fun fun fun!: if playing guitar isn’t fun, then why play at all? The slim neck and bright feel makes the Premier Brighton and easy guitar to get along with. | Bright: as can be seen and heard in the video, even when both humbuckers are on, it’s an incredibly bright sounding guitar overall… perhaps too bright |
| Price: even if the tones aren’t everything all over for you, the versatility you get out of this sub-US$1,000 is impressive | Availability: I don’t recall ever seeing D’Angelicos in a store; although you can get them online from any major guitar retailer; and, it’s rare to see a used one |
| Versatility: although it might require some tweaking between the guitar’s settings, and your amp’s settings, this really could do it all; so, between that and the price, the Premier Brighton really is excellent value for money. | Compromise: although it might be obvious the humbucking and single coils sounds will be weaker than an instrument that has one or the other; but, if value and saving space are your priorities, they can be overlooked for this all-rounder |
Final thoughts
Obviously, I only tested driven sounds here. Because I only use driven sounds when I record electric guitar.
Indeed, I can’t remember the last time played a clean electric guitar.
But, the objective of this review was to see if the Premier Brighton is the only electric guitar needed for light audio recording, and to date, these are the sounds that light audio recording has used.
To that end, yes, you can absolutely record all the electric guitar parts for a light audio recording project with this one instrument.
On the whole, if I awarded products special badges or ribbons or some kind of recognition for “Star Light Audio Recording Product,” this would be the guitar to get it.
In particular, I’d highly recommend the Premier Brighton for punk-oriented players.
But, don’t let that make you think it’s going to replace my Gibson, Fender, and Dean. Because I’m old, and I’ve worked hard to have those great guitars.
Of course, there’s a whole world of tones that weren’t explored in this review. But, I think knowing they’re there is part of the excitement.
Check out the D’Angelico Premier Brighton on Reverb.
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