D’Angelico Premier Series Brighton Electric Guitar For Sale (Jan 2023 Update)

*It's really a 4.5/5 but I rounded up. I've spent about a month with the Bedford Premier SH. I got the blue w/ white pick guard version on a deep discount from a certain nationwide bricks and mortar retailer. I've noticed a surprising lack of reviews for this instrument so here's my contribution. Feel. It feels superb. I love Fender-y necks (not too fat) and this fits in my hand beautifully. The satin finish is lovely and quick, and the way it tapers seamlessly into the body is unique and top notch imo. The string spacing is great; action came low and neat. The neck is a 14in radius which I thought I wouldn't prefer. I love 9.5 radius, but I honestly have no complaints in this area. I also thought I'd miss the snap of a 25.5 scale but this one is still pretty snappy. I like to "feel" the acoustic resonance (and since I play unplugged around the house this is a great feature). One thing to consider: the three pickups are quite close together so you can end up striking them with your pick. There is a little less room than with a strat. The guitar feels great all around 4.75/5 in this area for me. Sound. There's a wide range of tones here. Before we get to that we need to talk about these Duncan Designed pups. Descriptions of this guitar say that it has two single coils and a mini-humbucker. After playing around with it, I think we're dealing with stacked hum-buckers in neck and middle positions. There is absolutely no 60-cycle hum on these two pups and they both have a nice high output with very sparkly highs. I find myself occasionally rolling off just a little bit of the treble with the tone control. I noticed that there's a noticeable volume drop between the "single coil" mid pup and the bridge mini-humbucker. The mini-humbucker is also noisier (a little hum and buzz that you wouldn't expect from a humbucker). The mini-hum has a pleasantly vintage type tone that's really bright and useful without being piercing. I adjusted the pickup heights to even out some of the volume differences–that helped but didn't totally solve the discrepancy. I'm okay with this. One major bonus for me is that you can get a lovely position 4 strat quack when the neck and middle pups are engaged. Love that sound. You don't get the position 2 quack from the bridge and middle though–just FYI. It's a good tone with plenty of cut and clarity but it's no Cory Wong potion. Also, I found a compressor to be a major tone tool for this guitar for what it's worth. Sound is probably a 4/5 for me.Caleb

First of all, D'Angelico has created an undeniably true modern classic design with this model. The short scale and very thin neck may be the only issue some folks may have. I have two of these, blue and white, and there is a slight difference in neck thickness. My blue one is slightly thinner and not as comfortable as the white one. For an Indonesian made guitar, these have a high quality feel. I've had American made guitars coating way more that had more flaws so it really comes down to QC. Tonally, it's thicker than a thinline tele which I thought might be a close relative so you get great blues out of it.Dave

I love offset guitars for their comfort, les pauls for their scale length, mahogany tone, and strats for their single coils and trems. This guitar covers everything I want. Also, to get one in SH at this price is awesome. Mine was an open box item so the guitar came needing a new set of strings. It was easily playable, but had some tuning stability issues. No problem. New strings on. I set it up to the best of my knowledge. Intonation was just slightly off, but any good youtube video can get you there. The guitar itself was beautiful. The pictures dont do the flake justice. A couple of minor finish flaws, but I'm rough on my toys anyway. It's super light, but still no neck dive. The tuners are very precise as well. The thin satin neck plays very fast and accessing the upper frets is a dream with the cut out neck joints. The fretwork is decent enough for me. Sounds like a strat, plays like a LP. Love it.Jonathan

At first I thought this guitar would be fun to own, just because it was unusual and different. It's not comfortable to play. It will not fit most guitar stands. The more I look at it the less I like it. What were they thinking ? If I lean it up against anything it just wants to fall over. I have other guitars that sound better and are easier to handle and play. The D'Angelico brand is quality, they had to know this was a big mistake. I should have bought an SD.cheetah121

This guitar is great. I've been waiting for D'Angelico to release a solid body at an affordable price. Sounds great through my Supro tube amp… a very full, and warm sound. Also sounds great through my pedal rack. This guitar really gives me the versatility I need. Highly recommended.Zander

*It's really a 4.5/5 but I rounded up. I've spent about a month with the Bedford Premier SH. I got the blue w/ white pick guard version on a deep discount from a certain nationwide bricks and mortar retailer. I've noticed a surprising lack of reviews for this instrument so here's my contribution. Feel. It feels superb. I love Fender-y necks (not too fat) and this fits in my hand beautifully. The satin finish is lovely and quick, and the way it tapers seamlessly into the body is unique and top notch imo. The string spacing is great; action came low and neat. The neck is a 14in radius which I thought I wouldn't prefer. I love 9.5 radius, but I honestly have no complaints in this area. I also thought I'd miss the snap of a 25.5 scale but this one is still pretty snappy. I like to "feel" the acoustic resonance (and since I play unplugged around the house this is a great feature). One thing to consider: the three pickups are quite close together so you can end up striking them with your pick. There is a little less room than with a strat. The guitar feels great all around 4.75/5 in this area for me. Sound. There's a wide range of tones here. Before we get to that we need to talk about these Duncan Designed pups. Descriptions of this guitar say that it has two single coils and a mini-humbucker. After playing around with it, I think we're dealing with stacked hum-buckers in neck and middle positions. There is absolutely no 60-cycle hum on these two pups and they both have a nice high output with very sparkly highs. I find myself occasionally rolling off just a little bit of the treble with the tone control. I noticed that there's a noticeable volume drop between the "single coil" mid pup and the bridge mini-humbucker. The mini-humbucker is also noisier (a little hum and buzz that you wouldn't expect from a humbucker). The mini-hum has a pleasantly vintage type tone that's really bright and useful without being piercing. I adjusted the pickup heights to even out some of the volume differences–that helped but didn't totally solve the discrepancy. I'm okay with this. One major bonus for me is that you can get a lovely position 4 strat quack when the neck and middle pups are engaged. Love that sound. You don't get the position 2 quack from the bridge and middle though–just FYI. It's a good tone with plenty of cut and clarity but it's no Cory Wong potion. Also, I found a compressor to be a major tone tool for this guitar for what it's worth. Sound is probably a 4/5 for me.Caleb

First of all, D'Angelico has created an undeniably true modern classic design with this model. The short scale and very thin neck may be the only issue some folks may have. I have two of these, blue and white, and there is a slight difference in neck thickness. My blue one is slightly thinner and not as comfortable as the white one. For an Indonesian made guitar, these have a high quality feel. I've had American made guitars coating way more that had more flaws so it really comes down to QC. Tonally, it's thicker than a thinline tele which I thought might be a close relative so you get great blues out of it.Dave

I love offset guitars for their comfort, les pauls for their scale length, mahogany tone, and strats for their single coils and trems. This guitar covers everything I want. Also, to get one in SH at this price is awesome. Mine was an open box item so the guitar came needing a new set of strings. It was easily playable, but had some tuning stability issues. No problem. New strings on. I set it up to the best of my knowledge. Intonation was just slightly off, but any good youtube video can get you there. The guitar itself was beautiful. The pictures dont do the flake justice. A couple of minor finish flaws, but I'm rough on my toys anyway. It's super light, but still no neck dive. The tuners are very precise as well. The thin satin neck plays very fast and accessing the upper frets is a dream with the cut out neck joints. The fretwork is decent enough for me. Sounds like a strat, plays like a LP. Love it.Jonathan

*It's really a 4.5/5 but I rounded up. I've spent about a month with the Bedford Premier SH. I got the blue w/ white pick guard version on a deep discount from a certain nationwide bricks and mortar retailer. I've noticed a surprising lack of reviews for this instrument so here's my contribution. Feel. It feels superb. I love Fender-y necks (not too fat) and this fits in my hand beautifully. The satin finish is lovely and quick, and the way it tapers seamlessly into the body is unique and top notch imo. The string spacing is great; action came low and neat. The neck is a 14in radius which I thought I wouldn't prefer. I love 9.5 radius, but I honestly have no complaints in this area. I also thought I'd miss the snap of a 25.5 scale but this one is still pretty snappy. I like to "feel" the acoustic resonance (and since I play unplugged around the house this is a great feature). One thing to consider: the three pickups are quite close together so you can end up striking them with your pick. There is a little less room than with a strat. The guitar feels great all around 4.75/5 in this area for me. Sound. There's a wide range of tones here. Before we get to that we need to talk about these Duncan Designed pups. Descriptions of this guitar say that it has two single coils and a mini-humbucker. After playing around with it, I think we're dealing with stacked hum-buckers in neck and middle positions. There is absolutely no 60-cycle hum on these two pups and they both have a nice high output with very sparkly highs. I find myself occasionally rolling off just a little bit of the treble with the tone control. I noticed that there's a noticeable volume drop between the "single coil" mid pup and the bridge mini-humbucker. The mini-humbucker is also noisier (a little hum and buzz that you wouldn't expect from a humbucker). The mini-hum has a pleasantly vintage type tone that's really bright and useful without being piercing. I adjusted the pickup heights to even out some of the volume differences–that helped but didn't totally solve the discrepancy. I'm okay with this. One major bonus for me is that you can get a lovely position 4 strat quack when the neck and middle pups are engaged. Love that sound. You don't get the position 2 quack from the bridge and middle though–just FYI. It's a good tone with plenty of cut and clarity but it's no Cory Wong potion. Also, I found a compressor to be a major tone tool for this guitar for what it's worth. Sound is probably a 4/5 for me.Caleb

First of all, D'Angelico has created an undeniably true modern classic design with this model. The short scale and very thin neck may be the only issue some folks may have. I have two of these, blue and white, and there is a slight difference in neck thickness. My blue one is slightly thinner and not as comfortable as the white one. For an Indonesian made guitar, these have a high quality feel. I've had American made guitars coating way more that had more flaws so it really comes down to QC. Tonally, it's thicker than a thinline tele which I thought might be a close relative so you get great blues out of it.Dave

I love offset guitars for their comfort, les pauls for their scale length, mahogany tone, and strats for their single coils and trems. This guitar covers everything I want. Also, to get one in SH at this price is awesome. Mine was an open box item so the guitar came needing a new set of strings. It was easily playable, but had some tuning stability issues. No problem. New strings on. I set it up to the best of my knowledge. Intonation was just slightly off, but any good youtube video can get you there. The guitar itself was beautiful. The pictures dont do the flake justice. A couple of minor finish flaws, but I'm rough on my toys anyway. It's super light, but still no neck dive. The tuners are very precise as well. The thin satin neck plays very fast and accessing the upper frets is a dream with the cut out neck joints. The fretwork is decent enough for me. Sounds like a strat, plays like a LP. Love it.Jonathan

I waited until I had this awhile before submitting a review. I was a little disappointed that the fret ends overlapped the neck binding just a very tiny bit. But it's not noticeable at all when your playing and I've gotten totally over that. This thing is absolutely beautiful, it is so fun to play, and the Seymour Duncans are the best. Never has such fantastic tones came out of my little tube amp before. Those pups seal the deal. This thing has more sustain that any electric guitar I have ever owned. Some people complain about the giant ornamental headstock. But I believe that is partially responsible for adding sustain because it adds a lot of mass to the neck.Dave

My wife got me this for Christmas, at one of the "Deal of the Day" prices. As someone with 10+ guitars, including American Gibsons and Fenders, I can't recommend this enough, particularly at the DotD price. Out of the box, setup and intonation were fine, the action is nice and low, and it plays great. No buzzes anywhere on the fret board. Great tone unplugged, even better with the P-90s when plugged in. Quality wise – it gives up very little to guitars costing a lot more. The tuners work well, the bridge, knobs, and switch gear are all totally fine as well. The Duncan P-90 pickups sound fantastic, and you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of other guitars with American pickups at that price. The nut is plastic, so if you were looking for something to upgrade, that would be where I'd start. The frets could use a quick polishing and the board could use some lemon oil – but that's true of every single new guitar I've ever bought in this price range, so nothing new there. I love the blue burst color, and the guitar is super light in my hands. I really wanted a hollow or semi-hollow with P-90s, and this really scratched that itch at a fantastic price. I wouldn't hesitate to get another D'Angelico after owning this one!Amir

My D'Angelico SS Boardwalk came with 4 wire USA Seymour Duncan "HOT ROD" pickups (SH2 & SH4). It also has a 24 3/4" (Gibson) scale, a thin-taper C-cut neck, a 14" radius with medium jumbo frets, and a durable 2 piece maple neck which is flawlessly finished in thin Poly (not nitro). The factory fret-job is as least as good as my factory PLEKKED Gibson. The playability is great, and visually (as you can see) it's comparable to the ES-335 (I actually like the sound of USA Seymour Duncan SH pickups better than Burstbuckers).Tim

I waited until I had this awhile before submitting a review. I was a little disappointed that the fret ends overlapped the neck binding just a very tiny bit. But it's not noticeable at all when your playing and I've gotten totally over that. This thing is absolutely beautiful, it is so fun to play, and the Seymour Duncans are the best. Never has such fantastic tones came out of my little tube amp before. Those pups seal the deal. This thing has more sustain that any electric guitar I have ever owned. Some people complain about the giant ornamental headstock. But I believe that is partially responsible for adding sustain because it adds a lot of mass to the neck.Dave

My wife got me this for Christmas, at one of the "Deal of the Day" prices. As someone with 10+ guitars, including American Gibsons and Fenders, I can't recommend this enough, particularly at the DotD price. Out of the box, setup and intonation were fine, the action is nice and low, and it plays great. No buzzes anywhere on the fret board. Great tone unplugged, even better with the P-90s when plugged in. Quality wise – it gives up very little to guitars costing a lot more. The tuners work well, the bridge, knobs, and switch gear are all totally fine as well. The Duncan P-90 pickups sound fantastic, and you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of other guitars with American pickups at that price. The nut is plastic, so if you were looking for something to upgrade, that would be where I'd start. The frets could use a quick polishing and the board could use some lemon oil – but that's true of every single new guitar I've ever bought in this price range, so nothing new there. I love the blue burst color, and the guitar is super light in my hands. I really wanted a hollow or semi-hollow with P-90s, and this really scratched that itch at a fantastic price. I wouldn't hesitate to get another D'Angelico after owning this one!Amir

My D'Angelico SS Boardwalk came with 4 wire USA Seymour Duncan "HOT ROD" pickups (SH2 & SH4). It also has a 24 3/4" (Gibson) scale, a thin-taper C-cut neck, a 14" radius with medium jumbo frets, and a durable 2 piece maple neck which is flawlessly finished in thin Poly (not nitro). The factory fret-job is as least as good as my factory PLEKKED Gibson. The playability is great, and visually (as you can see) it's comparable to the ES-335 (I actually like the sound of USA Seymour Duncan SH pickups better than Burstbuckers).Tim

This was my second run at a D'Angelico. My first try was an all mahogany acoustic offered through M/F as an exclusive. The neck on that one required the full run of the truss rod, and even then didn't come close to straight. I thought about sending that one to the luthier, but traded it at GC. So, this was my second try (I really want to like this brand). It is a pretty guitar (all white), but it just doesn't like to be looked at up close, like a car that looks great from fifty feet away, and then you find out it's all bondo… Again, neck straightness problems. But even more troubling, was a flaw in the neck on the treble side between the 6th and 7th fret. Looked like an impact to the neck, binding, and fret board during the manufacturing or packaging process, maybe after paint. The finish was cracked, and had a noticeable ridge when playing. A strong light source parallel to the neck revealed the damage that was clearly felt. There were paint runs on the neck, as well. The pickups were mounted in reversed position, neck mounted at bridge, bridge mounted at neck so it was impossible to level the neck pick up, and tone was weak and muddy, so the wiring was suspect as well. There were small wounds in the fret board that were visible. The binding didn't line up well at joints. Guitar was well packaged (so was the acoustic) and came in a hard case, so can't blame UPS. I didn't make it to checking out the setup and fret condition, as every defect showed itself in the first ten seconds. I hope other people have been luckier with this brand than I have, but sometimes it just works out like this. All in all, I regret going through the hassle of ordering this guitar, it was a stupid deal of the day/clearance special at more than 50% off list, even at that price, and then returning it. I'm afraid it will show up as an open box…. ps. gave it a star for the packaging and case, and gave it another star 'cause it sure would look pretty hanging on a wall somewherebarn

I waited until I had this awhile before submitting a review. I was a little disappointed that the fret ends overlapped the neck binding just a very tiny bit. But it's not noticeable at all when your playing and I've gotten totally over that. This thing is absolutely beautiful, it is so fun to play, and the Seymour Duncans are the best. Never has such fantastic tones came out of my little tube amp before. Those pups seal the deal. This thing has more sustain that any electric guitar I have ever owned. Some people complain about the giant ornamental headstock. But I believe that is partially responsible for adding sustain because it adds a lot of mass to the neck.Dave

My wife got me this for Christmas, at one of the "Deal of the Day" prices. As someone with 10+ guitars, including American Gibsons and Fenders, I can't recommend this enough, particularly at the DotD price. Out of the box, setup and intonation were fine, the action is nice and low, and it plays great. No buzzes anywhere on the fret board. Great tone unplugged, even better with the P-90s when plugged in. Quality wise – it gives up very little to guitars costing a lot more. The tuners work well, the bridge, knobs, and switch gear are all totally fine as well. The Duncan P-90 pickups sound fantastic, and you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of other guitars with American pickups at that price. The nut is plastic, so if you were looking for something to upgrade, that would be where I'd start. The frets could use a quick polishing and the board could use some lemon oil – but that's true of every single new guitar I've ever bought in this price range, so nothing new there. I love the blue burst color, and the guitar is super light in my hands. I really wanted a hollow or semi-hollow with P-90s, and this really scratched that itch at a fantastic price. I wouldn't hesitate to get another D'Angelico after owning this one!Amir

My D'Angelico SS Boardwalk came with 4 wire USA Seymour Duncan "HOT ROD" pickups (SH2 & SH4). It also has a 24 3/4" (Gibson) scale, a thin-taper C-cut neck, a 14" radius with medium jumbo frets, and a durable 2 piece maple neck which is flawlessly finished in thin Poly (not nitro). The factory fret-job is as least as good as my factory PLEKKED Gibson. The playability is great, and visually (as you can see) it's comparable to the ES-335 (I actually like the sound of USA Seymour Duncan SH pickups better than Burstbuckers).Tim

I waited until I had this awhile before submitting a review. I was a little disappointed that the fret ends overlapped the neck binding just a very tiny bit. But it's not noticeable at all when your playing and I've gotten totally over that. This thing is absolutely beautiful, it is so fun to play, and the Seymour Duncans are the best. Never has such fantastic tones came out of my little tube amp before. Those pups seal the deal. This thing has more sustain that any electric guitar I have ever owned. Some people complain about the giant ornamental headstock. But I believe that is partially responsible for adding sustain because it adds a lot of mass to the neck.Dave

My wife got me this for Christmas, at one of the "Deal of the Day" prices. As someone with 10+ guitars, including American Gibsons and Fenders, I can't recommend this enough, particularly at the DotD price. Out of the box, setup and intonation were fine, the action is nice and low, and it plays great. No buzzes anywhere on the fret board. Great tone unplugged, even better with the P-90s when plugged in. Quality wise – it gives up very little to guitars costing a lot more. The tuners work well, the bridge, knobs, and switch gear are all totally fine as well. The Duncan P-90 pickups sound fantastic, and you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of other guitars with American pickups at that price. The nut is plastic, so if you were looking for something to upgrade, that would be where I'd start. The frets could use a quick polishing and the board could use some lemon oil – but that's true of every single new guitar I've ever bought in this price range, so nothing new there. I love the blue burst color, and the guitar is super light in my hands. I really wanted a hollow or semi-hollow with P-90s, and this really scratched that itch at a fantastic price. I wouldn't hesitate to get another D'Angelico after owning this one!Amir

My D'Angelico SS Boardwalk came with 4 wire USA Seymour Duncan "HOT ROD" pickups (SH2 & SH4). It also has a 24 3/4" (Gibson) scale, a thin-taper C-cut neck, a 14" radius with medium jumbo frets, and a durable 2 piece maple neck which is flawlessly finished in thin Poly (not nitro). The factory fret-job is as least as good as my factory PLEKKED Gibson. The playability is great, and visually (as you can see) it's comparable to the ES-335 (I actually like the sound of USA Seymour Duncan SH pickups better than Burstbuckers).Tim

I waited until I had this awhile before submitting a review. I was a little disappointed that the fret ends overlapped the neck binding just a very tiny bit. But it's not noticeable at all when your playing and I've gotten totally over that. This thing is absolutely beautiful, it is so fun to play, and the Seymour Duncans are the best. Never has such fantastic tones came out of my little tube amp before. Those pups seal the deal. This thing has more sustain that any electric guitar I have ever owned. Some people complain about the giant ornamental headstock. But I believe that is partially responsible for adding sustain because it adds a lot of mass to the neck.Dave

My wife got me this for Christmas, at one of the "Deal of the Day" prices. As someone with 10+ guitars, including American Gibsons and Fenders, I can't recommend this enough, particularly at the DotD price. Out of the box, setup and intonation were fine, the action is nice and low, and it plays great. No buzzes anywhere on the fret board. Great tone unplugged, even better with the P-90s when plugged in. Quality wise – it gives up very little to guitars costing a lot more. The tuners work well, the bridge, knobs, and switch gear are all totally fine as well. The Duncan P-90 pickups sound fantastic, and you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of other guitars with American pickups at that price. The nut is plastic, so if you were looking for something to upgrade, that would be where I'd start. The frets could use a quick polishing and the board could use some lemon oil – but that's true of every single new guitar I've ever bought in this price range, so nothing new there. I love the blue burst color, and the guitar is super light in my hands. I really wanted a hollow or semi-hollow with P-90s, and this really scratched that itch at a fantastic price. I wouldn't hesitate to get another D'Angelico after owning this one!Amir

My D'Angelico SS Boardwalk came with 4 wire USA Seymour Duncan "HOT ROD" pickups (SH2 & SH4). It also has a 24 3/4" (Gibson) scale, a thin-taper C-cut neck, a 14" radius with medium jumbo frets, and a durable 2 piece maple neck which is flawlessly finished in thin Poly (not nitro). The factory fret-job is as least as good as my factory PLEKKED Gibson. The playability is great, and visually (as you can see) it's comparable to the ES-335 (I actually like the sound of USA Seymour Duncan SH pickups better than Burstbuckers).Tim

The guitar performs and works as advertised. It's not a bad guitar by any means but it's a guitar that lives way past it's price range either. If you want a really nice D'ANGELICO acoustic then get something from the Excel line. But this is bottom of the premier line. This does the job for a early guitar, the neck is easy to play with low action to match. Put some warm strings on it. I recommend an 85/15 string and let it warm up and break in. It's a basic acoustic electric. It does what it says it will do. Nothing more or nothing less. I got it on an overstock sale but I'd buy it again at full price but maybe not the buttercream. The black or natural wood finish look the best. The buttercream is like they wanted the color of spruce with no grain. It's different for sure. If you're wanting something really nice save your money. If you want a decent backup not starter guitar this should fit the bill. My four star rating is with the full asking price in mind. If you get it on sale it's five star for the price.Nick

i wrote a review early on with my first impressions. 3 months on it it still sounds great – it's been my sofa guitar and I've played it a great deal. The tone has mellowed a bit with use. Neck is still exactly where I set it and the whole guitar feels nicely solid. The big surprise is that this thing sounds FANTASTIC through a PA. It's balanced, it's dynamic, it has none of the harsh quackiness you usually get with low end piezo systems. You can hit it HARD without overdriving the pre. It can get nice and loud without feeding back and the onboard tuner is super handy. The first time I played it in public I was basically mobbed by other guitarists wanting to know where I got it. And this isn't even their high end pickup system. Remarkable.Stu

Ordered this on a SDOTD and will say right up front that it's a really NICE guitar, especially for the $$$. I was needing a smaller guitar w/ electronics for small venues, not needing to invest a bunch of money and after reading decent reviews I said "why not?". After opening the box things got off to a rocky start – – 1st string was broken, and also noticed the neck was really bowed from a loose truss rod, but since I do my own setups on new guitars these was fairly easy to remedy. So was the excessively dry fingerboard and bridge, which I rubbed with 0000 steel wool and lemon oil. But, two of the faux mother-of-pearl position markers were sticking up on one end (loose) and that got me to thinking maybe this was a bad idea. I almost boxed it up and sent it back, but since it was so nice otherwise I decided to super glue them back and overlook it. Otherwise, a beauty of a guitar, and after it was all set up this thing really sang. Unplugged, it's fairly unimpressive, but with a decent tone and plenty of harmonics. The fingerboard turned out to play wonderfully, low nice action with smooth frets and I love the thin profile and fairly narrow width of the neck, the shining point of this guitar. Tuners were OK, and the BONE saddle and nut were fine after I lowered the action a bit. The sound of this guitar is amazing plugged in, and the D'Angelico branded electronics are outstanding. Plugged in it sounds equal to anything I've ever heard, and I heard and played a few in my 60 years of performing. Mine does not have a phase switch as is listed, so take note of that one point. The really great thing that I love about the electronics – – the input jack & battery are on the rear bottom side instead of through the normal end pin jack, a major convenience that is not listed, so this makes up for any other minor cons of the guitar. I do a lot of finger-picking and it capos well, too. A keeper!Fiddle & Guitar Man

I waited until I had this awhile before submitting a review. I was a little disappointed that the fret ends overlapped the neck binding just a very tiny bit. But it's not noticeable at all when your playing and I've gotten totally over that. This thing is absolutely beautiful, it is so fun to play, and the Seymour Duncans are the best. Never has such fantastic tones came out of my little tube amp before. Those pups seal the deal. This thing has more sustain that any electric guitar I have ever owned. Some people complain about the giant ornamental headstock. But I believe that is partially responsible for adding sustain because it adds a lot of mass to the neck.Dave

My wife got me this for Christmas, at one of the "Deal of the Day" prices. As someone with 10+ guitars, including American Gibsons and Fenders, I can't recommend this enough, particularly at the DotD price. Out of the box, setup and intonation were fine, the action is nice and low, and it plays great. No buzzes anywhere on the fret board. Great tone unplugged, even better with the P-90s when plugged in. Quality wise – it gives up very little to guitars costing a lot more. The tuners work well, the bridge, knobs, and switch gear are all totally fine as well. The Duncan P-90 pickups sound fantastic, and you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of other guitars with American pickups at that price. The nut is plastic, so if you were looking for something to upgrade, that would be where I'd start. The frets could use a quick polishing and the board could use some lemon oil – but that's true of every single new guitar I've ever bought in this price range, so nothing new there. I love the blue burst color, and the guitar is super light in my hands. I really wanted a hollow or semi-hollow with P-90s, and this really scratched that itch at a fantastic price. I wouldn't hesitate to get another D'Angelico after owning this one!Amir

My D'Angelico SS Boardwalk came with 4 wire USA Seymour Duncan "HOT ROD" pickups (SH2 & SH4). It also has a 24 3/4" (Gibson) scale, a thin-taper C-cut neck, a 14" radius with medium jumbo frets, and a durable 2 piece maple neck which is flawlessly finished in thin Poly (not nitro). The factory fret-job is as least as good as my factory PLEKKED Gibson. The playability is great, and visually (as you can see) it's comparable to the ES-335 (I actually like the sound of USA Seymour Duncan SH pickups better than Burstbuckers).Tim

A fabulous guitar the finish was amazing looks stunning. Plays beautifully nothing to fault and the branded gig bag was a welcome bonus. A real bargain.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I waited until I had this awhile before submitting a review. I was a little disappointed that the fret ends overlapped the neck binding just a very tiny bit. But it's not noticeable at all when your playing and I've gotten totally over that. This thing is absolutely beautiful, it is so fun to play, and the Seymour Duncans are the best. Never has such fantastic tones came out of my little tube amp before. Those pups seal the deal. This thing has more sustain that any electric guitar I have ever owned. Some people complain about the giant ornamental headstock. But I believe that is partially responsible for adding sustain because it adds a lot of mass to the neck.Dave

My wife got me this for Christmas, at one of the "Deal of the Day" prices. As someone with 10+ guitars, including American Gibsons and Fenders, I can't recommend this enough, particularly at the DotD price. Out of the box, setup and intonation were fine, the action is nice and low, and it plays great. No buzzes anywhere on the fret board. Great tone unplugged, even better with the P-90s when plugged in. Quality wise – it gives up very little to guitars costing a lot more. The tuners work well, the bridge, knobs, and switch gear are all totally fine as well. The Duncan P-90 pickups sound fantastic, and you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of other guitars with American pickups at that price. The nut is plastic, so if you were looking for something to upgrade, that would be where I'd start. The frets could use a quick polishing and the board could use some lemon oil – but that's true of every single new guitar I've ever bought in this price range, so nothing new there. I love the blue burst color, and the guitar is super light in my hands. I really wanted a hollow or semi-hollow with P-90s, and this really scratched that itch at a fantastic price. I wouldn't hesitate to get another D'Angelico after owning this one!Amir

My D'Angelico SS Boardwalk came with 4 wire USA Seymour Duncan "HOT ROD" pickups (SH2 & SH4). It also has a 24 3/4" (Gibson) scale, a thin-taper C-cut neck, a 14" radius with medium jumbo frets, and a durable 2 piece maple neck which is flawlessly finished in thin Poly (not nitro). The factory fret-job is as least as good as my factory PLEKKED Gibson. The playability is great, and visually (as you can see) it's comparable to the ES-335 (I actually like the sound of USA Seymour Duncan SH pickups better than Burstbuckers).Tim

The guitar performs and works as advertised. It's not a bad guitar by any means but it's a guitar that lives way past it's price range either. If you want a really nice D'ANGELICO acoustic then get something from the Excel line. But this is bottom of the premier line. This does the job for a early guitar, the neck is easy to play with low action to match. Put some warm strings on it. I recommend an 85/15 string and let it warm up and break in. It's a basic acoustic electric. It does what it says it will do. Nothing more or nothing less. I got it on an overstock sale but I'd buy it again at full price but maybe not the buttercream. The black or natural wood finish look the best. The buttercream is like they wanted the color of spruce with no grain. It's different for sure. If you're wanting something really nice save your money. If you want a decent backup not starter guitar this should fit the bill. My four star rating is with the full asking price in mind. If you get it on sale it's five star for the price.Nick

i wrote a review early on with my first impressions. 3 months on it it still sounds great – it's been my sofa guitar and I've played it a great deal. The tone has mellowed a bit with use. Neck is still exactly where I set it and the whole guitar feels nicely solid. The big surprise is that this thing sounds FANTASTIC through a PA. It's balanced, it's dynamic, it has none of the harsh quackiness you usually get with low end piezo systems. You can hit it HARD without overdriving the pre. It can get nice and loud without feeding back and the onboard tuner is super handy. The first time I played it in public I was basically mobbed by other guitarists wanting to know where I got it. And this isn't even their high end pickup system. Remarkable.Stu

Ordered this on a SDOTD and will say right up front that it's a really NICE guitar, especially for the $$$. I was needing a smaller guitar w/ electronics for small venues, not needing to invest a bunch of money and after reading decent reviews I said "why not?". After opening the box things got off to a rocky start – – 1st string was broken, and also noticed the neck was really bowed from a loose truss rod, but since I do my own setups on new guitars these was fairly easy to remedy. So was the excessively dry fingerboard and bridge, which I rubbed with 0000 steel wool and lemon oil. But, two of the faux mother-of-pearl position markers were sticking up on one end (loose) and that got me to thinking maybe this was a bad idea. I almost boxed it up and sent it back, but since it was so nice otherwise I decided to super glue them back and overlook it. Otherwise, a beauty of a guitar, and after it was all set up this thing really sang. Unplugged, it's fairly unimpressive, but with a decent tone and plenty of harmonics. The fingerboard turned out to play wonderfully, low nice action with smooth frets and I love the thin profile and fairly narrow width of the neck, the shining point of this guitar. Tuners were OK, and the BONE saddle and nut were fine after I lowered the action a bit. The sound of this guitar is amazing plugged in, and the D'Angelico branded electronics are outstanding. Plugged in it sounds equal to anything I've ever heard, and I heard and played a few in my 60 years of performing. Mine does not have a phase switch as is listed, so take note of that one point. The really great thing that I love about the electronics – – the input jack & battery are on the rear bottom side instead of through the normal end pin jack, a major convenience that is not listed, so this makes up for any other minor cons of the guitar. I do a lot of finger-picking and it capos well, too. A keeper!Fiddle & Guitar Man

I waited until I had this awhile before submitting a review. I was a little disappointed that the fret ends overlapped the neck binding just a very tiny bit. But it's not noticeable at all when your playing and I've gotten totally over that. This thing is absolutely beautiful, it is so fun to play, and the Seymour Duncans are the best. Never has such fantastic tones came out of my little tube amp before. Those pups seal the deal. This thing has more sustain that any electric guitar I have ever owned. Some people complain about the giant ornamental headstock. But I believe that is partially responsible for adding sustain because it adds a lot of mass to the neck.Dave

My wife got me this for Christmas, at one of the "Deal of the Day" prices. As someone with 10+ guitars, including American Gibsons and Fenders, I can't recommend this enough, particularly at the DotD price. Out of the box, setup and intonation were fine, the action is nice and low, and it plays great. No buzzes anywhere on the fret board. Great tone unplugged, even better with the P-90s when plugged in. Quality wise – it gives up very little to guitars costing a lot more. The tuners work well, the bridge, knobs, and switch gear are all totally fine as well. The Duncan P-90 pickups sound fantastic, and you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of other guitars with American pickups at that price. The nut is plastic, so if you were looking for something to upgrade, that would be where I'd start. The frets could use a quick polishing and the board could use some lemon oil – but that's true of every single new guitar I've ever bought in this price range, so nothing new there. I love the blue burst color, and the guitar is super light in my hands. I really wanted a hollow or semi-hollow with P-90s, and this really scratched that itch at a fantastic price. I wouldn't hesitate to get another D'Angelico after owning this one!Amir

My D'Angelico SS Boardwalk came with 4 wire USA Seymour Duncan "HOT ROD" pickups (SH2 & SH4). It also has a 24 3/4" (Gibson) scale, a thin-taper C-cut neck, a 14" radius with medium jumbo frets, and a durable 2 piece maple neck which is flawlessly finished in thin Poly (not nitro). The factory fret-job is as least as good as my factory PLEKKED Gibson. The playability is great, and visually (as you can see) it's comparable to the ES-335 (I actually like the sound of USA Seymour Duncan SH pickups better than Burstbuckers).Tim

I waited until I had this awhile before submitting a review. I was a little disappointed that the fret ends overlapped the neck binding just a very tiny bit. But it's not noticeable at all when your playing and I've gotten totally over that. This thing is absolutely beautiful, it is so fun to play, and the Seymour Duncans are the best. Never has such fantastic tones came out of my little tube amp before. Those pups seal the deal. This thing has more sustain that any electric guitar I have ever owned. Some people complain about the giant ornamental headstock. But I believe that is partially responsible for adding sustain because it adds a lot of mass to the neck.Dave

My wife got me this for Christmas, at one of the "Deal of the Day" prices. As someone with 10+ guitars, including American Gibsons and Fenders, I can't recommend this enough, particularly at the DotD price. Out of the box, setup and intonation were fine, the action is nice and low, and it plays great. No buzzes anywhere on the fret board. Great tone unplugged, even better with the P-90s when plugged in. Quality wise – it gives up very little to guitars costing a lot more. The tuners work well, the bridge, knobs, and switch gear are all totally fine as well. The Duncan P-90 pickups sound fantastic, and you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of other guitars with American pickups at that price. The nut is plastic, so if you were looking for something to upgrade, that would be where I'd start. The frets could use a quick polishing and the board could use some lemon oil – but that's true of every single new guitar I've ever bought in this price range, so nothing new there. I love the blue burst color, and the guitar is super light in my hands. I really wanted a hollow or semi-hollow with P-90s, and this really scratched that itch at a fantastic price. I wouldn't hesitate to get another D'Angelico after owning this one!Amir

My D'Angelico SS Boardwalk came with 4 wire USA Seymour Duncan "HOT ROD" pickups (SH2 & SH4). It also has a 24 3/4" (Gibson) scale, a thin-taper C-cut neck, a 14" radius with medium jumbo frets, and a durable 2 piece maple neck which is flawlessly finished in thin Poly (not nitro). The factory fret-job is as least as good as my factory PLEKKED Gibson. The playability is great, and visually (as you can see) it's comparable to the ES-335 (I actually like the sound of USA Seymour Duncan SH pickups better than Burstbuckers).Tim

I waited until I had this awhile before submitting a review. I was a little disappointed that the fret ends overlapped the neck binding just a very tiny bit. But it's not noticeable at all when your playing and I've gotten totally over that. This thing is absolutely beautiful, it is so fun to play, and the Seymour Duncans are the best. Never has such fantastic tones came out of my little tube amp before. Those pups seal the deal. This thing has more sustain that any electric guitar I have ever owned. Some people complain about the giant ornamental headstock. But I believe that is partially responsible for adding sustain because it adds a lot of mass to the neck.Dave

My wife got me this for Christmas, at one of the "Deal of the Day" prices. As someone with 10+ guitars, including American Gibsons and Fenders, I can't recommend this enough, particularly at the DotD price. Out of the box, setup and intonation were fine, the action is nice and low, and it plays great. No buzzes anywhere on the fret board. Great tone unplugged, even better with the P-90s when plugged in. Quality wise – it gives up very little to guitars costing a lot more. The tuners work well, the bridge, knobs, and switch gear are all totally fine as well. The Duncan P-90 pickups sound fantastic, and you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of other guitars with American pickups at that price. The nut is plastic, so if you were looking for something to upgrade, that would be where I'd start. The frets could use a quick polishing and the board could use some lemon oil – but that's true of every single new guitar I've ever bought in this price range, so nothing new there. I love the blue burst color, and the guitar is super light in my hands. I really wanted a hollow or semi-hollow with P-90s, and this really scratched that itch at a fantastic price. I wouldn't hesitate to get another D'Angelico after owning this one!Amir

My D'Angelico SS Boardwalk came with 4 wire USA Seymour Duncan "HOT ROD" pickups (SH2 & SH4). It also has a 24 3/4" (Gibson) scale, a thin-taper C-cut neck, a 14" radius with medium jumbo frets, and a durable 2 piece maple neck which is flawlessly finished in thin Poly (not nitro). The factory fret-job is as least as good as my factory PLEKKED Gibson. The playability is great, and visually (as you can see) it's comparable to the ES-335 (I actually like the sound of USA Seymour Duncan SH pickups better than Burstbuckers).Tim

The guitar performs and works as advertised. It's not a bad guitar by any means but it's a guitar that lives way past it's price range either. If you want a really nice D'ANGELICO acoustic then get something from the Excel line. But this is bottom of the premier line. This does the job for a early guitar, the neck is easy to play with low action to match. Put some warm strings on it. I recommend an 85/15 string and let it warm up and break in. It's a basic acoustic electric. It does what it says it will do. Nothing more or nothing less. I got it on an overstock sale but I'd buy it again at full price but maybe not the buttercream. The black or natural wood finish look the best. The buttercream is like they wanted the color of spruce with no grain. It's different for sure. If you're wanting something really nice save your money. If you want a decent backup not starter guitar this should fit the bill. My four star rating is with the full asking price in mind. If you get it on sale it's five star for the price.Nick

i wrote a review early on with my first impressions. 3 months on it it still sounds great – it's been my sofa guitar and I've played it a great deal. The tone has mellowed a bit with use. Neck is still exactly where I set it and the whole guitar feels nicely solid. The big surprise is that this thing sounds FANTASTIC through a PA. It's balanced, it's dynamic, it has none of the harsh quackiness you usually get with low end piezo systems. You can hit it HARD without overdriving the pre. It can get nice and loud without feeding back and the onboard tuner is super handy. The first time I played it in public I was basically mobbed by other guitarists wanting to know where I got it. And this isn't even their high end pickup system. Remarkable.Stu

Ordered this on a SDOTD and will say right up front that it's a really NICE guitar, especially for the $$$. I was needing a smaller guitar w/ electronics for small venues, not needing to invest a bunch of money and after reading decent reviews I said "why not?". After opening the box things got off to a rocky start – – 1st string was broken, and also noticed the neck was really bowed from a loose truss rod, but since I do my own setups on new guitars these was fairly easy to remedy. So was the excessively dry fingerboard and bridge, which I rubbed with 0000 steel wool and lemon oil. But, two of the faux mother-of-pearl position markers were sticking up on one end (loose) and that got me to thinking maybe this was a bad idea. I almost boxed it up and sent it back, but since it was so nice otherwise I decided to super glue them back and overlook it. Otherwise, a beauty of a guitar, and after it was all set up this thing really sang. Unplugged, it's fairly unimpressive, but with a decent tone and plenty of harmonics. The fingerboard turned out to play wonderfully, low nice action with smooth frets and I love the thin profile and fairly narrow width of the neck, the shining point of this guitar. Tuners were OK, and the BONE saddle and nut were fine after I lowered the action a bit. The sound of this guitar is amazing plugged in, and the D'Angelico branded electronics are outstanding. Plugged in it sounds equal to anything I've ever heard, and I heard and played a few in my 60 years of performing. Mine does not have a phase switch as is listed, so take note of that one point. The really great thing that I love about the electronics – – the input jack & battery are on the rear bottom side instead of through the normal end pin jack, a major convenience that is not listed, so this makes up for any other minor cons of the guitar. I do a lot of finger-picking and it capos well, too. A keeper!Fiddle & Guitar Man

I waited until I had this awhile before submitting a review. I was a little disappointed that the fret ends overlapped the neck binding just a very tiny bit. But it's not noticeable at all when your playing and I've gotten totally over that. This thing is absolutely beautiful, it is so fun to play, and the Seymour Duncans are the best. Never has such fantastic tones came out of my little tube amp before. Those pups seal the deal. This thing has more sustain that any electric guitar I have ever owned. Some people complain about the giant ornamental headstock. But I believe that is partially responsible for adding sustain because it adds a lot of mass to the neck.Dave

My wife got me this for Christmas, at one of the "Deal of the Day" prices. As someone with 10+ guitars, including American Gibsons and Fenders, I can't recommend this enough, particularly at the DotD price. Out of the box, setup and intonation were fine, the action is nice and low, and it plays great. No buzzes anywhere on the fret board. Great tone unplugged, even better with the P-90s when plugged in. Quality wise – it gives up very little to guitars costing a lot more. The tuners work well, the bridge, knobs, and switch gear are all totally fine as well. The Duncan P-90 pickups sound fantastic, and you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of other guitars with American pickups at that price. The nut is plastic, so if you were looking for something to upgrade, that would be where I'd start. The frets could use a quick polishing and the board could use some lemon oil – but that's true of every single new guitar I've ever bought in this price range, so nothing new there. I love the blue burst color, and the guitar is super light in my hands. I really wanted a hollow or semi-hollow with P-90s, and this really scratched that itch at a fantastic price. I wouldn't hesitate to get another D'Angelico after owning this one!Amir

My D'Angelico SS Boardwalk came with 4 wire USA Seymour Duncan "HOT ROD" pickups (SH2 & SH4). It also has a 24 3/4" (Gibson) scale, a thin-taper C-cut neck, a 14" radius with medium jumbo frets, and a durable 2 piece maple neck which is flawlessly finished in thin Poly (not nitro). The factory fret-job is as least as good as my factory PLEKKED Gibson. The playability is great, and visually (as you can see) it's comparable to the ES-335 (I actually like the sound of USA Seymour Duncan SH pickups better than Burstbuckers).Tim