ROAD
TEST
Prestige Guitars DC Coupe Deuce
By Dan Gillies
We love to romanticize the early 1960s – hot
cars, drag racing, teen culture, beach music, and
eventually, the British Invasion.
For guitarists, brands like Rickenbacker,
Fender, and Gretsch were names to be reckoned
with. In 1961, Gretsch introduced a double
cutaway revision of its famous Duo Jet with two
smooth horns on either side and Filter’Tron
pickups. It’s worth noting that Gretsch was notorious
for marketing their guitars with cars at
this time, and even named finishes after sports
cars. Fast forward to 1963, when the Beach Boys
were making a splash with songs like “Little
20 CANADIAN MUSICIAN
Deuce Coupe,” and we’re finally ready to pursue
the definitive ‘60s guitar.
Taking our DeLorean to the present day, we
find another guitar maker on the West Coast,
this time in Canada, putting their own spin on
a classic design. Enter Prestige Guitars and its
hot rod: the DC Coupe Deuce.
For those unfamiliar with Canada’s Prestige
Guitars, they are known for producing beautiful
axes with quality tonewoods based on classic
models. They have a three-phase build process
between Canada and South Korea that allows
them to offer custom shop craftsmanship with
high-end components at a price unthinkable
among the big brands. Prestige constructs their
guitars in South Korea at a top-notch facility and
returns them home to luthiers in Vancouver where
fretwork, electronics, and final set-ups are done.
Okay. Let’s ride...
In Use
When holding the DC Coupe Deuce, you’ll
spend a full minute gushing over her cosmetics
before taking her for a spin. You’re bound to fall
for the sparkling metallic red finish with shiny
chrome appointments and the subtle MOP
“dot” inlay scheme on the ebony fingerboard.
Less is almost always more, and in the case of
the Deuce, the no-nonsense simplicity speaks
volumes. This is an axe for players.
The DC Coupe Deuce has a chambered mahogany
body and a 3/4-solid maple cap carved
with a CNC machine, resulting in a production
weight between 7.8 and 8 lbs. The neck is made
from solid mahogany and is split into three pieces
lengthwise with the centre piece reversegrained,
which allows for greater strength and
stability. Featuring a C-shape profile, this setneck
design is “long-tenon,” which means the
neck extends well into the body. With a classic
24.75-in. scale length, 22 modern jumbo frets,
and a 14-in. radius, we’re looking at low action
and smooth driving.
When you run your fingers along the strings,
you can bet the Deuce will have remarkable tuning
stability. Starting at the open-geared Grover
Sta-Tite Tuners (18:1), the strings move through
a TUSQ XL nut, saddle up over a TonePros roller
bridge, and come to a screeching halt in the
smooth Bigsby B5 Tailpiece. While not designed
for dive-bombs, this set-up lends itself to major
rockabilly riffs, SRV-inspired tremolo lines, and
the odd Floyd Rose lick – all while staying in
tune. (I wish it was declared as dogma that all
Bigsbys must come with roller saddles!)
Under the hood, the vintage vibe stays
true to form. Prestige decided to equip the
DC Coupe Deuce with complementary TV
Jones pickups (Classic and Classic Plus) while
direct-mounting the bridge pickup to the top
of the guitar, which is a nice touch. When running
these pickups into classic Fender amps –
namely a ’65 Twin Reverb and a Princeton – I
heard tones reminiscent of engines from the
‘60s. From George Harrison to Malcom Young,
this axe gives us some of the most classic guitar
tones we attempt to emulate.
Driving the pickups clean brought me back
to small Liverpool clubs and Chuck Berry covers,
with hints of some great riffs from the late ‘50s.
Surf rock and blues licks come to life with all that
shimmer and chime, yet with lots of sustain –
everything you crave from old Filter’Tron pickups.
When put through a modern rig, chords
rang out with clarity through layers of effects,
displaying crisp overtones and defined note
separation. Engaging overdrive, I shook the
house all night long with plenty of “clean dirt”
and a desired brightness to each five-chord.
There may not be a cleaner approach to fullbodied
distortion than TV Jones pickups. Prestige
cools down this engine with the luxury of a single
tone knob that you can roll off smoothly
and a single volume for each pickup, all with
knurled controls.
Summary
The ‘60s remain glory days of car production and
rock music evolution. The obsession with guitars
and cars from that decade is real. The challenge
is finding the sound, cosmetics, and vibe, yet with
modern appointments and functionality for today’s
players. Indeed, it is hard to find a good reissue
of an already renowned axe. Every now and
then, a company does it right, and Prestige Guitars
deserves the pink slip for producing such a fine,
affordable, vintage-inspired, but completely modern
guitar. While the big companies look on, Prestige
players can hold up their DC Coupe Deuce as
a real contender for the next race. Can you dig it?
Dan Gillies is a freelance musician, producer, music
director, clinician, and guitar instructor who makes
his home in Fort McMurray, AB. Check out his debut
record on iTunes and connect with Dan on social
media and at www.dangilliesmusic.com.