 | Single Cuts by Douglas Baldwin |  | |
Prime Cuts
Paul Reed Smith Singlecut, Guild Bluesbird and GMP Pawnshop Special.
by Douglas Baldwin
If electric guitars were clothes, the single-cutaway electric would be a sports jacket. Versatile, yet smartly conservative, the single-cutaway electric, with its thick, sustaining set-neck tone, has proven to be a successful alternative to the skroinky-toned (and far more casual-looking), bolt-necked Fender-based instruments. This month, we’ll look at three subtle variations on the single-cutaway design, courtesy of Paul Reed Smith, Guild and GMP Guitars.
Paul Reed Smith Singlecut
The PRS Singlecut ($3,000, $3,550 as reviewed, with 10-grade figured top) is the most traditional of our reviewed instruments. Aside from a solid wraparound tailpiece, 25-inch scale length and slightly shallower neck-body angle, the Singlecut adheres to the style’s classic design elements. The quilted-maple top is sculpted with the fluid curves that are a PRS trademark, and the deep scarlet red finish has the elegant richness of a crushed velvet smoking jacket. Adornments are otherwise minimal: the rosewood fretboard and smallish headstock are unbound, and the deeply stained neck and back of the body appear to be nearly black.
Connoisseurs of single-cutaway guitars will feel right at home on this ax. The neck contour is full and rounded, and the “vintage police” will approve the 10-inch fretboard radius and medium frets. At 9 3/4 pounds, the body is appropriately hefty, yet comfortable, and a chamfered section along the back allows it to snuggle up nicely against your belly. The action, at just over 4/64ths of an inch across the board, feels about perfect, but if your taste tells you otherwise, there’s plenty of room for adjustment.
Plugged in, the Singlecut sounded like an old friend. The neck pickup was punchy and thick, yet well defined; the bridge pickup was powerful, yet well mannered, and the combination setting brought forth the unique mixture of wooden graininess and bell-like clang that Alnico magnet pickups provide. The Singlecut handled every amp and effect setting imaginable and always delivered a clear, well-balanced sound. The location of the volume and tone controls—bridge volume and tone toward the neck, neck volume and tone toward the tail—seemed counterintuitive, but one could easily become used to it.
Guild AAA Bluesbird
Guild’s Bluesbird ($2,099, $2,399 as reviewed, with AAA top) demonstrates its unique take on the single-cutaway design with a slightly oversized body (14 inches across the lower bout) and a more radical cutaway silhouette. Less visible, but of greater sonic consequence, is the chambered mahogany body, which adds a lacy delicacy to the overall sound. Weighing in at 7 1/4 pounds, the Bluesbird is light on your shoulder and has a center of gravity located somewhat closer to the upper bout.
The Bluesbird’s cosmetic and setup details are so fine as to be almost beyond comment. The near-flat fretboard, adorned with silvery pearloid block inlays, is mated to a reassuringly chubby, yet navigable neck. A look inside the body reveals clean, utilitarian wiring and top-shelf components. Only two small details caught our attention: the otherwise cool clear plastic knobs have tiny flaws from the injection molding process, and the aggressively low action (at 3/64ths of an inch) coaxed a buzz from the low E string. However, a single turn of the bridge stud brought the low E string up to 3.5/64ths of an inch and promptly eliminated the problem.
Playing the Bluesbird was a buzz of an altogether different variety. The hollow body made itself evident from the get-go, allowing the guitar to breathe and ring a bit more than most single-cutaway instruments. The neck pickup setting was thick and wooly, while the combination setting really took off, sounding like church bells shot from cannons. Lead lines routed through the bridge pickup were predictably aggressive, yet capable of surprisingly crystalline detail. While the Bluesbird served up plenty of enticing lead sounds, this guitar is also a rhythm player’s dream. A note to the design team at Guild: add an optional piezo bridge to the Bluesbird and you won’t be able to build them fast enough.
GMP Pawnshop Special
The pawnshop that stocks this guitar must sit in a pretty nice neighborhood. The GMP Pawnshop Special ($2,450) puts some radical moves on the single-cutaway design and comes out looking marvelous. The smallish, flat-topped body (12 1/2 inches across the lower bout) teams up with a sharp Florentine cutaway and a bound f-hole for a look that’s fresh and just a little sassy. Adding to the mix is a unique string-through-body bridge design and a Fender-esque 25 1/2-inch scale length. Sperzel locking tuners are teamed with a Schaller roller bridge for absolute tuning stability.
The Pawnshop Special’s cosmetic details are beautifully executed, from the deep aqua finish to the richly figured abalone inlays along the neck. The jumbo frets are crowned with a wide oval contour, and a peek at the electronics revealed a set of machine screws in threaded inserts for securing the back plate, as well as tidy and well-shielded components. In fact, the Pawnshop Special would have won a perfect score for looks and setup were it not for the too-high action, which felt irritating at 7/64ths of an inch on the treble side. Dropping it to a standard 4/64ths of an inch unfortunately revealed some false notes when bending strings in the upper positions.
Even before we plugged in the Pawnshop Special, the tight, upper-midrange focus was evident. With the guitar amped up, every pickup setting displayed a bright, snappy sound leaning well toward the Fender camp, yet with a round, warm and throaty flavor accentuated by the hollow body and the string-through design. Even the neck pickup was full of sunshine, and pick harmonics were particularly easy to coax from it. Paired with a Marshall JCM 800 combo, the Pawnshop Special really went to town, sounding like a cross between a tenor sax and a laser beam.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Paul Reed Smith’s Singlecut is a long-awaited addition to the company’s line, and it fills the bill admirably for anyone seeking a classic single-cutaway design and to-die-for tone. If you’re looking for something just a little bit different, the Guild Bluesbird brings an exciting new voice to the cutaway choir in a most elegant form. Likewise, GMP’s Pawnshop Special, setup niggles aside, has the potential to be a lead guitarist’s dream. d
MANUFACTURERS
Paul Reed Smith Guitars, 380 Log Canoe Circle, Stevensville, MD 21666; (410) 643-9970; fax: (410) 643-9980; custserv@prsguitars.com; www.prsguitars.com
Guild Guitars c/o Fender Musical Instruments, 7975 N. Hayden Rd., Scottsdale, AZ 85258; (480) 596-9690; custserve@fenderusa.com; www.guildguitars.com
GMP Guitars, 510 E. Arrow Highway, San Dimas, CA 91773; (909) 592-5144; fax: (909) 599-0798; gmp@gmpguitars.com; www.gmpguitars.com
| Article Statistics: |
| Date Added: 09/05/2001 |
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