Why are Duesenbergs popular with P&W players

[Rick Towne]

I've seen many of them and noted they're quite costly, compared to my humble G&L's. What is the attraction?

 

[straticus]

I don't know but I saw Chris Cornell playing one last night. What a beautiful guitar!

 

[más_fuerte]

Nigel Hendroff from Hillsong started playing one several years ago. That plus they're great guitars.

 

[Dereksslide]

They're sparkly on stage.

 

[dporto]

Bling factor...

 

[imaxeman69]

Saw Soundgarden on Guitar Center Sessions last night. Chris Cornell was rocking a Deusie...

 

[dean owens]

I have no clue. I play P&W and had never heard of them. I just looked them up and they are pretty expensive. More than I'll pay for a guitar. No judgment for people who do, I just won't.

 

[hendrik7]

Because Korean guitars are teh awesome?

 

[fish22]

I have had my starplayer for about 2-3 months now.
For me it's the sound, playability, and their version of the bigsby mostly.
Sound wise you can get some strat (neck), tele (middle), and les paul (bridge) tones out of the Dues.
I'm a bigsby guy and once I played the Dues trem that was it, No more bigsby.

Would I pay $3K for a guitar? Nope. Would I buy a two week old black sparkle Duesie from my stupid friend for $1500? yes. and I did.

There is a lot of great things about them besides the bling factor.
- amazing trem system
- stock pickups are fantastic
- great build quality
- the fretwork/playability is fantastic, which makes playing it effortless. (they are PLEK'd)
- They have beautiful finishes
- Cool wood combo (maple body, maple neck w rosewood, and spruce top)
- archtop/archback, semi hollow

It's just a cool guitar. Probably not for everybody, but def pretty close to my dream guitar.

Also, I couldn't care less about where it's made or what rock n roll star is playing one.
It has top notch parts and top notch woods, plays and sounds great.

EDIT: I just realized you said "popular with P&W players"
My guess is 90% Nigel Hendroff, 10% my previously stated reasons.

 

[petty1818]

Because Korean guitars are teh awesome?

That's getting rather old. I called Duesenberg USA and discussed this topic with them when I was initially interested in Duesenberg guitars. Some of the components are made in other countries but the main assembly is done in Germany. With that said, even if it was a Korean made guitar, it beats the hell out of the majority of North American made guitars that I have tried.

To the OP, I don't think these guitars are just popular with P&W, they are virtually everywhere now. I never read into endorsements but if you go online and search rig rundowns it seems like almost every professional player has one now. I believe that Duesenberg has hit a market that was very weak in the past. They are making vintage looking guitars that are incredibly well built and sound incredible at a price point that's acceptable.

 

[fish22]

Actually, if you look at the whos-who of P&W guys none of them are playing Duesenburgs.
For example,
Jeffrey Kunde- Mostly an SG , Duojet, or Strat
Jesus Culture Singer Guy - Gretsch or Jazzmaster
Stu G - basically every kind of guitar under the sun.
Bethel guys - mostly gretschs.
Hillsong guys - teles and gretschs.

I think the question should be "why are P&W guys so into White Falcons?"

 

[frisco kid]

My 2 cents is that if you're going to buy one new, there's a significant savings buying from a reputable dealer in Europe vs. stateside for the very reasons why PRS, Gibson and Fenders are much cheaper here. LeihInstrumente or Thomann for example...

 

[boppstar]

Strange forum choice for a guitar convo...
Duesy's are really nice!

 

[xjojox]

They do the Gretschy-thing but are more versatile than a Gretsch plus have a cool look. And the trem is really smooth.

I too have a bit of an issue with the "assembly" process vs. the price point. As noted above, any savings realized by the Korean outsourcing are eaten up by getting them from Germany to US, at which point they end up being quite pricey. Nice guitars in any case.

 

[lapagina]

I've been thinking about getting 1.. reasons is that they are being used by a lot of top notch guitarist.Mike campbell,Joe walsh,john mayer. just to name a few. Nigel just expanded his sound from the Gretch when he Matched it with his Amps which i believe were the Matchless and the AC15..If you look closely at P&W gear pics a lot of peeps are using more PRS and Fender than anything else..the build quality of the Deusies are Great and they function very well and look great.. P&W has a specific sound..mostly generalized around Nigel..But truth be told if you listen to Tom Petty Bang there it is..

 

[Sir Breedlove]

Actually, if you look at the whos-who of P&W guys none of them are playing Duesenburgs.
For example,
Jeffrey Kunde- Mostly an SG , Duojet, or Strat
Jesus Culture Singer Guy - Gretsch or Jazzmaster
Stu G - basically every kind of guitar under the sun.
Bethel guys - mostly gretschs.
Hillsong guys - teles and gretschs.

I think the question should be "why are P&W guys so into White Falcons?"

I think the new question now is why are we all into jazzymasters?

To the OP, and this is my opinion, Duesy's are amazing guitars. Our old worship leader bought one from a very talented well known guitarist and that thing sounded AMAZING! Also just like the rest of the world worship guitarists like to look at Nigel Hendroff, Chris Quilala, and the likes and see what they're playing, or were, and in their head think if they have the same guitar they'll sound just like them. Same concept with strymon pedals.

 

[Rick Towne]

I played bass this morning alongside a guy with a D '49er into a Strymon Timeline into an AC-15. Beautiful guitar, but sharp and abrasive tone. Great for higher gain rockers but not subtle or suitable for ballads. The Strymon was just ok, as far as I could tell. Thanks for the opinions.

 

[Veritas]

I played bass this morning alongside a guy with a D '49er into a Strymon Timeline into an AC-15. Beautiful guitar, but sharp and abrasive tone. Great for higher gain rockers but not subtle or suitable for ballads. The Strymon was just ok, as far as I could tell. Thanks for the opinions.

If his tone was sharp and abrasive, than that's how the guy set up his tone. I've never played a Duesy that sounded "sharp and abrasive". Now if I set the amp/pedals up for that, than I suppose it's possible. I don't currently own one, but I've played a bunch of them and they have all sounded great. All the guys I know who use them are playing indie rock or are country players here in Nashville.

 

[ldizzle]

They're great guitars.. But I see them on a lot of secular stages too. Like john mayers, joe walsh, tom petty to name a few. The ones I've heard are fairly versatile.

And I play a falcon because it sounds absolutely amazing for what it does.

 

[Sir Breedlove]

If his tone was sharp and abrasive, than that's how the guy set up his tone. I've never played a Duesy that sounded "sharp and abrasive". Now if I set the amp/pedals up for that, than I suppose it's possible. I don't currently own one, but I've played a bunch of them and they have all sounded great. All the guys I know who use them are playing indie rock or are country players here in Nashville.

Yeah most likely he had the AC15 on ice pick setting. If its the newer model they can do that quite easy if you dont tinker with the settings for hours. Thats why I prefer my AC30's and Matchless and Badcat versions