This late-’50s solidbody is elegant yet practical, with its 1-piece, bolt-on rosewood neck, deep pickup controls, and classy gold hardware.
While everyone knows how Gibson answered Fender, they weren’t the only notable East Coast brand at the time. Epiphone was a heavy hitter, too, and there were other significant labels, including the company behind this month’s guitar, New York City-based Premier. That guitar and amp seller was a division of the Peter Sorkin Music Company, and its guitars were made by Sorkin’s manufacturing subsidiary, Multivox. Premier was especially notable for its “scroll” electrics, like this month’s exceptionally well-preserved E-723.
This guitar’s belt rash proves it’s seen action during its more than half-century.
Photo by Lynn Wheelwright
With pots dated late 1958, this E-723 was originally offered in or around 1959 and is an early example of the scroll shape that Premier would continue to use throughout the 1960s. Check out that distinctive upper horn: traditional yet daring, almost like a mandolin’s curves transferred to one solid piece of mahogany. And, well, that’s exactly what it is.
Like Gibson’s urn headstocks, this Premier’s torch inset has a distinctly Greco-Roman look.
Photo by Lynn Wheelwright
Premier’s owner Sorkin had recently bought the Strad-O-Lin mandolin company, and he put its equipment to work on these solidbodies. In many ways, they’re a marriage of old-world craftsmanship and rock ’n’ roll design. The neck is one carved piece of Brazilian rosewood, yet bolt-on. The gold hardware and trapeze bridge could complement any jazz box, yet they sit next to a large crushed-plastic pickguard that’s almost garish. All those knobs and switches are functional and funky. The small black knobs include a volume and tone control for each of the three single-coil pickups, which get their own on/off toggles as well. The large gold dial is a master volume control.
Premier’s owner Sorkin had recently bought the Strad-O-Lin mandolin company, and he put its equipment to work on these solidbodies.
Premier’s scroll guitars were made in a variety of pickup configurations, model names, and finishes, and were originally sold for anywhere from $145.50 to $230.00 and more, depending on the number of pickups and factory upgrades. Nowadays, prices range from about $1,500 at the low end (for a single-pickup model in fair condition) to $5,000 or more.
The dials on the left side of the guitar are volume and tone controls for the pickups. The toggles at right are on/off switches, and the large dial is a master volume.
Photo by Lynn Wheelwright
This particular Premier is one of the high-end models, with three pickups and a Ruby finish that has faded over time. Guitar seller, tech, builder, historian, and writer Lynn Wheelwright has owned it for the last 30 years and says it is one of “only two other examples of this top-of-the-line, solid-carved, 3-pickup beauty” he’s found in decades of looking for guitars. He’s selling it for $4,899 through his Pro Musician Outlet Reverb shop.
Sources for this column include Vintage Guitar’s February 2020 article “Boulevard of Broken Dreams: The Premier E-723” and Reverb listings from Retrofret Vintage Guitars, The Guitar Broker, and Rivington Guitars.
Ratings
Pros:
High-quality, versatile flattop with excellent playability and rich tones. Subdued but classy style.
Cons:
Factory setup is very good, but maybe not the best for a heavy strumming hand.
Tones:
Playability:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street:
$2,199
Breedlove Premier Concerto
breedlovemusic.com
I used it for arrangements of everything from a Scott Joplin rag to a Bach cello piece to Buck Curran’s “River Unto Sea.” In each case, I heard and felt consistent responsiveness from string to string and from the lowest fret to the highest, and notes cascaded together beautifully with an almost orchestral feel.
The Premier Concerto works just as well, for the most part, when played with a pick. For traditional approaches like Carter strumming, where the bass notes take on a melodic role, the guitar has great drive and definition. Better still, the low end doesn’t overwhelm the chordal accents, which can happen with a dreadnought and other big-bodied guitars.
Flat-picked, single-note lines sound great, too. The guitar has a fast response, and individual notes are full bodied. But when I really dig in with a heavy pick there’s just a hint of brittleness on the notes on the first string and a subtle amount of fret buzz on the low strings. These small idiosyncrasies are far from deal breakers, and in this case a setup more specifically tailored to heavy flatpicking would probably help enhance the resonance.
The Premier Concerto comes complete with onboard electronics in the form of L.R. Baggs’ Element Active System undersaddle pickup and preamp. It’s a low-profile, virtually invisible amplification system that doesn’t compromise the integrity of the guitar’s design. The battery pack is mounted on the neck block, well out of sight, and the tone and volume controls are inside the bass edge of the soundhole.
When I dialed the tone flat and plugged the Premier Concerto into an AER Compact 60/3 amp, the guitar sounded warm and lifelike. Its voice also paired nicely with a touch of reverb or chorus. This instrument is definitely gig ready.
The Verdict
With its beautiful design and execution, fine, versatile voice, and excellent playability, Breedlove’s Premier Concerto is a standout flattop by any standard. And at just over two grand with a deluxe hardshell case, the guitar is a good buy for an American-made, all-solid-wood guitar of such exceptional quality and design.
Watch the Review Demo:
Tommy Thayer's Gear
Tommy Thayer is a longtime Les Paul man and brings several on the road with him. A Custom Shop '59 Standard with Seymour Duncan JB pickups sees most of the action.
Gibson had just delivered a new white Les Paul Custom that could see some considerable onstage time.
Thayer's black Les Paul Classic houses the classic Kiss pyro behind the headstock.
When he needs some midrange honk, he reaches for a Custom Shop Gibson Explorer decked out in silver sparkle.
For the past eight years, Thayer has been touring exclusively with a pair of his signature 100-watt Hughes & Kettner DuoTone heads (Thayer donates all the royalties from this amp to The Children's Hospital of Los Angeles). After an experiment where he switched cabinets with Paul Stanley, he discovered the Engl E412SG and has been using a pair of them ever since.
Thayer doesn't use any effects at all, except when "Christine Sixteen" shows up on the setlist. For that song he uses an Electro-Harmonix Micro POG. His rack houses a Furman power supply, four Shure U4D-UHF wireless units, a Tour Supply Multi Selector, and a Peterson VS-R StroboRack tuner.
Paul Stanley's Gear
Stanley's tech Fran Stueber posing with his action figure.
Paul Stanley tours with several of his signature Washburn PS12 Starfires.
Each one is outfitted with a Seymour Duncan Custom 5 in the bridge and Duncan '59 in the neck.
Stanley's contract with Washburn expires this year, so he's returning to his famous Ibanez PS10, which is planned to be released at next year's Winter NAMM show. Currently, Stanley is rocking the PS10 that he first used on the '95 reunion tour.
Stanley plugs into custom Engl heads that are loosely based on the R. Blackmore model, but powered with EL84s instead of the stock 5881s. He runs that into a pair of Marshall 4x12 cabs loaded with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers.
Stanley doesn't use any effects, but his rack features a quartet of Shure U4D-UHF wireless receivers and a Radial JD-7 where the signal is split to the various amps and then is routed through a Tech 21 SansAmp PSA-1. A Furman Power Conditioner supplies the juice.
Gene Simmons' Gear
Gene Simmons plays his signature line of basses exclusively. His iconic Axe bass features a mahogany body, maple neck, Indian rosewood fingerboard and EMG PJ active pickups.
Simmons' Punisher bass features neck-thru construction, mahogany body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, and EMG PJ active pickups. The controls have been simplified to a single volume knob with the input jack routed through the front of the bass to accommodate Simmons' costume. Super fans can even buy the actual basses played on tour after the Demon himself bleeds, sweats, and spits on them. Maybe gross, maybe cool, but definitely profitable to Mr. Simmons with a starting price of $12,000 per bass.
The thunder starts with a Shure U4D-UHF into a Radial JD-7 Injector. From there it goes out to an Empress Compressor and one of two Tech 21 VT-Bass 1969 amps. A Strymon el Capistan is inserted in one of the loops of the JD-7 and is used during Simmons' blood-spitting solo.
The signal then hits one of two Tech 21 SansAmp PSA 1.1 preamps and is blended with the 1969 for Gene's in-ear mix. The amps run into one of two Ampeg SVT 810 E cabs.
A Furman PL-Plus C keeps the amps powered up while a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power Digital handles the pedals. A Peterson VS-R StroboRack tuner lives in the rack as well and keeps everything in tune.
[Updated 10/11/21]