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D'Angelico Premier Brighton
D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic
VS
Playability
72
Sound
65
Build
62
Value
71
Score
66
FIND IT ON:
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Playability
73
Sound
62
Build
55
Value
68
Score
63
FIND IT ON:
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D'Angelico Premier Brighton vs Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic

Reasons to Get
D'Angelico Premier Brighton over Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic

Pickup Mods
Coil Split vs None
Splits humbuckers into single coil pickups
Bridge
Tremolo vs Fixed
Simple vibratos without too much maintenance
Value Score
71 vs 68
Better price/quality relationship

Reasons to Get
D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic over Premier Brighton

Bridge
Fixed vs Tremolo
Good sustain and needs no set-up

Other Key Differences
D'Angelico Premier Brighton vs Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic

No Key Differences Found

Shared Features
D'Angelico Premier Brighton vs Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic

Bridge Pickup
Seymour Duncan Designed HB-101B Humbucker
Same Bridge Pickup
Neck Pickup
Seymour Duncan Designed HB-102N Humbucker
Same Neck Pickup
Body Wood
Basswood
Same Body Wood
Neck Wood
Maple
Same Neck Wood
Fretboard Wood
Ovangkol
Same Fretboard Wood
Headstock
3-3
Same Headstock
Nut Material
Plastic
Same Nut Material
Strings
6
Same playing style
Body Type
Solid Body
Feedback free
Switch Positions
3
Same pickups versatility
Volume Knobs
2
Same volume control
Tone Knobs
2
Same tone control
Pickups
HH
High output without hum
Number of Frets
22
Same maximum octave
Nut Width
1.688'' (42.9mm)
Same string separation at the nut
Paint Finish
Poly
Resistant paint that ages well
Scale Length
24.75'' (628.7mm)
Same string tension and fret separation
Fretboard Radius
14'' (355.6mm)
Same fretboard comfortability
Pickups Power
Passive
Cleaner sound and no battery needed
Neck Profile Type
C
Comfortable neck that works for most people
Neck Joint
Set
Neck is glued to the body
Type of Frets
Medium
You'll feel the fretboard when pressing down the strings

Common Weaknesses

  • Neck-Through Build
  • Weight Relief
  • Locking Tuners
  • Stays in Tune (Evertune)
  • High-Quality Nut
  • High-Quality Frets
  • Compound Radius Fretboard
  • From a High-Quality-Standards Country
  • Luminescent Sidedots
  • Strap Lock
  • Top Pickup Brand
  • Expensive Wood
  • 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • Active/Passive Preamp

Table of Contents

Price History Comparison

SET PRICE ALERT

D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic Prices

SET PRICE ALERT

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Which One is Better Overall?

After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that the D'Angelico Premier Brighton is probably the better product overall with its final score of 66 compared to the D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic's 63 score, although not by a lot.

The D'Angelico Premier Brighton wins when it comes to sound, build quality, value for the money. On the other hand, the D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic has the upper hand when it comes to playability.

If you got small hands, none of these instruments will make a big difference when it comes to comfortability.

Which One is Better for Beginners?

Both meet 4 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players. If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, you can't go wrong with either of them.

New Player Friendliness

D'Angelico Premier Brighton
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Locking tuners

New Player Friendliness

D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Locking tuners

Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing an instrument, you should pick the one more compatible with your personal style. Still, below we'll try you to give you our results as objectively as it's possible to help you decide.

D'Angelico Premier Brighton Overview

  • From D'Angelico's 2021 Premier series
  • Made in Indonesia
  • 6 strings
  • 24.75"'' scale
  • 14" Fretboard Radius
  • Basswood body
  • Maple Scarf neck
  • Ovangkol fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: Seymour Duncan Designed HB-101B Humbucker (Humbucker/Passive)
  • Neck pickup: Seymour Duncan Designed HB-102N Humbucker (Humbucker/Passive)
  • 2 volume and 2 tone Speed knobs
  • 3-way Switch
  • Chrome Tune-O-Matic bridge
  • C-Shape Set neck
  • 22 Medium frets
  • Grover 109 Super Rotomatic tuners
  • Weight around 7.45lbs (3.4kgs)
  • Compare Specs >

D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic Overview

  • From D'Angelico's 2021 Premier series
  • Brandon "Taz" Niederauer Signature
  • Made in Indonesia
  • 6 strings
  • 24.75"'' scale
  • 14" Fretboard Radius
  • Basswood body
  • Maple Scarf neck
  • Ovangkol fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: Seymour Duncan Designed HB-101B Humbucker (Humbucker/Passive)
  • Neck pickup: Seymour Duncan Designed HB-102N Humbucker (Humbucker/Passive)
  • 2 volume and 2 tone Speed knobs
  • 3-way Switch
  • Satin Chrome Tune-O-Matic bridge
  • C-Shape Set neck
  • 22 Medium frets
  • Rotomatic Stairstep tuners
  • Compare Specs >

Sound Quality Comparison

The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.

Woods Used in Both

Maple wood pattern used for guitar building
Maple
Ovangkol wood pattern used for guitar building
Ovangkol
Basswood wood pattern used for guitar building
Basswood

Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.

Ovangkol is a beautiful wood that's popular for acoustic guitars. Its tone sits somewhere between rosewood and mahogany, meaning it has a punchy low-end and nice mid-range. Find out more about Ovangkol.

Basswood is a lightweight type of wood that isn't as expensive as other popular choices for guitar building. It gives more power to the mid-range frequencies. Its color can vary from pale white to light brown. Find out more about Basswood.

Winner: Tie.

Pickup Configuration

Both pickup configurations are HH. Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.

Pickups Quality

None of these use a specialized pickup brand for their pickups. Some of the best guitars on the market come with pickups from brands like EMG, Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, etc. You might want to replace your pickups eventually if you want to get the best sound out of any of these instruments.

Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.

Winner: Tie.

Versatility Comparison

Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.

Switch Options

Both are equal when it comes to the pickup switching option.

Only the D'Angelico Premier Brighton comes with some kind of pickup modification: Coil Split.

Coil Split lets you disconnect one of the pickup coils. When used with humbuckers, it turns them into single-coil with lower output and cleaner tone.

D'Angelico Premier Brighton pickups switch and push knobs diagram
D'Angelico Premier Brighton's switch options
D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic pickups switch and push knobs diagram
D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic's switch options

When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.

Winner: D'Angelico Premier Brighton.

Final Sound Quality Scores

D'Angelico Premier Brighton
Pickups 60
Sustain 65
Versatility 73
Tuning Stability 60
Sound 65
D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic
Pickups 60
Sustain 70
Versatility 53
Tuning Stability 65
Sound 62

Build Quality Comparison

When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the D'Angelico Premier Brighton compares to the D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic.

Country of Origin

The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. Both in this comparison where made in Indonesia.

Indonesia is becoming the most popular country for guitar building because they can make good instruments for a low price. Some people think that they're 'the new China' when it comes to build quality. But the truth is that Indonesian guitars are more consistent, although Chinese quality has improved a lot in the last few years.

Winner: Tie

Nut Material

If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.

In this case, both have Plastic nuts. This is a low-quality nut that you might want to consider upgrading soon. Bone and TUSQ nuts are the best for guitars with a fixed or simple tremolo bridge.

Fret Material

Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.

Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.

Winner: Tie.

Bridge

The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.

The D'Angelico Premier Brighton's brige is a Tremolo. Tremolo bridges give you more versatility than fixed bridges. They let you perform the intense vibrato effects that would be impossible with a fixed bridge. However, since the bridge floats and there's less contact with the body, the strings lose sustain slightly faster. They can also be a bit harder to restring and set up correctly than fixed bridges.

On the other hand, the D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic's is a Fixed. It's a simple bridge that is very beginner-friendly since it doesn't require any set-up. You can swap strings easily. It might also give more sustain since it doesn't have complex moving parts that make the strings lose vibration. However, it doesn't have the same versatility as a tremolo bridge.

Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.

Winner: Tie.

Tuners

Both come with regular tuners. The D'Angelico Premier Brighton's are Grover 109 Super Rotomatic while the D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic's are Rotomatic Stairstep

Winner: Tie.

Neck Joint

Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.

Both have a Set neck joint. This neck is tightly glued to the body. They give you the least versatility because you can't swap them for a neck that fits your hand better if you want to, unlike bolt-on necks. Some people think this gives more resonance and sustain, but there's no real difference if the bolt-on joint is well built.

Winner: Tie.

Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:

Strengths & Weaknesses
D'Angelico Premier Brighton
  • Coil Split Pickups
  • Tremolo
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in Indonesia
  • No Expensive Woods
  • No High-Quality Nut
  • No Top Brand Pickups
  • No Neck-Through Build
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock
Strengths & Weaknesses
D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in Indonesia
  • No Expensive Woods
  • No High-Quality Nut
  • No Top Brand Pickups
  • No Neck-Through Build
  • No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Tremolo
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock

Final Build Quality Scores

D'Angelico Premier Brighton
Quality of materials 56
Features 60
Quality Control 70
Build Quality 62
D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic
Quality of materials 46
Features 50
Quality Control 70
Build Quality 55

Playability Comparison

Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.

Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.

Nut Width

D
Both Guitars Have The Same Nut Width

The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, both have a nut width of 42.9mm (1.688'').

This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 6-string guitar. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.

Scale Length

D'Angelico Premier Brighton and D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic's Scale Length
Both have the same scale length

The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.

In this case, both have a scale length of 24.75".

This is the scale length that Gibson uses for most of its Les Paul guitars. It's a smaller scale than the typical Stratocaster's 25.5''. Short scale lengths like this make it easier to bend the strings, which is pretty important if you have a fixed bridge. They also have a shorter fret separation, which makes it easier to change position fast at the fretboard.

On the other hand, a shorter scale like this one will make fret buzz more likely, which can affect you if you want to use thicker string gauges.

Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.

Neck Profile

D'Angelico Premier Brighton Neck Profile
Both guitars have the same neck profile

No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.

Both the D'Angelico Premier Brighton and the D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic have a C-shaped neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.

Fretboard Radius

D'Angelico Premier Brighton Fingerboard Radius
Both Guitars Have The Same Fretboard Radius

Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.

Both the D'Angelico Premier Brighton and the D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic have the same fretboard radius of 14". This radius y closer to the 12'' that most Les Paul guitars have, but a bit flatter. It'll make it easier to play single notes than chords, but it's still comfortable for playing chords without muting strings.

Hand Size Comfortability

Everyone has a different hand size, and that's why it's recommended to try a guitar before buying, even if others tell you that it's comfortable to play. However, we can know whether a guitar favors small or large hands just by knowing its exact measurements.

After taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that both in this comparison favor small hands .

D'Angelico Premier Brighton:
Big Hands
Small Hands
D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic:
Big Hands
Small Hands

Fret Size

D'Angelico Premier Brighton and D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic Frets Size
Both have a similar Medium fret size

Both have a Medium fret size. If you like feeling the fretboard when you play, but also appreciate some easiness to press down the frets, this size offers a good balance for that.

Final Playability Scores

D'Angelico Premier Brighton
Bending & Vibrato Ease 80
Chord Playability 65
Solo Playability 70
Playability 72
D'Angelico Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic
Bending & Vibrato Ease 85
Chord Playability 65
Solo Playability 70
Playability 73

Specs Side-by-Side

D'Angelico Premier Brighton vs Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic
General D'Angelico Premier Brighton Premier Brandon Niederauer Atlantic
Brand: D'Angelico D'Angelico
Year: 2021 2021
Configuration: HH HH
Strings: 6 6
Made in: Indonesia Indonesia
Series: Premier Premier
Colors: Black Blue
Left-Handed Version: No No
Body
Type: Solid Body Solid Body
Body Material: Basswood Basswood
Bridge: Chrome Tune-O-Matic Satin Chrome Tune-O-Matic
Neck
Neck Joint: Set Set
Tuners: Grover 109 Super Rotomatic Rotomatic Stairstep
Fretboard: Ovangkol Ovangkol
Neck Material: Maple Scarf Maple Scarf
Decoration: White Pearloid Block White Pearloid Block
Scale Size: 24.75" 24.75"
Shape: C-Shape C-Shape
Frets: 22 Medium Nickel Silver 22 Medium Nickel Silver
Fretboard Radius: 14" 14"
Nut: Plastic Plastic
Nut Width: 42.9mm (1.688'') 42.9mm (1.688'')
Electronics
Bridge Pickup: Seymour Duncan Designed HB-101B Humbucker (Humbucker / Passive) Seymour Duncan Designed HB-101B Humbucker (Humbucker / Passive)
Middle Pickup:
Neck Pickup: Seymour Duncan Designed HB-102N Humbucker (Humbucker / Passive) Seymour Duncan Designed HB-102N Humbucker (Humbucker / Passive)
Switch: 3 Way 3 Way
Knobs: Speed Speed
Pickup Mods: Coil Split None
Volume Controls: 2 2
Tone Controls: 2 2