D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH - Overview and Best Prices
- 2 Prices - New from $749.99 >
- From D'Angelico's 2021 Premier series
- Made in Indonesia
- 6 strings
- 24.75"'' scale
- 14" Fretboard Radius
- Mahogany body
- Maple Scarf neck
- Ovangkol fretboard
- Bridge pickup: Duncan Designed MH-102 (Humbucker/Passive)
- Middle pickup: Duncan Designed TE-103 (Single Coil/Passive)
- Neck pickup: Duncan Designed TE-103 (Single Coil/Passive)
- 1 volume and 1 tone Speed knobs
- 5-way Switch
- 6-Point Tremolo bridge
- C-Shape Set neck
- 22 Medium frets
- Grover 109 Super Rotomatic tuners
- Weight between 7.4lbs (3.4kgs) and 8.4lbs (3.8kgs)
- Side-By-Side Comparison
Show Specs
D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH | ||
---|---|---|
General | ||
Brand: | D'Angelico | |
Year: | 2021 | |
Configuration: | HSS | |
Strings: | 6 | |
Made in: | Indonesia | |
Series: | Premier | |
Colors: | Blue | |
Left-Handed Version: | No | |
Body | ||
Type: | Semi-Hollow | |
Body Material: | Mahogany | |
Bridge: | 6-Point Tremolo | |
Neck | ||
Neck Joint: | Set | |
Tuners: | Grover 109 Super Rotomatic | |
Fretboard: | Ovangkol | |
Neck Material: | Maple Scarf | |
Decoration: | White Pearloid Block | |
Scale Size: | 24.75" | |
Shape: | C-Shape | |
Frets: | 22 Medium | |
Fretboard Radius: | 14" | |
Nut: | Plastic | |
Nut Width: | 42.9mm (1.688'') | |
Electronics | ||
Bridge Pickups: | Duncan Designed MH-102 (Humbucker / Passive) | |
Middle Pickup: | Duncan Designed TE-103 (Single Coil / Passive) | |
Neck Pickup: | Duncan Designed TE-103 (Single Coil / Passive) | |
Switch: | 5 | |
Knobs: | Speed | |
Volume Controls: | 1 | |
Tone Controls: | 1 | |
Hardware | ||
Strap Lock: | No | |
Hardware Color: | Chrome |
Our Scores and Tone Evaluation
- Heavy Metal
- Hard Rock
- Jazz
- Blues
- Funk
- Country
D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH
- Expensive Wood
- Tremolo
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in Indonesia
- No High-Quality Nut
- No Top Brand Pickups
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Price Overview
Its average competitor's price is $740, which means that the D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH is within the average price asked for this kind of guitar. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 6 strings and Tremolo bridge that are made in Indonesia.
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User Reviews & Feedback
Not all instruments are created equally. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our users who have played this instrument say. If you've played it before, help others by voting below!
Weight
VoteTuning stability
VoteNeck speed (thickness)
VoteNeck access to high frets
VoteNeck profile shape
VoteFret edges
VotePickups noise
VotePickups power
VoteOften Compared With
Hand Size Comfortability
After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH's construction favors people with relatively small hands.
Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this guitar—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.
Beginner Friendliness
The D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH meets 3 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's not recommended for complete beginners. 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 to get used to.
New Player Friendliness
D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH- Easy-to-use bridge
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable shape
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
Videos





How Lightweight is it?
We found that the D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH weighs between 7.4lbs (3.4kgs) and 8.4lbs (3.8kgs). This was recorded from some online retailers that publish the weight of the instruments they sell.
Playability
Scale Length
Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.
Here's the D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH's 24.75" scale length compared to other common sizes:

This is the scale length used in most Gibson guitars. If you like the playability of a Gibson, this guitar will feel pretty similar. It's a lot shorter than the typical Stratocaster (25.5'')
As you can see from the picture above, a shorter scale length also means shorter separation between frets. If you got really small hands, you probably will feel more comfortable playing this guitar than a Fender Stratocaster.
This scale length also allows for easier bends and vibratos because the strings will have lower tension due to the shorter scale.
Finally, another thing affected by scale length is tone. A shorter scale will give less room for the harmonics, thus resulting in a warmer, more 'bassy' tone.
Still, remember that you string gauge plays an important part in all of this. A lighter gauge will make it easier to perform bends, vibratos and will also give you a brighter tone.
Neck Profile

The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.
It has a C type neck. C-shaped necks like this have been the most popular for the last years. The reason is that they feel good in most hands. It's generally a thin neck that doesn't get in your way when playing fast, but that also has enough mass to give your hands a comfortable grip for chords if they aren't too big.
Thin necks like this make it easier to move your hand across the neck and it helps when playing fast solos, especially if you like to leave your thumb free while playing high on the fretboard. However, thinner necks are also weaker and will need adjustment more often than a thicker neck.
Fretboard Radius
When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.
The D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH has a 14" fingerboard radius.
Here's an image comparing this fretboard radius to other popular choices:

This makes it more similar to Gibson guitars (12'') than Fender (9.5''). It's slightly flatter than most modern Gibson fretboards though, which makes it more comfortable for single notes, bendings and vibratos, but less comfortable for chords. If you like the playability of a Gibson, which can be described as ''balanced for chords and solos'', and don't care about having slightly less curve for more comfortable solos, you'll like this radius.
Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH has the same radius across the board.
Playability compared to main competitors

Nut Width

The D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH has 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.
Frets
The D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH has 22 frets. Even though 24 frets has become really popular, there's still a good reason to get fewer frets; the pickup at the neck position will be further away from the bridge. This makes the neck pickup achieve a warmer tone. You might want this if you're playing Jazz or similar genres.
However, if you don't care about the warmer neck pickup, more frets will always be better. It's always nice to have the option to play higher notes if you want to.
It comes with nickel silver frets, so they won't last as long as stainless steel frets. If you use your instrument a lot, you might need to replace the frets after a few years. But this is unlikely as most people change instruments before this happens.
Fret Size

Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.
The D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH's frets are Medium size. With medium frets, you can feel the fretboard more than with jumbo frets, but it's still easier to press the strings cleanly than with small frets; notes might change their pitch just slightly if you press hard on the fret. Also, if you need to do some fret leveling after years of playing, you'll have some room to sand them down without having to replace them.
Playability Score
Tone
Wood will have little influence in the final tone of an electric guitar or bass. Instead, the hardware, especially the pickups, will be the most important thing to look at. Bur first, let's see the quality of the wood.
Wood



Mahogany Body: This is the type of wood found in many top-of-the-line guitars, so that's a positive point for the build quality. This red-looking wood Mahogany is found in Africa and Central America and has great sustain and a warm tone due to its high density. The downside about this type of wood is that it's relatively heavy.
Maple Neck: This is one of the most popular types of wood used in all kinds of guitars. It's heavy, strong and compact, which makes it great for necks. However, it's also used for fretboards, bodies and tops due to its light color, resistance and beautiful patterns. When it comes to tone, it highlights the mid and high frequencies.
Ovangkol Fretboard: It's 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.
Pickups
Unfortunately, it doesn't come with pickups from one of the top brands. This doesn't mean you will get bad pickups, but you might want to consider a pickup upgrade after some time.
These are passive pickups, so you can expect a rounder sound and a moderade level of output.
The D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH's configuration is HSS. If you play a lot with humbuckers in the bridge position, but would also love to have pristine cleans, this is a great configuration to have. The bridge humbucker will give you tons of output for playing distorted rhythm parts, while the single coils will give you a lot of tone options.
Versatility
It gives you a good amount of tone options with its 5-way switch. You can use it to choose at least 5 different pickup combinations.
Unfortunately, it doesn't come with more options for coil split or coil tapping. This makes it less versatile than some competitors.
What music genre is it good for?
As a 6 strings, Semi-Hollow guitar with HSS configuration and Passive pickups, we'd recommend it for genres like Hard Rock or similar. However, you can use almost any guitar for any genre. This is just the typical type of music for this particular one.
Sound Score
Build Quality
Country of Origin
Knowing where the instrument is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive instruments are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.
The D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH is made in Indonesia. Many people prefer the quality of an Indonesian guitar over a Chinese. Respectable brands like Epiphone, Ibanez and Schecter are building in this country because of the great quality and lower price. Some people like to compare them to the ones built in Japan during the 80s, when Japanese guitar makers made a name for themselves.
Bridge
6-Point Tremolo: This type of bridge allows you to change the pitch of the notes by pulling the bridge with the attached bar, which gives you better versatility. Also, since the bridge is not fixed to the guitar body, the bridge will move as you bend the strings. So you'll have to increase the distance of your bends to reach the same tension (note) compared to a fixed bridge. This allows you to perform smoother bends but will also make you slower. Finally, remember that this type of bridge requires a bit more maintenance than fixed ones, especially when changing strings.
Nut Material
Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your guitar. A well-cut nut will make sure it stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.
In this case, the D'Angelico Premier Bedford SH has a Plastic nut. 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.
Neck Joint
The neck joint is the part where the neck of the guitar meets the body. There are three main techniques to attach both parts together: Set-In, Bolt-On and Neck-Through. The latter two provide different advantages, although neck-throughs are the most expensive.
This guitar has a Set neck joint. This type of neck joint consists of using different pieces of wood for the neck and the body of the guitar. Both pieces are then glued together. This is more expensive to make than a bolt-on neck, but it's cheaper than a neck-through guitar. Some people believe that this gives more sustain than a bolt-on neck due to both pieces having a 'better connection' than with bolts. Still, it's something difficult to prove.
However, this type of neck joint does have the disadvantage of not allowing you to easily swap the neck for another. This makes this type of neck joint less mod-friendly.