GOWEN DC CUSTOM ELECTRIC GUITAR
The DC is our compact, double-cutaway guitar
available with Humbuckers or Single Coil pickups.
You'll find different pickup configurations across the DC range.
DC No 1 is entirely humbucker based with partial coil-splitting as standard and a choice of our classic Gowen 57-59 PAF+ pickups or the hotter Gowen 68-72 PAF+.
DC No 2 is our single coil option, with options for S-S-S or H-S-S pickups. It's priced slightly higher than the humbucker variant due to the additional copper shielding needed for the single coil pickup and control cavities.
Take a look through the models to find the DC that fits your music.
our humbucker DC
single pickup from £1750, twin pickup from £1875
H-S-S or S-S-S DC
H-S-S from £1899, S-S-S from £1925
We carve our DC body shape with deep cutaways and a contoured heel to give easy access to the highest frets. The high degree of body shaping makes for a compact body that's a fantastically flexible platform for all kinds of music genres.
Choose between our classic Gowen 57-59 PAF+ (9.5k) or the hotter Gowen 68-72 PAF+ (14k) for the humbucker equipped DC No 1, with partial coil splitting fitted as standard.
DC No 1 Sound Samples
All our DC No 1 guitars are unique instruments and individually priced, starting at around £1750 for a new DC No 1 shape guitar in a solid wood body including a single humbucker pick-up in the bridge position.
Our DC bodies are normally made from Cherry, Alder, London Plane, Ash, Walnut or Mahogany / Sapele, with more expensive woods and figured tops adding to the base cost of the instrument.
All our DC No 1 guitars now come fitted with our own Gowen Humbuckers, with partial coil splitting via push-pull CTS pots as standard. We've developed our pickups in partnership with one of the UK's top boutique pickup manufacturers to create a unique pickup voicing to our own specification.
choose humbucker or single coil
Our DC No 2 guitar brings further options for pickup configurations (H-S-S, S-S-S). The DC No2 is built to the same body shape as the DC No 1, with the added option of being able to select either 628mm or 648mm scale length necks.
All our SC No 2 guitars are unique instruments and individually priced, starting at around £1899 for a new SC No 2 shape guitar in a solid wood body with front and rear contours, including a humbucker in the bridge position, paired with mid and neck position single coils. The humbucker comes with partial coil splitting fitted as standard.
Alternatively, choose a DC with three single coil pickups, from £1925.
Our DC bodies are normally made from Cherry, Alder, London Plane, Ash, Walnut or Mahogany / Sapele, with more expensive woods and figured tops adding to the base cost of the instrument.
Bridge Pickup > Neck Pickup > Mid Position
Guitar: DC No. 2, Yew H-S-S
Pickups: Seymour Duncan JB (Bridge, 15.2k), Gemini Pickups Minotaur (Mid, 8.6k) Gemini Pickups Chimera (Neck, 6.5k)
Strings: Rotosound Yellows (10)
Amp: Blackstar ID Core 100 (Clean Bright)
EQ: Neutral
Bridge Pickup > Neck Pickup > Mid Position
Guitar: DC No. 2, Yew H-S-S
Pickups: Seymour Duncan JB (Bridge, 15.2k), Gemini Pickups Minotaur (Mid, 8.6k) Gemini Pickups Chimera (Neck, 6.5k)
Strings: Rotosound Yellows (10)
Amp: Blackstar ID Core 100 (Crunch)
EQ: Neutral
Bridge Pickup > Neck Pickup > Mid Position
Guitar: DC No. 2, Yew H-S-S
Pickups: Seymour Duncan JB (Bridge, 15.2k), Gemini Pickups Minotaur (Mid, 8.6k) Gemini Pickups Chimera (Neck, 6.5k)
Strings: Rotosound Yellows (10)
Amp: Blackstar ID Core 100 (Super Crunch)
EQ: Neutral
Gowen DC Specification
-
Single cutaway body with either single or twin pickups
-
Schaller Hardtail Bridge
-
Schaller straplocks
-
Gowen Tweed case
Electrics (H/ H-H DC No 1)
-
All CTS /Bourns switches and pots*
-
.022uf (600v) Orange Drop Capacitor
-
Single Gowen 57-59 PAF+ humbucker or Gowen 68-72 PAF+ Bridge Pickup in bridge position for single humbucker variant; pair of Gowen 57-59 PAF+ humbuckers or pair of Gowen 68-72 PAF+ humbuckers for twin humbucker variant
-
Partial splitting (push-pull knobs)
-
3-way switch
* NB We use 500k audio-taper pots with traditional 50s wiring as a standard wiring configuration for humbuckers. This keeps the tone clear as you roll the volume back and gives smoother, more musical control. However, if you prefer 1960s or modern wiring for the wiring loom, just let us know!
The Bourns pots we fit generally have less friction in their action than the CTS pots - if you prefer a freer moving throw for live playing, choose Bourns, if you want a slower moving action, choose CTS.
Electrics (H-S-S, DC No 2)
-
All CTS /Bourns switches and pots
-
Gowen 68-72 humbucker (bridge, 14k) Gowen 62 Single Coil Pickups (mid 7.5k, neck 8k)
-
Partial splitting on bridge pup (push-pull knob)
-
5-way switch
Electrics (S-S-S, DC No 2)
-
All CTS /Bourns switches and pots
-
Set of 3 Gowen 62 Single Coil Pickups (mid 7.5k, neck 8k)
-
5-way switch
-
Neck
-
Bolt-on Maple/Mahogany neck, Rosewood /Ebony fretboard, dotted fret markers
-
648mm or 628mm (+£150)
-
Medium-jumbo sized frets
-
Chrome Gotoh machine heads
-
Silver 1914 threepence inlaid in truss rod cover
Options for wood finishes
-
Satin Lacquer (our standard finish)
-
Gloss Lacquer (+£0)
-
Nitrocellulose lacquer lustre /, 'heritage gloss' finish (+£250)
-
Bespoke oil Finishes (Osmo, TruOil, Tung etc. P.O.A)
We'll advise on recommended finishes for your chosen body woods. Our standard finish is satin lacquer.
All our necks are finished in satin Osmo or satin lacquer finishes.
Contact us to get an estimate for a guitar build.
Gowen DC No. 1 prototype in Yew, H-S-S
Model History
Our first DC prototype was completed in 2023 - a single piece of English Yew from Richmond, West London carved into a thin-line, double cutaway super-strat shape with H-S-S pickups from Gemini Pickups and Seymour Duncan with a 628mm scale neck (sycamore and ebony). Lucy Gowen has used our first prototype as one of her main professional guitars for the last 3 years and to date it's completed over 150 shows and gigs.
In 2024 we completed a second test DC for Lucy Gowen, again with H-S-S pickups from Gemini Pickups and Seymour Duncan, this time carved from a single slab of Holly from the Isle of Wight and with a 648mm scale neck.
We're now fitting our Gowen 57-59 PAF+ humbuckers to our DC guitars as standard pickups for a humbucker guitar, with an option for customers to request custom windings. In 2026 we began fitting our DC No 1 and No 2 guitars with our own Gowen Humbuckers and Gowen 62 Single Coil pickups.