GUITAR BOARD

Thinking of buying one of these.

Anybody tried one?

Bren wrote in news:62ojsfF24mi8vU1
@mid.individual.net:


I have one, although its not quite a 335 as the body is smaller.
Its an excellent guitar, with a solid carved maple top (as opposed
to the usual laminate). The setup when I bought it (via eBay) was
pretty terrible, but after a once over, it plays really well. The
tuners look and feel to touch, really flimsy and a bit cheap, but
they are rock solid on the tuning front. Pick ups sound very good
indeed, although they are a touch bright and work well. The roll
control is of limited usefulness as it sounds very thin and, TBH,
a regular tone control would have been better, but that can be fixed
easily.

Bridge and tailpiece are OK and, all in all, its hard to fault at
the price. I tried it side by side with my genuine Gibson 335 and
it was pretty good - way better than an Epi 335 fared. The Gibson
had a shade more depth, and was slightly mellower at the top end. On
overdrive, there really wasnt a lot in it. If you can get over the
label, youre getting a *lot* of guitar for the money.

Ive gigged with this guitar and its pretty robust, with good live
sound through a tube amp and rock solid tuning. I paid Ł210 for
it from an eBay trader, but it arrived badly shook up in transit
because of poor packing - this might have also been the cause of the
poor set-up but, after Ł30 spent on a setup, its a really good guitar.

The reason I bought the guitar was because I needed something to gig
with as I was too scared to take the Gibson. Its filled the bill
really well.

soupdragon wrote:


A solid *carved* maple top?

Really?

That would make it equivalent to the top-flight of the Gibson / Heritage
/ Guild-Benedetto ranges (and way better than the actual 335 / ES175 /
Lucille, etc, all of which have pressed ply tops).

JNugent wrote in message
news:JJCdnRg62pC761XanZ2dnUVZ8hednZ2d@pipex.net...

The carved maple top is *one* of the things that attracted me to this
guitar. Also (from the website)

the Vintage AV3 is carved from a solid block of premium mahogany, resulting
in a reduced weight acoustically chambered body with solid centre block.



Solid block of premium mahogany ??!!



Where would you get this kind of build quality for less than Ł1 - 1 1/2 k ?



And Wilkinson hardware has built up a very good reputation in recent years!

Ive had a couple of Vintages in the past (SG copy & electro-dobro)
and they were both great guitars for the money (Ł100 & Ł150 second-
hand, respectively). I just wish theyd make an ES125 copy - that
would definitely open the piggy-bank.

JNugent wrote in
news:JJCdnRg62pC761XanZ2dnUVZ8hednZ2d@pipex.net:


Really! Its something of a selling point by Vintage.
Also see the Guitarist review about 9 months back who
commented on it. Its made in China, so costs are much
lower.


Well, yes, but there are bits other than the top. The back and side
are routed from a single piece of mahogany - Tele Thinline style, which
is probably not quite as good as a built back and side. Also the neck
is spliced to the headstock to strengthen it in typical Chinese/Korean
style of starting around the 2nd fret, rather than the jazz style of
almost under the nut, and so better hidding it.

Bren wrote in
news:62rdunF25g7glU1@mid.individual.net:


TBH I wouldnt describe the mahogany as premium. Premium mahogany has
very noticible banding. The back of my guitar is decidedly plain and
made with 3 pieces - reasonably matched, Id add.


Only the tuners and the pickups are Wilkinson. The rest is generic
Chinese including pots, jack socket bridge and stop bar, but it seems
to work reasonably well. As I said, Ive gigged this guitar for 4
months, twice a week, and it seems to be holding up.