Vintage guitars

[JimN]

There used to be a free magazine, in guitar shops, called 'Gear' which did reviews of lots of Vintage make guitars, they were always in it. I can't remember ever reading a bad review of any of these guitars, whether it be SG, LP, Strat, Tele, Casino type, and Gretsch type.
Ryan

But irrespective of the quality of Vintage brand guitars, you were hardly likely to read a bad word about them in the free magazine published by their distributor.

[JimN]

I always seem to have problems finding out anything about Vintage make guitars on the internet (apart from people playing rock music on youtube) as when you put Vintage guitars into the search engine, it brings up old expensive (vintage) guitars. I don't even know if they've got their own website, i'd love to know if anyone finds it?
Cheers
Ryan

http://www.jhs.co.uk/vintageelectric.html

[Ryan]

Hi Jim,
Thanks for the link, enjoyed having a look at their different guitars. I had a look at the Danelectro guitars aswell whilst i was on there, don't seem to see these as much nowadays in the guitar shops local to me.
I wasn't aware that the Gear magazine was something to do with the Vintage brand, there was always other brands in the magazine aswell, not just guitars but equipment aswell.
Cheers for the info
Ryan

[roger bayliss]

Fret King are the Wilkinson up market variants of the Vintage range. Wonder if they are any better

[David Martin]

In my experience, the Fret Kings built in the Far East are poor... Nowhere near as good as the Vintage guitars. I've played a number in the shops and bought a Ventura bass which I sent back. Poor fret finishing, sharp edges, rough tops... Poor neck fit etc... Avoid.

[RUSSET]

I must state that my experience of Fret-King, which is limited to the one guitar of theirs that I own is that they are pretty good . Mine is an Éclat 2 from their Blue label range. It is in a nicely finished Cherry with gloss lacquer, & has 2 x P90 type pickups, one vol., one tone & a 3-way selector. It is basically an LP Junior copy, & well put together. If I remember correctly it cost about £299 from an internet supplier about 5 years ago, but I note that they are RRP £555 at present on the Fret-King website.

As far as the tipping headstock on the SG copies that is a usual feature on that model, as the body is a lot thinner than most other guitar bodies & therefore lighter, I have found on my Vintage SG that using a reasonably wide Suede strap (2" +) stops it completely. The Suede grips on your shirt/jacket, almost like Velcro.

Tony.

[AlanMcKillop]

Well, after the reviews here I thought I'd search for one of these. I had a Gibson Les Paul in the early 70.s and never really got on with it, I found it heavy and quite awkward. So not wanting to splash the cash if the same issues I had 40 years ago, were still prevalent today, I managed to locate a V100 CS (Cherry Sunburst) within 6 miles at less than half price. It was virtually unplayed, still had the plastic film in place on the pickguard etc, so I reckoned I had nothing to lose. I haven't played it through an amp yet, but the finish is superb for such a cheap instrument, the body looks superb, so I'm delighted.

[JimN]

Hi Jim,
Thanks for the link, enjoyed having a look at their different guitars. I had a look at the Danelectro guitars aswell whilst i was on there, don't seem to see these as much nowadays in the guitar shops local to me.
I wasn't aware that the Gear magazine was something to do with the Vintage brand, there was always other brands in the magazine aswell, not just guitars but equipment aswell.
Cheers for the info
Ryan

Everything in that magazine was distributed by JHS. It wasn't a secret.

[dave robinson]

I have just had a work out with my V100 through the amp and had a go at Parisienne Walkways - the sustain is perfect, it nailed that long note no problem, I love it !

[stephen]

Hi Jim,
Thanks for the link, enjoyed having a look at their different guitars. I had a look at the Danelectro guitars aswell whilst i was on there, don't seem to see these as much nowadays in the guitar shops local to me.
I wasn't aware that the Gear magazine was something to do with the Vintage brand, there was always other brands in the magazine aswell, not just guitars but equipment aswell.
Cheers for the info
Ryan

Ryan,
If it's of interest to you, you can receive the JHS 'Gear' magazine by email.
Try requesting that one is sent regularly to you. I'm sure that they'll be happy to oblige.
marketing@jhs.co.uk

Stephen.