I'm pleased that it isn't only me who has been impressed with their Vintage experiences. For a long time I have respected their Gibson copies as well as their acoustic guitars. I came cross the Gordon Giltrap guitar and after playing it sold my Martin D28 as it became pointless. As beautifully made the Martins' are, the Vintage played and sounded a lot better, acoustically and using the same Fishman system used by Martin. That's what matters to me rather than the bragging rights associated with Martin.
When I finally succumbed to the Vintage Telecasters and Strats, I was blown away with the quality of build, playability and sound and I use my Vintage Strat and the Telecaster a great deal, then when I have a week or so on the Fenders' I can say hand on heart that I notice no difference in quality at all. I love every one of them and to me they are working tools that help me entertain people and earn money. If, what I find and tell people about , saves them a few quid, then that's a result to me.
Incidentally, I'm currently using my Vox MV50 AC with the dedicated 1 x 12 cabinet and it sounds exactly like my Vox AC30/4 with the EF86 tube, I'm loving it. Whether with the TVS3 or Strymon Volante or the Zoom G5n, the Shads sound is to die for. The same amp sounds just as good with the smaller 1 x 8" cabinet. because I have those as well and was really impressed.
If I was a bedroom player, I would be happy with a Vintage V6 Stratocaster, Vox MV50 AC amp and 1 x 8 cabinet and any echo I could get my hands on, as it's the guitar and amp that give the core sound, the echo just makes it better.
What I'm trying to get across is, that in these hard times you can still achieve that magic sound at a fraction of the cost of what you would expect to pay.