Vintage brand guitars

[dave robinson]

Over the past few years, I have taken a keen interest in budget equipment and guitars and have had very good results when using such kit. As well as Fender, Gibson, Gretsch & Burns, I have amassed a large collection of more modestly priced guitars which have in all honesty made a mighty impression upon me, as I keep saying there's never been a better time to be a guitarist.
Amongst my collection I have excellent guitars from G&L (the Tribute series) , Alan Entwistle (Rapier 33 & Revelation) SX Strat which cost me £80 on eBay and is excellent along with Vintage instruments from John Hornby Skews in Leeds, along with Trevor Wilkinson.
The Vintage copy of the Peter Green Les Paul (Lemon Drop) and their 'Paradise' (Slash Tribute) sound amazing and compare very well against a real Gibson Les Paul Standard in every way. I also have The Vintage SG, which too compares favourably with it's Gibson master. I have acoustic models, the Gordon Giltrap and Paul Brett 12 string, each superior to my £3000+ Martin in sound and playability, which in fairness shouldn't be anywhere close at the price.
So to the my point, has anyone here tried the Vintage Stratocaster ? It's the only one I have yet to try as I have a V52 Telecaster which sounds and plays as good as my Fenders', but I struggle with that Vintage headstock, which to me spoils it as it's ugly in comparison to other manufacturers efforts. I know it's like that because of copyright, even Leo Fender who invented and designed the original, wasn't allowed to use it on his G&L, resulting in their current effort which I also don't like much.
I have noticed that there's enough wood on those Vintage headstocks to re-cut them to my liking and I may try that, but what I'm asking is, has anyone here got, or had the Vintage V6 Stratocaster style guitar and had pleasing results with it for our music ?

[dave robinson]

I found a Vintage V6 'Reissued' Strat in black for £130 so it was a no brainer to capture it. Watch this space if you want to know what it's like.

[dave robinson]

I collected the Vintage V6 from Nottingham earlier today and when I met the guy he also showed me an Encore Strat in light blue that had this amazing neck, one of the finest feeling necks I ever held and played. I remarked how good it was and he said ' you can have it for a tenner" so needless to say that came home with me as well as the Vintage V6, which was target.
The Vintage was flawless in set up and plays like a dream, great Shads sound is there in spades. I had half an hour with a phillips screwdriver and my allen keys and tweaked it to my spec, then took them down to my studio for a blast. The Vintage V6 sounds and plays as good as any Strat I own, or have ever played and I can't believe I got it for £130 - it's in brand new condition. The downside is the colour which is black, but I'll live with that.
Now for the Encore which I also auditioned after giving it similar treatment with the screwdriver and hex key on the bridge.
Tremolo system is one of those that we frown upon around here, so I wasn't expecting too much by way of 'THAT SOUND' but I have to say that I learned something else today. The magic tone that I had assumed was a result of the heavy blocks on the other guitars was still there in spades, so it isn't the block where the magic lay. I can only assume now that it's to do with my neck 'set up' and how flat it is and how low I have the action and how I play. There's a 'quack' when I hit the strings a certain way that is still there on this cheap Encore Strat, something I would never have expected to hear. It's hard to describe but give you an idea of the sound, listen to the raking notes that Hank plays in the 'Please Don't Tease' solo and 'The Savage' & Frightened City', that's what I'm hearing here.
It can only be to do with the reaction of the strings on the neck and pickups, the way it's picked up and amplified.
I'd be interested in anybody else's thoughts on this because it's something we hadn't considered before.

[shadphil]

Hi Dave, to me having had the best gear and sounding nothing like Hank its in the playing technique, considering all the gear that is available to us now compared to what was available in the 60's you would think it would be simple
to emulate that sound. we've all played the same songs for all these years and still chasing that sound but there are only a few players that ive heard that are as near as it can get. Its the technique as you said hitting the strings in a certain way etc
but no two players play the same. phil

[dave robinson]

It's true Phil that a large percentage of the sound is in the hands of the player, but my point in these discussions is about the essential contributions from the guitars, amps and echo boxes. I learned something today if you look at my last post about the neck action and the attack that it gives the notes, depending on how you pick.
I was ready to believe that it was the heavy steel tremolo block that made such a difference, but it isn't and this is why I find it such a fascinating subject.

[Tigerdaisy]

I've had a number of 'Vintage' guitars very mostly excellent value for money and they are a good base for upgrading. I've had two Vintage Strats- good sound but one of them had a poorly finished body with a serious flat on the overall body profile- sent it back to Guitarbitz who weren't too keen to take it back... A 'gold top' with P90s, a SG type and a Tele type V52, all really great guitars. I'd say the Strats lean towards a Tonerider Surfari sound, i.e. a 'brighter' sound.

[dave robinson]

Thanks Martin that's interesting. This week I picked up a Vintage V52 reliced Telecaster and a couple of days later the Vintage V6 Strat, which was unreliced and finished in black, which I was never a fan of, but for £130 I don't care. The Telecaster is amazing and sound like my two Fenders', whilst The Strat plays great with it's flatter neck than the 7.5 radius of my real '62 & '63 models, but the Wilkinson pickups sound terrific and compare very favourably with the 'real ones'. If anything, I noticed that the pickups weren't over trebly and the V6 comes with the bridge pickup wired to the tone control as standard, which is something I've been doing to my Fenders' for as long as I can remember to lose the harshness that I sometimes heard.
Because I don't like the Vintage head-stock, I took my jigsaw to them and there's enough wood to reshape into the lovely Fender design and because I paid so little for them I threw caution to the wind and made the changes. I won't take the Vintage logo off though, It just pleases me when I glance to my left and see that iconic shape instead of the enforced patent headstock shape. Sound-wise I could be playing a £4000 Masterbuilt Strat as there is no difference. No doubt somebody will be able to tell when they see it close up, but I'm past caring about folks with such shallow opinions. Experience has taught me to ignore the 'experts' who know it all but can play f-all.

[Tigerdaisy]

Thanks Martin that's interesting. This week I picked up a Vintage V52 reliced Telecaster and a couple of days later the Vintage V6 Strat, which was unreliced and finished in black, which I was never a fan of, but for £130 I don't care. The Telecaster is amazing and sound like my two Fenders', whilst The Strat plays great with it's flatter neck than the 7.5 radius of my real '62 & '63 models, but the Wilkinson pickups sound terrific and compare very favourably with the 'real ones'. If anything, I noticed that the pickups weren't over trebly and the V6 comes with the bridge pickup wired to the tone control as standard, which is something I've been doing to my Fenders' for as long as I can remember to lose the harshness that I sometimes heard.
Because I don't like the Vintage head-stock, I took my jigsaw to them and there's enough wood to reshape into the lovely Fender design and because I paid so little for them I threw caution to the wind and made the changes. I won't take the Vintage logo off though, It just pleases me when I glance to my left and see that iconic shape instead of the enforced patent headstock shape. Sound-wise I could be playing a £4000 Masterbuilt Strat as there is no difference. No doubt somebody will be able to tell when they see it close up, but I'm past caring about folks with such shallow opinions. Experience has taught me to ignore the 'experts' who know it all but can play f-all.

Lol! I agree about the headstock, but I don't care as I'm more interested in being able to play and also the sound that comes out!

[dave robinson]

The important thing is to continue to enjoy the music which I am doing, to the extent of now wanting to investigate the recent Fender Acoustatronic guitars.

[Uncle Fiesta]

I've never had a Vintage Strat, but do have a V60, their version of the Flying V, and I love it. The first time I changed strings, I fitted a Maestro vibrato and took the opportunity for a quick look inside. Bit disappointed to find a set of mini-pots in there, but pleasantly surprised when I noticed the pickups had 4-conductor wiring.

And here it is!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj_H_I2Isyo

On the other hand I had a Vintage SG a few years back, and hated it so much I sold it on as soon as I could. A lady I had been going out with bought it - I never saw her again so presumably she didn't like it either.