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View Full Version : diverse Vintage Les Paul types



Jimi75
May 11th, 2009, 07:16 AM
Well, on friday I had a day off, so went to my local delaer who is a certified dealer now for Vintage guitars. He's got almost the entire programm hanging there so I have checked some of the guitars. First thing I have figured out is that you have huge - and I mean huge - differences in the instruments, even if they derive of the same batch/lot. Two V100 Standards and both sounded and felt completely different, so no guitars that you want to order online or buy on ebay. The Vintage guitars feel great regarding the measurments, they seem very tuning stable and the factory set up is really good. Anyways, I wasn't totally convinced/overwhelmed, there's still some work to be done on these guitars to bring them to life! The basic instrument you get at Vintage is let us say the best LP copy and basic you can get and the price is a dream. I'd say you will have to change the pus for sure, also the capacitors and the potis as well as the poti knobs, 'cause those are really super cheapo stuff! The factory pus sound sterile, especially the bridge pus, the neck is a little muddy. I know that the Vintage owners, especially those owning the Lemon Drop (although I have played on great model of the LD), will bash on me now! There was one model that really blew me away and it was the V100WR, it is the model with the mini humbuckers. A gorgeous guitar, perfect sound and definitely an instrument that gave me some G.A.S. Unfortunately, the guy didn't have the gold top model with the P90's that is actually something I would love to get my hands on. He said it's to extraordinary and he will not have the chance to sell it. Sad, I am not going to order something without having checked it. Like I said, there is a good Vintage guitar for all of us, but you have to find it! The soundclips I have heard of the gold top model sound horrible! But seeing the general quality of theses Vintage guitars I could imagine creating an awesomely sounding Gold Top with a good pair of P90's or even a good pair of Seymour Duncan Antiquities. I have also shortly played the Vintage SG model. It was okay, but the Epi vintage-400 I have once played in a store was lightyears better. Here in Germany we only have 20 Gibson dealers, because Gibson changed its policy. A dealer has to invest 70thousand Euros in Gibson & Epiphone guitars to obtain the right to do business with Gibson!!!! Can you imagine that? Almost 94thousand USD!!!! I have heard so many good things about the Epis recently and so I guess I will have to check some of these in the near future, especially the 56' gold top model. anyways, tough times though for Gibson here in Germany, tough times for those looking for Epis. Definitely a chance for Vintage guitars and definitely a chance for vintage to raise the prices due to the higher demand.

One more thing:
I was offered a Boss DD-6....have checked it....forget about it. Such an unnatural sounding delay can destroy the whole beauty of a good amph. Not worthy writing a review on this thing. I have heard DD-3 and DD-7 are way more harmonic and natural sounding.

Take it easy folks!
J75

markb
May 11th, 2009, 02:49 PM
Jimi, I tried one of the gold top Vintages a while back. The factory setup was nothing to write home about. The neck needed more relief and the tailpiece was set far too low robbing sustain and making the guitar feel "tight". The P90s were noisy as heck even in the middle position. It could have been a good guitar but needed a lot more thrown at it as it stood. No wonder the shop had taken $200 off the price. I also tried a black V100 back a bit further, it was underwhelming too. At that time I ended up buying a used Epi G-400 for half the price to get my Gibson fix.

Tip: If you want a warm sounding digital delay, seek out an old Boss DD-2 or one of the early DD-3s. They got colder as production went on, the chips changed. The DD-2 and early DD-3 have an analogue dry signal path.

Lev
May 13th, 2009, 05:17 AM
Nice review Jimi. I think you need to consider Vintage guitars for what they are - really cheap copies of classic instruments. For what they are they do a great job. It must be considered also that these guitars were originally intended just for sale in the UK, I've seen them showing up now on German websites like Thomann at 30/40% more than the UK price.

At the UK price they are fantastic value. The '56 P90 Gold Top I can get for about €150, the equivalent Epi is in the €500 region and the Gibson €2000+.

Is the Vintage as good a guitar as the Epi? Well some may say yes but as with everything at these price points you need to find a good one from the batch. I would recommend Vintage to any player starting out but for experienced players looking for 'that tone' you probably won't find it in a Vintage.

Having said all that I really like my Lemon Drop but I don't gig with it, for gigs I'll always go for the reliability and piece of mind that my US Deluxe Strat gives me.

Jimi75
May 13th, 2009, 05:22 AM
Nice review Jimi. I think you need to consider Vintage guitars for what they are - really cheap copies of classic instruments. For what they are they do a great job. It must be considered also that these guitars were originally intended just for sale in the UK, I've seen them showing up now on German websites like Thomann at 30/40% more than the UK price.

At the UK price they are fantastic value. The '56 P90 Gold Top I can get for about €150, the equivalent Epi is in the €500 region and the Gibson €2000+.

Is the Vintage as good a guitar as the Epi? Well some may say yes but as with everything at these price points you need to find a good one from the batch. I would recommend Vintage to any player starting out but for experienced players looking for 'that tone' you probably won't find it in a Vintage.

Having said all that I really like my Lemon Drop but I don't gig with it, for gigs I'll always go for the reliability and piece of mind that my US Deluxe Strat gives me.

+100!

I should consider visiting you and buying that guitar for 150 though :-)
The flight with Ryan Air cost me about 29€, hahahaha!

Lev
May 13th, 2009, 06:19 AM
+100!

I should consider visiting you and buying that guitar for 150 though :-)
The flight with Ryan Air cost me about 29€, hahahaha!


I was wrong, I can actually get it for €132 :)
http://www.audiocity.ie/store/sl_product_info.php/manufacturers_id//products_id/327