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One to watch, "Vintage" brand guitars.

36K views 114 replies 40 participants last post by  torndownunit 
#1 ·
I posted this over in the Tokai forum and I thought I'd post it here as well to give people a "heads up" on this brand.

I came across these guitars when I was at a guitar shop here in Toronto called Ring Music. These guitars are made in Vietnam and the hardware and pickups are designed by Trevor Wilkinson. Not only do they have a regular lineup of Strat and Les Paul types but they also have "Relic" type guitars of those models which is what they had at Ring Music. Here's a link to their website: http://www.ringmusic.com/productlist.php?category_id=4 and at the bottom of the page you'll see the various models. Click on the name and you'll see what they look like. The Vintage V100 Icon was the one I was trying out.

The prices for these guitars are ridiculously low for the quality you're getting. The V100 definitely had that LP sound and it was certainly the weight of an LP! If I wasn't in the market for a Love Rock right now (which I'll be getting soon) I would have picked this one up. These would make great backup guitars. Also be sure to check out the British homepage for these guitars at http://www.jhs.co.uk/vintageelectric.html Scroll down to the "V100 Icon Series" and be sure to check out the V100 "Lemon Drop" guitar which is based on Peter Greens Les Paul. I e-mailed the Canadian distributor inquiring about that model and I hope they get it over here. (Update: The Canadian distributor e-mailed me and told me that Ring Music would have the "Lemon Drop" guitars in 4 weeks time.) Of course the headstocks aren't exact copies like the older Tokais but these guitars definitely have a cool vibe to them. If you find one in your area try one out and I think you'll find it hard to resist buying one.
 
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#3 ·
I saw those at retrotown in Ottawa and the lemon drop is awesome...better than most Gibby's I've played lately!
 
#5 ·
Vintage

They certainly look good
I'd like to buy the relic strat and throw a dense Warmoth neck on it
 
#6 ·
I have seen these before on other forums, but they were only available overseas. They make some cool looking guitars. I was really interested in their Les Paul Special and Jr. models, but couldn't find anyone that carried them in North America.

I think for awhile they were making EXACT copies visually of Fender and Gibsons, which means they wouldn't have been able to distribute them here. It looks like they have changed a few design elements now.
 
#9 ·
Thanks for all the responses guys. Yeah BHarris, I should have mentioned the basses and they have a "relic"-ed selection of those as well. So Ottawa has the "Lemon Drop" guitar? I'm jealous. I've got to wait another 4 weeks. :frown: I'm definitely considering picking one up when they do get here. I didn't try any of the Strat models as I'm really in the market for a Les Paul type guitar now but I'm sure their tones probably sound quite authentic. I've already got two Tokai Strats and a genuine Fender Strat. Torndownunit, yeah that would be an interesing combination for an LP type guitar and I'm wondering how it would sound. Once again, these guitars really do represent outstanding value for the money and I can't wait to try out that "Lemon Drop" model.
 
#11 ·
Rumble_b said:
Cool stuff. I read about them in a British mag a awhile ago but didn't think they were in Canada.
Yeah I didn't even know they were here until I checked out the Ring Music website. On the JHS website they have PDFs of some of the reviews from a couple of the British guitar magazines and they rate them very highly.
 
#12 ·
They're finally here.

I know this is an old topic but I was just checking out the Ring Music website and they finally have some Lemon Drop guitars in stock. That was an awfully long 4 weeks huh? :wink: To be fair though, I was there about 2 months ago and they did order some but they were rejected because they didn't feel the quality was high enough. I'll be heading over there soon to check them out and, who knows, I just may end up with yet *another* new guitar! :smile:
 
#14 ·
Somehow I don't think we'll see these guitars here in the States any time soon. I'm sure they're really sweet guitars for the price, but in my opinion (even thought I'm not a lawyer) they've got "lawsuit" written all over them, especially the LP copies. But I may be wrong, someone's probably working out a distribution deal even as I'm writing this!
 
#15 ·
Fantastic! I've been really curious to check out their 335 style guitar made of carved solid woods instead of the usual ply. Ring is a short walk from my apartment. I can't wait to see if the British mags are giving them great reviews on their own merits or because Vintage is one of their biggest advertisers. I'll find out the truth soon enough.
 
#16 ·
Actually what they were doing at first was duplicating Fender and Gibson guitars but they got wind of this and told them to stop, so now they do get close but not close enough to be sued. If you look at the body shapes and the headstock you'll see what I mean.

Somehow I don't think we'll see these guitars here in the States any time soon. I'm sure they're really sweet guitars for the price, but in my opinion (even thought I'm not a lawyer) they've got "lawsuit" written all over them, especially the LP copies. But I may be wrong, someone's probably working out a distribution deal even as I'm writing this!
 
#18 ·
Lucky you! :smile: These really are surprisingly good guitars. I tried out the LP type and it really was a good playing and sounding guitar. No fretting out, no dead spots, no intonation problems. Ring Music also has some nice Vintage brand basses there as well based on the Fender designs.

Fantastic! I've been really curious to check out their 335 style guitar made of carved solid woods instead of the usual ply. Ring is a short walk from my apartment. I can't wait to see if the British mags are giving them great reviews on their own merits or because Vintage is one of their biggest advertisers. I'll find out the truth soon enough.
 
#19 ·
Actually what they were doing at first was duplicating Fender and Gibson guitars but they got wind of this and told them to stop, so now they do get close but not close enough to be sued. If you look at the body shapes and the headstock you'll see what I mean.
Yeah, I see what you mean. They're pretty close but not exact. But knowing American lawyers one of them is going to look at them and think, "Hmmmm...."!
 
#21 ·
The local guitar shop has picked up this line and I had the oppurtunity to play/setup a Icon relic strat. They don't come well setup but the wilkinson hardware is nice to work with especially the trem. You can dive bomb this trem and it comes back in tune.... nice. The Wilkinson pups provide a nice strat sound and the feel of the guitar is good, almost real vintage. For 400 bucks they take my choice over a MIM strat. Waiting for the LP Junior to come in... :D
 
#23 ·
Well I went over to the store earlier this evening and they had one of the "Lemon Drop" guitars on display and it looked okay but they did say on the website there were Lemon Drop guitars (plural) in stock so I knew there had to be more than one so I asked the sales guy if he had any more of them and at first he seemed kind of surprised but then he told me there were 2 more of them in storage downstairs and he got another guy to go down and bring up both of them. They were both in cases and they opened them up for me.

The first one had a really nice tiger stripe finish on it and the second one had a similar finish but it was a lighter colour. I told him I wanted to try the first one so I did. It played well and sounded quite good. It also has an out of phase sound to it as the neck pickup is put in upside down just like Peter Green did with his Les Paul all those years ago. It sounds pretty cool to me, not like a typical Les Paul, more of what I would describe as kind of a "hollow" sound. Anyway I ended up buying the guitar and I'll take some photos of it tomorrow. The case is also nice, it's made by Kinsman and it's kind of a cross between a hard and soft shell case. Included in the case is the original tag and Q.C. control for the guitar. BTW if there are any Toronto Tele players out there reading this, they also have a nice Vintage Brand Tele there. BTW the price I paid for this guitar was only $499.99 plus tax. I bought a strap and strings for it as well and the case was $89.95 so all in all a good deal. They've got two Lemon Drops left now, who'll be next to buy one? :wink:
 
#26 ·
...the vr100 series (lp double cut) definitely interests me!

-dh
Ya I'd love to try that one out as well. The other one I really like is the Vintage VR100LM because I love LP Specials. The double-cut is mahogany though, and the Special is Poplar which is pretty odd. If it was Mahogany I'd be in the car trying to track one down. I am still waiting for someone to manufacture a budget LP Special copy that is mahogany.

The Teles look interesting as well.
 
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