Alden Phantasia 6

Iconic, angular Vox Phantom styled basswood body; bolt-on maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, 21 frets. 3 x Fender-style (but hotter) single coil pickups designed by Alan Entwhistle. Strat-style 5-way selector switch, volume & two tone knobs.

Six in-line chrome Kluson-style machine heads and generic make, Bigsby style chrome vibrato mechanism. Chrome (Wilkinson?) roller bridge. White Phantom-style scratch plate with black edging.

I love the sound this guitar makes! It covers all the bases the original Phantom was designed for; glorious deep twang, spacey vibrato and spiky clean lead. It can also handle creamy jazz chords on the neck pickup with the volume backed off slightly from max and the tone almost fully rolled off.

The 5-way selector also allows relatively modern (compared to the Vox original) Strat tones along the lines of funk, Knopfler, etc. I'm sure it would handle crunch and high gain work too.

Some pickup buzz at full gain when in the proximity of an amp (see previous post for a good fix).

I've had a '79 hardtail Fender Strat from new and this matches it for sound and exceeds its versatility in terms of the vibrato. The pickups remind me of the Jim Burns single coils on my '66 Baldwin Vibraslim, which always beat my Strat for output - the tone is very similar although the Baldwin is a semi.

I'm using it currently for recording and it produces a rich recorded tone through a Pod XT Live and better again through my 30th Anniversary Marshall 6101. As with most Strats, care is needed to avoid pickup buzz.

The guitar came by courier from Cranes Music. It had been well packed and the chromeware was well-protected by polythene film (which took some removing from around the bridge and vibrato!). It needed a good set-up when purchased (intonation and bridge adjustments) but sounded great thereafter. The pickup adjustment was fine out of the box. No flaws whatsoever. The vibrato was locked to prevent transit damage and was easily set up.

It seems to love live playing. The unusual shape makes using some traditional types of guitar stand impossible, but I've found that Hercules herculesstands.com make a good one where a neck grip holds the guitar and the foam-covered legs keep it steady.

So far (over two years since purchase) everything still looks brand new. The strap buttons are fine.

It's never let me down yet, although I would always take a backup to a paying gig!

It came with a one-year warranty from Cranes & I'm sure they'd help if I needed it. They were excellent to deal with, so much so that I bought a matching Alden Phantasia 12-string, also in white - they make a handsome pair and the 12-string's sound is really amazing.

I've been playing live since 1965. Too much accumulated gear to list, but my other main electrics are my '79 hardtail Fender Strat in the Antigua finish and my blonde '66 Baldwin Vibraslim, both from new and both still in use. The looks and sound of my 6 and 12-string Aldens are up with both of them.

If it were stolen I'd go after it and get it back! Failing that, I'd certainly get another.

It compares very well indeed with all the other single-coil solids I've owned and/or played over the years and it has a unique sound and style.

A fitted case would be nice.

Vox Phantom style - one piece solid basswood. White , white scratch plate, chromed hardware
Wilkinson roller bridge and Bigsby Style tremelo
Kluson-type machine heads
Controls: Volume, 2 Tone, 5 way Pickup selector with Push Pull to select 1 & 3 or All pickups
3 single pole Entwistle pickups
Bolt on Neck, Maple ,rosewood, 21 frets

Similar to 57 style Stratocaster but with more punch.
Excellent with Marshall amplification, good with Vox AC30.
Some "static" clipping when straight into digital recording deck,

Finish good.
Pickups very responsive (seem to have enhanced output).
Some intonation set up required.
Some delicate lubrication of Bigsy style set up to aleaviate return to correct pitch

Resiliant
Hardware appear ok
Strap button changed for locking type fixtures.
I would never rely on a single guitar for any performance.
Finish may last ask me in 5 years

Supplier excellent

Player for 48 years, with a reasonable collection of instruments.
Better than some of the guitars I have had ( especially the original Vox Phantoms).
Favourite feature : its looks

Finish: White gloss, white scratch plate, chrome hardware
Body: Vox phantom angular style - one piece solid wood
Neck: bolt on
Bridge: Wilkinson roller bridge
Tuners: Kluson style
Neck scale: 25
Accessories: Lead, allen spanners for setting up and truss rod adjustment
Made: 2006
Frets: 21 - medium-jumbo
Controls: vol and 2 tones with 5 way selector
Config: S/S/S
Pickup make: Alden
Woods: Neck - Maple/rosewood, body - unknown (poss. basswood)

This sounds pretty much like a Fender Stratocaster. It's wired in the same way with three pickups in parallel through a 5 way switch. It also has a push pull pot which engages the bridge pickup for the 3-at-once pickup sound. It's pretty punchy sounding and has the 'quack' you'd expect when using two pickups together. If you wanted to change the pickups then anything that'd fit a Strat will fit this - but really there's no need, the stock pickups are very good. Being single coils they do pick up a bit of RF so I shielded the scratch plate and body cavities on mine with aluminium - this helped a lot.

I play it through a Vox AC30 with no effects. It covers all the usual Strat style tones from bright and airey to beefy twang. If you want the Strat Quack that's there too. Crank up the gain and it delivers a 'tough' alt.rock sound.

This guitar is based on the angular bodied Phantom guitars made by Vox in the 1960s. It has a maple neck and rosewood fingerboard with medium-jumbo frets. The body is one-piece solid wood, possible basswood but I'm no expert. It has three fairly hot (6-7k) single coil pickups, an excellent Wilkinson roller bridge and a generic 'Bigsby B5' style trem. The tuners are chromed 'Kluson' style units.

The factory set up was way off so a good setup was necessary. I set the intonation and adjusted the bridge height then it was fine. Once this was done the guitar played very well. Because of the body shape the guitar is a little neck-heavy but not so much that it's a problem. The guitar itself is very light.

The finish on the body is a little rough around the neck pocket. Some fine tuning with wet-and-dry paper soon sorted this and considering I paid so little for the guitar I don't have a problem with this. The neck finish is very good, smooth poly with a vintage yellow stain. The neck plays very well, no sharp fret ends.

Hardware is all great, the tuners are smooth and positive in operation. The trem does what it's supposed to and the solid Wilkinson bridge is easy to set up. In use it keeps it's tuning very well even when using the trem.

I have used this guitar as a backup (to another Alden guitar) in a live situation and I've no reason to believe that it wouldn't stand up to long-term gigging. It's solid enough and all the hardware, though generic, works well and feels solid.

Would I use it on a gig without a backup? No, I wouldn't trust any guitar without a backup, only a fool would.

I can't imagine that I would ever need it but if I did I'd contact Cranes Music where I bought it. The guitar is pretty simple and well built. Anything that could do wrong would be down to wear and tear so I'd sort it myself.

I've been playing for 20+ years. I have lots of other guitars by Gretsch, Gibson, Fender and lately Alden. If it were stolen I'd wrestle it back and batter the thief round the head with it and still expect it to hold it's tuning perfectly.

What do I love about it? It looks strange and has acres of chrome.
What do I hate about it? Nothing
Favourite feature? Looks

This was the first Alden guitar I bought and I admit that I only bought it for it's looks. I've always loved Vox Phantoms but wouldn't pay the crazy money for an original. I half expected this to be a load of old pony, especially considering the low price. However I was pleasantly surprised by how good this guitar plays and sounds. I've since bought two more Aldens and intend buying more.

The only slight gripes I have are so very minor considering the price. Alan Entwhistle is doing a great job in providing beautiful retro designs on workmanlike guitars at very affordable prices.