Valley Arts California Pro

VA California Pro probably made in the late 80's/early 90's. 22 fret neck, cherry sunburst SOLID body strat ( that means no glue lines), volume/tone and that's it. vintage trem, SSH duncan designed ups. Has the recessed area spanning the upper/lower bouts at the neck joint for a little better access.Gotoh tuners. It does have the black with cream binding headstock but I don't believe its a Samick. Neck plate says 'Valley Arts - A California company" inside the neck-joint cavity is the VA logo stamped with a handwritten s/n and the VA logo is on the back of the neck at the body cavity joint. This may be a transitional guitar at the final days of VA before the sale.
One thing to note here: This guitar has the jack on the side lower corner as opposed to the standard strat recessed jack on the top. I mention this bcause I own a Samick VA and the jack is on top. All tru VA's I've seen have the jack on the side.

Sound is pretty standard with the pups but they are a little bit noisier than what
I'm used to. ( EMG's in both my other strats) Used with Boogie, Dean Markley. Marshall. I may end up with EMG's just because they are so quiet for the studio work stuff.

Guitar was purchased used so it had to be set up right away and what a difference it made. A quick neck adjust, ontonation and new strings and its a smokin little axe. I can't believe how many guys out there review a used guitar WITHOUT having it set up. DUH!
There is no neck spacer or shim like I've seen in some reviews, just a nice tight joint. A few flaws in the wood but overall, nicer than the brand new American Strat I played a week before grabbing this.

I'd use this guitar live without any qualms; its 20 yrs old and is still kicking. Unless you're doing a Pete Townsend, why wouldn't it last. I wouldn't do any gig w/o a backup though.

none needed and none expected. A used toy.

I've been playing 30 years so I've got a little background behind my judgements here. Guitar is a nice solid piece of gear that I'd gig with and have no problems. Besides, a more expensive axe does not a better play make. As luke once said; its a poor workman who blames his tools.
I love the sunburst finish and the overall quality to price ratio compared to what's out there today. I may put some locking tuners on this as well to keep the wang bar in check ;-).
I'm giving a little higher rating here based on used price and value.

samick made valley arts california pro, 24 fret rosewood board, alder body, maple neck. nice cherry sunburst finish, gold hardware, s-s-h duncan designed pickups.
not the typical valley arts logo & headstock shape on this model, headstock is bound in white. wilkinson vintage style trem.

all styles played here, noisy singles through an overdriven boogie,
o.k. sounding, but the 24 fret neck puts the neck-middle pickups closer together.
volume pot has no range to it, you turn down a bit & all volume is lost.

nice finish, huge gap in the neck joint, plays well, after I set it up. average quality.

I wouldn't gig with this axe.

no warranty, used
no contact with samick.

24 years playing, semi-pro. i've owned a pre-samick valley arts standard pro, similar LOOKING guitar, with a floyd rose trem.
I couldn't stand the floyd, so I sold it. this guitar DOES'NT come close to the quality of the pre-samick. the price was right, so I thought i'd give it a try. you get what you pay for. also, I don't think i'll buy any other guitars without PLAYING them first.
a guitar is such a personal thing, you really need to have it in your hands to know what it's all about.

This guitar is USA made and has 24 frets.Solid Body Carmel Sunburst finish with pearloid pick guard and back plate over(3)tremelo springs.It features a 5-way switch for the 2 single coil and the one rear humbucker PU all Duncan designed style .There is a little noise in between some of the pickups though.The humbucker screams though!It only comes with a single volume and one tone control.I believe the body is ash very light and the neck is maple with a dark rosewood fret board with mother of pearl position markers and skunk stripe down the back of the neck.The finish is a transparent carmel sunburst with beautiful wood grain.This is a Strat type body style.Straight tremolo with no locking nut to get into your way The Way I like them,Strat Style all the way.All Gold hardware with Schaller type tuners.The neck isn't as thin as I would like but a little wider than the 62 Strat I prefer.Very nice Hard Shell Gray Case w/Guitar.

I personally love and play Blues Rock and this guitar does it for me.I play through a Marshall SLX 100 watt dual gain half stack! I use a original 70's CryBaby a new Danelectro DanEcho mid 80's Boss Chorus CE-3 a 70's MXR Flanger and a new Digitech XP-400 Reverberator and once in a while I'll play my DOD Phasor 595 mid 70's pedal. Usually after I have about 3 or 4 of these pedals going its just way to buzzy for me. and I go back to just that good ole Marshall nartual sound.The first time I played thid guitar I felt that the single coils where to bright and the Humbucker was to muddy. After resetting my amp its much better.Ever one knows what Hendrix did with a strat Well this guitar can make the same noise in a good way.The PU's are not noisy until you use the 5 way switch to combine them. Its not bad but very noticable when not playing.

I have heard of other people speaking of a thin spacer board in the neck and body area. I must have gotten a better set up man this neck fits perfect. The action is so good you wonder if there are any strings on this guitar. You can hear the b string buzzing when not amplified.I feel that the neck may need to be adjusted a little. The trust rod is visible and extends past the nut on mine.I have seen others that don't have this.Ever thing on this instrument seems to have been well thought out.All though if youi decide to play the Star Spangled Banner with you teeth the Tremelo Bar will fall out. I think there must have been an o-ring that clicks in place. Because unlike a strat this bar slides in place and you hope it doesn't get lost.

The guitar stays in tune very well even after using the straight tremelo.I can swing it around my neck and the strap stays on because of the locking strap locks.I would never use just one guitar at a show but if I had to I believe I could trust this one all night.

Valley Arts Guitar sold out to Samick and they built a better product I guess the money looked good. This only makes this guitar a much sought after guitar being pre -Samick and Hand Made!

I have been a guitarist for 35 years and like many others Hendrix was my biggist influnce and I'm proud to say I saw him preform twice in my life at the age of 11 and the following year right before his death.I own a Beautiful Flame Maple Sunburst Peavey Oddissey and this is a 59 proto type of the original Les Paul with a few more features and sound.This was the 6th one made.I was sold on this Guitar after playing it and being attracted by its looks and style.I had good feelings about it and went back 3 times before deciding to buy it with no regrets. If I had the money I would have purchased a Hendrix VooDoo Strat but this $1200-$1700 guitar as all the features I want in a guitar.

This guitar was produced in the 90's from Valley Arts in LA. Has 24 frets on rosewood with a maple neck, solid ash body in a smaller scale tele shape. H/S/H configuration with perloid pickguard. The pick-ups are Seymour Duncan Designed. 5 way switch with volume and tone controls. Tune-O-Matic style bridge from Gotoh. All hardware is gold. For a pic you can go to www.guitarscanada.com and check it out. It is finished in trans red. The tuners on this one have been replaced with Sperzel locking.

The guitar will produce several sounds for you. I play mostly blues and it fits nicely with that in the bridge position. 5 way switch and the H/S/H gives you plenty to choose from. A fairly bright sound.

These guitars are very nicely built with the finest of materials and workmanship.

The guitar is solid, heavy and the hardware is top of the line, no issues with that.

Never required

Excellent value for what I paid. Nice playing guitar and a pleasure to look at as well. Very nice construction and top materials. I would seek out another if this one ever got stolen or lost.

Im not sure of the age, its got 22 frets It has a solid top with a transparent finish. The guitar originally had all gold hardware as the previous message. The frets were cheesy, original, fat and seemed to be filed. The style is strat of course with a strat style non locking tremelo. It had three single coil pickups with a five-way switch. The tuners were gold also, with valley arts engraved on them but opon closer inspection they were stamped japan on the backside! I'm unsure of the wood involved, but I'm pretty sure ih has a maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard. There was also a shim under the neck like the previous, so I think that this too is original.

This guitar plays as well as any Strat, Jackson, or what have you.
I play it through a Peavey stereo-chorus and it sounds kill!
Its sounds good, hard and chrunchy, and good clean.
The only real problem with the guitar is the volume knob location when Im playing hard I tend to turn it down so I have to tape it up!

Its hard to say how the guitar was from the factory because I bought it used for just $300 bucks what a steal that was eh. But it was completely original and the previous owner played the living hell out of it. The frets were worn out, The nut was equally exhausted but other than that it was in excellent shape. I had the frets replaced with middle of the road (not too fat, not too thin)it got a new nut and seymour duncan "lil screamer" while in the shop as well. After "he" came home I couldn't stand the gold hardware so I replaced it with all black stuff, including new schaller tuners and I'm planning to install black fret dots to complete the transformation.

I would rely completely on this guitar alone, the only thing that could happen is string breakage Its got dunlop straplocks that I could pull my car with.

no valley arts support anywhere.

Ive been playing for over 15 years and had a buncha axes but this one is a keeper. I also have a fender bass and a 1978 fender musicmaster that is trashed but plays as well as any guitar. I bought the valley arts guitar on reccomendation from a friend and I havent regretted it since. I know what the guitar is worth and not to mention the etreme playability.

Late 80's/early 90's, from Valley Arts US custom shop. Swamp ash strat style body, translucent finish, 22 frets, gold hardware, floyd-licensed trem/locking nut with backroute, H-S-S "duncan designed" pickups, tele-style gold plated (or polished brass) knobs, gold gotoh mini-tuners, bound headstock. One volume, one tone. Bridge hummer splits automatically in position 2, for strat boink.

Sounds like what it is, a strat-type with a floyd. Pretty full mid-neck, a little more hollow high up if you're playing very clean. Some reviewers note that certain VA's are "thin" sounding. I haven't played them all, but I think one should bear in mind that a floyd does something to your tone. The only floyd-equipped guitars I've ever heard that could honestly be described as "fat" sounding are the EVH types, with the pickups screwed into the body wood and the floyd tight against the body. If you float it with a backroute like this, it's gonna be thinner and that's a fact of life. These are't intended to be played thru fender bassmans! Having said that, I'll add that I'd like a little more meat in the tone, especially up top. But I'm playing cleaner as I age; I'm not doing the Vai squeals as much anymore. This guitar is great for hard rock, anything where you'd use a floyd rose. I wouldn't recommend it for vintage or rootsy tones. I'll rate it an 8 for tone, since I think the pickups aren't up to snuff with the rest of the guitar. The woods and hardware are "Tom Anderson" quality; the pickups are Duncan-licensed (translation: duncan designed and made overseas). They're OK, but the guitar deserves better. I believe it was around 1595 retail, which is pretty low for what it is; I think a hundred more and better pickups would have made it a real bargain.

I didn't like the original frets, but I wasn't the original owner and maybe he had done something to them. They were pretty wimpy and low, but kind of wide, which suggests to me that they were ground. I put huge dunlops on it, and it feels great. The neck is just a tad wider than a strat neck, with a flatter radius. There was a shim in the neck/body joint; again, I doubt this was from the factory. I pulled it out and the guitar sounded and felt much better. Fit and finish are outstanding. It's a great piece of wood, and quite dense for swamp ash. The neck is wonderful.

No problem here. It's a tank.

No clue. Never called.

I've been playing 30 years, and I've had a gazillion guitars. This one's as nice as most with a floyd, if you like that sort of thing. It's nicer looking and nicer feeling than, say, an Ibanez JEM, although the JEM has nicer pickups and a little more meat in the tone. I like the neck profile and string spacing, and the body is a nice hunk of wood with a very solid feel. I like the original floyds better than the variations; it seems people keep adding to them, and they're big enough already! I bought this in lieu of a Tom Anderson, since I wasn't sure how much I'd be using the floyd rose, and it was half the price, so even though the TA was obviously a nicer instrument, it was a fair compromise. The only change I'd make is different pickups.