Valley Arts Standard Pro

Custom Graphics(panther and jungle scene) over a maple body, maple neck with rosewood board(possibly brazillian?) EMG Single coils, EMG 85 bridge, Kahler/Valley Arts Floyd style trem, volume, tone, 5 way switch, 25.5 scale, 24 frets, 1991 ...would have gotten a 10, but maybe a coil splitter would be cool, or the EMG expander circuit.

Perfect...I use Line6 modeling(the AX2 to be specific) and was a former product specialst for them. This guitar gives me everything I need for most gigs, although I do use a tele and a PRS in my rack....no guitar can do everything..great clean, and shines when hit with Boogie style gain(ala Steve Lukather, who used to use Valley Arts, Pre Music Man deal)I could not be happier...quiet, also.

I got the guitar used, but I know the old Pre Samick, Pre Gibson Valley Arts stuff...I'm sure it came from the factory just perfect...the finish is flawless, and I could find NO flaws at all. The maple body is bright, probably being a great match for the EMG's which I have found on other guitars to be muddy...just a bit. Brilliant guitar...I don't tend to write these reviews, and being a former Line6 product cat, I do get alot of calls to help other people get their tone...this is one of the finest guitars I think I've ever had the pleasure of playing, and I got to play lots of good ones at NAMM.

Playing live, I'm sure this guitar can take it. I mean, Luke toured with his for years...and as it stands right now, the axe is 16 years old, and still has years left in it. Yeah, i can depend on it, whether in the studio, or on stage. I never go to a gig without my other 2 guitars, as I do so many different styles of music. I also should mention after talking with a former Valley Arts employee, this is the only Standard Pro ever done in this finish.

As Gibson owns Valley Arts now, and has at least 2 old Valley Arts employees there (Including Mike McGuire, Mr. VA himself)...I can tell you the former employee I spoke to was just brilliant, and a gentleman. These people love guitars.

I'm a studio/touring pro for 27 years now..I
ve had tons of stuff over the years...this guitar is right up there with my old MM Luke, and my current PRSCE24 and Nashville Deluxe Tele(also the best tele Fender ever built, but that's another review)....If it were stolen, I would be in Prison. I would hunt to the ends of the Earth to find another one.

Not totally sure of the history of my VA will do my best. A strat type H-S-H seymour duncuns rather then the more common EMGs, although i cant comfirm if all of them are seymours duncans. See through finish in green which i like to call it Tahiti Green =) Kahler bridge locking nut with Valley Arts on the tuners. rosewood on maple neck 22 frets with the cute allen key holder behind the head stock. You dont find that very often now. just a volume and a tone with funky-country sounds from the "out-of-Phase" pickup selections.

Its great man! it just sounds good. it bridge pickup aint a hot one aint a metal shreddy sounding guitar compared to an 80s ibanez, the chords just rings out with from within Tahiti =} great solo sound from the neck pickup blues to pop-soloing to those 80s ballad solos that you know you like. i play blues-rock-shred(i try) and jazz. use it with a Rat2 and a Boss Super Chorus gets the job done. throw in some Boss Delay or Johnson Tremolo it sweats! Love it.

The neck aint the best in playability. My hands are small so it could be a factor and its developing cuts in the frets. straight neck and damage from daily use and a accident with a acoutic guitar left a centimeter gash near the input jack. the acostic was jealous. its a samick acoutic. get it? samick bought over valley and killed the name... heh. oxidization and rust on the kahler floyd bridge but it just gives that beautiful played in look. not over rusted yet. dont want it to happen... a few mini craters below the arm rest area...

yeah its great although the laquer seems soft as said acoutic collision abover. play it everyday bringing it out every few days. its my only guitar besides a sick epiphone les paul custom i have yet to go around finding a cure for it. strap buttons are rusting out although its more the strap then the strap buttons on the guitar. will use if forever however the Godfather of the guitar wants it back in the near future. says a Tele/Strat trade when he can secure good said specimens. we shall see when the day comes~ but i love it more as each day goes....

http://www.valleyartsguitars.com is the only site i can find so far regarding pre-samick pre gibson VAs check it out and register your VA! made in america california pre '92 of course.... but check it out anyway if not! the company aint really around anymore except for the Gibson era Valley Arts with some original VA guys there so hey if your in nashville check them out! they do repairs and is a custom shop.

will cry if its stolen and quit guitar playing till i finish mourning i guess. playing it for bout half a year now. its more of a guitar for session stuff, aint a heavy metal shredster but comes real close if it has to. i love its blues it can crank out on whatever pickup. and when it does the larry carlton thing it works~ hey larry plays VAs now and then so hey~ the Luke too... so yeah its based around those characteristics you can find in those players.

I don't know when this guitar was made, but the guy who sold it to me said that it is pre-Samick, which, I'm told, means it was made prior to '91. The neck plate has the company logo and says "A California Company". It has a 24 fret maple(?) neck with an ebony fretboard and has a rather small Strat-style body with a beautiful transparent greenish-blue finish. It has EMG pickups (H.B. at bridge and 2 S.C.) with active circuit. Controls are volume, boost, and 5-way switch. It has a Schaller Floyd Rose vibrato assembly with a Kahler locking nut. I've only had it for a couple of weeks and just played a gig with it for the first time last night. I'm not sure that I'm going to find the active boost circuit useful-It kind of clutters up the tone and makes it sound bloated. I also find that the single-coil pickups don't have much clarity or "shimmer", but they do sound nice with distortion. It also has no coil tap switch for the humbucker. As long as I switch to my Strat for a crisp clean tone, I can cover most bases with this guitar.

The EMG humbucker has a beautiful violin-like tone through my Marshall JCM 800 with an Ibanez Tube Screamer pedal.It also really screams with a more aggresive picking attack and has great upper register harmonics. When I have to move my gear to play I usually play through a Line 6 AX2 212 and this guitar sounds great through it as well. Once again, though, I have to say that the pickups are limiting-For me the humbucker through distortion (w/o the boost circuit on) is the setting I will use this guitar for (unless I change the pickup configuration, which I'm considering).

When I bought this guitar the action was very low, the neck was perfectly straight, and, amazingly, there were no fret buzzes or anything. My playing style, however, dictates that I must have enough string heigth and neck relief to kind of "dig in" and bend strings. I also get better tone with the action a little higher. Having made these adjustments, I am amazed at how nicely this neck plays. I can still do flowing, legato hammer-on lines (Ala Holdsworth, etc.) and still get that "meaty", substantial feel I like for a more aggressive rock approach.

This Guitar seems extremely durable and well made.

I am 44 years old and have been playing steadily since I was 16 except for a 4 or 5 year period when my alcoholism had caused me to deteriorate to a point where I was unable to function (I've been sober over 2 years now). I am a pretty advanced guitarist who has done quite a bit of session work and played in various progressive rock and jazz/rock groups (I played at the Montreux Jazz Festival in '84). Due to my drinking I had been out of touch with what gear and technology was out there for several years, and, to be honest, had never heard of Valley Arts guitars before buying this one. My last guitar puchase was probably about 12 years ago when I bought my Strat. I am very pleased with this guitar in most respects and would definitely buy another one if the oppotunity arose. This guitar plays better than any of my other Strat-style guitars (Ibanez, Kramer, Fender, G&L) and if I can get the electronics configured the way I'd like this guitar will rate a 10 plus (sorry, Nigel).

Bought used for $700 US. Made in USA late 80's Valley Arts Standard Pro. Green stain. Real pretty see-through finish. The original EMG pickups were removed with some real nice DiMarzios H/S/S. Don't know if I like the pickups yet or not. I might change them back to EMG's.
Kahler / Floyd Rose. a 10 out of a 10. Whoever owned it prior, really took excellent care of it.

Suits my style well! I play fusion to funk to Van Halen, so with the twist of a few knobs, it can keep up. I play through a Line 6 pod, a Line 6 vetta, and a 1987 Boogie MKIII Simul Class rig. Sounds great!

Can not say enough good things about the quality, fit and finish.

My other 80's Valley Art Standard Pro's have handled gigging well. They have even survived the overhead airplane carry-on luggage rack!

I do not know about Samick and what it is like now, but when I attended GIT in 1987, I dealt with them pre-samick and they were great.

I would like to buy a couple more!

This guitar is from midt '80 I believe serial # 04xx, Neck is maple, fret board is rosewood, jumbo frets. Active EMG SA-SA-85 pickups 5 way sw, volume and one tone. Valley Art branded Goths tuners and Floyd Rose vibrator system. all hardware black. The pickgaurd is a black, white body and black head stock all are painted in solid colures. The body and head is strat style but in using the nice Gibson Les Paul shale!

This guitar is loaded with sound, is having a sweet warm sound and sometimes remind me of my old Gibson Les Paul! I play in a effect in stereo + a pure direct mono, use a Marshall JMP1 -> first Peavey 50/50 Classic tube power amp -> first pair of Marshall 12" 1912 cabinets. From the JMP1 -> TC electronic G-Major -> second Peavey 50/50 Classic tube power amp -> second of Marshall 12" 1912 cabinets. This allows my never to loose contact with core sound, never less if it is a clean or over distorted sound. I play from jazz to HM and this guitar is one of my main instruments.

I got the guitar used, but gave never need to change the set up, it is clean and well setup.But the previous owner have change the setup (rerouting of the locking nut) and the strings a extreme low but still clean. All wood parts a very nicely fitted and all over I believe that this a example how thinks shall be done! The only sighs of aging is the paint in the FR fine tuners but that's a general problem, no other signs of oxidized metal or cracking paint.

I always gig with several guitars but that's not needed, I have absolute trust in this guitar. All over high quality hardware and wood so no doubt that it will keep playing for decades to come!

Never had a change to deal with them as it a Samick company today, sad but true.

I have been playing on and off for 15 years and own, Valley Art Custom Pro, Levinson Blade RH-4 Classic, Yamaha RGX1212S and a No Name stat, all with EMG SA-SA-85 or 89 (except the Blade). The Standard pro is a well made guitar and I have been on a constant search for one more. If I lost this guitar I will cry that's for sure!

I love everything about this guitar. Like the other reviewers I would have to say it's nearly perfect. The only reason I give it a 9, is it would be nice to have a coil tap on the humbucker. Otherwise, it's a lean mean playing machine. All a "strat" should be, and eye-cathing too.

I was weary of the "high-tech" EMG's until I played it. It is very good live and in the studio and responds beautifully on everything from very clean to shred, blues to insane. The pickups convey the wood tonality very well. I experience very quiet performance, so I suspect those who do not, may have faulty pickups (if fitted with EMG's).

The best sonic quality is that of sustain. Mine is very even across the fretboard, and at any part of the scale. It is controlled and will feedback into harmonics given the "will".

I wish they kept making them like this. I had another which was in the family, but not like this sister!

Beautiful guitar. I have a kind of blue marble with gold veins. It called me over to it in a way no other instrument ever has. Instant connection, perfect setup. Very deep shine, and hard coating too. Very strong, and gig-worthy. The body is the most contoured I have seen on any strat style guitar. Very sexy.

I have had this instrument for about a nine years now... and have only changed the battery (9V lithium) once, just in case. It has proven to be reliable and always seems "happy", if that makes any sense at all!

The bridge is about the only place where signs of age show, where the black finish is revealing the brass. Frets seem to be extra hard, as other less-used guitars I own are more worn. It's bionic!

What I like is it's obvious "specialness" yet it can be gigged, recorded, and otherwise played with little regard to consequence.

In terms of any warranty, etc., I understand they are not the smae company anymore, but even so, there has been no need for any work whatsoever.

I have about 22 years experience. If this instrument was not in my possession anymore, I would lement greatly. We're friends.

I have had many Fenders, Gibsons, Ibanezes, but this VA has outlasted them all, and I would not sell her at any price.

don't know when made.u.s.a.s/no.0196 (maybe made in 96)
24 frets
dont know
volume,tone,& 5way selecter
s/s/h
emg sa81's
active electronics
dont know
satin
strat style
floyd rose trem
locking system -valley arts tuners
neck/rosewood-jumbo frets
no accessories

perfectly,my style is a lot of most styles
marshall tsl/100-trace elliot/tramp80w
noisy sometimes on front single coil position
rich full sound
it covers all my styles of playing
love the size & weight
hate the colour red

the guitar was set up perfectly(thats why i bought it)
i had to adjust them a fraction
no flaws in guitar

i have played over 1000 live shows with this guitar(it'l last forever)
i'll have to replace the floyd rose soon(corosion)
with lots of playing it seems to wear off a bit(but i don't care)
strap buttons are super solid(even after all that jumping round)
i can depend on it with just about my life
i've used it plenty of times at gigs without backups

i worked at the store
never had to have it repaired
no warranty

I've been playing about 15 years(8 years pro)
yes,why have we only got one & its red
i would certanly buy another valley arts
i love the feel,the size,the shape,the sound,the versatility
i hate the colour(but thats just personal preference)
i always compare it to other guitars,thats why i'm very happy
yes,i wish it had a brother living at my house
the only thing i'd like to share is KEEP FUCKING MAKING THEM

Tan clear finish strat type body. Black pick guard with EMG H/S/S configuration. Kahler/Floyd licensed tremolo. Do not know when it was built. Made in USA

I play lots of different music and so far it has been able to keep up. No problems. I play this through a Line 6 for dirty stuff and a Mark III simul Boogie for clean. It has been everything I had hoped for.

I like my guitars set up a little strange. I like the action a little higher than the avearage bear and my pickups positioned oddly.

I do not like to gig without a back up so I have actually purchased a sibling for this guitar on ebay.

I have not dealt with these folks in years. I used to buy stuff from them while attending GIT in 1987.

As I said,I have actually bought a couple more on ebay (a green one and a blue one).