Van Zandt STV-R1

Basically a modern '57 strat-style guitar. One piece lightwight swamp ash body. 22 6105 frets, 12 inch radius insanely flamed one-piece maple neck. Oil-finished(whatever that means) bone nut. 3 van zandt true vintage single coils with volume, neck tone and bridge tone controls. Thin nitrocellulose lacquer. 6 screw vintage tremolo bridge. Kluson style gotoh locking tuners. One ply 8 hole white pickguard. I had a peep under the pickguard and I think its routed s-s-s like the old days and has cts pot.

These are some of the best japanese made strat-style guitar. They have a sterling reputation in japan and cost about the same as a new suhr/grosh, maybe more. The thing about van zandt guitars is that the headstock is exactly like a strat (as far as I can tell). Scrap the van zandt decal off and paste a fender one and you cant tell the difference from 2 feet. Hand made or at least a lot of hand finishing involved. It however only comes with a highly padded gig-bag instead of a hardcase.

There are no fancy switching with one million sounds or blend pots or push-pull pots or whatever but its everything a quality strat is supposed to be. You probably can order it with any form of wiring or better yet, just DIY. In this day and age with mass-produced guitars all over, getting a flamed maple neck with one piece light weight swamp ash and quality pickups is a luxury. So I'll give this a 10 because of the high quality of the various components.

Lots of great features but it means nothing if it sounds like a dog. Luckily for me it sounds great. Tone is the priority and for me it delivers.

Using it with a Clark tweed deluxe and a deluxe reverb reissue. Its an exceptional sounding classic fender-like guitar!

Lots of chime, lots of clarity, very lush sounds with lots of overtones. Its very resonant, rings for ages and just sounds so alive. It has that glassy strat sound everyone is looking for. But its not overly bright or ear-piercing. Unlike many strats, it is not tinny. It has a piano like bass with a tight bottom for that thump a fender is suppossed to do. No loose flabby muddy bottom here.

I'm not sure it sounds exactly like hendrix or srv or fruciante or whoever but its a joy to play their music with it. It just rings

Because the pickups are van zandt's true vintage, its has a great clean to semi dirty sound for blue, funk, rock, surf, country etc. It however doesnt do all that metal stuff.

It just sounds better than any of the modern fenders I've heard, and comparable to the other boutique stuff out there. This van zandt is in a league of its own holds its own among the best of them.

Its quiet but has the regular hum in 1, 3 & 5. 2 and 4 are hum canceling. Positions 2 & 4 seem slightly softer that the non cancelling position.

The fit and finish were just superb out of the box. Neck pockets were tight and the neck was straight.

The neck is a big chunky neck and is very comfortable. Fret ends were nicely filed so it was not sharp when moving up and down the neck.

Body is contoured nicely and is very comfortable to play.

Only thing I had to adjust was the action. It was on the high side so I lowered the saddle abit and gave it less relief. I absolutely hate rattle and despite the action being lower, it doesn?t buzz. Funny thing is new strings sound better only after a while. It seems as if new strings have just too much overtones and muddies it up a bit. After the strings are played the overtones become less and the clarity appears.

Only thing that could be a negative is that the neck might have moved by itself after adjustment. I heard some say that figured and flame necks arn?t as stable as plain grain quartersawn necks. It seems to have a higher action a few days after adjusting it than just after adjusting it. I think it takes a while to stabilise. The better tone could be the combination of the higher action after adjustment and the wearing of the new string causing the guitar to sound better after a few days.

Its too early to tell how reliable it is or how durable it is. Who can tell these sort of thing?

Having said that, it looks like a real quality instrument which should with care last a lifetime. The only thing to worry about is the nitrocellulose lacquer. I understand they only spray 4 coats of lacquer. It is my impression that nitro is more fragile than the modern lacquers and wears easily. Good thing nitro can be repaired and a competent tech can repair it.

I dont think you should expect any support unless you are willing to ship it back to japan. Its basically a strat copy (damn good one at that) so any experienced tech should know what to do should it need repairs.

Ive been playing it for about a year and then decided to write this review when the honeymoon wears off. I'm certainly less excited about it now but still think its every bit as good as when I first got it. Right now, it has to be one of the best I've played. I kinda stopped seriously looking for classic strat style guitars. I occasionally look at the classifieds for bargains but never really seriously consider any of them. Maybe just a tyler studio elite with one of those gawdy but super cool paint jobs if i can find one cheap. Just for a more modern kinda tone. Otherwise for classic guitars I'm done searching.

It may be expensive but when you get an instrument with this quality and tone, you'll feel its worth every penny and probably more. Everything about this guitar screams quality. If you can get your hands on a used one cheap, jump on it! Mine was considered quite cheap for the price I paid for it so it you can find one for cheaper get it.

The only thing I would like to have is adjustment of the action at the headstock or maybe at the side of the heel. Currently you have to take out the neck to adjust the relief. It can be a bit troublesome to adjust, but its no big deal.

I've compared them to tylers, groshs, suhrs and the van zandt can hold its own to any of them. The good ones from each of the boutique brands sound great and the differences are just differences. Neither better nor worse than the other. Some people prefer this, others prefer that but they are all good. I settled on this because its shaped exactly like a strat. And I couldn't resist the flame maple neck and one piece ash body. Tylers sound great but the headstock is kinda weird (although you get used to it after a while). Suhrs headstocks are ok but reminds me of a bird?s beak. Grosh headstocks are quite nice but the body is actually downsized compared to a strat. So van zandt are the only one that are shaped exactly like a strat and come with quality better than most all fenders. And its nice to have a guitar not so many people know about. You play it and people are impressed only to find that its not what they think it is. Then they get curious and start asking you all sorts of questions.

The more mass produced a product is, the more lemons there are floating around. I havnt heard a bad van zandt yet, but then again I havn't seen all that many around. Van Zandt, because of it attention to detail and quality, likely only makes very good to excellent guitars. All small makers should do that.

I'm keeping this one for now. Its not perfect but the tone is. Giving it a nine.

This brand is made in Japan by the parent company PGM (Professional Guitar Manufacturer), even though it sports the USA company Van Zandt's logo. Van Zandts have been made since the 1990s and are very expensive, professional Fender replica guitars. Their sister company, Moon, also makes similar guitars of the same high quality, but those are more Fender-like than these guitars and the Moons feature Lindy Fralin pickups stock, which is also different.

They feature various pickup configurations, but all the pickups used are Van Zandt originals. The STV-R1 series is the maple neck model with VZ True Vintage X3 pickups, usually. All cloth-covered vintage wiring, solid steel inertia blocks, CTS pots, etc. The main differences between these and Fender Custom Shop guitars are that the Van Zandts have 22 frets usually, and that the finishes are much, much more incredible than anything Fender ever does. All STV series guitars have nitrocellulose lacquer finishes on the body and neck. They also have very textured woods that are finished to show as much of the grain as possible. You can actually FEEL the grain on the body of these beautiful guitars. It's a very personal feeling guitar designed for blues players. Especially since the fret wire used is a little larger than Fender USA fret wire.

Additionally, any kind of extra can be ordered for the guitar, such as reverse-wound middle pickups, additional electronics, a special Gotoh side-adjust neck that can be adjusted without removing the neck. Just some wild options are out there.

Bodies are all either 1 or 2-piece bookmatched selected alder or ash. Maple necks on the STV-R1 series.

For blues players. Has real vintage tone from Van Zandt original pickups. This series is really vintage-like since it sports the "True Vintage" pickups most of the time. The tone is superb and is largely due to the special woods and finishes used.

I only give it a 9 instead of a 10 because the original '50s Fenders are what it's copying and nothing can quite outdo an original.

You can't beat this craftsmanship. The neck pocket of the body, where the neck fits into place, is carved paper-thin to look as if it actually is the same wood as the neck. Just amazing work. Nothing Fender USA has ever done that I have seen can equal the build quality and materials used on Van Zandt guitars.

I don't know, really. These are wired so well and the most high-end electronics used, I doubt you'd ever have any issues with the guitar. One thing to note, though, is that the bodies are now finished with thin nitro finishes that provide little protection from dings. You gotta be careful not to bump this guitar around or it will show the damage easily.

Never dealt with PGM (Van Zandt) directly, although their dealers are all very helpful and will replace anything for free if any problem occurs, from a whole guitar to parts. They have been adjusting mine for free in Tokyo for years.

There are few guitars out there I haven't played. For the blues, there are no other stratocasters that can give you a more intensely vintage vibe and feel. Everything about these guitars are amazing. They're not cheap, but are pieces of artwork with unmatched craftsmanship that commands attention to its tone and appearance anywhere it goes. Even though it basically is a replica of a Fender strat, no Fender strat is built as well as these are.

You want to see what the blues is all about? Try one of these on for size.

There is one downfall, though. For the price, they ONLY come with a really nice gig bag with VZ logo. No hard case. They're so expensive they should come with a hard case, too. Oh well, mine are all sitting nicely in Fender Custom Shop G&G cases now, though : )