Vanquish Legend Classic

Hand made by Ade Hardman.Solid brazilian mahogany curved body,double cutaway, one piece, hand rubbed oil and wax finish,my custom options were a zero fret and abalone inside m/o/pearl fret markers. 22 frets,but due to fantastic neck to body and neck to headstock joints, fret board seems twice as long and all frets easily accessible. Suprisingly light and resonant (unplugged) for a solid. Came with Hiscock case,leather strap,security chip embedded and plectrums. Bare knuckle Geoff Whitehorn Crawler Humbucking set. Mahogany neck, rosewood f/board, medium frets. String through body, custom tailpiece, tune-o-matic style bridge, BuzzFeiton Tuning system. Perfectly in tune every where on the fretboard. I've had it over two months and only retuned two strings (slightly)! The detailing and qualilty of build is incredible. Heavy duty knurled steel volume and tone controls (one pulls up to change neck p/up. After purchase care amazing, Ade responded to my queries whilst he was on holiday and came to see me as soon as he returned to England.

I'm playing it through a Roland Cube, but often in doors I play it unplugged - it's that resonant. It seems to hold a note for ages - does everything I'll ever need and I guess a lot more I'm not good enough for.

The guitar was perfectly set up and at my request Ade lowered the action slightly for me (for free).
The quality and accuracy of fit and finish is amazing.

I don't do gigs so it won't be knocked about, but it seems indestructable to me.

See above - would Mr. Fender or Gibson deliver a guitar to you home and be as accessible as Ade Hardman. However if he gets the success deserved with this guitar, I suppose he's going to need some extra personnel.

I've been playing on and off all my considerable years - I'm over 50, my dad used to make acoustic guitars for a hobby.
I cannot find any fault in this instrument, its so playable and a joy to own, I shall never need to buy another guitar. You can get it customised any way you want, so are able to have an instrument that suits you perfectly.

Uk made by Adrian Hardman, luthier at Vanquish Guitars www.vanquishguitars.co.uk in July 2008. The Legend Classic features a solid mahogany body with a set neck joint and nice body carve, rosewood fingerboard and 22 medium jumbo frets, bone nut and Buzz Feiten tuning system. On this particular guitar I have opted for a nitro celulose finish over the usual oil/wax finish, options are set out on the website, many of which are cost neutral.

Hardwear is recessed, pickups, bridge, tailpiece and controls which is both practical in feel and gives a contemporary look. Pickups are a calibrated set of Bare Knuckle pickups 'Crawlers'. The bridge is from Gotoh and the Vanquish designed and machined tailpiece allows through body stringing. Electronics comprise a CTS volume control with push/pull tone control allowing series/parallel switching of the neck pickup, and three way pick-up selector switch. Tuners are locking Sperzels.

I am using this guitar with a Mesa/Boogie Lonestar Classic, Blackstar HT Dual valve drive pedal and a Crybaby Wah..... this is a far simpler set up than I had before purchasing this guitar. Its strength of tone has made me ditch my old multi effect system as the combination of quality electronics, versatile switching and really good pickups is too good to be hidden in an effects chain.

I play mainly funk, but need to switch to a full on lead tone for solo's, I can get this by switching pickups and using the volume control. The variation in usable sounds is very good.

I play alongside a Hammond and always found it a bit frustrating that a guitar is never as 'in tune' as a organ. Thats not an issue now with the Buzz Feiten system. Its a simple offset system that corrects intonation discrepancies across the neck and it really does work. The guitar sounds a lot sweeter next to a organ/piano. Ihad read this on their website and didn't believe it, but it is true.

The beauty of commissioning a guitar is that you can talk through your preferred setup with the luthier and get exactly what you want. This guitar is set up for 9's with a low action. I still own quite a few guitars but they all feel like hard work now compared with this!.

Another huge difference between this guitar and my others is how quiet it is. This is again down to the use of quality components and how well it is shielded and wired.

I have done a couple of really sweaty funk club gigs with this guitar and it stayed in tune and performed faultlessly. It also seemed to cut through a lot better than my other guitars.

I won't do any gig without a backup and currently take a tele out with me. I do however plan to get another Vanquish commissioned as soon as I can.

I have only owned the guitar a few months but don't envisage any issues. However, should there be I would expect Adrain to be as helpfull post construction as he was during the build process.

I have been playing for 15 years and do approx 35 gigs a year. I am playing better now and more importantly started playing at home again and its because this guitar really is a joy to play. Everything is exactly where it should be and it feels like it was designed from the ground up specifically for me.

Having got to know Adrian during the build there was an awful lot of though that went into every major and minor detail on this guitar and it shows.

The actual cost, whilst obviously a consideration, is forgotten about as soon as you start playing the guitar.

Constructed by Uk Luthier Adrian 'Ade' Hardman in 2008 of Vanquish Guitars www.vanquishguitars.co.uk . 22 medium/jumbo nickel frets, one piece mahogany body and neck with vanquish designed set neck and scarf jointed 13 degree headstock. CTS volume control with push pull tone operating series or parallel selection for neck pickup, three way toggle switch controlling a pair of Bare Knuckle 'Crawler' humbucking pickups. Fully shielded graphite painted pickup and control cavities with copper shielding. Indian rosewood fingerboard, recessed Gotoh bridge, Spertzal tuners and Vanquish designed bridge all in chrome and recessed into the body. Buzz Feiting tuning system and bone nut, 24.75 scale length.

I play all guitar parts in UK Jazz/Funk band Groove Cartel www.groovecartel.co.uk and therefore need a guitar which can do thick jazz lines, super clean percussive funk and full on lead. Prior to commissioning the Vanquish I was using Ibanez guitars exclusively, but also getting my sounds via multi-effects units to obtain the versatility that I needed. This guitar has made me totally rethink my sound due to is own range of sounds and versatility. I am now playing through a Mesa/Boogie Lonestar and a Blackstar HT Dual using three basic sounds of clean, slightly distorted and a lead sound. The majority of my playing can now be done on one patch using the guitars volume, tone and pickup selector. The tone control on this guitar really does work and is not the usual 'mud' control. High end can be gently rolled off for thicker sounds without your sound dissapearing in the mix and losing its life. I used to use a lot of effects, but now find that they are also redundant as the pickups sound so sweet, nothing else is needed to fill the sound out. The guitar is also incredibly quiet, due to the care taken in assembly and the cavity sheilding.

There is no 'factory' set up with Vanquish as each instrument is hand built from start to finish by Ade and through consultation, set up to the customers exact spec. The neck joint is a work of art, as are the recessed controls, bridge and tailpiece which all sit in just the right position. Despite playing a different guitar weekly, I have never used an instrument where everything is instinctively in the right place and at the right height etc. The normal finish on the Legend Classic is wax/oil which looks gorgeous, my personal choice was for a thin nitro cellulose lacquer. To date I have played some pretty sweaty gigs with this guitar and nothing has tarnished, worn, become noisey or malfunctioned.

As stated above, the guitar has no issues with live work. Everything is so well thought out and assembled I genuinely dont see foresee any problems. This is the first guitar I have owned with the Buzz Feitin system installed, its a simple offset system to ensure correct intonation across the whole neck and boy does it work. I play alongside a quality hammond player and since having this guitar it is really noticeable how much sweeter the instruments sound next to each other in the mix. I currently gig with a tele as backup, but will soon be commissioning a second guitar from Vanquish, probably with P90's.

I feel lucky that I was able to commission a hand built instrument. The real difference is the communication with the luthier from order to delivery. You know exactly what yo are getting and any variation to the standard spec can be discussed and accommodated.

I have been playing for 15 years I guess and have been through wizard necked Ibanez, strats, teles, semi's you name it, but I can wholeheartedly say that I have never played a guitar this versatile, well though out and constructed. If it were stolen, there would be a bounty on the scumbags head! It has also made me a better player not just because I am playing more but I am also less reliant on effects, less reliant on overall gain and more appreciative of the overall 'tone' of the amp/instrument. Please try to check out Vanquish if you are in any way considering a new guitar.