Vantage Strat Copy

Made in 80's/early 90's probably in Japan (guessing). H-S-S pick up configuration. Good Pick ups. Decent LP style tuners. Adjustable truss rod and cover. 5 way strat style selector switch. Volume and 2 tone control knobs. Great shaped headstock. Dunno about woods, guessing body is ply, neck is maple and fretboard is rosewood, or that's what they look like.

This is where this guitar shines. For a reasonably priced (I paid ??125 for a prestige one), this little Vantage really does the business!!
Control the pick ups for punchy trebles and muddy blues, this guitar can do it all. Sounds better than my MIM Fender and other vintage Jap strats that I've owned. Fantastic.

Typical low action super-strat. Good for fret twiddling!

I'm guessing my guitar could be 20-30 years old. Its finish is fantastic for a guitar of that age. It certainly wqas built to last.

If you just want bang for buck, this Vantage Strat is there or there abouts. Obv. if you compare to ??2K guitars it will be found wanting, but this is the best sounding guitar I have owned under ??500.
A fantastic achievement in sound considering they have not used the best materials.

This Vantage Strat Copy was bought in 93. It's config is a S/S/H with a 5-way switch, 1 volume, 2 tone with a tobacco burst finish. I have no idea what the pickups are but they sound pretty decent. The sound quality is quite good despite the body being plywood. The neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard. Some of the tunes are a little loose but it's very minor and doesn't really affect the sound or tuning. Recently I've had to change the 5-way switch after getting alot of "scratchy" sounds but after 8 years it isn't too bad.

This guitar sounds great depending on the style of play you have. If like myself you play a bit rough and like that hard twang it'll sound great and you don't really have to worry about damaging it seeing that you probably didn't pay much for it (don't be too rough though). It has a nice full sound despite the plywood body, which did surprise me.

I've never had to adjust the action and I've had no problems with that. However the pickups did have to be rewired and as I mentioned the switch had to be replaced. The nut isn't really high quality but it does the job, despite it popping off once.

I believe this guitar would last a good run as long as it's properly maintained. It is a dependable guitar but I would use as a backup.

It did have a 7 year warranty. I've had a few minor repairs done on it under warranty. The switch cost is coming out of my pocket however.

I've been playing for rougly 8 years (this was my first guitar). I also have another Strat Copy by Samick and a Squier Jazz bass, Fender Junior Pro Tube amp, boss effects box.

This Vantage Strat Copy was probably made in the late 80's/early 90's my guess because I remember the Vantage ads in all the Guitar mags at that time. Anyhoo, a 3 pickup 5 way selector switch 1 volume 2 tone control guitar with a black satin finish. A white pickguard , the pickups I will replace with either Select for EMG single coils or Powersound singles soon. I don't want to put much more than that into this thing and that's all that's lacking. The body is plywood more than likely. But still decent sounding. The bridge is a nice surprise; a die cast metal with six saddles giving it pretty decent tuning stability. The neck is a maple one with rosewood fretboard. Also, the tuners were a decent Grover or Schaller imitation; it helps keep the guitar in tune as well. This guitar was purchased in Castlegar, B.C. at a pawn shop there, a mom and pop store. On 8-29-98. NO ACCESSORIES.The frets are average to jumbo size.Oh yeah, there are 21 frets. CONFIRMED- the body is plywood, no biggie. Hey, I purchased it for $114 Canadian. It came to $75 U.S. dollars , so what the heck?!!!!!

Well, like I said, I do want to replace the pickups soon. But it will be the only necessary adjustment to it because otherwise it plays as well as can be expected for a strat copy.The body weight isn't too bad; I compared it to the size/weight of a Fender Standard Strat and a Hohner Strat Copy and it feels about 8-10 lbs. I play a Alternative- Rock Music Style with a blues feel and combined with my Fender Super Reverb (4 10's) it sounds great. You can combine the different pickup configurations (neck and middle, bridge and middle, etc...) and it will sound fine. These particular pickups are VERY MICROPHONIC so that's the reason I'll switch the pickups in the future. Afterwards, I'm sure it will be fine. So I'll give the sound rating after the switch a.....

I had to set the action myself; no biggie since it was used. After a little tinkering, it played well. I also tried to adjust the pickups; they were dusty and dirty. In fact, the whole guitar resembled a piece of &%$# mainly because whoever owned it previously put a whole bunch of snowboard stickers on it, thus nearly ruining the decent black finish. After peeling off the stickers and using Isopropyl Alcohol to strip the remaining adhesive off (on this guitar at first I wasn't concerned) it looked fine. Some minor dents and nicks, nothing major. But it was dusty and required lots of cleanup. Actually, I will also replace the pickup selector switch; it seems scratchy and sounds "buzzy" when setting pickup configurations. Again, when all the proper adjustments and replacements are made I would give this guitar a....

I believe as long as you don't do the Jimi or Townsend thing to this axe it will be fine. The hardware I will give a "10"; the bridge is solid and the tuners are as good as a Grover imititation as I've seen. It helps keep the guitar in tune. The finish is probably 8-10 yrs. old and seems to be as shiny, matted finish as you can expect. Especially with the previous appearance of all the stickers. The strap buttons are standard; some strap locks might help. If you're a stantionary player you probably wont have to worry. I will use this as a backup guitar if and when necessary, sure, no problem.

no support; I am still looking for a manufacturers address.

Been playing seriously for about 15 years. I also have a Charvel copy (a mx-z), a Fame Hondo Tele copy, a Zoom 505, a Fender Super Reverb, a Tascam Porta3 multitracker, a Peavey Fury bass guitar, Ibanez ue300 multieffects unit, zoom 9001 effects processor, Casio 480-keyboard, Yamaha DD-5 drum machine. Too much to list. If the Vantage guitar were stolen or destroyed, it wouldn't end life as we know it. I'd just go and get another strat copy or original if I fancied. It seems to be, with the modifications I listed, a reliable first or second guitar.