Product: Vantage VA-40NS ATB
Price Paid: $350 (Australian)
Submitted
06/17/2006
at
05:24pm
by
Col
Features
:
9
Made in Japan in 1979 and bought new for $350 Australian. This is a good guitar. It is a dreadnought acoustic archback model with a solid spruce top. The back and sides are laminate and I am not really sure as to what type of wood, but I can say it is not rosewood or mahogony. The scale length is 25 and 7/8ths and there are 21 frets on a rosewood fretboard and a mahogony neck. The tuning machines are diecast and enclosed.
Sound
:
8
This is a good guitar and it sounds good. It has good bass, mid and treble. it can be raunchy or it can be mellow, but it is easy and even.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
The action is second to none as the nut and saddle were adjusted to set this guitar up spot-on, it is beautiful to play (very easy) and you couldn't ask for better. All the panels are properly bookmatched and there are no flaws. the over-all quality of workmanship on these early Japanese Vantages was pretty good and as good as anything out there (in my opinion).
Reliability/Durability
:
9
This guitar is now 27 years old and cosmetically it looks older, as it has been used and played and used and played continuously. the soundboard is gouged from use and the binding here and there has lifted and been reglued. it has been refretted (first 5) 3 times and the guitar about 14 years ago was stripped back to bare wood and resprayed. It has at times been subject to severe humidity and temperature changes and literally lived on a beach with an open fire for years and years and it was very much the party guitar, but the fretboard is still dead straight and it still plays really, really great. reliability and durability speaks for itself as this guitar has been through hell and back and is still going strong.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never had to, but I don't think I would like my chances and I certainly wouldn't go holding my breath waiting for a response.
Overall Rating
:
9
This instrument feels very much a professional feeling guitar, and even though it is laminate back and sides, you could still use it for recording or stage without a worry as its' playabillity won't let you down, I can compare it to Yairis, Martin DM. Suzuki threes, Sigma DR28 and this guitar will stack up as good as any of them with a possibly better action than them all. Smooth, even and great to play, what else can I say ?
