Product: Vantage VA900
Price Paid: 350
Submitted
01/06/2008
at
07:28pm
by
Corsair
Email: blacklake at xtra<dot>co<dot>nz
Features
:
9
24 fret, neck-thru, double cutaway with a stop tailpiece and tune-a-matic bridge. 2 humbuckers, with an awesome active circuit that gives about a 13db boost! It has coil tap and phase reversal switching that is actually useful. The neck is 5 piece and the body made of maple, ash and walnut - it is just beautiful to look at! It has gold-plated brass hardware, and the nut is brass, too. This one was made in 1980 in the Matsumoku factory and the build quality is second to none.
Sound
:
9
I can play everything from the most down-home C&W to Soundgarden roar and back to delicate fingerpicked folk - in the same set!There is no noise from the circuitry even on the most extreme settings; the noise comes from my pedalboards and amp, not the guitar.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
It was set-up beautifully from new - I bought it in Australia in 1981 - and as far as I can see and feel, has no finish flaws. I have, of course, set it up to my personal preferences but the factory fit was pretty damn good! The only "flaw" would be the lack of a rib cutaway on the back of the body which can get a little tiresome on a long gig, but given the options this guitar gives me, I can live with that!
Reliability/Durability
:
10
25+ years on the road and in studios - never missed a beat. Not once. The finish is still as good as the day I bought it. I replaced the factory buttons with Schaller straploks but that was the only modification made. I have another 2 guitars onstage with me these days but early on always gigged without back-up, it is that dependable.
Customer Support
:
9
The matsumoku factory closed down in the late 80's but the dealer network I dealt with when it was new were very good to deal with. I never had to have anything thing warranty-wise as it has never missed a beat!
Overall Rating
:
10
I moved to this from a '58 Telecaster in 1981 and have never looked at another guitar; recently I have bought a Westone XA1630 Genesis II for the single coil thing, but if I lost(WTF? How can you lose a guitar??) it I would be irreconcilable; if it were stolen, I would spend the rest of my life hunting the thief down!
I can get Gibson, Fender, Rickenbacker and Danelectro sounds out of it, but prefer to let it make me sound like me!
I used to occasionally have whammy envy, but the Genesis has a Bendmaster Deluxe onboard so that's that taken care of!
There is a bass and a 12 string version of this guiatr that I'm looking for, so keep me in mind...
