Vantage VIS-1G

Made in Indonesia, laminated top, got a gig bag included with it.

This was my first guitar, and my main one for 6 years. When I started playing I personally couldn't hear the difference between a $200 guitar and a $600 guitar. Fortunately many non-players can't hear the difference either, so the sound is just fine for a beginner.

The truss rod is easy to get to when adjustments need to be made to the neck. As the weather changed from one season to the next I would often change the tension in the truss rod a little. And so I'm glad that was easy to do.

I played it on average a couple hours a day for a few years. I kept it in a gig bag, and didn't use any kind of "damp-it" type thing to keep the air humid for the dry winter months. It often got banged into things and fell over on more than one occation. It lasted 6 years before it began to crack by the saddle.

I've been playing for almost 8 years now, and this guitar was the right one at the right time but I was ready to move on to the next level by the time it broke.

Made in Indonesia, mid 90's model... Dreadnought body shape, plastic pickguard, nickel tuners (nice ornamental design in them), nut, bridge pins etc are plastic just like any cheaply priced accoustic.. This was my first guitar and I paid about $150 for it new at Guitar Works... Best feature is that it has the same basic design as a high priced Martin but is just made out of cheaper materials... Vantage is a division of Martin afterall

Despite the low price and cheap materials this guitar has a pretty decent sound.. The bass isn't that punchy but there is enough there to get the job done... midrange and high are pretty smooth.. Although the sound is pretty good this guitar isn't really that loud and doesn't cut through as well as I would like... Hey you can't ask for much more for the price though... I've played just about every type of music known to man on this guitar, from Metallica to Bach and it all comes out pretty decent..

The action and intonation as set up from the factory simply kick ass.. It came with 11's and the action was really tight and I soon changed to 10's and they worked fine as well... I recently changed to 13's and this has set off the intonation a bit but not so much as someone less annaly retentative then Eric Johnson or myself would notice.. The only problem I've had finish wise is that the black binding finish on the sides of the neck has worn considerably near the headstock... The finish is actually pretty tough considering what I've put it through....

For the price this guitar is extremely tough... It's been played like an electric (I do accoustic versions of many thrash songs just because I'm bored).. It's been dropped several times.. I friend through it ten feet onto a gravel driveway... And it's still kicking... Live I usually use my Taylor 610 but I've used this one a couple of times and it was OK but not great sounding but it could stand the abuse... I played some folk gigs with it in a small area and it did a little better... I would use this one without a backup because it is reliable but I probably wouldn't be using it in the first place because it simply isn't loud enough...

Vantage is a division of Martin and both are pretty friendly... Haven't had to deal with them about this guitar though...

Overall this a decent guitar for just messing around and practicing.. It would make a good beginner's guitar (it did for me).. I've been playing for about 3 years and own a ESP KH-2, Samick custom Strat, Taylor 610, Yamaha classical, and several mandolins... But I still come back to this guitar alot.. It's not the best thing out there by far but it is more reliable then some high dollar models...