Vantage VS-600

This is a Vantage VS600 Made in Japan model circa 81. It's a bolt on neck. Maple center and mahogany wings. Looks like a neck through, but it's not. 2 humbuckers are attached with pickup rings. Switching is done via a 3 switch, with a coil tap to split them. 1 volume and 1 tone round out the controls. This is a string though design with a hardtail attached.

The neck is solid maple with a rosewood fretboard. Frets are mediums, maybe medium jumbo. The neck is not as baseball battish as a gibson neck, but thicker and wider then a classic strat neck.

The tuners are sealed, but very easy to use. No string slippage. Overall, a finely made guitar. I'd heard about the great workmanship of some of the late 70's and early 80's MIJ guitars...and this is a prime example. To get a model like this today, you'd easily have to pay 2 to 3 times the cost.

The sound of this guitar is pretty solid. The pickups are medium out when engaged in humbucker mode. The neck pup has a full, round sound. Just enough bass to make it sound sweet. When playing clean, it just comes out crisp and clear. It's great for that classic blues sound when pushed. When coil tapped, it sounds very thin. I'm not really big on that.

In the middle position, both pickups sound very good. They don't sound muddy at all. When the coil tap switch is engaged...it sounds very good. Kinda like the classic 2&4 strat position, but with more low end.

The bridge humbucker has a nice bite to it. Not so overpowering that it mushes all the notes together. Great for that classic rock tone. When tapped, it sounds very weak and brittle. Way too much high end. I can see a few uses for that sound, but not much.

Overall, the sound is pretty good. The mahogany/maple body gives the guitar a kind of Les Paulish deep tone. The sustain just rings for days. This has a great clean tone, perfect for either chords or single note work. When pushed, as stated above, great blues sounds and classic rock tones.

The only problem that I have is that the pickups are extremely noisy. When any sort of gain is used, these things hum to the point where it's almost annoying. I plan on eventually swapping out the stock pups for some GFS PAF's of some sort. Nothing overly powerful.

The body is mahogany with a maple center. The finish is a clear coat and it looks immaculate. For the guitar being over 25 years old, the finish is great with just a few small surface scratches on it.

The hardware is solid. The neck is smooth, albeit for 2 small dents on the back of the neck which don't affect playing. The tuners are very solid, this thing most definately stays in tune.

The action is a little low from the shop, I had to raise it just a touch to keep it from buzzing in spots. But I'll restring it later this month with 10's and it should be fine. Overall, this guitar is absolutely beautiful, a true jem.

Since this guitar has been around since 1981, I'd say it's pretty solid. The neck pocket is tight and there is no play in the neck. I'd say this thing is definately road worthy.

My biggest problem is the wiring. There is not alot of space in the back cavity for work to be done. That's kind of a pain, but I'll just rewire it outside the guitar and stuff everything in.

This was made in 1981 at the Matsumoku factory that has loooong since burned down. I don't think customer support is going to be an option.

I've been playing for better part of 12 years. Currently I've got a strat, an Ibanez custom shop, a late 80's Vantage D416(I'm still trying to find info on that) and a Tube Works Provalve 60 head and matching cab. With that setup, I can get every sound from blues, to metal and everything in between.

Overall I give this a solid 8.5 outta 10. The overall construction on this guitar is outstanding. The neck plays very smoothly and pretty quick. The neck is a little thicker and wider then I'm used to playing(think Jackson and Ibanez thin) but still very playable.

This thing just screams classic rock and blues. This thing has made it possible for me to put off buying an LP for atleast another year. They sound very similiar.

If this thing were stolen, I'd be pretty upset. I got this thing at a pawn shop for a great price, and I'm not sure if I could find another one so cheap. However, this guitar is definately worth atleast 2 to 3 times what I paid for it.

This is a Vantage VS600 Made in Japan model circa 81. It's a bolt on neck. Maple center and mahogany wings. Looks like a neck through, but it's not. 2 humbuckers are attached with pickup rings. Switching is done via a 3 switch, with a coil tap to split them. 1 volume and 1 tone round out the controls. This is a string though design with a hardtail attached.

The neck is solid maple with a rosewood fretboard. Frets are mediums, maybe medium jumbo. The neck is not as baseball battish as a gibson neck, but thicker and wider then a classic strat neck.

The tuners are sealed, but very easy to use. No string slippage. Overall, a finely made guitar. I'd heard about the great workmanship of some of the late 70's and early 80's MIJ guitars...and this is a prime example. To get a model like this today, you'd easily have to pay 2 to 3 times the cost.

The sound of this guitar is pretty solid. The pickups are medium out when engaged in humbucker mode. The neck pup has a full, round sound. Just enough bass to make it sound sweet. When playing clean, it just comes out crisp and clear. It's great for that classic blues sound when pushed. When coil tapped, it sounds very thin. I'm not really big on that.

In the middle position, both pickups sound very good. They don't sound muddy at all. When the coil tap switch is engaged...it sounds very good. Kinda like the classic 2&4 strat position, but with more low end.

The bridge humbucker has a nice bite to it. Not so overpowering that it mushes all the notes together. Great for that classic rock tone. When tapped, it sounds very weak and brittle. Way too much high end. I can see a few uses for that sound, but not much.

Overall, the sound is pretty good. The mahogany/maple body gives the guitar a kind of Les Paulish deep tone. The sustain just rings for days. This has a great clean tone, perfect for either chords or single note work. When pushed, as stated above, great blues sounds and classic rock tones.

The only problem that I have is that the pickups are extremely noisy. When any sort of gain is used, these things hum to the point where it's almost annoying. I plan on eventually swapping out the stock pups for some GFS PAF's of some sort. Nothing overly powerful.

The body is mahogany with a maple center. The finish is a clear coat and it looks immaculate. For the guitar being over 25 years old, the finish is great with just a few small surface scratches on it.

The hardware is solid. The neck is smooth, albeit for 2 small dents on the back of the neck which don't affect playing. The tuners are very solid, this thing most definately stays in tune.

The action is a little low from the shop, I had to raise it just a touch to keep it from buzzing in spots. But I'll restring it later this month with 10's and it should be fine. Overall, this guitar is absolutely beautiful, a true jem.

Since this guitar has been around since 1981, I'd say it's pretty solid. The neck pocket is tight and there is no play in the neck. I'd say this thing is definately road worthy.

My biggest problem is the wiring. There is not alot of space in the back cavity for work to be done. That's kind of a pain, but I'll just rewire it outside the guitar and stuff everything in.

This was made in 1981 at the Matsumoku factory that has loooong since burned down. I don't think customer support is going to be an option.

I've been playing for better part of 12 years. Currently I've got a strat, an Ibanez custom shop, a late 80's Vantage D416(I'm still trying to find info on that) and a Tube Works Provalve 60 head and matching cab. With that setup, I can get every sound from blues, to metal and everything in between.

Overall I give this a solid 8.5 outta 10. The overall construction on this guitar is outstanding. The neck plays very smoothly and pretty quick. The neck is a little thicker and wider then I'm used to playing(think Jackson and Ibanez thin) but still very playable.

This thing just screams classic rock and blues. This thing has made it possible for me to put off buying an LP for atleast another year. They sound very similiar.

If this thing were stolen, I'd be pretty upset. I got this thing at a pawn shop for a great price, and I'm not sure if I could find another one so cheap. However, this guitar is definately worth atleast 2 to 3 times what I paid for it.

My particular Vantage was made in 1972 in Japan by the same plant which was sued by Gibson and Fender for copyright infringments...the famous lawsuit models all came from this Japanese plant. This plant also made Ibanez/Greco, Epiphone, Aria, Ventura, Vantage, Univox, El Deago (which made Gibson Hummingbird, Dove and J200 clones) and the world renown Les Paul Lawsuit Model. Their craftsmanship was at their peak in this period and it scared the poop out of Fender and Gibson. Anyway, my particular guitar has a maple neck through with natural but stained Brazillian mahogany wings so to speak. The mahogany used in these guitars is not as dense as the American Hardwood..but is great due to it's ability to produce outstanding sustain and those screeching concert hall harmonics we all like when hitting out best rock leads. Looking at my guitar I believe that it looks more like the 1970's version of the Ibanez Artist all the way up to the headstock...the Ibanes Artist which Carlos Santana used to wisk us all away to cosmic solo land back then. The guitar features a fully adjustable stop tail piece and a string through body design...a nicely swirled maple neck...with the maple extending all the way though the body like a big racing stripe. Two DeMarizio creme humbuckers grace this beauty, and a simple two knob set up..one for volume and one for tone..with a thoughful coil tap switch added to help along with the wide scale of tones this thing can create. You can go from twang to death defying divebombing with this combination. The neck scale is over 25 so big fat fingers like mine can git nicely and the chords come out clean and clear. All this in a guitar which weighs just about 6.5 lbs. You can strap on this guitar and forget its there..lightweight. It has a bolt on neck....but so do Fender's which cost 2 to 3 thousand dollars...so don't let a bolt on neck throw you. The features are outstanding....simple and easy to play...

Here is where this guitar shines....SOUND. Due to the craftsmanship and the quality of wood used in it's construction this guitar is a virtual tone monster. My favorite use of it is with a good Fender twin amp with no effects other than what the amp gives...a little distortion and about 7 on the reverb..and shezammm...you are sounding like Eric Clapton in the Royal Albert Hall peeling off the riffs to White Room. I really love this guitar for it's sustain and fast neck. It is a perfect working guitarist's rig for any setting from studio to playing live every night....it is a tough old bird. However, I never play anywhere without taking at least three guitars...and that is becasue I have songs I play that require open tunings, capo's in place...etc. With the stock pickups you can play wherever you want..and if you are using effects and pedal boards as long as you have a decent set of pickups in the guitar...what da heck?? I do not play a lot of this new Seattle Suicide Music..nor do I cotton to any of this Brittney Spears techno pop crapola. I play old time rock..southern fried rock..blues..80's big hair rock...etc. Different strokes for different folks. There is nothing I dislike about this guitar at all...other than they stopped making them. These guitars were a sleeper when they came out and were a sleeper when the stopped making them. They died becasue of that tired old crap..If it ain't a Harley it ain't a bike....and it it and a Gibson it ain't woth strapping around your neck....same old tired crap and I have owned both and gotten rid of both. Who wants a leaky, always broke down Harley in the living room when you can have clean always running Yamaha 1200 cc sittng there ready to go?? And yes Gibsons are nice..and expesive...but I am not gonna get my throat cut out in the alley behind my gig loading or unloading my gear by some crackhead who wants my expensive gibson turned into a handfull of rocks with me laying dead in the alley over it.

Did I say simple?? When this guitar was available you could take it home and have it set up and intonated within a half hour...now that is simple. Mine came from the original owner and I did not see one flaw...not fretwire edges...nothing..the Japanese in the 70's actually did have a quality control inspector taking care of this stuff.

Would withstand a seven night a week gig if you ask me. All three way switches go out..so that is a given...always keep a spare and a soldering iron.....all strings can break...keep a couple of sets handy....I always use strap locks..which did not come with the guitar but most any idiot knows to use if you gig. And I never go to a gig without a backup....I don't trust any guitar that much. But this guitar ride the river I believe so I will give it high marks for durability.

You will need a ouiji board and some paranormal people with you to get in touch with some of the folks that made my guitar....27 years ago. But this guitar is so simple in it's design and features that any guitar shop in town can fix whatever ails your axe if you can't do it yourself. Love this guitar.

Without re-writing my life story please read my review for the Vantage VS600R for this. I give it the highest mark.