Vantage VS-695

See previous review. This is a solid guitar with plenty to offer to both beginners and performers. No shortcomings and a great action that allows you to feel that it is so comfortable to play. Japanese model bought in 1982 and still sounding as good as the day it was bought.

Absolutely perfect for Heavy Rock, Blues and also lends itself to most music styles (don't play Jazz so can't comment). Currently playing through Peavy amps and (being of the vintage variety myself) sitting at home with headphones into a Zoom effects rig allows the guitar to sound as good as anything on the market. Holds it's tuning perfectly and sure can hold a note for extended periods (a la Gary Moore) if you ask of it.

Set up great allowing for a great deal of versatility. Do currently have a loose conection at the moment causing a buzzing at times but this is the first thing that has needed repair in 26 years (wish you could buy a car that only needed servicing every 26 years).

A hardy beast with only a few cracks from being dropped and half a toggle switch from a similar drop. From 5 feet away you would think it was new. Everything holding up real well (wish I could have married me a wife that held up so well).
Very dependable and never had a need for backup yet (not to say I don't have backup).

Never had the need

Playing over 30 years and have no wish to trade it in for a Les Paul or a Strat. Have a Fender a Guild and Takemine (all acoustics) and love them all but as much as my Vantage. Best action I have felt on a guitar and just feel right when you strap it on. What can I say?

'81 or '82. I got it in '82, new. Usual frets. It's solid wood (me thinks mahogany, with some sort of stripe down it. Walnut?) Those that know these oldies will be familiar. Basically a more rounded-edge double-cut Les Paul. Hardtail, with tune-'o-matic.

2 humbuckers, rumour has always been they were stock Di Marzios before they became really famous. Les Paul toggle in Paul location. Two volume, one tone and two coil splits (this is a versatile guitar). Its's black, but you can see the grain; the 'GT stripe' is a caramel colour. Quite a good looking guitar, all in all.

Good Vantage tuners - bet thay are disguised Gotohs.

Neck is solid and chunky - rosewood that has kept very well, on maple. Nice neck, with skunkstripe. Bolt-on. Brass nut and saddles - nice, never given trouble. Case still in good nick.

This old gal has done a heap of things, and has always been up to it. This is the Matsuomoko (spelling?) stuff they all rave about - Westone, Canora, Tokai, Greco are all stablemates at various gakken (Japanese factories). The later Korean ones I have no experience of. This Nippon Beauty is where it's all at. Leo and Orville were pretty average at the time. Ibanez were getting serious, and the Jap stuff was good at half the price.

It isn't about me, it's the guitar. But it helps to know the sanguinity and experience of the user I guess. Done a bit in my time. Had, and have, some nice guitars and gear. Not pro now, but play as much as I can still. Done all sorts of music live, and for advertising. Still use my trusty Roland with loads of vintage and newer FX....now to business.

Stripy (her nickname)ain't noisy - humbuckers or split. Always been very quiet.

The sound? What do you want? I have read other reviews and pretty much disagree she can't do jazz. The pickup selections will allow you to do most anything. the out-of-phase coils are very useful for overdubs; they actually cut instead of sounding tinny. The bridge hummers can be that nice sort of brutal when overdriven like a modern Satriani. The neck pup is sweet and clear, but not growly. You really notice it on stage when you kick into the hummers from single coil.

What isn't there to like about a guitar you've had and used for 25+ years? It's lasted, it's been a keeper, it's always in tune, you don't get bored with the sound, it's got a substantial feel and neck, it still looks good and looks like it would cut the mustard too. All good.

Like everything, there are flaws. The body is not all that well weighted; it falls toward the neck when you let it hang. No biggy if you know the beast. I said plural 'flaws'....I retract that; that's it.

I give it '9' simply because it doesn't do a Fender quack or 'chime' sound; the naughty guitar, how dare it not??!! Does just about everything else. Kidding; it's a keeper this one.

It was great from day one. Over time it has been intonated and re-actioned due to my phases and requirements. Never had a neck problem, never buzzed, never rattled. Still doesn't. I think I last had it professionally looked at in about 1988.

You know, I have never tweaked the pickups with this one; well if I did it can't have been for long. Certainly can't remember doing so.

The electrics have never stopped working, no crackles.....sorry, this is getting repetitive I know. Get one and find out. Seen them on Ebay; up to about $800, usually far less. Go on, get one.

It stood all sort sorts of playing. Enough said.

The finish is checking around the input jack and the switch toggle....gee, crow's feet at its age, naughty girl. The overall finish is good. Tough enough for what she went through.

Strap buttons.....predictably.....never a problem.

Depend on it? Is George Bush stupid?

No-one does professional music without a backup. Stripy was the back up, often. In the studio, she was often the main too.

Never dealt with them.

Already said been playing since Edison flicked the switch. Gear has been enunciated in this and other reviews I hope others may find helpful.

I'd really buy any one of these I could get my hands on. It doesn't have a trem, but that's why you have a variety of guitars, for a variety of styles; sometimes tremoloes make you lazy and predictable (I must be getting lazier and more predictable, as I love trems nowdays).

This is a truly great electric guitar; and has proven it over time.

1983 model, symmetrical double cutaway, 22 frets, 24 3/4" scale, bolt-on neck with 4 bolts and backplate, angled headstock, stop-tail and "tune-o-matic" style saddle, wood type unknown but it feels like Alder (and dents like it, too!), two humbuckers with individual volume, single (master) tone, coil tap on bridge and phase reverse toggles, and three-way selector toggle on the upper horn. No twang bar.

It has an incredible range of tone, and with both pickups full on, it gets an immediately serviceable all-around good sound. Wanking on the switches - especially the phase reverse - gives it a nice "surf music" sound, which is enhanced by the medium sustain: this guitar won't ring on forever like a Les Paul, but doesn't "click" like a Jazzmaster, either. It's sustain is right in the middle of the spectrum, and I think that's why I use it so much.

When slitting the coils it gets nice and spanky-bright, with a well balanced "slap my ass" sound - not nasally like a Strat or Tele with single coils.

It's relatively quiet especially when both humbuckers are full-on. I used a Carvin gold foil kit to shield the electronics cavity and that helped a lot to minimize the residual noise when splitting the coils.

Overall, it is very versatile. It will not do the following:
*"Chicken-pickin'" sounds like a Tele with single coil on the bridge.
*That big, fat Strat sound when the bridge and middle single coils are on.
*Jazz. Forget it - this guitar does not do jazz. Can't make it. Nope.
*And, of course, if you need a hollowbody sound, you'll be playing a hollowbody, not a VS-695, right?

Aside from those caveats, it'll give a respectable showing for just about anything else you ask it to do. The only other guitar I've ever played with this much sonic variation is my PRS Swamp Ash Special, but the PRS is more brittle and needs bigger speakers in the amp to compensate.

The only fault I can find is that - no matter what I do, or who sets it up - the intonation has always been just a tiny bit off. I think the Korean machining technology of the era was not quite up to the task of the high-precision fret placement required to perfectly-intonate the guitar... but a friend has a similar model (not a -695, but close) and his is fine. My problem might be specific to the axe itself.

A bone nut replacement helped a lot with this. The intonation is now very good, but still not perfect. For live gigs it's not even noticeable, but in stringent recording environments I sometimes notice it, when the arrangement is not too dense and the guitar stands out.

The fretwork is great - 17 years of constant use, and I'm only now beginning to consider having it refretted - and I have never had any problem with the electronics.

It's light, too: for a long set, this axe lets me jump and jump and gyrate like a long-haired man without fear of spinal damage, and really entices me to do some wild stage acrobatics - not like with my Stat or 335.

Oops: That wonderful light body (with beautiful wood grain) is VERY soft, and will dent if you stare at it too hard. This is the price one pays for the price one pays, so if you do any on-stage gyrations, be careful not to knock into the mic stands. If you do, you'll have a souvineer to enjoy for the rest of the guitar's service life.

Reliability? Well, nowadays I never approach a gig without a backup axe (more because I have a lot of guitars and like to take them all out to play!), but I was a one-guitar man with the Vantage for 5 years, and never worried about it.

I've never had an issue, and never needed to deal with the company. Cannot rate.

The instructions for reviews say "Resist the new product rush! Take some time and really work with the product." I guess, after 17 years, I'm qualified to rate this guitar! :) My dad bought me this axe in '83, after seeing me bloody my fingers on a Teisco Del Ray as I taught myself to play. Since then, I have bought many, many more guitars, some costing up to six times what this one did ($325 in 1983 dollars)... and yet, this remains my favorite axe, and not merely for sentimantal reasons.

I love and cherish this guitar. If I had to buy it all over again, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I understand Vantage is still a'building - I have not seen their newer models, but if they've maintained the same attitude they must have had when making the VS-695, the new ones must be powerful good mojo, indeed.

For now, my VS-695 is a keeper. When I die, I won't play it anymore. Until then, I refuse to arrive at a gig or jam session without it - it's just too much fun to leave home!

If anyone has one of these they have to part with, contact me. I'd like a couple more.