Vintage AV3

AV3H Specifications
Top: Solid Hand Carved Maple
Body: Chambered Mahogany
Binding: Single Ply Ivory
Neck: Mahogany ??? Set Neck
Fingerboard: Bound Rosewood
Top Nut: Ivory/Graphite
Tuners: Wilkinson?? WJ44
Bridge: Tune-O-Matic
Scale: 24.75???/628mm
Frets: 22
Pickups: Wilkinson?? Humbucker x 2 (N) WVCN (B) WVCB
Controls: 1 x Volume, 1 x Tone, 1 x ???Roll Control???
(Humbucker to Single Coil), 3-Way Toggle
Hardware: Nickel

I can't use it because of the very poor quality control.
It buzzes so much I can't judge.
I am very dissapointed.
I use a Roland Cube and a Fender Blues Delux.

The guitar was not set up at all.
The neck was distorted.
When I put it in tune!! the strings were hitting the bridge pick up.
I could not get the buzz out of the strings. This was due to faulty
Wilkinson Delux machine heads. Awaiting replacements.The fretboard was in a flthy condition.

I now just want rid.This is the worst product I have laid hands on.
If this was repaired I would have no faith whatsoever in it.
I have an Epiphone solid collectors piece,a Les Paul,a Washburn,
an Ibanez 125,a Shecter,a St Blues,a Greg Bennett,a Stratocaster,
and a Freshman 335. None of which has ever given me a problem.

I purchased this via the internet from toms 19 ( W T Armstrong ).
It was unfit for purpose (trading standards). He wanted me to
return this large package at my expense and was so unhelpfull.
I then contacted his supplier John Hornby Skewes & Co Ltd who
were even less helpfull & denied any responsibility.
STILL AWAITING REPLACEMENT MACHINE HEADS.

I have been playing of and on for 47 years.
I should have investigated W T ARMSTRONG & ignored the so called ebay feedback.
If it was stolen it wood be a favour to me.
I chose this on the JOHN HORNBY SKEWES & CO RIGHT UP. BIG MISTAKE.
BUYERS BEWARE. TRY BEFORE YOU BUY.

Offset small body 335/339 type. Solid carved maple top (seriously!!) and routed solid mahogany back and sides. Top shape is more curved than carved, but works well. Two Wilkinson WV humbuckers. 3 controls - a volume a tone and a control called 'roll', which allows you to roll of gradually one of the coils of each humbucker to give a single coil sound. Maple neck with a rather obvious splice at the headstock. Mines is tobacco sunburst.

Sorry, but I really don't rate these pickups. They are much too bright. I decided to check it against my 335 which has Classic 57s and where as the '57s were mellow with a little edge, these were fiercely toppy and shrill sounding. They also lacked body. I know its not really a fair comparison as one cost almost 10 times the other but I've had much cheaper guitars - Hamer Echotone - which had a better sound. The treble was so fierce I had the treble control on the amp permanently at zero to control it. The controls are also a bone of contention. There's no way to mix the pickups to the 25%/50% classic clean. Instead, your stuck with 50/50 as there's only one volume control. The tone control goes from nothing to mud withing 1/4 turn. The roll control is worthless on such toppy pickups. There's also a huge loss of volume and the sound is very thin indeed. Personally I think this guitar would be better served by dropping the roll control and having 2 volumes and a single tone control. It's a shame reall, because everything else about this guitar is good.

Set up was appalling, I do my own setup, so it was no problem for me but anyone else may be dissappointed by it. The woodwork is clean and good and the top is carved on the inside too. The bridge is very cheaply made looking but seems to work well. The Wilkinson tuners look like they'd fall apart but are pretty solid and hold tune well. It's resonably well finished for a guitar in its price category.

I've gigged this guitar regularly now, and it's holding up pretty well. Strap buttons ar a bit rubbish and the tone control's started to work loose - no probs just needs a spanner to tighten. All in all, pretty good in terms of durability so far.

Never dealt with them.

This could be a very good guitar were it not for infuriating minor design oversights and a change of pickups. Everything else on it is pretty good. It's comfortable to play and seems durable. It's no 335, but neither is an Epi Dot 335, despite its pretentions, and this guitar *could* wipe the floor with the Epi if it just sorted out those niggling problems.
Would I buy another? Not sure but its good value and you get a lot of spec for your money. Just sort out the factory setup, pickups and controls, and it could be a seriously good guitar. Oh, and hide the neck splice the same way Hamer do it on their Korea/China guitars. There's nothing wrong with headstock splicing - expensive jazz guitars do it as a matter of course as it strengthens the neck - just make it a bit less obvious.

This guitar is based on the Gibson 335 (Dot) semi-acoustic guitar, as mentioned in the above review. This new breed of Vintage guitars designed by Trev Wilkinson typically take a classic design and tweak it, and the AV3 is highly successful example of that thinking. Noticably the body is not quite symmetrical like the 335 and similar semis, and upper fret access has been improved by adjusting the shape a little. Aesthetically it's very pleasing to look at, and the pale blonde of the natural finish model (other finishes are available) is very attractive. Tuners are very solid Wilkinson-designed, the bridge is slightly awkward to adjust but does the job more than adequately. Lovely finish and attention to detail.

Killer sounds, very versatile because of being able to 'roll off' the single coil to humbucker on any of the three pickup settings. Sounds lovely clean or with an level of gain. Take off some treble and play clean and you are approaching choice jazz tones, or turn the gain up and you can get a thick lead sound, and many sounds in between to suit rhythm and lead playing.

Factory setup was frankly awful - the nut was way too high so it wasn't simply a matter of adjusting the bridge myself. Took it for a professional setup to a local guitar maker/repairer who liked the guitar but commendte that the bridge wasn't of the highest quality and awkward to adjust. It played beautifully after the setup as you would expect of just about any guitar handled by a pro. The factory setup is really my only complaint against this guitar, I don't know if this is typical (I doubt it is, probably just a bit of bad luck on my part).

Solidly built, I am a home player so have no plans to gig it, I hope to keep it in excellent condition and not expose it to hazards!

Have never dealt with customer support.

I have to give it a 10 because it is simply the nicest guitar I have owned, and I have owned quite a few. If you are looking for a semi I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it! If you are bothered about the name on the headstock and have silly money to spend then go for one of the (overpriced) expensive marques by all means, but the quality and sound is all here in the AV3 whatever level you play at. If you buy unseen then factor in the possibility that factory setup might be poor and require seeing to, but don't by any means let that put you off...
The guitar seller I bought it off raved about it even after I had made the purchase, said it put many more expensive guitars to shame and I quite agree...

This is a great guitar in an affordable price range.Its almost like a Gibson ES 336 but one 3rd the price.It has the volume where Gibson should have placed it years ago.Same area as a strat.Chambered mahogany body and maple top.Solid through like a 335.Nice Flame too!2 Wilkinson PAF style pickups.The back is a little hotter.Nice!

It has a single coil to Humbucker blend control.It goes from a clean thinner sound to really fat tone and everywhere in between.I love where the volume control is because I can stil do tele tricks and swells.

Not bad but it needed a little set up.Most guitars come with 9s or 10s.I like 11 s.

Stop giving away all your hard earned money and check this line out!Wilkinson hardware ,tuners and pickups.Can't beat em.

Awsome company.I talked to Prez Trev Wilkinson in person and on the phone and he listens.This guy is a guitar fan too.He designed a lot of stuff for Fender like the roller bridge.

This company has a whole line of affordable guitars.Its like being back in the 60s again and having the money to buy an old Gibson or Fender.How do the big companys get away with charging 3 grand now for a guitar that is machine made?They are all made the same on C and C machines anyway.Check out the strat style one,its great!