Vintage V100MRPGM Lemon Drop

My second try to review the Lemon Drop but here goes...........
Thick mahogany body (two piece on mine)and maple cap. Two Wilkinson humbuckers with the neck pickup turned so as to be out of phase on the middle switch position. Wilkinson tune-0-matic bridge and stop tail piece. Wilkinson non locking tuners. Beefy set almost Gibson 50's style neck. Has been subjected to fake ageing. Overall feels and plays a bit like a (wisper it...)a Les Paul. The only things that let the guitar down were the control knobs which are not easy to read at a glance on stage, so replaced them with black speed knobs, not a pretty or historically accurate but a big improvement.

If you have not played one of these do yourself a favour and try one out. I went to a music store to try a reverb stomp box and chose this to play as it looked interesting. I couldn't believe how good this guitar sounded and played, not just for ??250 but for any money.
Bought the stomp box, I went back the next day and bought Lemon Drop.
I dont use the famed Peter Green setting much because although it sounds accurate, to me its is a bit thin, just not my sound. The bridge pickup gives a really nice PAF medium output humbucker tone, all musical and aggressive if required. The neck pickup is siblime it really is, all fat and jazzy through bluesy to thick and rocky. I play it though a THD univalve lined out to a Sheldon TT3 for use in the house or from the THD lined out to a PA during gigs.

How do you rate an aged guitar? I quite like it and its been done ok and I won't have to worry about collecting dings and scrapes. Is the ageing carried out as well as a Fender custom shop relic...no, but it doesn't cost ??2500 either. The guitar was set up really well from the factory (well played Mr Wilkinson please advise Gibson on how to do this), I lowered the action a tad and balanced the pickups to my likeing. The real secret about this guitar is its neck it really is one of the best I have ever played, honestly. It is quite a big lump, not unlike a 50's Gibson but fits your hand nicely and benefits from having half the finish removed as part of the ageing process. My guitar had very very slightly rough frets which have played in fine but a point off.

Dropped it from its stand and fell full on its face and wasn't even out of tune.

Who knows, but Mr Wilkinson looks a bit like my uncle Phil in the promo photos, who is a nice man.

I have tried to be objective but this is where I possibly will start to gush. I have been playing for 29 years or so. A bit of gigging early on, followed by house playing for amusement and recently back to gigging after 19 years. We all have played reasonably cheap Chinese/Korean guitars in this price range, the thing is that this feels substantial like a really old Gibson Les Paul. After a short time the weight, feel, neck and ageing really does fool your brain. For my first gig in 19 years, I had a choice of my 2007 Gibson Les Paul Standard, 1971 Gibson SG Pro, Gordon Smith GS2 and a Parker P38, all excellent guitars but chose the Lemon Drop. Why, don't honestly know but I tried them all at rehearsals and hand on heart liked the Lemon Drop the best even although I wanted to take a posher guitar and show off. Its just got a bit of indescribable mojo, which is a bit strange being a fake aged Les Paul copy from China.

Who is it for: well new players taking a punt on a guitar that will do the to semi pro stage, old giggers who want a good back up guitar (until they try it and then won't put it down)and those that want that classic PAF blues/rock sound.
Who is it not for: badge snobs and hi-gain shredders.

Fantastic value for money, highly recommended.

Specs can be found at this site: http://www.jhs.co.uk/vintageelectric.html

The guitar is basically a reliced replica of Peter Green/Gary Moore lemon drop Les Paul.

I think this guitar is one of the big surprises of the year. The neck feels very comfortable, the Wilkinson pick ups are amazing.

Surprise...surprise!

I was not expecting that this guitar to sound this good! I mean really good! You get the usual Les Paul tones from the Neck and Bridge humbies, very fat and warm with lots of sustain to boot.

What dropped my jaw was the middle pup position, you can really hear the guitar "HONK". When I was testing the guitar and heard this, I looked up to the guitar sales guy, and he gave me this big nod as if to say: Good eh?

For the price, i didnt have second thoughts. Im sold!

Although I never really sat down and listen to Peter Green's playing or tone in Fleetwood Mac so I am not aware even if this can emulate it. But I know FM got famous because of their songs...but this guitar is in the league of its own.

Aesthetic wise, I think I wouldve preferred it to be not reliced. The artificial relic job done on the guitar looks very unnatural on some parts. But I have to give credit to the people who made this, they were somewhat meticulous to put in those screw holes in the tuners and where the pickguard was. The no gloss top is ok and the pick scrapes too..
but still, i think it looked unnatural. Besides, I think Les Pauls do not look good reliced compared to strats and teles.

The pickup tone and configuration is nicely done.. The honk is really pronounced. The pickups are quiet even at high gain settings, the harmonics comes out clearly out of the bridge pup and the neck is really full sounding. The pots used though were a bit suspect and cheap looking, its probably the first one to be upgraded including the toggle switch too.

The neck is very comfortable and playing it is quite a treat. Although, I have difficulties fretting the higher frets..but this is common for all set neck guitars.

Its reliced, so no worries if it gets more bumps and scratches.

Overall, its a very solid guitar. So far no issues after almost a year.

Like I said, it is one of the surprisingly VERY GOOD les paul copies out there. I've had an Epi LP Custom and a Gibson LP Standard in the past(5 yrs ago), unfortunately I had to sell them at that time.

I was looking for an LP guitar and this came across. I was ready to pull the trigger on a Gibson LP Studio, but I guess this will do for the meantime.

And definitely, if this got lost, stolen or broken, I will get me another one.

Give it a listen, you'll be surprised as well.

This guitar is a tribute to the Peter Green Les Paul of times past. I really was not aware of this particular guitar until this Lemondrop caught my eye. It features all the standard Les Paul controls, frets, switches, ect. So no need to get in deep with that description. It features a nice line-up of parts that most players have found themselves upgrading to in the past. Wilkinson parts all around. Nice finish on the nickle tuneomatic and stoptail piece. Very responsive machines and clever replacement marks from the "origional" ones. I would have prefered the vintage ones in this spot though but that would have ended the tribute. The Wilkinson Humbuckers are very nice especially with the reverse wiring Green used. They give many options in tone especially when tweaking around in the middle position. The actual pots are a bit of a dissapointment though. They chose to use the dime size ones. I think for a couple more production bucks they could have filled the cavity with some more beefy and true to the origional components including the three way switch. I have already started the upgrade in that area.
They did use mahogany for the body and set neck and it has a real well figured maple top.

I play a mix of jazz and rock and the guitar is able to go wherever I need it to go. I use a stereo chorus through Epiphone Jr. head, matching speaker cabinet and a Traynor Custom Valve 20. The lemondrop does well with the tube sound especially when going for the crunchy stuff. It does well in the clean settings as well. It can get a bit painful in the treble end but worked it out with practice. Once again the middle selection variations are nice when using the two amps and chorus.

As far as factory set up was concerned I missed that part as my dealer set it up before I bought it. I did find a few sharp frets and had to work them out myself. It is much easier to do on a "relic" cause I didn't have to worry bout scratchin it. The relic process is a bit heavy handed in the abrasive department. As the previous writer mentioned it looks great from afar but when you get up close the sanding marks are quite evident and deep. Not as natural as one might expect. I solved that by going over the top with the next grade sandpaper and removed the belt sander marks. I also polished the top a bit to get some sheen back. Looks great! Like I said the nice thing about the aged look is that you can do a bit of tweaking without worry of that first knock. Overall a good looking finish from the factory though.

This guitar is built like a rock. I don't think it will up and quit unless you drop it or do the Who thing on it. The finish hopefully will just get more natural with age. I would be happy to take it on the road (if that is what I did) as it is it will last me forever.

The guitar has not needed any company suppot, it has a 1 year warranty.

I have been playing at the guitar for many years. I play for relaxation and my own enjoyment. I have made collecting guitars a bit of a hobby as well. I also enjoy the repairing and service of instruments as well. There have been no hidden issues yet and I would gladly replace it if it were lost or stolen. Overall the only thing I would have changed or wished for would be better switches and pots and a lighter hand on the "relic" process.
Keep in mind though you get a great sounding and looking guitar for the price.

Body: Mahogany
Top: V100CS Flame Maple
Neck: Mahogany ??? Set Neck
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Scale: 24.75"/ 628mm
Frets: 22
Neck Inlays: Pearloid Crown
Tuners: Wilkinson?? Deluxe WJ01 Chrome
Bridge: Tune-O-Matic
Pickups: Wilkinson?? Double Coil x 2 (N) MWVC (B)MWVC
Hardware: Chrome
Controls: 2 x Volume/ 2 x Tone/ 3-Way Toggle

With a reverse fitted Humbucker in the neck!

You can check out a video demo of this great guitar here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MsK5pvOonI

Overall very powerful, responsive and unique sounding. Try rolling off the Neck volume just a touch with both pickups active for that Peter green Honk!

Superb out of the box

I have gigged this Axe professionally and would do so again!

You guys are great!

I am a professional session player,guitar teacher and band member. Been playing for 15 years

As mentioned, this is a pretty good-at-ten-paces copy of Peter Green/Gary Moore's classic '59 Les Paul. It's got the same looking hardware that includes the reversed neck pickup and the replaced tuners (though they've even gone to the trouble of fitting original tuners, pulling them out and fitting the replacements, complete with the 'original' screw holes) There are even screw holes for the 'missing' (and not supplied) scratchplate.

There's a fair bit of, crude in places, relicing that's obviously been done with a hand power sander or somesuch. But again, at ten paces, it's pretty convincing. Vintage has matt-varnished the body and neck after this relic treatment, which is a thoughtful touch, but I'd prefer a finish that will continue to degrade over time. The matt finish also doesn't match the original guitar's cracked, but shiny lacquer. However, a bit of Brasso and elbow grease and it'll shine up should you wish to get a bit more gloss to the top.

Apart from the 'just so they don't sue us' pointier lower horn, the hardware, pickups, mismatched controls and smooth tuners are as you would want them.

I'm not a particular Peter Green fan, but this guitar appealed to me over the likes of an Epiphone Les Paul just because it had a bit more character and less of a factory-stamped look. And one aspect of the power-sander relicing is that each one is going to be a little different...

I'm a career bedroom guitarist with a choice of digital and valve amps to play with. ('70s Carlsbro, '70s Marshall Lead and Bass 50, Epiphone Valve Junior, Behringer V-Amp2, Korg Pandora...)

The sound is that of a good Les Paul. While not being vintage, museum grade tone, it's very competent and really makes you want to keep on playing. The bridge pickup is a little brash, but the neck pickup is sweetness itself. The fabled 'out of phase' middle position is there and the drop in volume it gives is good for rhythm and funkier choppy stuff. Rolling the tone down works well, though the (tone and volume) pots seem to do all their work in 25% of their rotation. A look in the control cavity shows them to be rather feeble, teeny things and a ??5 upgrade would probably work wonders for them. The three position switch too, is rather noisy in operation, though very positive.

I got my Lemon Drop factory fresh as the guitar shop had to rush it to me (the original guitar had been dropped and broken in the box). Hartnoll Guitars, in Plymouth would normally have set it up for me, so I won't criticise their set up at all as they'd not touched the guitar.

The factory setup had a few high frets which I dressed and polished. There were a few lacquer spills and the 'vintage' look yellow on the neck binding was proud of the rest of the neck and needed some light rubbing down. There were a few sharp fret ends too. Not good, but not terrible and all easily fixed - probably by the shop before you receive it.

I'd happily gig this guitar if I get round to getting on stage. The sounds are great and though it's on the heavy side (only as bad as a heavy Gibson...) I happily noodle away on it for hours, despite a number of more expensive guitars clamouring for attention on the rack.

Hopefully the finish will just improve and wear with age. The whole thing has a good air of solidity to it and the already-worn look means that the odd ding and careless knock won't break your heart.

There's a one year warranty on it . I've dealt with JHS in the past and they were quick to respond to emails. The shop, Hartnoll Guitars (dot co dot uk) have been fantastic in their service - even sending me a 'How do you like it?' email a week after I got it.

I've been playing, on and off for 20 years. I own an Edwards LPJunior, an '80s Kramer Baretta-style guitar, an 81 Tokai Springy Sound, an '81 Aria ProII, an Epiphone Sheraton, an '87 Frankenstein Van Halen/Vai style thing, a Duesenberg Starplayer TV, a Malmsteen copy... That kind of thing. Amps as above.

I'm really, really happy with my Lemon Drop. It sounds great and I'd happily recommend friends buy one rather than a 'looks like a Gibson copy' alternative.

For ??300, it's a no brainer if you want a guitar with a bit of character that's been put together well and with a good shop setup will play wonderfully.

The Lemon Drop ~ This guitar is a replica/tribute to a specific guitar - in this case, the famous 1959 Peter Green/Gary Moore Les Paul. Beautifully relic'd maple (veneer) flamed top recreates the current look of the original guitar, whilst the non matching control knobs and lightly distressed hardware complete the illusion. The relic'ing on the back of the body and neck are less convincing, but the top is superb.

Mahogany neck and mahogany body with a maple cap and finish veneer. The pickups are Trevor Wilkinson's Platinum Series Humbuckers (NOT the standard models used in other v100s as stated in the catalogue). The neck p/up has been turned around and wired 'out of phase' to recreate the famous middle position sound of the original guitar as modified by Peter Green.

Tuners are Trevor Wilkinson's deluxe gotoh style, that reflect Gary Moore's later modification.

Made in Vietnam(!) and comes without a case or any associated candy..

Excellent early 60s style neck with 22 frets as standard.

Played through a variety of amps (Fender Blues Jnr, Ashdown Peacemaker @ Vox VTS 100watt modelling) the sound is full and classic vintage PAF sounding. Not a fire breather, just authentic. Think of those old Fleetwood Mac tunes and Parisienne Walkways, and you're well in the ball park. The reversed and sublimely sweet neck pickup, lets you do a really good impression of Peter Green's distictive clean sound. Overall, it's probably a fraction brighter than the classic heavy mids darkness of a traditional Les Paul, but again it's close.

Factory set up was adequate rather than excellent, but playable straight out of the box. Few intonation (the D & G strings were well out)and action tweaks and you're ready to go.

It's probably pointless trying to comment on the finish of a relic'c guitar, but I'd say that the maple veneer was not particularly well book-marked and the dividng line is slightly off centre. But come on - at this price..

The tuners are just fine, but the tune-o-matic bridge could stand an upgrade I think. Also the plastic nut is a little on the sticky side, though it appears well cut. These last 2 factors make for slightly less than completely reliable tuning and for me personally, will require attention at some stage.

The guitar is a tough beast, though I'd hate to drop any set neck instrument for fear of major damage. I look forward to gigging it without any fears. Just hope that someone in the audience will recognise it for what it represents!

The hardware & finish will actually only look better as it wears I guess! Such is the nature of relic'ing. Feels solid and substantial on a strap. Well balanced too, but strap locks must be the way to go for any guitar played in the heat of live performance. As for a backup, it's a brave man (or a poor one) that takes only one guitar to a gig.

Never had to deal with Vintage/JHS. I'll fix any problems as they come along and will get a talented local tech to cut me a new tusque nut. But for what it's worth, I have a 12 month warranty.

Been playing guitar for 38 years, though mainly classical. Been playing electrics seriously for the last 3 of those years, in the blues/classic rock style. Have acquired 9 other electric guitars of varying quality, including a Fender Strat, Fender Toronado, Charvel mk3 and a Gretsch pro-Jet.

If I had to, I'd buy it again in a heart beat. I looked at the instrument out of curiousity and having read a really good review, but was determined to be ultra critical in my shopping assessment. I had no need of the guitar and certainly didn't want to spend the money. Unfortunately, I was lost the moment I saw that fantastic top, and playing a few lead riffs merely cemented the deal..

I look at it this way - Vintage are a cheeky company, and only they'd have the nerve and the ability to bring out a product like this one at such an incredible price. The original '59 Peter Green/Gary Moore Les Paul is walled up in a safe and costs ??50,000.00 a year just to insure! To actually buy it would cost in the region of ??2,000,000. Here's an opportunity to buy into at least a little of the mojo of that instrument for what is basically pennies by comparison. The fact that the hugely respected Trevor Wilkinson designed it and kitted it out with his quality hardware, ensures that it's a great playing & sounding instrument in it's own right.

If the Gibson Custom Shop had bought out their own replica of this guitar, we'd surely be looking at a price of ??6000? A limited edition like Fender's recent Clapton/Blackie would be 3 times that..

You can see why I found the Vintage Lemon Drop to be absolutely irresistable. Even if you just want a good quality, cheap "Les Paul'a like" it's still the best way to go. Cheaper & better than an Epiphone Les Paul in my humble opinion..