Vintage VS6 SG Copy

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You people must remember nothing sounds like a real Gibson, and even more important nothing sounds like a real vintage gibson, They don't use the same mahogany, rosewood, electronics, wire, pots, tuners everything overseas. But the tonal quality of asian mahogany or asian rosewood if thats even what its called has a totally different sound, im not saying its a bad one. Things i never realized in the past were that Gibson actually uses one piece mahogany necks, and 1 piece mahogany bodies on their high end stuff, so even if you get the same electronics its still not the same tone, im writing this in light of all gibson copy guitars not just this one, the look feel and soung of a gibson is unparrelleled so spend the money and buy a real one, people don't complain about spending thousands on a car thats assembly line built by robots and thousands on many things with hbuge mark up and huge profit margins like computers that cost about 50bucks to make and sell for 1000, but people gripe about a guitar thats hand built in the U.S.A by your neighbors in Nashville and Montana that only make about 1/3 profit margin and they don't sell a huge number of guitars a year, 1300$ guitar like a LP classic sells for 2000$ the thing is a hand built work of art, the chinese make every brand in there factories with slave labor from squier to epiphone to ibanez, turser everthing, built by children putting together toys, and the profit margin is way higher on all that stuff, just like it is at wallmart, BUY AMERICAN AND SUPPORT AMERICAN MANUFACURING the Industry that made this COUNTRY what it is, BUY USA GEAR AND THE PRICE WILL DROP<<<<< written MG from the inside (i don't work for gibson or fender im just a tone freak)

I hope I do not have to go into what the guitar has and doesn't. Many have done that all ready so no nead for me to do so.

Well this guitar fits in where I need it to be. I play all kinds of styles and it holds its own very nicely. I play through a Marshall Super 100 JH. I have only 2 pedals, a holy grail and a H2O and the guitar works well with what I have. Its not noisey at all and has great tone. I live in an apartment at the moment and can not open it up the way I would like to but in time I will. We played it loud at the music store and I liked what I heard.Very nice articulate sound. The selector switch for the p/u's works well and you can dial in what you want. It has great unlying tone that I find a real SG does not have. It does not copy the sound of a real SG but comes close enough but has a sound of its own. Great guitar

Well I bought this guitar from my small music store in town. When it arrived he did nothing to it and it only needs a minor intonation set up. Not bad for a guitar that came half way around the world. The fit and finish is perfect. Every thing works properly and needs no adjusting.For the money its a real deal of a puchase. I spent many years being a snob at what my guitar had to be made by... what a hudge big mistage that was.

I have only had the guitar a month and its seems like its the real dael. Its my second Vintage, I also own the Les Paul Junior model with a P-90 in the bridge and that is a great guitar also. Over time I bet this guitar will preform just as good as any big brand name guitar would. I have ordered the Gold Top with P-90's in it and can hardly wait till that gets here.

I have never had to even call these guys as I am a new customer and have had no problems at all.

I have been playing on and off most of my life and I am 55. I have owned many a great instrument. You can tell that by the amp I play through. No these guitars are not Gibson or Fender or what have you. These are the Vinatge brand. For what you pay for this brand name guitar its well worth taking a good look. My SG I just bought playes better than the real Gibson SG. The neck is faster and more comfortable to play on. The sound is top notch and if you want a change take the pups and and go the way you want to. This guitar costs a fraction of what the real one goes for but since it so much cheaper you can rebuild the whole guitar and still come way under what a real one will cost if thats what you think you need to do. I think the Vintage brand is one of the little secrets in the industry. I have a Fender Custom Shop 1966 Strat NOS and would put my Vinatge SG right beside it for what it does and quality of sound and build.

Standard SG/Les Paul fare... you've read it before.
Set neck, which is great at this price level.
Mine is one of the pre-Wilkinson SGs, and the neck is a bit slimmer with thinner frets than in the newer models. I prefer bigger frets, but these are perfectly adecuate.

As usual for an SG, due to teh slightly thinner lighter body, the guitar is a bit unbalanced and the neck tends to pull towards the ground. This feature of SG guitars used to annoy me until I realised that a leather strap offers just enough friction to offset the imbalance.

I play mostly rock/heavy stuff, but also funk or with a funk flavour. This guitar is great for all these styles. The pickups are not fantastic, but they're decent and I am not in a hurry to replace them.

I bought mine used. The set up was fine, with low action. This guitar was pretty well made and the finish has lasted quite a few years already without any major problems. Considering the cost of this guitar, this is really very good. the neck feels smooth and the fret ends are very well finished. Lovely to play.

When I bought it this guitar had a couple of pots loose and the output socket too... it took me all of 5 minutes to fix this plus spray contact cleaner into the pots... and the guitar works flawlessly now. Whilst it may not be made from top quality components, I can't see much to complain about here.
I'd say the weakest part are the tuners. This guitar must be 6 years old or so, and I can feel the tuners aren't veyr good, but they still work and the guitar stays in tune just fine.
The pickup switch tends to fail on these guitars, but mine is still going strong.

I have been playing guitar for over 15 years, and bass for about 1. I have owned/played many guitars and after my initial "I must have a big name on the headstock" I'm cured, and I just want instruments that work well.
If you want an SG style guitar, Vintage makes great ones for not much money at all. Mine is one of the ones before Trevor Wilkinson started working with JHS. The newer pickups are better, more "organic", but these are fine... I haven't tried them yet in a rehearsal situation (I play bass with a couple of bands, not guitar) so I am no sure how they will respond at high volumes... I suspect they'll probably be prone to squealing.. but it's just a suspicion (but it happens with most budget pickups), so I might end up replacing them if I gigged with this, but it would be fine for most people.
This SG represents great value for money, it's so smooth and sounds great. I'd buy another in a heartbeat if this one got stolen. I mean... you can get them second hand for ??60-80... how can you go wrong?

Cherry finish, chrome hardware, the greenish tuners that are meant to say 'vintage' but actually say 'halloween'. still love 'em though.

22 frets, 2 volume and 2 tone, 3 way selector switch. it's an SG copy. what you expecting?

one thing that is very nice is the fret inlays are pretty good mother of pearl copy stuff. they look far better than any Westfield or anything in it's price-range.

i play rock and roll ('50s through to '80s, mainly early stuff though) and this guitar suits it perfectly. i play it through vox valvetronix amps (30w and 50w) on the Ac30 setting, and the strange thing is i was playing along with the Beatles Anthology 1 and the tone was perfect.
Being a George Harrison freak anyway this was quite fun for me, but seriously, the sparkling upper tones were bordering on Gretsch territory but still with the kind of compressed tight SG body tone.

being a guitar more often known for metal, it obviously stands up well through a big muff or whatever, but the pickups are good enough that you can play it clean and be proud of it.

hmm... likes and dislikes...

i love SGs, (this is my 4th through the years) and this is the best i've played yet. it's kinda heavy, but gibson style guitars always are, right?

ok, the reason i started this review -

the setup from the factory, out of the box, was PERFECT. seriously. it was even almost in tune. the action was excellent, the pickups were balanced, the finish had no flaws, the frets were smooth, the tuners still had the whiff of grease. great stuff. SOOOOO pretty...

i play live and can't wait 'til the next gig so i can use this. i'm installing a Vibrola tailpiece so i'll probably destroy the tuning stability, but at least i know it'll be my fault and not the factory. everything seems solid and durable, but if you gig without a backup you're just BEGGING for trouble.

i have a 1 year warranty, which i'll almost certainly invalidate when i install the vibrola. Oh well - he who dares, ruins!

i have been playing for 14 years, and own a fair few guitars. my 'thing' at the moment is to collect a version (not the real things, i'm not rich) of every guitar George Harrison played, so i've got the tennessean copy (a shine, very nice) and a rickenbacker copy (an Indie, if you can find one then buy it immediately - they're worth their weight in gold), and a sonic blue strat, and blah blah. you get the idea.

i decided to get this guitar to adapt into the SG seen in the 'rain' and 'paperback writer' promo films, as the epiphone sg maestro is discontinued and costs about ??300 now if you can find one. this guitar cost me ??119, the vibrola cost me ??75. easy maths!

i owned an epiphone SG400 a few years ago which cost me over ??200 but it played HORRIBLY - no tuning stability, the neck felt loose, it was foul. so i sold it, had some quality time with my hollow-bodies, and decided last week it was time to get back into SGworld. And i'm so happy i picked the Vintage.

Typical copy of the famous SG with slighty uneven horns in a gorgeous red and highly varnished with the wood grain visable, realy lovely to look at. I was pleased to notice it's not too thin nice and chunky and a good weight.The pickups are covered chrome pick-ups H/H in staggered housings with the standard layout of volume and tone for each pick-up with a three-way pick-up selector. Also unlike some originals, you can bleed the volume and tone of a selected pickup while switch is centred. The bridge is a tuno-matic copy with stop tail, all in shiny chrome. It has a black pick guard and the controls are all of good quality.Jack is at the front of the guitar, with no back plate.

The head stock is of a standard paddle shape with a green pearloid inlay and standard black T/R cover. In my opinion this is a much superior headstock to any other copys ive seen, including Epiphone.
The tuners are Covered but unsealed Wilkinson Deluxe tuners with vintage-vibe green plastic knobs. At first glance the colour of the tuners is off putting. The neck is nice and chunky lacquered in the same cherry finish that covers the rest of the guitar. Comfortable and easy to play. The finish on the set joint of the neck is top class and the neck just feels sturdy and well finished. The frets feel good and the markers are the traditional trapezoid shape.


I rate this a 10 because it has everything you need and it does it well.

I have been playing in and outa bands for nearly 20 years and i play mainly metal/rock from AC/DC to Pantera, also play the blues and some country. This guitar packs the goods and boy does it wana rock! I am playing this through a Berhinger Gmx212 and i sometimes also use a v-amp. In both clean and dirty there is no unexpected noises and it copes well with volume. It has a real bite, it dont want to play ballads! I realy would advise that unless you play with atleast a little gain, you wont like this guitar..go buy a tele!! You can go from a nice muddy blues to a real crisp Angus sound no problem. Play a couple of open chords with a little gain and reverb then anybody could be fooled its Ac/dc!! But then when you hit the gain and drop the mids..oh boy thats when it happens!! Anything from Metallica to Mastodon is available. People have been talking here of replacing the pups, but i aint going to coz i think it would be a crying shame. They are realy nice and responsive.

There is a slight fret noise around the 3rd to6th fret on the 4th string, but its quite minor and cant be heard when plugged in.

9 rating due to slight fret noise.

The factory set up was ok, just ok. When i first recieved the guitar the bridge pickup didnt work. So i opened it up to have a look and it was cross wired at the pot!! sorted in 2 minutes, but i have to say that the wiring was rubbish..like my 3 year old could do better!!Realy poor solder joints and bad continuity, sorted now and sounding good!!:)

There is a slight flaw in the scratch plate in that it had a slight nick in it, but hardly visable.

The action was a little low for me but a few turns and it was perfect in no time.

The finish of this guitar is breathtaking!! I have found myself not playing it but staring at it lovinly!! It realy is the most beutifull guitar that i have seen in a while. Before i bought this i checked out a Tokai SG in the same style and i have to say that the Vintage is 10 times the guitar in both looks and playablity!! realy!! And as for epiphone...forget it!! And i am not just saying that because of the price, i sincerely mean it!!!

9 rating due to having to fix the guitar outa the box!!

Havnt played this live yet, but will do soon. But i would have no doubts that this guitar could cut the mustard. It is of a great quality, hardware and finish. It feels good and sturdy and it holds a tune well once set up with the intonation. Strap pegs are good, just give them a slight tightning. Only problem with an SG is the generic urge to self destruct by throwing itself head first at the ground! But with a good strap this can be over come, just keep one hand on the neck!!

10 rating coz i cant fault it!!

NO comment. Althought i do know that JHS are good to deal with and are very customer focused.

Been playing for nearly 20 year..(OMG) and i have to say that i was suprised with the quality of this guitar. I got this guitar realy because it was cheap and i wished to add to my arsenal. I told myself thats its a cheap guitar and warned myself not to expect anything great, so as to not be disapointed i had prepared myself for a cheapo crappy sg copy. Oh how wrong i was! This is a wonderfull guitar, well made and well finished. I had an issue with the electrics, but that was sorted quickly. I also had an issue with the tuners, but i got used to them and infact they add a little character. But thats it...no more issues!! I love this guitar dearly and find myself treating it better than my Dean or Gibson!! I just cant getover how good it looks! I do wonder what other people are on about because i really cant fault this guitar.

If this guitar was lost or stolen, i would cry..!! Then i would sort myself out and get another one and one spare for the loft!! I am going to buy another on of these but in black!!!

I hate it when reviews state "Good for beginners" and "good for the price"

I would say this guitar is top notch for any level of player and as for the price, i think its way better that any other Sg i ever played at 5 to 10 time the price!!

If your looking for a SG in either a copy or other and your funds are low or your just not into names and you aint a snob, then i urge you to try this baby out.

You will love it!!

Black Gloss finish,2 volume 2tone wilkinson pickups and tuners,2006 model,mahogany body with set neck.Sg looks.

GREAT sound played through little epiphone amp.Played it through a fender bass amp still sounds good.No unwanted noise.

Well setup well finished everything works as should.

Have an older model pre Wilkinson despite near fatal drop still plays well,looks good.

never had to use.

I hate reviews that state for the price its this or that.These are exceptionally well built guitars,i own 2 of these sg`s and will buy more suspect the Les Pauls are just as good next on my list to try.

OK a review the ALLNEW H.C. Way

Click the question marks to see what the questions are.

Poly Finish and Cherry Red >It has some grain or grain filler lines which are nice looking.
It's an SG Copy.
Bridge was standard abr1 copy changed to nashville copy [more solid]
Tuners slightly weak Kluson copies [Wilkinson Deluxe chrome.]
Neck fat-ish but nice SG-ish neck. Low med-jumbo frets rosewood board.
I think it came with leaflets,allen keys and a cable.
Made in early 2006 and inspected by MR TS KOAK, who needs to get his eyesight checked and his prescription upgraded a tad. It's probably Chinese at this price.
Standard Sg fare . The Wilkinson hardware is ok but not a major upgrade from the previous model which i owned in 2003-4.
I've had the thing apart for all kind of mods and i can tell you that
1.) It???s the whitest "mahogany" I've seen, but, I aint a woodfettler.
2.) The pickups are not originally alnico and are filled with half a pound of wax. They are Alnico magneted now I???ve changed the magnets.

Getting some wax out and ridding it of the ceramics is a good move.

It's a heavily modified project and the thing is now equipped with push pull coil taps and other strange wiring.

As standard it's very good for the price and very playable.

I'm a home recorder and play at semi-pro level, I used to occasionally play with good/pro players when I played out. I play most kinds of music from Pop, Chic through James Brown, Howling Wolf, Led Zep and even Sabbath,Metallica type sounds. Usually settling on late mid 60s type guitar sounds.
I mostly use this though either 1 or both of my Behringer Compressor pedals into a Korg Ax processor to four track to PC sound card. The fx unit and recording programme have enough Patch/VST jiggery and pokery to make a ??70 Telecaster copy sound [virtually (ha!)] like an old Lester.

Even with the mods it needs extra compression to get a little nearer to the area of Gibson sound quality, if you could bung in some 490s, well it still wouldn't be quite a Gibson, but I???d take that over an epi.
That said with the coil taps, replacement pots and caps I can get a very versatile range out of it.

As standard it was ok and would score a solid 7 straight though my little Vox. 9 is how it is now.

Setup was fine, intonation was bearable, nut needed cutting a fair bit action needed to be raised, if anything. Apart from dry frets that needed playing/wearing in it was the most playable guitar I???ve seen come out of a box.

A few flaws.
The right hand side tuners bushings are glued/pushed/bodged/wedged in at an angle, which is just mostly visually annoying and doesn't interfere with anything.
The woodwork on the back of the neck is dodgy looking.
The bridge stud on the bass side was slack to the post.
That's about it. not much different than my 2003 one. I think the 2006 seemed to sound a little better as stock though.
I keep it around as I love the neck profile and general utility of the thing.

Seems OK. I've had it since April [ 7 months] and it's been voraciously modified and been soldered on/in a lot. SO the finish is tough ,taken a few tap and dings without really marking it,it is a guitar and not a drill press so if you don't go industrial on it it should last.

The stock pups,pots,nut and bridge could go for reasonably priced improvements. It's a nice cheap guitar. Going by this AND the last one I'll say it's tough enough.

Cant help, never used them.Their website is getting a little better though

Been playing around [argh!] 28 years. Own Gibson,Yamaha,Epiphone and Cheapo AXL and VOX gear. I have only played one or two Vintage V100s,perhaps i'd have liked them more,but, on the whole I've got a great versatile beater guitar for me,for under ??170,including all the parts I've used on this little project. I'd like to have a look at a cheap semi (TA50 or HB30) but i'm not sure i could justify the budget for that after my mods and not having much money to spare.

You can get these for ??140 in a shop and ??120 online. It almost seems a shame not to , watch out for those wee flaws though.

Considering what it costs,and looking what the competition offers, a high 9 here.

I bought this guitar in black about a year ago. i bought it mainly at the time because it was nicer to play and looked far better than any of the other guitars in my price range. Its got 2 Wilkinson humbuckers and seperate tone and volume knobs. mine has 22 frets withe the classic gibson shape trapezoid inlays. Im not entirely sure about the wood its made of because ive never looked into it but im guessing its mahogany. it has the same short scale as a real gibson which i like as the strings feel a bit tighter and more solid to play. the only bad thing i can say is that when i was transpoting it in a guitar bag it hit something and the pickup selector switch snapped in half. its still usable its just shorter.

I love the sound of this thing. with the correct volumes and tones of the pickups u can really sound like Tony Iommi. that is with both pickups selected, both at full volume, the bridge pickup with 0 tone and the neck pickup wth full tone. Alot of people are moaning about the fact that the sound it puts out is too bassy but i prefer it that way. I love the really bassy distorted sound u get on the overdrive channel of my marshall MG30DFX. The ound is just so poweful yet still so easy to make out the notes.

The finish is beautiful. it is a really glossy black which i really like. the only problem with this is that it constantly seems as though it has fingerprints and dust all over it because the finissh is just so shiny that if you dont clean it it is relaly easy to see the grime on there. When i bought it from the shop, i got it home and the action was very good and very easy to play. But still i managed to get the action even lower for even easier faster playing without any noticable buzz. It plays better than an epiphone i have played that cost twice the price. infact its played better than Deans ive played. it plays about as good as a Fender Telecaster i played. really nice guitar

This guitar will easily withstand live playing. this guitar just loves to be played really loud. the strap buttons have never let me down and feel very solid, not rattling or wobbling at all. i could easily depend on it for playing live but would still take a backup because knowing my luck id probably break a string. One of the only downsides i can thik of with live playing is taht the guitar is VERY neck heavy. Theve got the strap button in the same place as a gibson SG because it is a copy but i think they should have improved on the design rather than copying it and maybe put the strap button at the end of the top horn rather than behind the heel joint.

Never used it. never needed 2

Overall this is an amazingly goood quality guitar for the money and i would recommend it to anyone. for my next guitar i am considering another vintage but a les paul one.

I think they're korean, probably.

Please bear in mind the price is quite low,no guitar is perfect and objects in your rear view mirror...

A Cherry Red SG copy- This is a 2005 Wilkinson [revised model] version. came with a setup sheet, and some other papers about caring for your guitar.Tune-o-matic bridge, two Wilkinson Alnico [and you CAN tell] humbuckers with separate tone and volume controls and a three-way toggle switch.


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A point i feel i should mention : I got this PARTIALLY due to the fact that it's bridge pickup is the correct space away from the bridge according to an anal article i read in uk guitar magazine about LP Juniors, pre 57 vs 57 on.

<<Comic Book Guy>: Okay, here we are, alt dot nerd dot obsessive. Need know spacing bridge to pickup polls Gibson, specs.

The bridge pickups polls are the exact distance from the bridge that my Gibsons are, unlike my Epiphone. that helps the bridge pickups tone along a bit.


Yeah ok,ok, P90 VS Humbucker/seth lover/Jumpers for goalposts.
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Neck is Very Gibson to play, Wilkinson deluxe tuners which are good and stable.

It's got what an SG should have ... it's featured. featured similarly to some Italia guitars too. the new hummers are V.Good and will worry an epiphone. Body and neck are mahogany. Resonates well.

Minor niggle; frets are very LOW, this makes for easy playing,but, will they be gone in a year or two??. At this price you can flog it and get another unit. Setup is adequate out of the box.

Worryingly there was sawdust on mine as i extracted it from the mailorder packaging, this seems to have come from where the bridge humbucker rubbed on the wood as there was sawdust on the plastic on the pickup. This unit is okay I bought mail order as it was cheap and i had one before. if you're buying one first time, get it from a shop, you should get minor niggles taken care of there and then.<</Comic Book Guy>.

It's cheaper and better than the "pre" Wilkinson ones i have seen played and owned. I bought this to mod,but, this review will be done over the week or so before i modify it.

Yes,they're generic alnico5 PAF copies,but,are more than adequate - especially though small amps and REMS effect units which is where i use it. It won't beat Duane or Erics SG through a big valve amp..don't try it. Replacement magnets/coils or entire pickups are the order of the day if you want ,er "harmonic complexity" like a Gibson or more expensive guitar has.It gets near to Angus/Chuck Berry tones.

Will ROCK or even RAWWK,er,dude.

Paint nice, Except for the back of the neck where you can see the headstock,neatly, join to the neck and the fillet where the truss rod was put in -it looks a dogs breakfast -so don't look at it, and finish is too good to niggle over.
Colour is BRIGHT cherry Red,as it is described.

Neck profiles is very Gibson in feel.

Action acceptable. Top 3 strings [unwound] were even intonated ok!
Standard setup is a bit "tight" so it loses a point.


As on my earlier vintage the tunomatic post doesn't fit the bass side hole, loses another point. frets are medium jumbo in width,but are also very low as mentioned. A good alround setup here.

Cant rate it,but it feels tough. I had the older one for around a year and that fell over once or twice and was ok. These have a very "gibson junior" "vibe"/feel, Ie a cheap, good sounding, quite tough, basic, unit. Isn't that what juniors were supposed to embody?

No experience of them except a ho-hum website with small pictures of their guitars at www.jhs.co.uk .

I've been playing too long to bother with too much shite, 20+yrs since i switched to electric. It's a very fine Gibson copy for the money. Very much try one before you buy it.

I own,Gibson,Yamaha,Epiphone,Harley Benton [passable,cheap] and AXL[good+cheap] guitars. Small Vox amp Korg modeller.


Not sure I love the low frets everything else can or may be changed. As it is it is a perfectly fine little unit. I still don't see much need to spend #230 plus on the Epiphone equivalent...although I do hear that Westfield make some nice guitars :) .

The price VS what it does VS Compared to my Gibson means it is still a good bargain.

These things are pure value,all round.

i dont know what year it was made but it has a mahogany body rosewood fret board basic 22 frets tuno matic bridge nothing special at all !

the pickups in this are wilkinson own they are good but not great they are missing the wow factor the rythm pick up is so bassy it makes my amp vibrate and go really distorted and i have a marshall 65 valvestate unless thats my guitar not everyones but i dont think it is.
At the moment it is having an emg 85 put in it but because the wiring in it is so weird and cheaply done the wiring instructions to the emg dont work with it which is really annoying. oh well no big problem:)

nothing special it looks like a gibson without the name on the headstock the neck felt fine no blemeshes of scratchs it has a nice coating of laquor to stop scratchs gettin in pick ups were set fine but like i say rythm pick up is bassy action was luckly perfect! you can get right up to the 22nd fret easily no problems for them ripping solos!!

this guitar feels unbrakable i fell like i can trust my life on it and when i have done gigs i have not felt the need for a backup guitar.i put somestrap locks on it but i wouldnt say that i needs them. only problem was that i needed to change a tuning peg as it started to rattle they are klusion and as you no are known for going out of tune and braking!i think it broke inside once again no big deal could still use it jst annoyed me wen playin without an amp,it has recently started to do it again on a different tuning peg but oh well !!!!

never needed to ring them or talk to them took it to a guitar shop and got its tuning pegs done!!the warranty i think was 1 year i think!

its a brilliant guitar with an emg it will be even better!!!its a beautiful trusty guitar! its a good beginner guitar or if you like the gibson sg but cant efford it go for one of these just as good as the epiphone but not as expencive!!!now in the business of saving up for a gibson les paul classic its going well