One to watch, "Vintage" brand guitars.

Tokai Forum

Help Support Tokai Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Kenmac

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
183
Reaction score
1
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I came across these guitars when I was at a guitar shop here in Toronto called Ring Music. These guitars are made in Vietnam and the hardware and pickups are designed by Trevor Wilkinson. Not only do they have a regular lineup of Strat and Les Paul types but they also have "Relic" type guitars of those models which is what they had at Ring Music. Here's a link to their website: http://www.ringmusic.com/productlist.php?category_id=4 and at the bottom of the page you'll see the various models. Click on the name and you'll see what they look like. The Vintage V100 Icon was the one I was trying out.

The prices for these guitars are ridiculously low for the quality you're getting. The V100 definitely had that LP sound and it was certainly the weight of an LP! If I wasn't in the market for a Love Rock right now (which I'll be getting soon) I would have picked this one up. These would make great backup guitars. Also be sure to check out the British homepage for these guitars at http://www.jhs.co.uk/vintageelectric.html Scroll down to the "V100 Icon Series" and be sure to check out the V100 "Lemon Drop" guitar which is based on Peter Greens Les Paul. I e-mailed the Canadian distributor inquiring about that model and I hope they get it over here. Of course the headstocks aren't exact copies like the older Tokais but these guitars definitely have a cool vibe to them. If you find one in your area try one out and I think you'll find it hard to resist buying one.
 
HiThere.....

If I'm not mistaken, this is the same brand of guitars that has been reviewed in some issues of Guitar Buyer magazine.... Is the V100 a Les Paul style guitar, like a junior? i think it was reviewed before.... very good value guitars, so the reviews said....

Chum
 
Hi Chum, yes as a matter of fact if you go to the second link I posted, the JHS website, there are some PDF files of the reviews a few of the guitars have received in the British guitar magazines including Guitar Buyer. The V100 is the Les Paul type and the VR100 is the LP Junior style. I think that these guitars would be a bargain even at three times the price. I was very surprised by the price and the quality. BTW I neglected to mention in the original post they also have PRS and Tele type guitars as well.
 
Vintage make stunning guitars for the money - I love them. They do a "peter green replica" which looks and sounds the part as well as doing a cracking SG clone. They pack Wilkinson p/ups and hardware as standard and the overall build quality is pretty bulletproof.

They've just brought out they "Advance" range, for a bit more money aimed at the improving player.
 
Hi Bruce. Thanks for the information about the Advance range. I'll have to look for that one and BTW, I did receive word about a week ago that the guitar shop that stocks these here in Toronto (Ring Music) is going to have the Peter Green "Lemon Drop" guitar shipped over. I can hardly wait to try it out. I'm very impressed with these guitars as I don't think you'll find another guitar range which has a higher quality for price ratio as Vintage does. I honestly don't know how they manage to do it.
 
Unbeatable in price ... :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

This link gives a better overview ...

http://www.jhs.co.uk/vintageelectric.html

... but I don't like the headstock of the LP type guitars ... :-? 8) :x

... and the Edwards Relic Fender models are also more decent and "natural" looking guitars ... :wink:

Roger
 
You're right about the unbeatable price but believe me, once you've played one of these you won't care what the headstock looks like. I was amazed by the sound, quality and feel of the Vintage I played and when they get that "Lemon Drop" guitar in, I'll definitely be giving it some serious consideration as an addition to what I have. Of course it all depends on the tone and playability. BTW here's the link to the "Advance' series that Bruce was mentioning: http://www.jhs.co.uk/vintageadvance.html These look good as well and the prices are very low.
 
Hey ....

... why do the "Advanced Series" have that "SLOT" between body and neck ???
Legal affairs ??? :-?

Roger
 
The slot is an "enhancement" to designed to make upper fret access easier.

I think the advance series are designed with unique features as opposed to being straight copies. The bonus is of course that it could of set any "legal" issues (not that gibson ever let the more subtle design changes pass)
 
I've just bought one these Vintage V100 Peter Green Les Pauls. I got it from www.piedog.com They had it on special offer...I got it for ?230! I got it just in time, they've gone back up to ?350 now. Bad news is...Ive got to wait till the 6th of March to get my hands on it.
 
I just recently bought a Vintage V6 (Strat copy).Taking me a bit of time warming to it though.
 
terry_diamond said:
I've just bought one these Vintage V100 Peter Green Les Pauls. I got it from www.piedog.com They had it on special offer...I got it for ?230! I got it just in time, they've gone back up to ?350 now. Bad news is...Ive got to wait till the 6th of March to get my hands on it.

Congratulations Terry. Would you be able to post some photos of it when you get it? The word around here is they should supposedly be arriving in Toronto in late February/early March. I'm going to check out Ring Music this weekend because sometimes their website isn't up to date.
 
As soon as it arrives Kenmac, I'll get it played and put some photos up for you all. How come time goes so slowly when your waiting for something?!?!
 
terry_diamond said:
As soon as it arrives Kenmac, I'll get it played and put some photos up for you all. How come time goes so slowly when your waiting for something?!?!

:) Tell me about it! Ring Music hasn't updated the website since the 8th of February so I'm going to call them and see if they've got the "Lemon Drop" guitar in.
 
Bad news on the Lemon drop I've ordered. Piedog.com have gone into liquidation. So I'm not going to get my Lemon Drop. So I've given up on the idea, i've plumped instead for the Cherry Burst Distressed Les Paul, and I should have it tomorrow (07.03.07). I thought about ordering another Lemon Drop from elsewhere, but I thought I might get bored of the out of phase setup on it. I once bought a Washburn WI66V which, instead of tone pots, had knobs which swithced the pickups from single coil, to humbuckers. It didnt take long till I was fed up of that.
 
Yeah I've heard about Piedog, that's too bad. :( The Cherry Burst is a nice one though and I think you'll be happy with that. BTW I did call Ring Music when I last posted in this thread on the 23rd and they still hadn't received the "Lemon Drop" model so I'm hoping that later this week they'll have it in.
 
The Cherry Burst has arrived! Its amazing. The finish is really nice. The "wear" could be a little better in places, but I just love the finish on it. Its a matt type finish, which feels really nice, and on the neck...its really comfy to play. I've taken the scratchplate off it, and it makes it look even better. I cant get over it...i'm well chuffed.

Oh and it sounds ace through my Delta Blues.
 
I know this was posted a long time ago but I've got an update. I was checking the Ring Music website and they finally have some Lemon Drop models in. I was there a couple of months ago and they did order some Lemon Drops but they rejected them because they felt the quality wasn't high enough. I'll be checking out the store soon and, who knows, I just may end up with another new guitar! :)
 
Kenmac said:
I know this was posted a long time ago but I've got an update. I was checking the Ring Music website and they finally have some Lemon Drop models in. I was there a couple of months ago and they did order some Lemon Drops but they rejected them because they felt the quality wasn't high enough. I'll be checking out the store soon and, who knows, I just may end up with another new guitar! :)
A bit of a sad state of affairs though when a store has to reject ALL of the shipment of a certain item due to quality issues...they're MiC yeah?
Sounding like the bad old days of MiC crap. :(
 

Latest posts

Back
Top