A friend just scored a Japanese Matsumoku Vantage guitar for ... $20, with a tiny Berhinger amp. So let's say $10 for the guitar ! ! ! Guy never played guitar but wants to learn, so he figured, why not buy this POS. He showed it to me but I didn't recognise the name, until I Googled it. http://www.vantage-guitars.com/models/index.htm The closest looking model I could find is the Avenger AV-315. But his is HSS, it has a 5 way Fenderish toggle and one volume one tone. Fretboard is Rosewood, not Maple. The guitar has been neglected, botched paint job, cracked pickguard, broken jack plate. Tremolo arm is missing and the whole thing is a mess. He'll start by stripping the body to see what it's made of and probably oil finish it. He's really a tinkerer and good with his hands. I'll do the set up. If it turns out to be a beast, I might trade him for a tamer guitar ... if he wants to. Here's a photo of the same exact guitar I found after searching a while. Anybody know anything about these guitars ?
My first guitar was a Vantage, good guitars MIJ I gave it to a friend, he whent to Africa with instruments for the music .
I thought you didnt like non American made Guitars Gibsg???? Are these any good? http://www.vigierguitars.com/ I hear good things about these almost snagged one myself RVA likes his http://www.lagguitars.com/
There was a kid playing a Lag Tremontaine at my friend's daughter's recital and the tone was beautiful. Deep and rich.
They do look good and the 10% carbon neck concept on them is pure genius. http://www.vigierguitars.com/html/Description_US/Guitars/neck_us.html http://vigierusa.com/index.php/about/ BUT ... far from my buddy's Vantage price point.
Those were actually made by Samick around 1987-1990. They bought Vantage after Matsumoku went under and produced them until 2000. Do you have any pics? I'm trying to find out more about these things, they're hard to find any info on. Even just the serial number would be helpful.
I suspect it would have been called the X-34, because it's closest to the X-33 Avenger: http://www.vantage-guitars.com/models/33-td.htm And, Samick's naming conventions usually put an SSH model one digit higher than the SSS version. I found another which has different features, but is clearly from the same era, and it has a serial number starting with an E prefix and then a 7, suggesting a 1987 manufacture.
Those bottom feeders can many time be a diamond in the rough. I have a Hondo 2 that I spent small money on that I used to learn how to do a level and crown on that now it plays pretty friggen awesome. I play it occasionally with the hopes of finding another lefty that is just starting out and need a L/H git that is playable. Pick ups kinda suck, but it does play as good as anything I own.
I just got one equal to yours. Great neck, heavy body. Alpha electronics. Decent sound out of cheap ceramic Pickups. I found the neck has very similar building characteristics compared to my Variax Standard (Indonesia) made by Yamaha... Really impressive, since this Guitar is late 80's, and the Variax is 2017. Those superjumbos, even very used, and the tinnier neck, made me Exchange the necks (yes, I'm mad). Had done new holes to the adjust to the screws. But they fit the neck pockets of each other as if they were made at the same day... The special note is that the maple wood behind the scales goes until the end of the 22 fret scales, not as Fender necks... This amazing "coincidence" made me very happy, because the headstock of Variax fits the Jaspion looks of this body better than the original, and the same goes on with the other side. The Variax guitar looks more vintage, less exaggerated, and is now a delightful guitar to play. I wonder the ways this coincidence had run, how two guitars manufactured with a gap of almost 30 years, in different countries and companies can be so similar... By the way, does anyone knows the woods of the Vantage's body? Mine is really heavy, and reminds me of a USA Fender I had, in Ash (not swamp, and transparent Finish). That was heavier than a Les Paul. But it can be the same wood Squier used on Custom II Tele, made in Indonesia...
have u looked into the cavities to see if the body is a laminate or not? that usually makes them extra heavy.
