Know anything about Vantage Guitars?

[s***@gmail.com]

On Saturday, September 19, 1998 12:00:00 AM UTC-7, W. Russell Nix wrote:
I would add that there were two Matsumoku (the parent company of Vantage, Westone, etc.) factories in the seventies/eighties, one of which made crappy copies of strats, les pauls, etc, but the OTHER of which made some pretty great-sounding guitars with more advanced electronic options -- split coil/reverse phase, some HSH (humbucker-single coil-humbucker) ones with push-pull knobs for coil tapping, etc.

I have a Westone HSH that I've modified so I can get Strat, Les Paul, Peter Green reversed-neck pickup aounds, with all phase relationships and an indpendent single coil with its own volume knob, a concentric pot for the neck and bridge tappable humbuckers, a master volume for those two separate from the single coil, and a master-out volume for the entire ganged output. VERY happy with it.

Also has a sculpted heel that's very nice for high fret work.

One of these branches was based in St. Louis, and the other in California, I think, not sure which was which.

Anyone who remembers more, I'd love to hear from you... and I'm always on the lookout for HSH Matsumokus... even parts.

[Tony Done]

Post by s***@gmail.com
I would add that there were two Matsumoku (the parent company of Vantage, Westone, etc.) factories in the seventies/eighties,

one of which made crappy copies of strats, les pauls, etc, but the OTHER
of which made some pretty great-sounding guitars with more advanced
electronic options
-- split coil/reverse phase, some HSH (humbucker-single coil-humbucker)
ones with push-pull knobs for coil tapping, etc.
Weird, another ancient thread turning up.

Where did you the info about two factories? - The Matsumoku factory was
in Japan, Nagoya maybe, not the US.

I have a 1982 Westone Rainbow 1, 335 knockoff. Very well made except for
the tailpiece, and a little dark sounding. I put in some brighter
pickups, SD Jazz, and coil switching options

[dsi1]

Post by s***@gmail.com
I would add that there were two Matsumoku (the parent company of Vantage, Westone, etc.) factories in the seventies/eighties, one of which made crappy copies of strats, les pauls, etc, but the OTHER of which made some pretty great-sounding guitars with more advanced electronic options -- split coil/reverse phase, some HSH (humbucker-single coil-humbucker) ones with push-pull knobs for coil tapping, etc.
I have a Westone HSH that I've modified so I can get Strat, Les Paul, Peter Green reversed-neck pickup aounds, with all phase relationships and an indpendent single coil with its own volume knob, a concentric pot for the neck and bridge tappable humbuckers, a master volume for those two separate from the single coil, and a master-out volume for the entire ganged output. VERY happy with it.
Also has a sculpted heel that's very nice for high fret work.
One of these branches was based in St. Louis, and the other in California, I think, not sure which was which.
Anyone who remembers more, I'd love to hear from you... and I'm always on the lookout for HSH Matsumokus... even parts.

I've had a couple of Vantage electrics in the past - they're nice. I
don't know anything about them but I used to search eBay for them over
10 years ago because they were under-valued and could be had for a
couple of hundred bucks. Oddly enough, that would probably be around the
time that the message you're responding to was posted. :-)

[Tony Done]

Post by dsi1

Post by s***@gmail.com
I would add that there were two Matsumoku (the parent company of
Vantage, Westone, etc.) factories in the seventies/eighties, one of
which made crappy copies of strats, les pauls, etc, but the OTHER of
which made some pretty great-sounding guitars with more advanced
electronic options -- split coil/reverse phase, some HSH
(humbucker-single coil-humbucker) ones with push-pull knobs for coil
tapping, etc.
I have a Westone HSH that I've modified so I can get Strat, Les Paul,
Peter Green reversed-neck pickup aounds, with all phase relationships
and an indpendent single coil with its own volume knob, a concentric
pot for the neck and bridge tappable humbuckers, a master volume for
those two separate from the single coil, and a master-out volume for
the entire ganged output. VERY happy with it.
Also has a sculpted heel that's very nice for high fret work.
One of these branches was based in St. Louis, and the other in
California, I think, not sure which was which.
Anyone who remembers more, I'd love to hear from you... and I'm always
on the lookout for HSH Matsumokus... even parts.

I've had a couple of Vantage electrics in the past - they're nice. I
don't know anything about them but I used to search eBay for them over
10 years ago because they were under-valued and could be had for a
couple of hundred bucks. Oddly enough, that would probably be around the
time that the message you're responding to was posted. :-)

They're still very cheap, at least here in Oz. I can't understand why.

[dsi1]

Post by Tony Done

Post by dsi1

Post by s***@gmail.com
I would add that there were two Matsumoku (the parent company of
Vantage, Westone, etc.) factories in the seventies/eighties, one of
which made crappy copies of strats, les pauls, etc, but the OTHER of
which made some pretty great-sounding guitars with more advanced
electronic options -- split coil/reverse phase, some HSH
(humbucker-single coil-humbucker) ones with push-pull knobs for coil
tapping, etc.
I have a Westone HSH that I've modified so I can get Strat, Les Paul,
Peter Green reversed-neck pickup aounds, with all phase relationships
and an indpendent single coil with its own volume knob, a concentric
pot for the neck and bridge tappable humbuckers, a master volume for
those two separate from the single coil, and a master-out volume for
the entire ganged output. VERY happy with it.
Also has a sculpted heel that's very nice for high fret work.
One of these branches was based in St. Louis, and the other in
California, I think, not sure which was which.
Anyone who remembers more, I'd love to hear from you... and I'm always
on the lookout for HSH Matsumokus... even parts.

I've had a couple of Vantage electrics in the past - they're nice. I
don't know anything about them but I used to search eBay for them over
10 years ago because they were under-valued and could be had for a
couple of hundred bucks. Oddly enough, that would probably be around the
time that the message you're responding to was posted. :-)

They're still very cheap, at least here in Oz. I can't understand why.

I bought a 70s Aria copy of a Hummingbird for around $200 with shipping
through eBay. It's a great guitar. Boy, that was a steal!

[a***@gmail.com]

Hi everyone!
I recently came across an online auction in which a Vantage
classical guitar (model #VSC 20CE Cutaway) is being auctioned off. From
the pictures, it looks to be a pretty nice guitar but I can't find out
anything about Vantage or this particular guitar.
Have any of you heard of this company? Do they produce a good
quality instrument? I know that I may be stretching with this one but,
have any of you played a Vantage classical (preferably this model)?
What did you think of it? Would you rate it as a beginner,
intermediate, advanced, or professional quality instrument? I suspect
that it wouldn't be considered "professional" since it does have built
in electronics and it is a cutaway model. Classical guitarists are a
bit picky when it comes to being guitar purists. For that reason a lot
of professional CG'ers wouldn't dream of touching a guitar that was
asymmetrically shaped (i.e. cutaway) or had built in pickups and
controls. For that reason I think that this model could be considered
advanced at best.
Finally, do any of you have any idea about how much this guitar
should sell for if it is in very good to excellent condition?
Any help that anyone could offer me would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much in advance!
Russell
--
W. Russell Nix
Texas A&M University
Political Science Department

Bought a Vantage VS-30 at a car boot sale recently (October 2016) in excellent condition (now called Blondie) for £25 GBP about $32 USD body is all maple not sure if solid top or laminate, I've set it up with new Elixir Strings sounds awesome and very nice to play had it valued at £250GBP about $320USD ..

[a***@gmail.com]

Bought a Vantage VS-30 Acoustic at a car boot sale recently (October 2016) in excellent used as new condition (now called Blondie) for £25 GBP about $32 USD .. The Top back and sides and neck looks Maple with a Rosewood Fretboard not sure if solid top or laminate, I've set it up with new Elixir Strings sounds awesome and very nice to play and projects the sound well .. I took it to an expert who valued at £250 GBP about $320 USD .. Said it was from 2000/2001 with no indication on the label to country of Origin he was pretty sure it was Japanese .. but reading reply's to this post It's probably Korean given the dates .. Bargain or what do I feel guilty about the price I Paid for it .. Nah .. Ant (Wales UK)