What do you think about this guitar (help with deciding!)

[U2_Jackie]

Never heard of Vantage?!
Wow... It's not that uncommon for Vantage guitars to appear on auctions etc around here and in fact the reason why I'm over-reacting is that my very first electric was a Vantage VS-600. I got it pre-owned so I'm not sure if the previous owner did any changes to the stock hardware (mainly pickups) but my gosh I love that guitar and the sound is brilliant!

It's not an LP-clone like this one however but something closer to an SG in terms of shape and feel I suppose. I love it, I love it, I love it!
The quality, the feel, the sound and versatility
Check out this site for more info on these guitars: Japanese Vantage Guitars

EDIT: I almost forgot that I have another Vantage (model VW-180 I think) which is an acoustic steel string and it sounds this good: .

As for the Epiphone discussion:
The Dot that I own, I'm supposed to sell it but I never remember to. It's been a while since I played it so I don't quite recall what it was about the instrument that made me unhappy with it but I have another one like it, a Washburn HB-30 that kicks butt, so for me there was never any question about which one to keep out of the two. Then again, I've heard there is a bit of "hit-and-miss" element of surprise with the Epiphones but as far as I'm concerned, I'm not going anywhere near an Epiphone again.

If people ask me, I'd recommend them to, if possible of course, try out the instrument for themselves before a purchase. In a way I suppose it's like buying new clothes. If it just doesn't feel right to you - why bother?

Final note: Get that Vantage "Les Paul" and you'll make me a very jealous guitar-player!
I'd even consider to record some quick samples for you if you're interested in what a Vantage guitar sounds like?

EDIT 2: I might as well just throw in this little demo that I recorded for my ex-band a couple of years ago. Just promise me you won't steal the song from me! ontune-Gravity2.mp3
It contains a section with a kind of clean sound, one with a little dirtier sound, some Edge-like riff for the chorus and harmonics for the second verse.

The guitar is also capable of doing an even cleaner sound, on the edge of being acoustic almost, thanks to the coil split control which I notice is also present on the Les Paul you're looking at. This is not demonstrated in my recording unfortunately. This is a great feature which allows the guitar to sound similar to a stratocaster type guitar, thus you'd be able to go for the classic Edge, (Joshua Tree) sound to a certain extent.

lol thanks for letting me know! this is good to know incase someday i need another inexpensive guitar that can sound good!
I went ahead and bought a douglas les paul copy yesterday, it was a good price for me, and i listened to some clips on youtube of someone who owned it, sounds good to me! (I was originally gonna get an Epiphone LP-100, I even tried it out at the local music store near me! i found an amazing price online for it, but the stupid seller canceled the order. cuz it was "out of stock"[but there was only 1!and it never said sold when i got it!]. ) But im happy with my purchase of the Douglas copy guitar! I can't wait till it gets here, they've already started to ship it!!

oh so if you want that vantage, its up for grabs!!!! lol

 

[U2_Jackie]

Thank you for the kind words. I'd gladly take a job working for The Edge. I could learn tons from Edge and Dallas... and in the studio Eno and Lanois. That would be a great job.

that would be the best job in the world! lol
and no problem!

 

[mirrorballman]

I'm not a big fan of Epiphone's latest run in the past years (the "Made in China" models sound like crap!), but the 2005 Epiphone Midnight Les Paul Custom (Made in Korea) is a magnificent guitar! I've tested some Gibson's and really, the Midnight edges out a few of them. You'll be able to pick it up starting $500 I reckon, which really is a bargain.

I've had the guitar for a while now and there's no way I'll ever let it go, even if I'll stack up Gibsons at home!

 

[Chill Mike D]

I have three Epiphones, two of which are from Korea (my Les Paul and my Firebird VII). My ES-175 is newer and is from Indonesia, and while the build is perfectly fine, the pickups are lifeless compared to the pickups in the other two. I plan on replacing those. I can't complain about the price I got it for though.

 

[mirrorballman]

The Koreans sound good, anything after ~2006 (?) is unforunately an absolute disgrace in quality. I don't understand at what cost they try to lower production costs all the time. The guitars coming out of China nowadays are horrendous compared to any Epiphone from 5-6 years ago (mostly Made in Korea). Even the "Music Rising" sounds inferior to my Midnight.

Enough of the China rant. But Epiphone's really let me down in recent years, instead of paying $600 for a new Epiphone guitar, go and buy a 80's/early 90's MIJ Strat for the same price (and sometimes even less).

 

[Chill Mike D]

For the most part I agree, but I did play one of those new Epiphone Les Paul Specials with the P90s in them, and it sounded great. It was one of the best sounding P90 guitars I've ever played.

 

[theedgeu2]

Epiphone doesn't make amazing electrics much. But I own a epi hummingbird acoustic and it plays and sounds great! I've only tried Epiphones from china thus far. Not sure about when my HB was made. But much applause to Epiphone for it. A great guitar for those various trips to the beach and such.

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

Epiphone doesn't make amazing electrics much. But I own a epi hummingbird acoustic and it plays and sounds great! I've only tried Epiphones from china thus far. Not sure about when my HB was made. But much applause to Epiphone for it. A great guitar for those various trips to the beach and such.

My experience has been that Epiphone Epiphone Explorer, Epiphone `56 reissue Les Paul w/P-90's and Eipphone Casino's are all pretty nice. The John Lennon and Elitist Casino's are very nice.

Their acoustics are okay but the tone is a bit anemic, particularly when played side by side with their Gibson counterparts.

 

[theedgeu2]

The explorers are good? Cool! I have to make a stop by guitar center someday and check the explorers.

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

The explorers are good? Cool! I have to make a stop by guitar center someday and check the explorers.

Epiphone Explorers, while not as great as a `76 Gibson Explorer, are well-made and built more consistently (quality-wise) than other Epiphones, such as Epiphone Dot, (most) Epiphone Les Pauls... etc.

 

[Chill Mike D]

Yeah, I've heard nothing but good things about the 56 Les Pauls and the Casinos. My brother has a 2002 Casino that's great.

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

Yeah, I've heard nothing but good things about the 56 Les Pauls and the Casinos. My brother has a 2002 Casino that's great.

Chas from Joshua Tree has one. Lovely guitar. It's one of his that I like to play on when I've a few minutes before a show.

 

[7cs]

Hi, I've got a Vantage guitar.
It's made in japan, around early 80s.
The model I own has a really good tone, a little more "metallic" than the Gibson LP.
Here's a clip of me playing "until the end of the world" on this guitar.
YouTube - U2 - Until The End Of The World - Guitar cover

 

[U2_Jackie]

My guitar came today!!!
Overall, I'm impressed, for the price i paid its pretty good!
I'm gonna change out the strings and probably the pickups once i figure out which are good for edge/u2 songs
only problem is that there's something wrong with the low E strings. it buzzes off the second or 1st fret. anyone know whats wrong, its driving me crazy!!!
how on earth do I fix it?! lol

 

[7cs]

only problem is that there's something wrong with the low E strings. it buzzes off the second or 1st fret. anyone know whats wrong, its driving me crazy!!![/B]
how on earth do I fix it?! lol

I think you must raise the string action (distance from the strings to the frets) by those screws on the bridge. It could be even that the neck is curved...but this is strange on a brand new guitar...It is new, isn't it?
If the neck is curved it is difficult for a non professional to regulate it.

 

[mirrorballman]

a little bend is fine, it's also "normal" if the E string buzzes a bit. 1st/2nd fret is a bit unusual though...

can you only hear it unplugged or does it make a big diff while plugged in?

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

My guitar came today!!!
Overall, I'm impressed, for the price i paid its pretty good!
I'm gonna change out the strings and probably the pickups once i figure out which are good for edge/u2 songs
only problem is that there's something wrong with the low E strings. it buzzes off the second or 1st fret. anyone know whats wrong, its driving me crazy!!!
how on earth do I fix it?! lol

If it's only at the one fret it could be that the fret needs dressing. It might be a bit higher at that fret.

Always a good idea to have a professional setup. Have them set it up, set the intonation and pickup heights and point out that fret and ask them to check and dress the frets. Should cost, depending on the repair person, $65-$85.

 

[U2_Jackie]

thanks everyone for your input!
I ended up changing out the strings last night and put those ernie ball beefy slinkys on it. It got rid of the buzzing!
but I still have to go get the guitar checked out and set up

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

thanks everyone for your input!
I ended up changing out the strings last night and put those ernie ball beefy slinkys on it. It got rid of the buzzing!
but I still have to go get the guitar checked out and set up

Proper setup is a good thing. The guitar will sound better, play better and inspire.

 

[U2_Jackie]

a little bend is fine, it's also "normal" if the E string buzzes a bit. 1st/2nd fret is a bit unusual though...

can you only hear it unplugged or does it make a big diff while plugged in?

oh and i heard it unplugged and plugged in. when i plucked the low E string it buzzed and rattled off a fret. it was horrible! the strings that came with the guitar were lower gauge then the ernie ball strings i just put on. the buzzing is gone now but i still have to go get the guitar checked out. on the back of the guitar there is a circular plate that covers up a hole behind the rhythm/treble switch thingy, and there's 3 screws holding the cover down. except one of the screws doesn't go into a spot in the wood, so the screw just sits there and sometimes falls out. so ill have to figure out how to fix that

 

[U2_Jackie]

Proper setup is a good thing. The guitar will sound better, play better and inspire.

do you know what kind of places do setups? guitar center and guitar shops??

 

[theedgeu2]

I think Guitar Center does setups. Although I'm not absolutely sure on that one. If there are any guitar shops near you it would be a good idea to stop by and check with them about a setup. A good setup can and will go a long way.

ETA: Guitar Center does do setups. It's about $40.

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

I think Guitar Center does setups. Although I'm not absolutely sure on that one. If there are any guitar shops near you it would be a good idea to stop by and check with them about a setup. A good setup can and will go a long way.

ETA: Guitar Center does do setups. It's about $40.

WARNING:
AVOID GUITAR CENTER SETUPS. There is a reason that they are ONLY $40.00 -- the quality of their setups isn't so good.

You want to be sure it is throrough and well-done. You need more than just adjusting a neck. You want the neck adjusted, intonation adjusted, pickup heights checked and adjusted, frets checked and dressed if needed... All of this SHOULD be included in the setup. But some cut corners and do it on the cheap. GC is notorious for that.

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

WARNING:
AVOID GUITAR CENTER SETUPS. There is a reason that they are ONLY $40.00 -- the quality of their setups isn't so good.

You want to be sure it is throrough and well-done. You need more than just adjusting a neck. You want the neck adjusted, intonation adjusted, pickup heights checked and adjusted, frets checked and dressed if needed... All of this SHOULD be included in the setup. But some cut corners and do it on the cheap. GC is notorious for that.

Where are you located? What city? If you are in or around LA, I know of a guy that does good work. He's worked on some of Edge and Bono's guitars... guitars for the Eagles... and more importanly, Keith Richards. You know that he's gotta be good if Keith Richards and Ron Wood trust him... cuz if the guy fecked up on Keith's, Keith might knife him. Just sayin'.

 

[U2_Jackie]

darn! im not in L.A.! im out in texas.
but i ended up just using google and found some local places that do setups. now i'm just gonna call around and see whats best!
thanks theedgeu2 and Edge_O for the info though! and thanks for the warning about guitar center!