Vintage Guitars

For the magazine, see Vintage Guitar (magazine).
Vintage Guitars
Company typePrivate
IndustryMusical instruments
Founded1995; 30 years ago (1995)
HeadquartersGarforth, United Kingdom
Area served
Global
Products
OwnerJohn Hornby Skewes & Co. Ltd.
Websitevintageguitarsus.com

Vintage Guitars is a British manufacturer of electric and acoustic guitars and bass guitars founded in 1995. The Vintage brand is owned by UK musical instrument distributors John Hornby Skewes and Co. Ltd. (JHS), and is based in Garforth, Leeds.

History

The first guitar series by Vintage called VC1 came out in 1995.[1] In collaboration with Trevor Wilkinson (originator of Fret-King), Vintage's goal was to manufacture affordable but well-made vintage-looking guitars.[2]

Midge Ure on stage with his signature Vintage V100

Instruments manufactured by Vintage have been used by notable rock, heavy metal and country musicians, including Scott Sharrard, Fred Mollin, Billy Sherwood, John Payne, Dave Colwell, Peter Baltes and Nick Kane.[3] Paul Brett worked as a guitar designer for Vintage.[4] The brand has collaborated with Joe Doe Guitars.[5] Vintage has designed signature model guitars for Thomas Blug,[6] Jerry Donahue,[7] Tony Butler[8] and Midge Ure.[9]

In 2020, due to the brand's 25th anniversary, the "25th Anniversary Series" of V75, V6H and V100, which are considered Vintage's best-selling models, was released,[10] limited to 100 pieces each.[11] In 2022, JHS gifted a Vintage acoustic-electric guitar to a homeless Malvern Link busker who got his Yamaha guitar stolen.[12]

Reception

Matt McCracken of Guitar.com noted that "Vintage made its name mixing homegrown design ingenuity with overseas manufacturing to deliver impressive value for money."[13] Dave Burrluck of MusicRadar in his review of Vintage VSA500 (based on Gibson ES-335) acknowledged the brand's "copy-cat status", but concluded that "the guitars might be slight in price but [...] they are far from generic guitar-shaped objects. For the asking price this semi is excellent as is and maybe with a few personalised tweaks could become a serious keeper."[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ Holtmann, Franz (2021-04-09). "Test: Vintage 25th Anniversary Series V6H und V75". GITARRE & BASS (in German). Retrieved 2022-11-01.
  2. ^ Tucker, Lindsay (2011-11-16). "Builder Profile: Trev Wilkinson". Premier Guitar. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
  3. ^ "Artist of the Month". Vintage Guitars. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  4. ^ Bienstock, Richard (2020-08-20). "Meet the Vintage Raven, an Edgar Allan Poe-inspired acoustic-electric". guitarworld. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  5. ^ "Vintage prezentuje kolekcję Joe Doe Guitars". magazyngitarzysta.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  6. ^ Wytrążek, Wojciech. "VINTAGE Thomas Blug Signature". magazyngitarzysta.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-11-01.
  7. ^ "Vintage V58JDAB Jerry Donahue Review". Premier Guitar. 2016-04-22. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
  8. ^ "Vintage V4MTB Tony Butler Signature Bass". www.gak.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
  9. ^ "Vintage V100MU Midge Ure Signature". magazyngitarzysta.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-11-01.
  10. ^ Purvis, Richard (2020-12-10). "Review: Vintage 25th Anniversary Series V75, V6H & V100". Guitar.com | All Things Guitar. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
  11. ^ Burrluck, Dave (2020-11-24). "Vintage 25th Anniversary Series V75-SVB, V6H-SVB & V100-SVB review". guitarworld. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
  12. ^ Parker, Matt (2022-05-09). "UK busker gets stolen acoustic replaced thanks to Vintage Guitars". guitarworld. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
  13. ^ McCracken, Matt (2022-03-18). "Vintage Guitars Icon V65V review: a pre-aged offset for a bargain price". Guitar.com | All Things Guitar. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  14. ^ Burrluck, Dave (2018-04-02). "Vintage VSA500 review". MusicRadar. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
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