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"Vintage" brand Lemon Drop Les Paul?

OldGuitarPlayer

By OldGuitarPlayer
in Electric Guitars

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OldGuitarPlayer Newbie

OldGuitarPlayer

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Has anyone ever tried out or own one of these? http://www.jhs.co.uk/reviews/G&B%20DEC%20(V100MRPGM).pdf

 

If so, how do they compare to an Epiphone Les Paul?

 

I eventually will buy a Les Paul of some kind and an Epiphone would be my easiest to obtain (in price as well) but I am wondering how these Vintage Peter Green Lemon Drop Les Paul copies compare to Epiphones. I like the "out of phase" feature that the Vintage model offers and from the YouTube videos I have seen they sound/look pretty darn good but I am concerned about playability and workmanship. Besides if I decide on an Epiphone LP I could always do the PG mod and reverse the neck pickup.

 

I was just curious...:idk:

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OldGuitarPlayer Newbie

OldGuitarPlayer

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compared well with Epiphone brand.

 

I believe I had tried a Vintage Tele a few months back and it had a rather thick neck and fingerboard. I wasn't crazy about the finish colour but it didn't seem too bad. My problem is that I live in Canada and hardly anyone deals this Vintage brand so I can never try one out. I did find one shop that had the Lemon Drop about a 45 minute drive away but they want $900 for it with a case and a setup....:mad:

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MrNixon Newbie

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IIRC, the Vintage brand is MIJ... i wouldnt be surprised if the same factory that does the Edwards Super-Vintage series instruments does the Vintage line as well. Both look very cool and well worth the pricetag. The only qualm i have with those Vintages is aesthetic - the horn. The Edwards LPs have a much truer body shape... which kinda makes me wonder why the hell companies such as Vintage, who are stating that they are making true-to-form instruments, wouldnt just make the cutaway the same.

 

i.e.:

V100AW.jpg

top.jpg

 

EDIT:

 

for the price ($4-500) that is a great instrument!!! didnt see how expensive they were, i thought they were of comparable price to Edwards...which run about 8-900. The Navigator LP i posted costs thousands... Gibson Historic scaled prices!

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csm Newbie

csm

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Both metalheadUK and I own (and endorse) the 'Drop ... I like mine more than all but a very few of the 'real' Gibson Les Pauls I've played over the years, though I can't speak with any authority about Epis. AFAIK, mine was made in China and, though it needed a little fretwork when i first got it, it plays like a dream and sounds fantastic: a ridiculously good guitar for the money.

 

Yep, the mismatched knobs (and reversed neck PU) are copied from the legendary Peter Green/Gary Moore 'burst, and that unique out-of-phase Green-O-Tone (a la Black Magic Woman and Need Your Love So Bad) you get when both PUs are selected also works as a nice, slightly volume-dropped Fendery funk rhythm tone.

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wokeye Newbie

wokeye

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Never played one of those, but I have owned 3 Vintage brand guitars and still have one of them. All were really good for the money. The one I still have is a VS6 re-issued SG copy. I have also owned an Epiphone G400 and I feel that the Vintage is way better than it was. The frets were not perfect on my VS6, but I got them levelled at a decent price and the guitar is now very impressive for such a modest outlay, also going to replace the bridge pickup. I would not hesitate to buy another.

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Edward Newbie

Edward

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which kinda makes me wonder why the hell companies such as Vintage, who are stating that they are making true-to-form instruments, wouldnt just make the cutaway the same.

 

 

The law. Things go down differently in Japan. In the US & Europe, however, it would be violation of trademark to get too close to the Gibby original - especially headstock shape. This is why Tokais are not widely available in the US, also why Edwards and many other Japanese brands are not officially exported.

 

TBH, it would bother me in the least, but then I personally don't attach any cachet to owning a Gibson. YMMV.

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tech21man Newbie

tech21man

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IIRC, the Vintage brand is MIJ... i wouldnt be surprised if the same factory that does the Edwards Super-Vintage series instruments does the Vintage line as well. Both look very cool and well worth the pricetag. The only qualm i have with those Vintages is aesthetic - the horn. The Edwards LPs have a much truer body shape... which kinda makes me wonder why the hell companies such as Vintage, who are stating that they are making true-to-form instruments, wouldnt just make the cutaway the same.


i.e.:

V100AW.jpg
top.jpg

EDIT:


for the price ($4-500) that is a great instrument!!! didnt see how expensive they were, i thought they were of comparable price to Edwards...which run about 8-900. The Navigator LP i posted costs thousands... Gibson Historic scaled prices!

 

No, no and no to everything really.

 

 

There is a wilkinson brand made in japan, as tokai. But they look like the higher cost wilkinson guitars.

 

I assure you they are all made in china.

 

 

 

I also assure you that are fundamentally different than epiphones and who likes who is something only one can answer by playing them.

 

 

V100 lemon drop mini review.

 

Pros

 

Sound (bridge humbucker, neck absolute suck for me...).

 

Construction of neck is straight and no buzzing.

 

Finish on the front is excellent on the top.

 

gibson-y feel from the frets and neck profile. Not bad! Not the same as epiphone by the way.

 

Cool black paint to prevent microphonics on cavities, smooth pots, tuners, and selector of pickups.

 

Cons.

 

Weight, too much.

 

Absolute mess on the inlays on the one I played (a good friend has it). Some are on the verge of off-centered, glue is all over the place pieces of wood missing that are filled with glue or some transparent thing. If this is a part of the ageing process buy the non aged versions-seriously.

 

 

The back needs shavinge. It has some kind of sticker on it instead of colour! You cannot see the back wood (usually two pieces) but you see a digitally created picture (!) of wering with obvious degrading. It is like the computer generated image (same to all) was created with three colours...looks childish. Same with the neck. On stage none will notice though.

 

 

The wilkinson logo is childish on the back of the headstock...I'd take it off in an instance. Of course there are worse-slash tatoos!

 

 

The headstock tilt is 12 degrees. Epiphone are 14, PRS 10, gibson insists on 17. The feel is diferent on all of these.

 

I don't buy the maple top under the maple veneer. Here is an image of a lemon drop stripped.

 

http://lauder.ca/vintage_peter_green_lemon_drop.htm

 

Well it is two piece mahogany un topped. The one I played had a top didn't look like maple.

 

Even vintage advance series claim maple top (hard carved 1cm like gibsons) and several reviews claim they only have a veneer. Granted that gibson fanatics can't live with one, Vintage "cheats" on announcing that. If you don't have it don't post it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottom line. Cool sound. Gibson feel. Cool look and pickup (s). I hope they are as well constructed as the tested one.

 

For the money they charge in europe you get more than you pay for. Mechanically (woods and details) they are closer to an epiphone standard). Fat body guitars. If you compare them to an epiphone 1959, they are a joke! For 200$ they are perfect (Uk pricing less than 300 pounds, euro pricing almost as much as the epiphone 1959 with burstbuckers real maple cap vintage style wiring capacitors and hard shell case).

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metallica_00 Newbie

metallica_00

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I guess I'll offer a dissenting opinion here. Granted, it's only a sample of one guitar, and every brand makes lemons - but this was a real lemon.

 

I was at a local shop, and noticed they had a Vintage Strat-style (V6 Icon, I believe) on the wall. Having heard a lot of hype on the forums, I decided to give it a spin. If I recall correctly, the price was around the $500 area - not exactly cheap. No, it's not the same model as the Les Paul, but if this is any indication of build quality...yikes.

 

Some of the sharpest fret ends and worst fret sprout I have ever encountered (you could quite literally cut yourself playing this guitar), anemic pickups, and worst of all, the finish. It's exactly like tech 21 man described:

 

 

You cannot see the back wood (usually two pieces) but you see a digitally created picture (!) of wering with obvious degrading. It is like the computer generated image (same to all) was created with three colours...looks childish. Same with the neck. On stage none will notice though.

 

 

The "relic" look is achieved in a different way than say a Fender Relic guitar. Those guitars are literally "worn down" from their original finish to achieve the look. The Vintage's wear patterns are just a paint scheme. The parts where the paint is supposed to be chipped or worn are still finished over in clear coat. It looks like a toy.

 

Regardless of finish, it was a $500 guitar that needed major fretwork and didn't have good pickups. I was able to test with top end amps (Victora and Fuchs) and the sound wasn't there. I'm no Epi fan or MIM Strat lover, but I'd gladly take on of those over this.

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DaleH Newbie

DaleH

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I believe I had tried a Vintage Tele a few months back and it had a rather thick neck and fingerboard. I wasn't crazy about the finish colour but it didn't seem too bad. My problem is that I live in Canada and hardly anyone deals this Vintage brand so I can never try one out. I did find one shop that had the Lemon Drop about a 45 minute drive away but they want $900 for it with a case and a
setup
....
:mad:

 

I live in Can. and my local shop is full of them. If I remember right around $500. I'll check tommorw. Never really played one just kind of looked them over.

Strats seemed a little pricey when you compare them to other MIC guitars like the classic vibe.

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lincoln40 Newbie

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Speaking from experience again i'm sure.

When you turn 18 you will have to buy guitars from your own money and you may feel differently..

 

 

Its not even like that you see. I noticed all you guys who buy that Agile stuff end up buying like 5 of those things. Did you know that if you just saved your money instead if buying all of those you can actually buy one Gibson, and thats all youll ever need--a guitar that will last for life and not some pancaked wood import.

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