Price Paid: $500 USD (used)
Description: Acoustic with pick-up. Left Handed. Bridge saddle piesometric with e.Q 3 band with volume. 1995 face solid cedar,back and sides nato .Fingerboard and bridge rosewood,slope shoulder concert,chrome gotoh.
Tone:
Comments: The tone is all you would hope for from the shape,solid cedar top and solid nato back and sides.It is remarkably light and vibrant reflecting the solid wood construction and of course the woods.There is a ballsy,round sound so typical of a fine cedar,with piercingly clear yet warm treble,very noticible when using a plectrum,NOT your Sitka Spruce with Maple back and sides combination sound. All in all a brilliant ,full sounding solo instrumentwith an unmistakeable voice in any band situation. I like this guitar a lot.
Quality:
Comments: This guitar I purchased "Sight Unseen",not the ideal buying situation,however after practicing guitar for 32 years at that time and having spent 14 years as a working Luthier I felt confident in my knowledge of the tonal responces of various woods and my appriciation of the oriental luthiers abilities and attention to detail and finish to take the plunge and put my money where my mouth was. That was the end of 1995 so read on: The guitar comes with a classy,understated satin finnish and plain ivoroid binding,black and ivory. The guitar arrived thankfully,with the neck NOT adjusted. The allen key opperated trussrod,reachable through the sound hole,is delightfully responsive and set up to the D,Adario J16 light gauge strings perfectly for a silky smooth light action.
Overall:
Pros: The playability of the neck is excellent,but the use of a 44m.m. nut makes for a narrow neck profile through the first two playing positions making chording a little fuzzy sounding, due to fingertips touching other strings,so for players with large fingertips like myself a 47/48 m.m. nut would be prefferable. The body shape of "Slope Shoulder Concert" with a depth of 135 m.m.provides a rich,deep resonance and a sustain that is well within demands.
Cons: I have never liked "Florentine Cutaways" as I wear the guitar high when playing and invarably the corner of the cutaway hits my watch or wrist . The saddle is a well executed ,compensated for intonation,bone unit,sadly the luthier put a right hand one on my left hand guitar,with obvious results!!!!!!!Also they used a right hand nut blank so it slopes the wrong way!!But I dont sweat the small stuff???? The Electrics? RELIABLE! a real workhorse unit giving a broad range of tones,sadly to me none as good as the natural sound,no complaints.I realy apreciate the use of the 1/4 "" end pin phone jack. The biggest neggative I have is Vantage is part of Samick instruments,the company has never acknowledged one of my many Emails.So sad when considered I wish to order a 6 string, 9 string and a 12 string Jumbo!!!!! One has to wonder about their marketing minds?? How do I rate the Vantage VS 25 SCE? I am no longer looking for a six string electric accoustic.and after 38 years of practicing guitar that must count for something?

Submitted by:
Peter Pope
Playing Experience:
over ten years
Musical Tastes:
alternative blues classical classic rock jazz

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