Electric Guitars

Vintage has its own set of fans in the UK Market for its range of replicas, knock offs, copies and call them what you want to; the word is yours. One of the most innovative and leading guitar designers, Trev Wilkinson have been working with Vintage for the past couple of years, and not only has the quality and specifications seen a admirable enhancement, he has also given life to the range, for instance, with the icon range of quite affordable aged replicas.

However, with the introduction of the Advanced Series, the job of copy cloning has been put on the shelves to favour the addition of a few more original designs such as the AV6 Series AV6PLB Laguna Blue Electric Guitar we have reviewed here.

Body:

The AV6PLB Vintage AV6 Series Electric Guitar has a lovely ‘select’ American alder body that possesses all of the luxury contouring that you would want from a strat type. Not to mention, the Laguna Blue is nothing less than drop dead gorgeous. It is a new take on the classic double cutaway guitar most of us are familiar with, but take a closer look and you will be able to notice how much Vintage has improved the concept. The tiny strap buttons sit in the usual place and the lower edge in a shallow Telecaster style bucket. The overall finishing is excellent. AV6PFR, an electric guitar with the same set of specifications of the AV6 series with Firenza Red finishing and Boulevard Black finishing is also available.

Controls:

When it comes to controls, Trev Wilkinson has placed a master volume and a master tone control. The lower knob is a progressive coil tap taking any pickup combination from humbucker to single coil and all points in between. And finally, the five way pickup selector finishes off quite a versatile sonic package. So is the AV6P really two brilliant guitars in one? Trev Wilkinson thinks it is, the “Roll Control” takes each pickup from stacked humbucking mode to classic single coil P90 territory.

Neck:

The Vintage AV6PLB neck is bolt on maple that has been stained with the golden aged maple tone that can be usually found only with a decade of aging or so. This neck is very playable and sits quite well in hands since is has a very thin profile. The heel has been provided with a block of bubinga finishing, which is placed over the neck slot of the alder body. This set up also enhances the coupling between neck and body.

Bridge:

The bridge is a Wilkinson branded version of a standard Strat vibrato that is supported along its leading edge with the help of six screws which sports strings that feed up through the vibrato block from the back. The tuning held well in use and the shimmer of traditional vibrato technique really works well with P-90′s.

Fretboard and Pickguard:

The Vintage AV6PLB Laguna Blue Electric Guitar Fretboard is a dark rosewood one that scarcely has any visible grain. You will also find some traditional white dot fret markers that have been repeated on the players side of the unbound fretboard. The well polished medium round profile offers an easy playing experience. The pickguard is a minty green three-ply scratch plate that possesses a convex upper edge as opposed to a more traditional concave curve.

Tuners, Headstock and Humbuckers:

As you can expect from a Vintage guitar developed by the designer Wilkinson, the tuners are Wilkinson branded mini tuners with tiny knobs that work in a fine way and even feel quite solid. The capstans have been staggered at a height, which in turn offers a good string tension over the nut. Talking about the nut, it is an ivory net that is quite tidy and cut accurately. The headstock is a six on a single side Strat variant that sports much of a rounded profile. Under the oblong cream covers sit the three Wilkinson-branded stacked P-90 humbuckers.

Sound and Action:

The action is lovely and straight out of the box. Being stacked with P-90′s on full humbucker, this electric guitar offers a joyful vintage rock and roll sound that is filled with a gorgeous plumy bottom end. The distinctive voice of the pickups are fascinating and we assure that you will spend quite a deal of time flipping through the selector switch just comparing the tones. Superior tone is guaranteed due to its select quality, American alder body and slick, satin finished hard maple neck. Just add jangle with the progressive coil tap and tighten up the bass end and you will be able to get a Rickenbacker style shimmer on the top register. The Vintage AV6 Series AV6PLB electric guitar is an extraordinary guitar that supplies a good deal of voices for blues, jazz, rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll.

Warranty:

Vintage offers its AV6 Series AV6PLB Laguna Blue Electric Guitar one year limited warranty for parts and labour.

Verdict:

The Vintage AV6 Series AV6PLB Laguna Blue Electric Guitar is one of the best sounding and clean guitars we have reviewed. In this world of crazy shredding, it is a joy and even a great deal of relief to have been offered with a guitar that has been built of pure Rock and Roll. This is also a word of caution for you as this guitar has a fundamental vintage voice, so be cent percent sure that this is exactly what you intend to play. Overall, it is a comfortable and well balanced guitar that out specs virtually any guitar in or above its respective class. If you can afford this piece, it seems to reward you with quite a staggering range of sonic variations within that framework. It has our heartily recommendations.

Vintage AV6PLB Laguna Blue Electric Guitar – Product Specification Table

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