When I mentioned that the 1st lefty bass I bought (the 1st I’d ever seen for sale) was a Hondo II “Fame 830” back when I was 18, Lee here ribbed me mercilessly about it. I sold it for £50 on Fleeb last month.

Yeah Leb, JHS (being the importer rather than a retailer) are quoting the RRP that no-one pays. I noticed a few ‘net retailers well under that price (Guitarbitz was one I seem to remember).

A lot of people are partial to Teisco; not sure that I am myself, but they had quirky originality. The budget guitars of mine and Lee’s youth were horrible planks by the name of Avon, Satellite, Hondo et al.

My acoustic bass is a Vintage and that seems fine and plays nice for very little money, no complaints yet and it’s probably been a year or so.

When I searched “Vintage VS6”, it looked as though John Hornby Skewes are the importers:
http://www.jhs.co.uk/vintageelectric.html

I know JHS was synonymous with budget tat in our youth, but (as we’ve mentioned in other threads) “cheap” guitars made these days using CNC routers and “decent imitation for 50p” electronics are a world away from the terrible lumps of plywood and bicycle parts that our summer-of-lawnmowing savings could afford.

You young ‘uns, don’t know you’re born, etc 🙂

Told ya.

You should try one, they are very nice guitars, also, have you looked at the Fretking? i think they are also made by Vintage, is Vintage JHS?? anyway fretkings get blistering reviews, im still looking out for one to try.
but then they are a little more expensive, i think they are in the £500 range.

Seeing as Lee kicked my nuttocks for dissing without having tried one for a decade, I did at least do a bit of ‘net research on it. Mustard mitt, I can’t see how you could go wrong for the money (only a tenner more for a lefty, which is nice to see) unless, perhaps, you splashed the whole £800 on the psychedelic one:
http://www.jhs.co.uk/vintageelectric/VS6F.jpg

In cherry or black, the mahogany and the set neck and the hardware etc all look good for the silly-low price. And that little Coulson demo clip on the JHS site suggested the tone and pup controls really do cover a decent tone range.

Let us know how you get on with buying one.

Hmm, a “Fat Strat” with the humbucker at the bridge? Proper, decent guitarists like Lee et al will have better advice.

EDIT:
😳 , I added this message on my return to Blighty and hadn’t seen that Lee had already piped in; apols. I must also explain that my experience of “Vintage” is mostly based around ’90s instruments that weren’t all that great.

[quote=”1bassleft”]BTW, we haven’t discussed guitars (c’mon Lee 🙄 ).

I don’t particularly rate “Vintage” as a make; they manage to sound almost exactly, but not quite, unlike the guitar they’re copying. [/quote]

It’s not often i disagree with Bass 🙄 but…….
I like Vintage as a brand, ever since Trev Wilkinson has had some input in to the company it has got better and better. I think Trev now specialises in the ‘Fret-King’ guitars made by Vintage, but you also have the signature series which looks excellent, there is a new ‘Robbie Gladwell’ signature with 3 X P90 pickups which at the turn of a dial emulate single coils, all the hardware is designed by Trev Wilkinson so you know they are quality.
Robbie also did the ‘Dr.Robert’ slot in ‘Guitarist’ magazine ( Tech specialist )for many years, and i have a lot of respect for him and his signature looks inovative rather than a Strat copy.
Sure, Vintage do lots of copies, but they also do a lot of cutting edge stuff, i think you should try one before you dismiss it.

Thats my guitar input for the year 1bassleft 😆

BTW, we haven’t discussed guitars (c’mon Lee 🙄 ).

I don’t particularly rate “Vintage” as a make; they manage to sound almost exactly, but not quite, unlike the guitar they’re copying. If you were in the US, I’d say get an SX from Rondo Music; no argument. However, I suspect you’re in Blighty and that’s not such an easy option.

You want cheap, right? One possible is (talking 2nd hand here) a Sunn Mustang. The Indian made ones have a logo like the old Sunn; a bit like this: (((O))) whereas the (yuk) Chinese ones have a bucking, “Mustang” horse logo. The Indian ones are actually decent, sub-50quid, guitars and look like Fenders (built under licence). Strange bodywood but nice necks and the bridge pup has a real “quack” that even my proper guitarist likes. Some have a bridge humbucker that’s also desirable.

Other than that, a 2nd hand Encore (made in India – probably the same factory Fender used for the Sunn) is made from decent chunks of ash and OK hardware for sub-50. The other obvious is a s/h Yamaha Pacifica.

Proper guitarists should start chiming in with suggestions soon 🙂

😆 , How can I compete with Lee’s “tell it like it is” advice? Seriously, Lee is better placed than I, especially if you’re thinking of going through PC, because I avoid all that and stick to smelly old valve amps.

You’re right, Chaim, the GA5 (head or combo) is lacking a headphone socket and I was thinking of the GA15. This doesn’t have the awful DSP of the Epi equivalent but does have the headphone output as well as close to 15W from its pair of EL84s. I’m sure the internal 10″ speaker is probably naff but so what if you use the ‘phones a lot and, again, the huge expense of an attenuator is unnecessary until you start getting into 50W territory.

Look into Guitarport, as Lee suggests, if you’re inclined toward the Pod and, when you do want to go for an amp or combo, my advice is to consider the Laney (more good advice from Lee) and the Harley Benton over its equivalent Epi.

If you can run your PC audio out to your stereo then i would go with the GuitarPort, i think it’s better than the POD, similar sounds but better front end, it’s cheap too, you get the software with it, you can also download lessons from the Line6 website ( i think the subs fee is £3 per month ) and display them inside the GuitarPort window, do yourself a favour, before you lay out on a POD have a look at the Guitarport on the line6 website, i use GP all the time and it is excellent, you have 18 amp types that you can match with 24 cabinet/speaker types, 9 effect types with different manufacturers, all with controllable gain/treble bass/middle etc.
Think of your Benton/Epi… crap little speaker, pony valves, ultra cheap Chinese components made from the leftovers of your local landfill, all enclosed in a quality paper mache cabinet, how long will the appeal of that last? you can kiss a decent clean sound goodbye.
As soon as the volume knob touches number 2 on the Richter scale, it’s going to be overdrive followed quickly by distortion, after a 30 minute session you will be using it as a doorstop.
GuitarPort all the way, and ive seen them used on ebay for £60, cheaper than filling up a Mondeo.

and there’s always valve-based overdrive pedals…although you’re back into the money there…worth looking at if you do decide on the straight to PC etc route.

Dave Hall (I think…) of DHA post on here ocasionally and he builds valve pedals, never played one myself but 1bassleft has I believe and (although you’re right not to trust it fully) HC seems to love them:

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Effects/product/DHA/VT1-Purist/10/1

There’s another thread here, but I’m pestered by sproggy to get off so I’ll be brief. The Harley Benton is the Epiphone, except it’s cheaper because it doesn’t have the (awful) DSP FX of the Epiphone. An outstanding bargain, even though people tweak them to make them better. I. personally, would change the valves (at not great expense) for my first tweak.

Do not waste money on an attenuator. These are 5W amps and if pushing a bit of distortion is causing complaints you must have very thin walls. An attenuator is over a hundred quid anyway. The WEM Dominator III is a great 15W combo of the 70s but is now getting more expensive. I easily sold a pair for 350 quid but they’re still well worth it. The H-B 5 is well worth purchasing but I did think they had a headphone socket. You sure they have none?

For what they cost i think the Epi and Benton look very good for the money, I think 1bassleft will give you the run down on the WEM dominators, the MK III seems a very decent amp,and will increase in value rather than lose like the 2 small amps. also you might want to look at the Laney LC15 or the LC15R, they are very good, especialy if you upgrade the speaker. They both feature a gain control, so playing at a low volume won’t be a problem.
If you are lookin to play through headphones then have you looked at the Pandora PX4? fantastic little gadget.
Or if you have a good speaker system on your PC the have you considered a Guitar port?
Problem with attenuators is they cost money, but in my experience work exremley well.