Foo Fighting Trevor Wilkinson.

[Blazer]

Well you can say about Trevor Wilkinson what you want but the guy always seems to be right on the money about what guitars should be available on the cheap.

And so Wilkinson's "Vintage" brand offers an unofficial Peter Green model...


An unofficial Slash Appetite for destruction model...


And an unofficial Joe Bonamassa model.


But he apparently went too far when coming up with the aptly named "The pretender" which is an unofficial copy of the Gibson Dave Grohl signature.

Grohl was not amused with the fact that his name and image were used in the promotion for that guitar: a guitar that he has nothing to do with and so his lawyers and the lawyers of Gibson were called to arms and presented Wilkinson with a cease and desist order, so far around 40 have been made with only 16 coming to Europe.

Kinda dumb on Wilkinson's side, had he brought out "The Pretender" without using Grohl's image in the adverts, nobody would have complained and there would have been a cheap alternative for the real thing.

[neatone]

most times, nowadays, you get more press being bad than good


wonder if it's even "real" wilkinson...every asian part made claims to be wilkinson at this point

nice though...

hah

cheers

[StratBluesRock]

Too bad those cutaways look like chit.

Well we know that Gibson would sue the living daylights out of another company for copying them

Sorry if that's a bit hypocritical, since I do love Apple products

[ringodingo]

I would very happily play one of Wilkinson's Vintage guitars. They look sweet and the quality appears to be very decent.

[A.B.Negative]

I haven't seen that ad in any UK guitar mags, maybe a European advertising person went too far?

I'd happily buy one of these - if it had proper f-holes.

[Mid Life Crisis]

Is that advert for real? I can't believe a commercially savvy company like Vintage would be so dumb as to use someone's image, name and guitar in their advertising. It's asking for trouble.

[Tony474]

The "Vintage" name is actually a house brand of John Hornby Skewes (JHS), a major UK distributor in the music trade, although Trevor Wilkinson has a strong association with them. I've read and heard some good things about Vintage-brand guitars, which are reportedly pretty decent. But rightly or wrongly I consider it an incredibly naff and quite dreadful name, on the grounds that anything labelled "Vintage" is almost certainly nothing of the sort, and, however good they are, just because of that name I personally wouldn't be seen dead with one.

Wilkinson has what is effectively his "own brand", also distributed here by JHS, called Fret-King. Largely variations on classic Fender designs, they come in more than one range and are also supposed to be really good - though I've never played one myself and I've only very rarely seen anyone else using one. I guess someone must be buying them, though.

[PeterUK]

Originally Posted by Tony474

Wilkinson has what is effectively his "own brand", also distributed here by JHS, called Fret-King. Largely variations on classic Fender designs, they come in more than one range and are also supposed to be really good - though I've never played one myself and I've only very rarely seen anyone else using one. I guess someone must be buying them, though.

I've played a number of Vintage and Fret King guitars and they've all played really well.

The Fret-King T-styles are really nice, great sounding pick ups and extremely good value. For me, they are priced a bit too close to the mid-range Fender guitars and the resale value of a Fret-King is pants compared to a similarly price (when new) Fender.

Maybe it's worthwhile scouring eBay for a used one. Just had a peek at eBay UK and there are lots of dealer new ones at unattractive prices.

Hmmm.

Peter

[P-Nutz]

... are diamond-shaped, based on the Trini Lopez model, which Gibson made years ago. Dave simply updated in Pelham blue with Burstbuckers.

I owned a 1970 ES-335 TD from '79-'05, until it developed a headstock crack; absolutely fantastic, and regret not getting it repaired instead of trading it off. I would own either the DG-335 or the Vintage knock off in a second!

Peace.

[Thorby Bislam]

I've got a JHS encore brand acoustic. You can see it in the music space thread. I bought it as an entry level budget guitar about 15 years ago. It still has a great tone and still is my main guitar. They do make seriously good guitars for the price.

[kelnet]

There's a guitar shop just down the hill from me, and he carries the Vintage line. They feel just like any other inexpensive Chinese copy brand. I would think that there's no difference between Vintage and Rondo.

http://www.crossroadsguitar.com/main-vintage.html

[Johnston]

Originally Posted by Thorby Bislam

I've got a JHS encore brand acoustic. You can see it in the music space thread. I bought it as an entry level budget guitar about 15 years ago. It still has a great tone and still is my main guitar. They do make seriously good guitars for the price.

I'm in the middle of trying to fix up my old Encore electric. Stripped the paint from the neck and decided to leave the body.

The finish on them is seriously tough. I decided to leave the body as is it was that difficult to do the neck.

[Doug 54]

You can foo all the people some of the time,
and some the people all of the time..

but you can't Foo mom!!

[freshmattyp]

I've been hoping they would bring out an Epiphone version of that Dave Grohl guitar since I can't afford the real deal.

[PeterUK]

Originally Posted by kelnet

There's a guitar shop just down the hill from me, and he carries the Vintage line. They feel just like any other inexpensive Chinese copy brand. I would think that there's no difference between Vintage and Rondo.

http://www.crossroadsguitar.com/main-vintage.html

Interesting. I played a Peter Green-style LP copy and it was very well made and light!

The neck was lovely in the hand and it sounded better than I'd expected. It was much better than the "cheaper" Chinese copies along the rack and wasn't more expensive.

Having said that, the quality of Epiphones is equally as variable. My son has left me with his Epi Gold Top (although he's taken my acoustic, my mike and mike stand to University) and the Epi is as good as a good Gibson. His Epi SG, however, was rubbish.

Not great, consistent quality coming out of the Far East - but the good ones are excellent.

Peter

[NashvilleDeluxe]

I have the Vintage V-100 GT (JHS version of LP Gold Top with P-100's) and it's a really comfortable, toneful guitar with the best action of any of my guitars.

It doesn't have the Gibson name on it, but the parts are top notch. The finish is the weak point, but only compared to my Martin...it's a really good mid-priced guitar. I was looking for that "Since I've Been Loving You" tone, and this has it in spades. Does a great "All Right Now," as well.

[A.B.Negative]

My friend has 5 Vintage guitars - an SG, a LP and 3 Zips. He had 2 Zips and recently bought this one from me (the neck was too chunky for my taste).

[GigsbyBoyUK]

Blazer can you supply a source for this info?

It just seem strange to me as Vintage/JHS are usually very careful never to mention any brand or performer by name.

[musicalmartin]

Very good guitars .Wilky already makes a similar model under the Gordan Giltrap sponsorship and its highly rated over here according to the mags,the acoustics as well .Every Vintage I have played has been a very good guitar .I havnt seen that ad though and wonder if its a fake .I get the latest mags and JHS in house mag and havnt seen that . Who's Dave Grulch anyway? Not British and all Vintage sponsorettes are British except Thomas Blug ?

[Thorby Bislam]

Originally Posted by musicalmartin

.I get the ... JHS in house mag

GEAR. Me too. Ever complete the crossword?