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Vintage V6

 

Review of the Vintage V6 by The Man in the Jar

The upgraded Vintage Strat...

Features of the Vintage V6

Tuners - Kluson-style covered (not sealed) Wilkinson branded tuners work really well. These tuners feature something called the e-z-lock system. This involves an extra hole in the capstan at right angles to the normal hole. The string is threaded through one hole, bent at 90 degrees anti-clockwise, wrapped once or twice around the capstan, inserted through the other hole, pulled tight (use a rag to protect your skin) and the excess string is trimmed away. 

Headstock - The six-on-one-side headstock is a less flamboyant scroll than the Stratocaster headstock that inspires it. The truss rod access has no cover but is very nicely finished.

Nut - The black plastic nut is a set-in-slot type.

Neck - The maple neck is very slim and playable. There's no skunk stripe but the maple has been stained that vanilla yellow that only normally comes to maple with age.

Fretboard - The fretboard has a 10" radius which in practical terms means it has quite a curve to it. This makes rhythm playing and chords more comfortable but will cause string choking on excessive string bends.

Frets - The 22 medium profile frets are well finished.

Action - A little high from the box. I would need to take this down a wee bit for maximum playing comfort.

Body - The poplar body is the classic comfort contoured Stratocaster shape that has been around for ever. The model I tried was the particularly attractive Ventura Green finish.

Bridge - This is Wilkinson's take on the classic Fender Vibrato bridge. The bridge is fixed at the front with six screws. The back part of the bridge has a metal block that extends into a cavity in the body. The block is attached to three springs. The bridge therefore pivots slightly on the six holding screws when the balance of tension between the strings and the springs is altered by the player depressing the vibrato arm. This alters the pitch of the note being played and was originally designed to imitate the wobble of a singing voice. Note that this trem is not suitable for heavy metal style dive-bombing or any other type of extreme pitch changes. The strings are inserted through the vibrato block at the back of the body and each saddle is fully adjustable for intonation and string height. 

Pickups - Three Wilkinson branded single coil pickups. The middle pickup is reverse wound, reverse polarity.

Controls - One Volume control and two Tone controls with a five-way selector switch.

Scratchplate - Classic three-ply white/black/white Strat scratchplate.

Strap-buttons - Two medium strap buttons, one on the base of the body and one on the upper horn.

Output Jack - In the front of the body in a classic Strat dishplate.

Finish - Very good throughout.

 

Sound of the Vintage V6

This guitar delivers remarkably Strat-like voicings in all three single pickup positions, the bridge in particular has a beautiful clarity of tone and the middle pickup has a crispness that would make Gary Lineker's mouth water. But the magic takes a step further when you run the middle and bridge or middle and neck combined. The reverse polarity of the middle pickup adds a cutting brittleness to the tone.

 

Overall Impressions of the Vintage V6

This is a poor man's Strat. I don't mean to be unkind with that remark, rather I want to point out that the versatile voice of this guitar is as close as you are going to get to a Stratocaster while still getting change from £150. The guitar is better than you have any right to expect for this kind of outlay. Buy one before they put the price up!  

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