Mint condition 90s Vantage for starter electric guitar?

Boeing77W

Boeing77W

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I found a listing for a Vantage 118-GDT super strat built in the early 90s by Samick in Korea. The body is a nice red sunburst, and it comes with gold hardware and a 24 fret neck. It also has a Floyd Rose-type tremolo bridge. The seller says it was kept in a bedroom closet for the most of its life, so its basically in mint condition. It's listed for 250 CAD (roughly 190 USD) and I was wondering if this would be a good buy for someone like me who is just starting out on electric guitar.
 
If the whammy bar is something you're going to focus on, maybe. A locking/floating tremolo like a Floyd can be a real PITA to keep in tune. If you break a string the whole thing goes out. If you rest your hand on the bridge it goes sharp. If the pivot points are worn it will have different spots (tunings) where it comes to rest.

They're great if you plan to do a lot of dive bombing and general strat abuse type playing. If not, something with more of a traditional strat type tremolo system or a fixed bridge might be less complicated for something to learn on. Even when they work properly, floating trems are a little trickier to tune period. If you change the tension on one string, it has a slight effect on all the other ones.

I don't think Vantage or Samick ever got anywhere near the same level as Ibanez or Tokai. 250 bucks isn't much, but you can find entry level guitars brand new close to those prices.
 
Ya, I've looked at the old Sami on Guitar Center and there can be some good stuff at a better price, but you have to pay attention. There was one particular Tele for $100, but it was gone the next day : ) Look for Kramer, too.
 
My advice is buy a good guitar that plays well, has good intonation, comfortable neck/body. Mint condition garbage guitars are just garbage.
A well made guitar is easy to play and won't distract you from learning because of some defect/shortcoming.
If you don't end up sticking with it you will lose money regardless if you sell it, or you can give it to your kid. Consider it rental fees to try it out.

My opinion - $800 - $1000 in Long and McQuade will buy you a great starter guitar.
If you buy the Vantage, then take it to the shop and have them block the bridge. My Kramer is blocked and I never break strings and it stays in tune very well. The fine tuners are excellent for tuning as well.
 
My Kramer was $80 - missing a peg. Neptune neck plate Focus 2000 with a black Kramer style headstock and maple neck. I really like the neck and scewed the vibrato down the day I got it. Had some old mini switches in my junk box from a job in 1968, so I put polarity on pu 1 & 2, and in/out of circuit on pu 3

Sami can do some good guitars and you can see that in the Gibson line, I think my DeArmonds are probably a Samick
 
I have a vantage Les Paul copy.
My take on Vantage guitars...
As far as the craftmanship, fit and finish, and general build quality they are excellent. They were made during the heyday of Japanese guitar building. The drawback is going to be the electronics. The pickups and pots are nor going to be very good.
So, I would say, to learn on, the build quality is more important than the electronics. You can always upgrade the electronics after you learn to play.
By the way, you can purchase a used Mexican strat for 250...many of which already have upgraded electronics.
Myself, I would probably get a Mexican strat if I had $250 to buy a used guitar with and wanted a strat type guitar.

It would always be worth the $200 to $250 and be much easier to sell than a vantage if you ever wanted to move it on down the line
 
Don't buy it. Its someone else's boat anchor.

There's plenty of guitars you can buy in that price range that are better, as well as "moveable". Meaning you'll be able to sell it if and when the time comes.
 
There all off my guitars since the SG special. Do a dive and some surf, and I'm soon filling in holes and repainting the guitar. The cheap Kramer I can just tighten down and never had any issue with that, other than keeping the springs in tune
 
RFR said:
If that's the case, then they REALLY shouldn't be buying it. Floyds are a PIA. :D
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Not if you know how to set them up, or if you block them. I have used mine blocked and unblocked and they are fine. Mine is blocked as I don't need to dive bomb now that I don't play EVH songs in cover bands.
 
garww said:
Don't be too harsh : ) Not even the poster, or, F-R knows what Tremolo is
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This^^^ is what I was posting about.

If soneone is not familiar with a floyd rose or a tremelo in general, it's a pain in the ass.
Sure, you can become familiar and work around the problems.... but......

Why bother? Plenty of good traditional guitars that are good, effective, and cheap.

Besides, who the hell wants a floyd nowadays?
:D
 
ido1957 said:
Not if you know how to set them up, or if you block them. I have used mine blocked and unblocked and they are fine. Mine is blocked as I don't need to dive bomb now that I don't play EVH songs in cover bands.
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Hay, no shit !

.."floyd rose or a tremelo in general"..

Tremolo is amplitude
 
True
The proper term for the mechanical device that controls being able to vary the pitch on a guitar is Vibrato.
 
Fender was good 'til around BF ? My 6g2 Princeton had the "Tremolo" pedal jack, but there was no reason to label one pedal button !
 
jimistone said:
I have a vantage Les Paul copy.
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Hey, me too! A Spirit, something 500 I think? There was a guy on here that I was going to buy his too, cherry sunburst, but I had a reversal of fortune, so to speak.

I agree with you except on two accounts. I love the pickups, and a lot of others do, too. I'm always on the hunt for a good deal on some more of my model's pickups. I don't know that the electronics are crap, per se, you just have to remember that they're about 40 year old guitars now.

Also, about the resale value, you should check this out.

Used Vantage Spirit Solid Body Electric Guitar Tobacco Sunburst | Guitar Center

(Obviously an aftermarket bridge pickup, looks like a DiMarzio.)

But, that being said, what he's looking at isn't a late '70s Matsumoko, it's a '90s Samick. Completely different animal.

But, I like Samicks, if it's a good Samick.
 
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