REVIEW: Vintage V200 Acoustic Guitar

V200

There have probably never been so many good budget guitars available as there is today and the Vintage V200 is another fine example. Priced from around £150 (rrp £199) this smart little ‘concert’ style guitar features a solid spruce top, mahogany laminate back and sides, abalone rosette, rosewood bridge and fretboard and a nato neck with grover tuners.

Spec:

• Top: Solid Spruce
• Back: Mahogany Laminate
• Sides: Mahogany Laminate
• Binding: Multi-Layer Ivory/Black Top/Sides
• Soundhole: Abalone
• Back/Bottom Centre Line: Multi-Layer Ivory/Black
• Neck: Nato
• Width at nut: 43mm
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Bridge: Rosewood
• Saddle: Compensated
• Pickguard: ‘Mock’ Tortoiseshell
• Scale: 642mm
• Tuners: Grover® 102C

Build Quality

My initial impression is that of a very smart looking little guitar with a slightly understated look. The high-gloss finish seems even all round, showing off the solid spruce top with a light, ‘honey’ tint. The grain is fairly tight and straight, widening a bit near the outer lower bouts, giving it a slightly stripy look. The soundhole is finished in a smart abalone ring (even though the website describes it as wood inlay) and there’s a mock tortoiseshell pickguard. A quick peek inside shows all to be very neat and tidy with no signs of any excess glue (unfortunately, also little sign of that lovely ‘smokey’ mahogany scent, I guess due to the laminating process, a shame if you’re a guitar snorter like me!).

The mahogany finish is also light enough to allow the grain to show through the back and sides and the ivory/black pinstripe edging nicely balances with the lighter top. Compare that to a previous model of this guitar I tried, returned due to body damage, where the back and sides were much darker and seemed too much of a contrast to the top - with the edging almost lost altogether (a point worth noting if buying without seeing).

Small dot inlays adorn the rosewood fretboard, with a darker edging to the nato neck. Frets are all well finished and intonation is good. A black mark though for the rough ends of frets 7 & 8 which is a shame as it’s a minor flaw that really has no excuse for not being noticed and sorted out at the factory. Also the fretboard seems a bit on the dry side, but nothing some lemon oil can’t sort out. A set of Grover tuners finishes the headstock nicely.

In use

I found the small body very comfortable, particularly if sat classical style, though it did feel a tad neck-heavy when resting on my leg - I guess due to the lack of weight in the smaller body - and there’s only one strap button if you want to play standing up. No issues with the comfortable ‘C’ shaped neck, although the 43mm width at the nut might not suit some fingerstylists. This example was easy to play though, particularly as the action was set quite low.

Sounds

‘Bright and Characterful’, as described by ‘Vintage’ is a good summary. It is bright and ‘chimey’ and a bit thin in places but then a small-bodied guitar like this was always likely suffer with some depth of tone (and I suspect the low action has robbed it a bit too). That said it has mellowed over the last couple of weeks and is responsive to different playing positions and no doubt the spruce top will open up a bit over time.

Overall

During the time I’ve had this guitar it’s sat very snugly in the corner of my living room and I’ve found it very hard not to pick it up every time I went passed. It’s a very pleasant little guitar for the money, well made, nice to look at and nice to play with it’s bright, easy tone. Would certainly make an excellent first timer but one I suspect you’d always hang onto.

G | H rating 3.5/5

- Bob