bonsaischaap
Member
Features:
This guitar, like all Vigier guitars, was hand made in France (near Paris, to be precise). A quick overview of some of the features: a fretless two octave metal fingerboard, with a neck thicker than Ibanez, but thinner than Fender D shape, neck profile.
It also features the 10/90 system; meaning they replaced the truss rod with a strip of carbon fiber. It has a hardtail bridge with strings through body, Vigier's own tuners, brass nut, DiMarzio pickups (H/S/H), a five way switch, one volume and one tone control. The body is pretty lightweight and it comes with a sturdy gig bag. That about covers the basic features.
Sound:
This guitars sounds incredible; ranging from middle-Eastern sounding cleans to heavy metal riffing. The fretless fingerboard has a unique and distinct sound, lending itself for all kinds of different genres; slide blues, violin like classical tones, exotic fretless instruments or slow metal riffs, to name a few.
The DiMarzio pickups (ToneZone, PAF Pro and FS-1) do an excellent job and the HSH configuration in combination with a five way switch and remarkably responsive tone and volume controls allow for a wide array of sounds.
I use this guitar with a Mesa/Boogie F50 and it's a great combination. The guitar is extremely quiet so that's a plus as well.
Action, Fit & Finish:
When it arrived at my door, I was surprised the guitar was still perfectly in tune, despite having had a long journey through some pretty cold weather. The action is set very low, at around 1mm. Everything, including the pickups, was set up perfectly.
Thanks to the carbon fiber strip, the neck is always straight, regardless of changes in temperature and tuning. The wood used for this guitar, like the maple for the neck, has been naturally aged (in case of the neck wood, for around three years). After being finished, these guitars spend around five weeks at the factory to allow the finish to settle. Anything leaving the Vigier factory goes through strict quality control, so you can be pretty confident you're instrument is going to be in great condition when it arrives.
Reliability:
This guitar is very, very, well made and will withstand live playing (look at players like Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal, Shawn Lane and Christophe Godin). Everything is solid and properly installed.
As for the fretboard, I remember Patrice Vigier saying that in the 20 or so years that hes been making fretless guitars hes never had to replace a single board.
Overall:
I play all kinds of music, but mainly shred, blues and rock oriented styles and it fits in perfectly. I've been playing for years and most of the time I'm doing something guitar related. For me, the main reason behind getting this guitar was because I wanted a new challenge and also to try something different.
It will probably take a long while before I'm completely adjusted to the lack of frets, but I'll do my best!
The fact that the fingerboard is made of metal is a cool (and unique) touch, because compared to a wooden fretless fingerboard it has better sustain and it's much more durable.
If youre looking for something new and unique, but without going into the realm of gimmicks and completely different instruments, the Vigier Excalibur Surfreter might be what you're looking for.
Here are some more pics:
This guitar, like all Vigier guitars, was hand made in France (near Paris, to be precise). A quick overview of some of the features: a fretless two octave metal fingerboard, with a neck thicker than Ibanez, but thinner than Fender D shape, neck profile.
It also features the 10/90 system; meaning they replaced the truss rod with a strip of carbon fiber. It has a hardtail bridge with strings through body, Vigier's own tuners, brass nut, DiMarzio pickups (H/S/H), a five way switch, one volume and one tone control. The body is pretty lightweight and it comes with a sturdy gig bag. That about covers the basic features.
Sound:
This guitars sounds incredible; ranging from middle-Eastern sounding cleans to heavy metal riffing. The fretless fingerboard has a unique and distinct sound, lending itself for all kinds of different genres; slide blues, violin like classical tones, exotic fretless instruments or slow metal riffs, to name a few.
The DiMarzio pickups (ToneZone, PAF Pro and FS-1) do an excellent job and the HSH configuration in combination with a five way switch and remarkably responsive tone and volume controls allow for a wide array of sounds.
I use this guitar with a Mesa/Boogie F50 and it's a great combination. The guitar is extremely quiet so that's a plus as well.
Action, Fit & Finish:
When it arrived at my door, I was surprised the guitar was still perfectly in tune, despite having had a long journey through some pretty cold weather. The action is set very low, at around 1mm. Everything, including the pickups, was set up perfectly.
Thanks to the carbon fiber strip, the neck is always straight, regardless of changes in temperature and tuning. The wood used for this guitar, like the maple for the neck, has been naturally aged (in case of the neck wood, for around three years). After being finished, these guitars spend around five weeks at the factory to allow the finish to settle. Anything leaving the Vigier factory goes through strict quality control, so you can be pretty confident you're instrument is going to be in great condition when it arrives.
Reliability:
This guitar is very, very, well made and will withstand live playing (look at players like Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal, Shawn Lane and Christophe Godin). Everything is solid and properly installed.
As for the fretboard, I remember Patrice Vigier saying that in the 20 or so years that hes been making fretless guitars hes never had to replace a single board.
Overall:
I play all kinds of music, but mainly shred, blues and rock oriented styles and it fits in perfectly. I've been playing for years and most of the time I'm doing something guitar related. For me, the main reason behind getting this guitar was because I wanted a new challenge and also to try something different.
It will probably take a long while before I'm completely adjusted to the lack of frets, but I'll do my best!
The fact that the fingerboard is made of metal is a cool (and unique) touch, because compared to a wooden fretless fingerboard it has better sustain and it's much more durable.
If youre looking for something new and unique, but without going into the realm of gimmicks and completely different instruments, the Vigier Excalibur Surfreter might be what you're looking for.
Here are some more pics:
