Vik Guitars Discussion

[Lorcan Ward]

All hand carved.

His recent post sounded like he was still pursuing a production CnC model:

One of my recent posts raised considerable amount of Qs that needed answers. To clear out the situation let me explain. Indeed all the projects currently on the waiting list including Duality 8ff and Duality 8B Runs will be performed by me solely and personally, but given the directions I'm heading now with ViK guitars those will likely be the last builds that I will work on as an independent luthier. ViK guitars is in stage of transformation into something bigger. Hopefully for good, but yet different. We've been working on that within the last year and will make some important announcements at NAMM'15 or about that.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Eh, he's said that before and was found to be lying. Remember the whole Vik/Carvin thing? Jeff from Carvin actually having to make an official statement calling Vik out?

 

[leonardo7]

Eh, he's said that before and was found to be lying. Remember the whole Vik/Carvin thing? Jeff from Carvin actually having to make an official statement calling Vik out?

Well I for one have no clue where Vik is headed with his company nor do I care to ask. Hopefully it goes well. And I dont think they called Vik out per say. I think he just got really excited about the prospect of taking the possible leap forward into production, something that most luthiers probably dream of.

According to conversations Ive had with Vik himself a while back and at NAMM last year, he was lead to believe at NAMM last year that Carvin was VERY interested in working with him on producing the Duality design. They were apparently heavily interested after seeing the guitars in person. There were complications regarding the Italian lock headstock design as well as cutting corners that Vik did not want to do, plus the cost would have had to be in the 3K range and Vik wasnt sure how that would go over with people considering they could essentially have gotten a guitar built by the same people of the same quality for a grand less. He was hoping to fly out to San Diego and build a prototype with Jeff when suddenly problems arose partially from stuff we all know about and partially from Carvin's end that had nothing to do with Vik as a person or company.

As far as I know that was the plan as Vik was hoping and as far as he understood the direction to be headed. Did ViK himself even ever say publicly on this forum or on his FB page that Carvin was definitely doing it? I dont think he did, therefore it was all unofficial info. Im pretty sure it was all just rumors until Carvin decided and stated that they absolutely do not want to build stuff for luthiers or any other companies at all. Right after this announcement, Jeff decided to just do his Kiesel design stuff at the 3k price point instead. This was all around the time that Jeff's father was doing a semi retirement thing over at Carvin which is why the sudden new models and breath of fresh air since this exact time period over there at Carvin. Jeff or someone over at Carvin may have dropped the ball and/or jumped the gun by showing interest in Vik's design and/or there may have been some confusion in the language barrier too. In the end Carvin decided to up their own game instead.

Im not trying to get involved in a conversation, I dont have the time, but just sharing what knowledge I have on the subject, which could be inaccurate but is how I understood it to be. That is my honest understanding knowing what I know. Whatever happens in the end, Id assume around a 3K price point since that is where it was headed when the possible Carvin thing was going down. But lets not hold our breath.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

I am beyond stoked for everyone who wants a more affordable ViK Guitar. Its going to be awesome seeing more people able to finally try these guitars out. Prepare to be blown away!

ViK Guitars will also be at NAMM under the name of ViK Guitars USA showcasing some customs.

The word is that there will eventually be a USA production line of ViK's made by a major manufacturer!

https://www.facebook.com/Vikguitarsusa

Its gonna be a legit well known major USA based manufacturer

Definitely well said and totally makes sense. I actually thought about that before you posted, I just didnt really know how to put it in to words and you did it quite well. Its possible that they could play the same or similar to the customs but just not be quite as impressive in luxury maybe. A few things that stand out for me regarding the Duality in particular is the way it sits when you play it. Its well balanced. I also really like the wide, slightly on the thinner side maybe, flat D type profile of the neck. The body is not too thin and not big either. The carves are brilliant. Not to mention that his pickups are probably the least muddy pickups Ive ever played, and the neck pickup is sweet and airy. Excellent mid response and extremely clear sounding pickups with amazing attack. I also dont believe that there is a 16"-22" compound fretboard radius out there on a production is there? I dont know what the radius will actually be on these but I do know that for me personally, the flatter the better. Nothing plays as nice as an 18"+ radius, particularly a 16"-22" compound. Just sayin.

As far as price, it is going to be a USA built high quality instrument after all. I really don't know anything about the specs etc yet but Im extremely curious to compare it to the real thing eventually. Its likely that these will be built a lot faster than the customs so it definitely will serve a purpose in getting the shape, feel and maybe some characteristic in tone via pickups in to peoples hands.

I have confirmation that there will be a prototype at NAMM

Lets just say that I have no intention of being a suspect if the info were to leak. What I can say is that there will be close to ten INSANE custom ViKs at NAMM, one of which will be the USA demo.

Well I for one have no clue where Vik is headed with his company nor do I care to ask. Hopefully it goes well. And I dont think they called Vik out per say. I think he just got really excited about the prospect of taking the possible leap forward into production, something that most luthiers probably dream of.

According to conversations Ive had with Vik himself a while back and at NAMM last year, he was lead to believe at NAMM last year that Carvin was VERY interested in working with him on producing the Duality design. They were apparently heavily interested after seeing the guitars in person. There were complications regarding the Italian lock headstock design as well as cutting corners that Vik did not want to do, plus the cost would have had to be in the 3K range and Vik wasnt sure how that would go over with people considering they could essentially have gotten a guitar built by the same people of the same quality for a grand less. He was hoping to fly out to San Diego and build a prototype with Jeff when suddenly problems arose partially from stuff we all know about and partially from Carvin's end that had nothing to do with Vik as a person or company.

As far as I know that was the plan as Vik was hoping and as far as he understood the direction to be headed. Did ViK himself even ever say publicly on this forum or on his FB page that Carvin was definitely doing it? I dont think he did, therefore it was all unofficial info. Im pretty sure it was all just rumors until Carvin decided and stated that they absolutely do not want to build stuff for luthiers or any other companies at all. Right after this announcement, Jeff decided to just do his Kiesel design stuff at the 3k price point instead. This was all around the time that Jeff's father was doing a semi retirement thing over at Carvin which is why the sudden new models and breath of fresh air since this exact time period over there at Carvin. Jeff or someone over at Carvin may have dropped the ball and/or jumped the gun by showing interest in Vik's design and/or there may have been some confusion in the language barrier too. In the end Carvin decided to up their own game instead.

Im not trying to get involved in a conversation, I dont have the time, but just sharing what knowledge I have on the subject, which could be inaccurate but is how I understood it to be. That is my honest understanding knowing what I know. Whatever happens in the end, Id assume around a 3K price point since that is where it was headed when the possible Carvin thing was going down. But lets not hold our breath.

Seemed pretty "in the know" last year......until it all went goofy.

 

[theoctopus]

Seemed pretty "in the know" last year......until it all went goofy.

 

[TemjinStrife]

I do like that he doesn't have time to get "into a conversation" but drops a page of text.

 

[canuck brian]

I do like that he doesn't have time to get "into a conversation" but drops a page of text.

Takes a lot of time being shill for Vik.

Vik spouted off to a few guys in the industry saying that Carvin was going to be the company that was apparently going to do this, so while there was no "offical" statement from Vik, he ran his mouth enough for enough people to catch wind of it.

 

[theoctopus]

Takes a lot of time being shill for Vik.

Vik spouted off to a few guys in the industry saying that Carvin was going to be the company that was apparently going to do this, so while there was no "offical" statement from Vik, he ran his mouth enough for enough people to catch wind of it.

This is true. I had "verified" information that Carvin was going to be building his guitars months ahead of NAMM, coming from sources very close to the business.

 

[leonardo7]

Does he use CNC ? The quality of his work is amazing.

The quality is great and so is the tone!

Heres a sample of what Ive been working on. I double tracked this recently with my Duality 7. I think it sounds nice and warm with excellent attack and mids in the right place. This is a good example of what the Transcendence guitar sounds like. Real tube amp, real cabinet, and real mic.

[sc]https://soundcloud.com/shaboon-1/solar-filament-short-demo[/sc]

 

[ForThisGift]

I don't understand why everyone associated with Vik has to try to be so slippery all the time. Like Leonardo, who will passive-aggressively defend or promote Vik but then changes the subject anytime anyone wants to talk about it. Your "promotion" of the brand is doing the company a disservice at this point. Instead of just coming in here and looking at progress pics and product updates, we always have to have some sort of antics to go along with it.

I realize this thread has become rather hostile towards Vik and his business practices, but don't come in and fan the flames with your blind support only to follow it up with denial and dodginess.

 

[leonardo7]

I don't understand why everyone associated with Vik has to try to be so slippery all the time. Like Leonardo, who will passive-aggressively defend or promote Vik but then changes the subject anytime anyone wants to talk about it. Your "promotion" of the brand is doing the company a disservice at this point. Instead of just coming in here and looking at progress pics and product updates, we always have to have some sort of antics to go along with it.

I realize this thread has become rather hostile towards Vik and his business practices, but don't come in and fan the flames with your blind support only to follow it up with denial and dodginess.

Someone made a statement that they believed to be true but I know not to be true on the previous page about ViK "lying and being called out by Carvin", so I set the record straight. I had no intentions of entering a debate or having my credibility questioned nor do I now.

On a different note, you guys know that ViK Guitars was originally going to be called VK Guitars for his initials but then he changed it? So if your referring to the brand then capitalize the K please. Vik is the person, ViK is for the guitars.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

One second you're ready to have a discussion.....then you jump the proverbial shark.

 

[canuck brian]

Someone made a statement that they believed to be true but I know not to be true on the previous page about ViK "lying and being called out by Carvin", so I set the record straight. I had no intentions of entering a debate or having my credibility questioned nor do I now.

On a different note, you guys know that ViK Guitars was originally going to be called VK Guitars for his initials but then he changed it? So if your referring to the brand then capitalize the K please. Vik is the person, ViK is for the guitars.

 

[ElysianGuitars]

Someone made a statement that they believed to be true but I know not to be true on the previous page about ViK "lying and being called out by Carvin", so I set the record straight. I had no intentions of entering a debate or having my credibility questioned nor do I now.

On a different note, you guys know that ViK Guitars was originally going to be called VK Guitars for his initials but then he changed it? So if your referring to the brand then capitalize the K please. Vik is the person, ViK is for the guitars.

You didn't even capitalize the K in the thread title

 

[ikarus]

You didn't even capitalize the K in the thread title

you beat me to it...

 

[narad]

^^ Thread title's been changed.

 

[leonardo7]

^^ Thread title's been changed.

And for those wondering why or noticing the many different thread titles throughout this threads history, let me enlighten you.

Its was originally titled by me "ViK Guitars USA", and the purpose was to talk about the upcoming production line and all pertaining info. The company was going to be a joint venture not run 100% or owned 100% by Vik, but rather a company in which he would be a partner, similar to what Strandberg did with Astral.

Then people started discussing stuff about the ViK Custom Shop, which is run 100% by Vik, so the moderators changed the thread title to "ViK Guitars Discussion", then the word "customers" was added, then removed. As seen below in my screen shot, at some point the word "discussion" was changed to "dicsussion" making it look like I misspelled it and making it look like I titled it anything other than "ViK Guitars USA", which I would not have done.




And finally, now the moderators have changed the thread title to a lower case k for me

 

[AxeHappy]

I think the, "dic"sussion was because Vik is a dick and not an attempt to make you look foolish or anything.

 

[Electric Wizard]

So if that's your screenshot, who is FnkyBean? Seems fishy that he's posting from your computer while you're banned.

 

[leonardo7]

So if that's your screenshot, who is FnkyBean? Seems fishy that he's posting from your computer while you're banned.

It was an account I created as a new account when I was perma-banned back then. I told the moderators and Alex webmaster about it and it was deleted at my request when I was let back on as I didnt want any problems. I never posted with the account. I served my time.