NGD: 2014 Vigier Expert Retro 54 hardtail

D

Dave Merrill

Axe-Master
Bought from a member here, so you may have seen it in the For Sale section for a while. Pics should still be there. Came very well packed, arrived just fine.

I only had like 10 minutes to play with it, since it was a work day, but it's cool so far. Different from my EJ strat, like you'd figure.

Some random first impressions, quite possibly off base, since I had to be quick...

Action is ok, not astonishingly low. Will probably leave it as is for a while, see how it goes. Strings are a tad lighter than what I'm used to, as expected (9.5s vs 10s). Not sure if I'll leave it that way, guessing no, it's just simpler to use the same strings I have on my other guitars.

I think I like the pickups. Pretty reasonable tones and volumes in relation to each other, and bridge alone has more fullness than my strat, with bite though, and without getting all woofy, which I appreciate. 2 and 4 positions do what they're supposed to do, which is great. Haven't actually compared to my EJ, but I bet it's overall somewhat hotter.

Middle switch position is the middle pickup by itself, not bridge-neck like I thought was standard on these, but it's way way nicer than the same on my EJ. Don't know if it came wired like that from the factory or if someone modded it. (I know the seller didn't.)

The tone control is interesting. Need to experiment more, and maybe do some research, but I don't think it's a straight-up treble roll-off like most passive guitars. Second half of its rotation seems normal, but I think something else may be going on in the bottom half. Will investigate.

Seller said it had a serious case, and boy was he right! Both case and guitar have some weight to them.

So, interesting! Looking forward to exploring further. Have reality stuff I have to do this weekend, but you just know I'm going to make some time for this too :)
 
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Dave Merrill said:
Bought from a member here, so you may have seen it in the For Sale section for a while. Pics should still be there. Came very well packed, arrived just fine.

I only had like 10 minutes to play with it, since it was a work day, but it's cool so far. Different from my EJ strat, like you'd figure.

Some random first impressions, quite possibly off base, since I had to be quick...

Action is ok, not astonishingly low. Will probably leave it as is for a while, see how it goes. Strings are a tad lighter than what I'm used to, as expected (9.5s vs 10s). Not sure if I'll leave it that way, guessing no, it's just simpler to use the same strings I have on my other guitars.

I think I like the pickups. Pretty reasonable tones and volumes in relation to each other, and bridge alone has more fullness than my strat, with bite though, and without getting all woofy, which I appreciate. 2 and 4 positions do what they're supposed to do, which is great. Haven't actually compared to my EJ, but I bet it's overall somewhat hotter.

Middle switch position is the middle pickup by itself, not bridge-neck like I thought was standard on these, but it's way way nicer than the same on my EJ. Don't know if it came wired like that from the factory or if someone modded it. (I know the seller didn't.)

The tone control is interesting. Need to experiment more, and maybe do some research, but I don't think it's a straight-up treble roll-off like most passive guitars. Second half of its rotation seems normal, but I think something else may be going on in the bottom half. Will investigate.

Seller said it had a serious case, and boy was he right! Both case and guitar have some weight to them.

So, interesting! Looking forward to exploring further. Have reality stuff I have to do this weekend, but you just know I'm going to make sure time for this too :)
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Glad yer happy!

Wherez da guitar pr0n? Posts like these need pictures!!!
 
Yes you can start at 1mm to 1.2mm E~E no problem.
As for the wiring it depends which Schaller Mega switch is fitted as to what happens in the middle position . I have seen both stock so yours is probably stock. I hope you like it ,IME these are some of the most precisely built guitars you can buy. Simple but perfectly done.
 
Got to play it some more last night. Good guitar, doesn't have the foibles of my EJ, or maybe its mojo either, maybe. Or I'm way less used to it, which, of course, I've had the EJ for 5 years. We'll see...

I'll look into lowering the action. @Andy Eagle, those distances you said are from the bottom of the string to the top of the 12th fret, not fretting anything, yes?

Think my first step may be be to switch it to 10s, like my other guitars; it's got 9.5s now I'm told.

Re pickup switching, if I had my druthers, one of the controls would have a push-push switch to add in bridge or neck, to get the other 2 possible combinations. OTOH I hear all push-push pots are crap, except maybe the Fender S1. Might look into that, unless the Vigier uses 1M pots like I hear some do. I'm hesitant to add a mini-toggle for that, but maybe.

As it is, the middle pickup is much nicer than the one on my EJ, which is spikey and unpleasant by itself. I'd like to hear neck-bridge, but since I never have on a strat, is hard to say anything except I'd like to have all choices available.

These pickups have more fullness and level than my EJ, but less top end sparkle too. Not dull by any means, but the EJ is some kind of alive, even when I'm complaining about the high end balance between the pickups. The single tone control on the V is refreshingly simple.

Onward!
 
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Dave Merrill said:
Got to play it some more last night. Good guitar, doesn't have the foibles of my EJ, or maybe its mojo either, maybe. Or I'm way less used to it, which, of course, I've had the EJ for 5 years. We'll see...

I'll look into lowering the action. @Andy Eagle, those distances you said are from the bottom of the string to the top of the 12th fret, not fretting anything, yes?

Think my first step may be be to switch it to 10s, like my other guitars; it's got 9.5s now I'm told.

Re switching, if I had my druthers, one of the controls would have a push-push switch to add in bridge or neck, to get the other 2 possible combinations. OTOH I hear all push-push pots are crap, except maybe the Fender S1. Might look into that, unless the Vigier uses 1M pots like I hear some do. I'm hesitant to add a mini-toggle for that, but maybe.

As it is, the middle pickup is much nicer than the one on my EJ, which is spikey and unpleasant by itself. I'd like to hear neck-bridge, but since I never have on a strat, is hard to say anything except I'd like to have all choices available.

These pickups have more fullness and level than my EJ, but less top end sparkle too. Not dull by any means, but the EJ is some kind of alive, even when I'm complaining about the high end balance between the pickups. The single tone control is refreshingly simple.

Onward!
Click to expand...

I like the S1 switch. It is 4PDT, so tons of things you can do with it, especially in combination with a super 4P5T lever switch. I like setting up 3 pickup guitars so the extra switch (S1 or other) swaps the middle-only #3 switch position to neck+bridge. The rest of the 5 way switch is unaffected, and the switch operation is super simple and intuitive....
 
Joe Bfstplk said:
I like the S1 switch. It is 4PDT, so tons of things you can do with it, especially in combination with a super 4P5T lever switch. I like setting up 3 pickup guitars so the extra switch (S1 or other) swaps the middle-only #3 switch position to neck+bridge. The rest of the 5 way switch is unaffected, and the switch operation is super simple and intuitive....
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I'd like that, but you don't get an all-3-pickups option that way.
It would be easier to operate than an adds-the-3rd-pickup switch.
Gotta find out what pot is in there now.
And what kind of 5-way too, come to think of it.
 
Dave Merrill said:
I'd like that, but you don't get an all-3-pickups option that way.
It would be easier to operate than an adds-the-3rd-pickup switch.
Gotta find out what pot is in there now.
And what kind of 5-way too, come to think of it.
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After years of doing the thing by linking the neck and bridge spots so "Tele" and "all three" were available, I found "all three" didn't really blow my skirt up, and the super switches make it super simple to swap middle for neck+bridge. I even figured out how to use a 4PDT on/on/on switch to give a third option for the middle: neck+bridge out of phase (or 1/2 OOP)....
 
ruso said:
Congrats! Vigier is a bucket list instrument for me. One of these days I’ll own one.
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I've wanted to try one for years, never had the opportunity.
Then this one showed up, for a pretty darn reasonable price, I think, had to give it a shot.

I'd love to check out the Shawn Lane version, HSH with completely flat fretboard.
 
Dave Merrill said:
I've wanted to try one for years, never had the opportunity.
Then this one showed up, for a pretty darn reasonable price, I think, had to give it a shot.
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I’m in the same boat. Given how rare they are around these parts, it’ll probably be a matter of buying one sight unseen (playing) for me. If I don’t bond with it, at least they hold their value.
 
ruso said:
I’m in the same boat. Given how rare they are around these parts, it’ll probably be a matter of buying one sight unseen (playing) for me. If I don’t bond with it, at least they hold their value.
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May hold their value, but could be slow to sell.
The one I bought here was posted July 10, I bought it Sept 2, almost 2 months.
Price had dropped, and included insured shipping and PayPal fees., still took that long.

EDIT:
Check Vigier prices on Reverb; this one was way lower than all of them.
 
Dave Merrill said:
May hold their value, but could be slow to sell.
The one I bought here was posted July 10, I bought it Sept 2, almost 2 months.
Price had dropped, and included insured shipping and PayPal fees., still took that long.

EDIT:
Check Vigier prices on Reverb; this one was way lower than all of them.
Click to expand...
I suspect maybe due to being a hardtail...
 
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