-
06-23-2009, 03:26 PM #1peterscott Guest
Hi
Am relatively new to this site.
Am looking to buy a new Jazz archtop. Have been tempted by the Peerless Monarch but I've seen several Vintage VSA750 Brooklyn guitars which seem identical and are MUCH cheaper
Does anyone have any experience or advice on these?
Cheers
Pete
-
06-23-2009 03:26 PM
-
Peerless is a great value. Haven't seen the Vintage...
You can't go wrong with a Peerless for the money, IMHO.
Happy hunting!
-
Hi,
I've got a Brooklyn and have really enjoyed playing it. All the things that you expect might be corners cut on a cheaper guitar - finish, pots etc. just aren't a problem.
It is remarkably "similar" to the Monarch. Both made in Korea, have a bone nut, Grover Imperial tuners, same detail on the headstock - in fact if you consider the history of Peerless - they used to make guitars for other guitar companies - it doesn't seem too improbable, since Peerless didn't start producing their own Peerless branded guitars until after the release of the Brooklyn, that they may be produced at the same factory and just branded differently.
The Brooklyn started off with a book price of £650. I got mine reduced and they are available for about £300 to £400.
If I had a decent Brooklyn available to buy then I wouldn't pay the extra for the Peerless name.
-
OK, here's the skinny..
The Vintage USED to be made by Peerless but when the went out on their own, they stopped making them for JHS (the uk distributor). Instead of letting the product die quietly, JHS decided to get someone else to make it with a different headstock and that's not a Peerless. Now if you see a pic of a Vintage archtop that looks like the Peerless, call the company and ask them if it is and you'll get some cock 'n' bull story about how JHS were sent a bunch of the "wrong archtops" and guess what, they are as good as the original ones (apparently)!!
If anyone can find an original Vintage (made by Peerless) they'd save a lot of cash - the last one that I know got sold went for £350!!
All this has been confirmed by Peerless in Korea - I called and asked!!
-
I've just looked at some UK web retailers, and the pictures all seem to look a lot like the Peerless version. But what you're saying is that what you will recieve will probably look different (headstock). And the implication is that these newer ones are not of the same quality (aledgedly
Originally Posted by Homey
)?
-
Yup, totally!
Just look at this:
Reidys.com - VINTAGE VSA750 Brooklyn Series- Tobacco Sunburst
I ordered this from them and at the last moment I asked them to confirm that this was the exact same guitar that I was going to get. They made a fuss and said that it would be, but eventually agreed to call their "warehouse" ie JHS and asked them to check. Ten minutes later I had a call that gave the patter about the "wrong guitar" and how it was the same but with a different headstock. I cancelled the order.
I had this from 4 different dealers all advertising the same guitar!
The newer ones are definitely not of the same quality - someone on another forum got one and said he had to send it back because it was so bad!
Hope this helps!
-
So the bargain was there for those in the know a while ago but not anymore! A shame but that's how it goes... At least you managed to avoid a costly mistake, and thanks to your information I won't be tempted down the same road either so cheers for that! Originally Posted by Homey
-
I tried a Peerless Monarch the other week and it´s not bad at all!
It played and sounded so much more alive than a bunch of Eastmans I have tried(and they cost a lot more). It even beat a -68 L5 I played later that day.
There is also the Cremona with routed HB and one called Imperial, but not on this market, they are more expensive too.For the money the Monarch is definitivo worth trying.chev
-
Hi All,
I'm a newbie. I recently began looking at Eastman and Peerless guitars. In checking the specs I could not find the fret board radius of Peerless. (I prefer a 10" like a PRS or 12" like Gibson) I emailed Peerless UK, Peerless in Korea, Peerless in Ireland, Guitars N Jazz in New Jersey and Jazz Guitar Zone in CA. My first reply was from Peerless in Ireland and I was told that the radius is 12" like a Gibson. I then heard from a rep of Peerless UK. He told me that he did not have that info, but would find out from the factory and let me know. Today Lou Del Rosso from Guitars N Jazz emailed me.( He was probably tired of all my emails!) Well, Lou actually measued the finger board and informed me that the radius is 16". (Peerless Renaissance) Lou..U da man! I'm assuming that all Peerless guitars have a 16" radius, but this may not be the case. Hopefully, I'll find out.
I have a semi-hollow with a 16" radius and I just can not get used to it, pariculary for chord solos. It's for sale!
To me fret board radius is a impotant part of the instrument particularly when I have been playing 10" or 12" fret boards for more than 30 years. I would guess that fret board radius is probably not as important to most players since I don't see many comments about the topic. I just wish that all guitar manufacturers would include that information in the specs or at least have the correct information available! Most do.
Thanks too all for listening to my rantings!
-
Ed, that's a good rant with a good point !
-
Yup, I totally agree - it's a valid rant!
The only company that I've seen that constantly publish fingerboard radius is Ibanez. Ya have to ask most of the others!
I have a Monarch but I have no idea what the radius is but you could just email the factory and ask - they are very nice people! The website link is below but I have no idea where the ???? came from!!
???? ??? ????_?
-
[quote=EdG;53497]Hi All,
I'm a newbie. I recently began looking at Eastman and Peerless guitars. In checking the specs I could not find the fret board radius of Peerless. (I prefer a 10" like a PRS or 12" like Gibson) ....
Most makers don´t seem to give a rat´s a.. about radius info.
It has bothered me too.It´s a factor just as important as nut width,neck profile and so on.I have tried a few Peerless and no problem playing chord melody with the Monarch, but guess radius differs from the ES-175?
I don´t know if the ES-175 clones from Ibanez,Greco,Tokai have the same radius as Gibson, but why not look into that? Some of them are quite nice and priced less than a Gibbo.
Good luck!
-
Thanks for the responses.
I am going to check out a used Guild X180 Park Avenue this weekend.
The seller has it listed at $1500 but "negotiable"
Here's the description:
Mint condition Archtop - 16" lower bout, 3-piece maple neck with center stripe, neck joins body at 14th fret, 20 fret rosewood fingerboard with block pearloid inlays, adjustable rosewood bridge, Guild harp tailpiece with "G" cutout, 2 humbucking pickups, 3-way toggle switch, 2 volume and 2 tone controls, body binding, white-bound fretboard and headstock, black headstock with pearloid Chesterfield inlay and "Guild" logo, gold hardware, Grover tuners, 24-3/4" scale, 1-11/16" nut width, 12" radius, 3" body depth, with black OHSC .
If any one has any info or opinions on this model, I would appreciate your comments. I've only owned one Guild, a '73 D40 acoustic. A nice axe...very mellow sounding.
Thanks,
Ed
-
Ed:
SWEET - not even in the same league as Chinese instruments of any cost. You'll love it and the price is right.
Randy
PS: Do a search on forum member "X-500", he has a lot of Guilds and knows more than the rest of us about the marque.Last edited by randyc; 10-29-2009 at 10:01 PM. Reason: add PS
-
Thanks Randy.
-
Get it!
-
Originally Posted by randyc
Hmmm..
I wouldn't be so bold as to say that. Some so-called 'Chinese' instruments are simply amazing and some American / western made instruments are utter crap. Try them all and make your own mind up. I tried a bunch of Heritage and a couple of Gibsons and just wasn't that impressed by them!!
-
Why not post those comments in on the "good guitars from china" thread, where the topic is being currently discussed. If "I" made a bold statement, then yours, quoted above, will be red meat. Originally Posted by Homey
"Utter crap" is pretty strong language and suggests a rather obviously defensive attitude about past decisions that may not have been wise ones, hmmmmm ?
Would you mind qualifying "bunch of" and "a couple" - those aren't very descriptive and give the impression that you may be avoiding actual numbers ... just a thought.
And what miraculous manifestation of Chinese manufacturing did you end up buying, care to share ? I'm ALWAYS interested in Chinese guitars that are "simply amazing" compared to instruments like Heritage and Gibson.
Looking forward to seeing your opinion posted somewhere a little less discreet than this out-of-the-way place
Cheers, Homey !
-
Hey Randy,
I didn't mean to upset you!
All I meant was that there are good and bad examples of instruments from most manufacturers.
When I was in a guitar store shopping for a new archtop recently, the sales guy brought out a bunch of guitars for me to try - maybe 6 or 8. Two of them were Heritage (costing £1000 and £1600) and two were Gibsons (an L5 costing nearly £4k and ES175 costing £2.5k).
I also tried two Eastman guitars (an 810 for around £1000 and a John Pisano for £1.7k) I also tried out A Peerless Monarch (£900) and a Peerless Cremona (£1.5k).
The Heritage costing £1000 was just rubbish. It played badly, felt cheap and just didn't feel worth anywhere near £1000.
By comparison, the Eastman 810 ans the Peerless Monarch felt beautiful to play. They sounded and looked like more sophisticated instruments.
The Heritage costing £1600 was very nice but not as nice as the Peerless Cremona.
The John Pisano model from Eastman was an incredible instrument. It just blew away the 175 and so did the Peerless Cremona.
The 175 was nice but it just wasn't worth an extra £1000 for the Gibson name.
As for the L5, it was beautiful but I just thought it was poor value for money.
I fully realise that these are my subjective opinions though!
I 'wound' up buying a Peerless Monarch because, for me, it was just perfect and was great value for money. YMMV.
I honestly don't have any great pro-east opinions! I also a own a bunch (note the use of the word!) of US Adamas guitars, some of which are pretty rare and all of which I love, a very rare Alembic 6 string (which is a piece of crap!), a few Ibanez guitars etc, and a few others.
As I said, I'm sorry that I upset you but there are good and bad variations in all manufacturers and I just don't think that it fair to say that everything that comes out of 'China' ie the far east is poor quality and everything that comes out of the US & the West is wonderful and worth every penny!
Anyway, sorry if I pissed you off!
-
Homey, good to "hear" from you and I appreciate the detailed response.
Well, it seems obvious to me that I HAVE to get my hands on one of those things even if for only a few minutes. So many of you have been saying good things about them that - despite my obvious bias - I'm becoming interested, LOL !
You owe me no apologies, man - if anything it should be the other way around. FWIW, I take a lot of different medications, the price of getting old and sick, and some of them make me pretty dopey. It's hard enough to figure out what people are trying to convey when the only means of communication is electronic (and one is hurried in either reading or responding) without pharmaceutical confusion being introduced.
So I probably misinterpret about 30% of what I read, depending upon the time that I read it and with respect to my medication schedule. Thank you for taking the time to explain this situation in such detail and clarity that I can easily grasp your meaning.
I think that I may be experiencing an epiphany, albeit a tiny one, as a result of obtaining a couple of Heritage guitars this week. It's getting difficult for me to support the difference in price between these and the equivalent Gibsons, although in the past I haven't had a problem with that.
It MAY even be possible for me to let SOME Asian instruments slip over my radar horizon No guarantees implied, mind you, but if it happens it will be because of the experience, knowledge and courtesy of people like you.
I thank you for straightening me out,
Randy
-
No problem Randy, I wasn't offended in any way and I totally understand.
For the past 30+ years (since I started playing) I too have dismissed instruments from the far east blindly, but in the last 10 years or so, since most manufacturers (both in the US and in the east) have started using really advanced CNC routers, signioficant automation and the pretty much the same manufacturing technology, it's become impossible to justify the price of western-made instruments over their equivalently made eastern peers.
I don't think that these days, many can justify paying $X,000 more just because the guy who pushes the start button happens to be in the US/Canada/UK etc!!
Enjoy your new guitars!
-
Hello Homey Originally Posted by Homey
A French guitar shop currently sells a VSA 750.
They have many pictures, but their only information about instrument is that they estimate it to be approximately 20 years.
With this age, is it possible that it's been produced in Peerless Korean factory?
If yes, could this VSA be all massive as monarch are?
Thank you in advance for your help.
-
Sorry, but Homey died in a plane crash 8 years ago....this is a 10 year old thread.... Originally Posted by Buigui
Hello Homey
A French guitar shop currently sells a VSA 750.
They have many pictures, but their only information about instrument is that they estimate it to be approximately 20 years.
With this age, is it possible that it's been produced in Peerless Korean factory?
If yes, could this VSA be all massive as monarch are?
Thank you in advance for your help.
-
[QUOTE=Chev;53571]
I know your pain. I'm like that about neck dimensions in general - especially since I DON'T LIKE THIN NECKS . It's great that Ibanez not only lists the neck dimensions for their hollow and semi-hollow guitars, but also shows each neck dimension pictorially. I wish other guitar makers would do so. Originally Posted by EdG
Hi All,
I'm a newbie. I recently began looking at Eastman and Peerless guitars. In checking the specs I could not find the fret board radius of Peerless. (I prefer a 10" like a PRS or 12" like Gibson) ....
Most makers don´t seem to give a rat´s a.. about radius info.
It has bothered me too.It´s a factor just as important as nut width,neck profile and so on.I have tried a few Peerless and no problem playing chord melody with the Monarch, but guess radius differs from the ES-175?
I don´t know if the ES-175 clones from Ibanez,Greco,Tokai have the same radius as Gibson, but why not look into that? Some of them are quite nice and priced less than a Gibbo.
Good luck!
It would also be nice if there were more body specifications listed by guitar makers. Even Ibanez does not state the lower bout width of their hollowbodies (so I can't tell if they make a 17" wide hollowbody - so far, it doesn't look like that's the case to me).
F.Y.I. - another un-Monarch, Monarch to consider, is the Carlo Robelli Manhattan 1960s. These were made by Peerless for Sam Ash music stores (Carlo Robelli is a Sam Ash house brand [kind of like Rogue is for Musician's Friend]), and are pretty much re-branded Peerless Monarchs. There's one listed on Reverb at the present time for $800. I'd consider getting it for myself, but as you mentioned, Peerless isn't so good about listing neck dimensions, and from the comments I've read, it sounds like their necks are kind of borderline thin for my tastes.
Ellen
-
Had a Monarch, absolutely terrific guitar. Perhaps the most stable neck on any guitar I’ve owned.
Reply With Quote
The Guitar In Jazz - Jazz Guitar Radio Documentary
Today, 06:02 PM in The Players