Vintique Gold Anodized Jazzmaster Guards...

[Ursoluno]

Stop me if you've heard this one before...

Vintique (www.vintique.com) has been dealing in Tele hardware for quite some time now.  Danny Gatton was even a part of the company's design process for a while.  They make all sorts of bridges/saddles, control plates, etc.

A quick perusal of the company's price guide (http://www.vintique.com/prices.html) will show that the company also manufactures "Jazzmaster and '58 P-Bass gold anodized aluminum guards, exact replacements" at $175 a pop.

Sounds good, no?  I've been looking for real-deal gold anodized guards for a while now.  I'd rather not import one from Japan, especially due to those guards' incorrect screw hole placement.

Here's the thing...

...I've heard Vintique's business practices aren't exactly above board.  Specifically, I've heard reports ranging from "Vintique shipped my order MONTHS after they say they would" to "Vintique took my money and has yet to report anything back to me."  This, when paired with the company's "pay 100% up front" policy, makes me somewhat hesitant to go ahead and place an order with them.

Anybody on these forums have any experience with Vintique?  If so, do you care to share?

My apologies if this violates any sort of forum policy.  I'm not posting this to defame Vintique in any way.  Rather, it's that I've heard negative things about the company from other sources, and I would like to be sure of what I might be getting myself into.

Thanks very much!

[mynameisjonas]

i´ve sent them three emails asking about those guards, but that was about a year ago, and they haven´t replied yet.

[Maggieo]

A bunch of guys over at the TDPRI, IIRC, are suing Vintique for taking their money and never delivering the promised merchandise.  There have been many, many complaints about the company and near as I can tell from postings over at TDPRI and TOP, their products seem to be the guitar parts equivalent of vaporware.

[Ursoluno]

A bunch of guys over at the TDPRI, IIRC, are suing Vintique for taking their money and never delivering the promised merchandise.  There have been many, many complaints about the company and near as I can tell from postings over at TDPRI and TOP, their products seem to be the guitar parts equivalent of vaporware.

That'll do, Maggieo.  That'll do...

It appears the horror stories I've heard are true.

Thanks very much for confirmation!

So...

Who wants to go in with me on a Callaham gold anodized Jazzmaster guard custom order?  Anybody?

[zhivago]

there was a story on them guards a while back...quite a while back...what basically some people said was that there was only one guard available, and that they would make you a copy of that guard...or something among those lines.

to cut a long story short, people decided it was too dodgy, and way too expensive to take chances with them.


also, noone ever actualy saw any of their gold JM guards...so who knows even what they looked like!


the way I see it, there are three ways to get a gold guard:

1. Original off ebay - long wait and loads of $$$

2. One of the Scotland batch ones....vintage correct, realistic - not too much £££ (they are made in Scotland) - dunno if they are still in production

3. Ishibashi - they had a few for sale a while back...they didn't look as convincing as the Scotland ones, but they still looked cool


hope this helps

[Soiouz]

2. One of the Scotland batch ones....vintage correct, realistic - not too much £££ (they are made in Scotland) - dunno if they are still in production

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are they really "vintage correct"? The one on Doug's 1958 JM is a 13 hole, IIRC, whereas vintage ones had 9 holes. Or maybe the scottish guards were made in both 9 or 13 hole configuration??

[Ursoluno]

the way I see it, there are three ways to get a gold guard:

1. Original off ebay - long wait and loads of $$$

2. One of the Scotland batch ones....vintage correct, realistic - not too much £££ (they are made in Scotland) - dunno if they are still in production

3. Ishibashi - they had a few for sale a while back...they didn't look as convincing as the Scotland ones, but they still looked cool


hope this helps

Do you know anything more about these "Scotland Batch" guards?  Sounds intriguing; especially if they're of the nine hole persuasion.  Thanks for bringing them up!

You can add a fourth option to your list, though: the Callaham custom shop option.  Might it be a good idea for those forum members who want an accurate reproduction of a gold anodized guard to all go in on a custom order with Callaham?  It'd certainly be more cost-effective than ordering one of two of them at a time...

Keep in mind, I'm just spitballing.

[mynameisjonas]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are they really "vintage correct"? The one on Doug's 1958 JM is a 13 hole, IIRC, whereas vintage ones had 9 holes. Or maybe the scottish guards were made in both 9 or 13 hole configuration??

there are both 13 and 9 hole versions. i have a 9 hole one.

[Soiouz]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are they really "vintage correct"? The one on Doug's 1958 JM is a 13 hole, IIRC, whereas vintage ones had 9 holes. Or maybe the scottish guards were made in both 9 or 13 hole configuration??

there are both 13 and 9 hole versions. i have a 9 hole one.

Oh, I see. Thanks, that's good to know!!!


There should be a thread here with only gold guard JM pics.... Zhivago? 

[zhivago]

2. One of the Scotland batch ones....vintage correct, realistic - not too much £££ (they are made in Scotland) - dunno if they are still in production

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are they really "vintage correct"? The one on Doug's 1958 JM is a 13 hole, IIRC, whereas vintage ones had 9 holes. Or maybe the scottish guards were made in both 9 or 13 hole configuration??

you could specify 13 or 9 holes..I had a 9 hole one

[zhivago]

There should be a thread here with only gold guard JM pics.... Zhivago? 

hehehe....hmmmmm....I'll see what I can do....

[zhivago]

Do you know anything more about these "Scotland Batch" guards?  Sounds intriguing; especially if they're of the nine hole persuasion.  Thanks for bringing them up!

they were made by an old FDP forumite, calld Dinojazz....he's a really cool guy...I actualy got the first ever one they made for sale....Jay has it nowadays...I had to sell it as I needed cash


aaaanyways, I don't have his email anymore, but I'm sure someone on this board must have it, so you can contact him....

here's a few pics of my old Scotland one....

[Ursoluno]

Goodness gracious.

That thing is gorgeous.

[mezcalhead]

Yes, they're pretty nice-looking. They aren't completely spot on, but much closer than the Ishibashi guards. I compared my 9-hole Scots guard to a vintage guard in a post here.

Andrew may chime in here shortly as I think he might have been connected to this in some way .. I could be mistaken though.

[Jay]

here's a few pics of my old Scotland one....

And now MY Scotland one...    I love it on my black '65 btw...  I'll post a pic sometime.