How many times have you looked at or played a new electric guitar that you really like only to find out that you can’t buy it in the colour you want? Or you’ve fallen for a guitar’s charms with one exception: its neck shape.
On it goes, but increasingly this one-size-fits-all approach is a prerequisite of the modern production guitar, wherever it’s made. Options, even on some pretty pricey production instruments, aren’t usually expansive, to say the least, and before you know it you’re shown the Custom Shop route and a final price that is simply out of reach.
It doesn’t help if you like your guitars to look like they’ve had a bit of a previous life; relicing and ageing will add another level to that price. Just ask Tom Murphy.
Affordability, however, has always been the key proposition for John Hornby Skewes’ Vintage brand: lookalike guitars for the masses. The thing is, they can play rather well and sound rather good for the cash, not least with a little after-purchase tweakery or modding.
But the Vintage ProShop concept – which was started by the brand’s USA distributor then adopted in the UK in 2020 – takes things a little further by creating customised and often relic’d versions of the standard models.
Initially made as one-off Uniques, or small limited runs for its worldwide dealership network, in mid-2023 the UK ProShop introduced a custom-build service and, based on one of the standard Vintage models, you can now spec the details, the finish, parts and pickups, and create a custom guitar you can actually afford.
Of the Unique builds we’ve seen so far we’ve been impressed with the craft for the cost. And if the ProShop can really make what you want, it’s worth consideration, isn’t it? We put it to the test…
Starting point
The first thing you need to do is narrow down your choice of T, S, JM, LP, SG-style models in the Vintage ranges. Although we’ve played plenty of those models over the years, the V72 is a new one to us: a chambered T-style with a single f-hole. The ProShop configurator on the website is simply a series of drop-down menus to choose from, and gradually we dialled in our custom specification.
Inspired by plenty of boutique builds that we’d been eye-balling on Instagram, in basic terms we decided on a lightly aged finish, with a cut-off T-style bridge, a PAF-y style humbucker at the bridge with a P-90 in the neck position.
We also fancied something a bit more bespoke, requesting an aluminium control plate with a three-way toggle switch replacing the usual lever, a partial coil-split for the bridge humbucker and some witch-hat (as opposed to Telecaster) knobs.
While Vintage makes heavy use of Wilkinson hardware and pickups, having tested and been impressed by Trev’s upmarket R Series pickups last year we thought we’d keep things in the family, selecting a Caliber 5257 soapbar single coil for the neck and a Caliber 5761 PAF-alike humbucker in the bridge position with that coil-split for good measure.
Once your order is submitted, the ProShop team can take a look and fine-tune any potential problems and price it up. They consulted Trev Wilkinson on the pickup choice and, as the bridge pickup we’d suggested is only available with a vintage-style hook-up cable, he suggested the slightly higher output Caliber 7484 as that comes standard with the necessary four-conductor hook-up wire and should give a stronger single coil-split.
They also suggested using the compensated brass Wilkinson Duplo saddles – and, on paper, we were done. We confirmed our order in late August 2023 and pretty much three months to the day, an unassuming cardboard box arrived.
The reveal
Having just evaluated one of Vintage’s 2023 ProShop Unique builds, the Black Icon, as an introduction to this piece in our last issue’s Wishlist, the heavily beaten T-style with Bigsby certainly impressed, not least that it costs £1,199 with a smart gigbag, a quality leather strap, a pick box and certificate of authenticity, and even a T-shirt included.
Our first impression of our new custom build is that the UK ProShop team has raised its level. Whether it’s the less-distressed finish, that boutique-y control plate or the cut-off bridge, it’s hard to say, but we’d wager if we had a ‘cool’ category in our ratings, it’d achieve a good score.
The lightly aged body finish looks like it’s been around a bit and we have a similar vibe to the dark-stained neck finish, creating the illusion an old guitar that’s been played a lot but not abused.
The white binding is all cleanly scraped around the top edge of the body, plus we get some nice touches like the circular Electrosocket output jack surround. In fact, the hardware is all nicely done in terms of its light ageing, even if the control plate looks like it might have been custom-cut from weathered material; it’s only the metalwork on that toggle switch that looks a little new, as if it might have been recently replaced mid-tour.
Again, like that previous Black Icon, the scratchplate looks a little new, but that’d be easily sorted.
Feel & Sounds
Irrespective of the visual appeal, it’s the feel and weight that immediately impress. At 3.09kg (6.8lb), thanks to that cambered body, it’s almost 20 per cent lighter than that previous Black Icon with Bigsby we had on the scales.
In typical T-style, there’s no body contouring, although the heel has a rounded nose and a neckplate to match. Strapped on or seated, this is a comfortable piece, a guitar you want to play anywhere.
Dimensionally, the neck is a little wider at the nut than a few old Fenders we’ve evaluated at 43.4mm, while the depth is closer to ‘old Fender’ in the lower positions – 21.8mm at the 1st fret and filling out but not overbig by the 12th at 24.4mm. The standard V72’s neck profile is described as a ‘soft C’, but this feels more like a ‘full C’ with relatively broad shoulders.
The neck back is smooth in feel, less satin than some with a slight texture that will probably burnish up with playing. Again, though, it simply feels like an already well-used vintage bolt-on.
The rosewood fingerboard has a 254mm (10-inch) radius and a good deep colour; the top edges are very nicely rounded, appearing almost scalloped in higher positions. Frets are of a medium jumbo size, reasonably wide but not overhigh (2.73mm wide by 1mm high), and it’s strung with 10s and a mainstream string height of 1.5mm on the treble side, just under 1.8mm on the bass side.
Regardless of the price, there’s some excellent work here and it’s a really nice player. To be very picky indeed, the nut could be rounded a little more to meet Seth Baccus-like boutique standards, but the strings’ grooves are perfectly cut. We ain’t complaining.
Now, all of this illusion and craft is wasted if the guitar doesn’t sound as good as its apparent use suggests. There’s a lively T-style bright-edged ring as you’d expect unplugged, and just plugged in on the neck P-90 things are immediately encouraging: there’s a very full-toned jazzy/blues voice here – and a hint of hollowbody – with the volume pulled back a little, and a much more forceful, clear but thick voice with the wick turned up.
The coil-split, which actually voices the screw coil, is a surprise. It’s definitely a third, very usable voice – a strong T-style or almost early PAF-like voice that has bite and a wiry focus
We were slightly worried that the hot bridge humbucker might be a little too ‘rock’, but it actually sounds more hot-vintage to us and – helped by the placement a little away from the bridge saddles – it has a clear and very subtly rounded high-end and enough kick and a slightly punkier edge for really rootsy styles, not to mention some dirtier classic rock.
The coil-split, which actually voices the screw coil, is a surprise. It’s definitely a third, very usable voice – a strong T-style or almost early PAF-like voice that has bite and a wiry focus. It’s far from a thin anaemic option that you’d rarely use. A classic pickup pairing, three very strong sounds with very soulful, classic mixes. What’s not to like?
Verdict
This is a very endearing, characterful instrument: it’s a guitar that looks and feels old, played-in and used but is perfectly fit for purpose. Its sounds are almost timeless, from authentic late-’50s jazz/blues on the neck soapbar through gritty ’60s jangle from the mixes when pushed; you’ll also find rather beautiful soul and funk played cleaner.
With the coil-split engaged, a highly usable duality at the bridge provides Fender-y single-coil attack, plus a very well-voiced full bridge humbucker that brings in some muscle. It’s an unshowy piece, a perfect gigging partner that’d sit in pretty much any band you could imagine.
But players who have owned and played a string of high-end, high-quality contemporary instruments, or good vintage pieces, aren’t really the target audience here. Instead, these ProShop builds – the Unique one-offs or our custom build – are aimed at a real world where the escalating cost of those premium pieces is very hard for the majority to justify, and for many even impossible.
Does our custom build match the detailed quality of the Fender Custom Shop or numerous premier small-’shop builders? No. But can the ProShop team take a competent (if rather generic) guitar and turn it into a more unique instrument with a characterful aged finish and your choice of pickups and parts? Definitely.
More simple makeovers, or a less convoluted custom request, would cost you considerably less, too, yet you’ll still be getting a totally unique and fit-for purpose instrument – and if you choose the custom‑build route, it’s your design, too. What would yours be?
Specs
- PRICE: £1,299 (inc gigbag)
- ORIGIN: Built in the UK
- TYPE: Single-cutaway thinline electric
- BODY: Alder, chambered
- NECK: Maple, bolt-on
- SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)
- NUT/WIDTH: Graph Tech NuBone/43.4mm
- FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, pearloid dot inlays, 254mm (10”) radius
- FRETS: 22, medium jumbo
- HARDWARE: Wilkinson cut-off T-style bridge with compensated brass Duplo saddles; Wilkinson WJ55 split-post vintage-style tuners – aged nickel/chrome plating
- STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52.5mm
- ELECTRICS: Wilkinson R Series Caliber 7484 covered humbucker (bridge); Caliber 5257 soapbar single coil (neck), 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, master volume, master tone (w/ partial coil-split switch)
- WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.09/6.8
- OPTIONS: Check the Vintage ProShop website for custom build options plus a range of available Unique builds priced from £749 to £1,999
- RANGE OPTIONS: In the standard non-ProShop Vintage Reissued range the V72 (£489) features a T-style bridge with single coil and a neck mini-humbucker. The V72H features dual humbuckers and a hardtail through-strung bridge. Both are available in Flame Tobacco Burst only
- LEFT-HANDERS: To order
- FINISHES: Lightly aged, low-gloss Black over White nitro to body – lightly aged acrylic sealer neck finish
- CONTACT: John Hornby Skewes
