Vigier

This is basically the French alternative ti the fender Stratocaster. These guitars are built probably much better than any Fender made today. this would be the equivalent to a custom shop Fender Stratocaster. These guitars are build with the highest standards available. The quality of workmanship is one of the best in the world. You won't be able to find many builder who take this kind of approach to guitar building. UTILIZATION Neck Type: Bolt-on featuring the 10/90 System Wood: Maple naturally dried for 3 years Shape: D Finish: Matte varnish Width of neck at nut: 42mm / 1.65" Width of neck at last fret: 56,3mm / 2.216" Depth of neck at first fret: 20 mm / .787" Depth of neck at 12th fret: 23.5 mm / .91" String spacing at nut: 35mm / 1.38" String spacing at bridge: 53mm / 2.08" Action as supplied at 12th fret, treble: 1,5mm / .0059" Action as supplied at 12th fret, bass: 2mm / .0078" Type of nut: Teflon nut + hardened zero fret technology Fingerboard Wood: Maple or rosewood Radius: 300mm / 11.81" Type of frets: Medium Number of frets: 22 + zero fret Scale length: 650mm / 25.6" Inlay: Dots Body Wood: Two center-joined pieces of solid, naturally aged alder. M Finish: Varnish dries for 5 weeks minimum Accessories Bridge brand name: Vigier End pin: Brass casing that inserts deep into the body and locks the strap button in place. Finish: Chrome Electronic Pickup brand name: DiMarzio Type of pickup: S/S/S Pickup model: Virtual Vintage DP405 DP405 DP406 Switch: 5 positions Controls: Volume Tone Shielding: Yes SOUNDS These guitars sound absolutely amazing. They have been extremely popular over in Europe but recently becoming more and more popular over in the States. Many artist are already using these guitars and some very big names at that. So they must be to the highest standards of touring and recording professionals. These guitars have a great tone to them that you would find on boutique builders shops. The resonate with the most dynamic touch of the fret board. They respond to the figures of the player in a way that feels like they were made just for you personally. OVERALL OPINION These guitars are not cheap by any means. I am not sure of the exact price for this model but I have seen similar ones for around $3000. That is a hefty price or a guitar but this is basically a custom guitar. Much like a Suhr or Anderson as far as the superstrats. If you get a chance to play one you won't be disappointed. These are some of the best out there in the market.

(Originally written by astroperenoel/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Vigier Passion 2: French bass dated September 1986. - Carbon neck-through body neck, phenowood fingerboard (wood/epoxy mix) - 22 frets with zero fret, pearl inlays on fingerboard edge - 2-piece alder body, glitter gray sunburst finish plus varnish. - Schaller machine heads, Schaller bridge with 3D setting (3D-4 model) - Passive Benedetti pickups - Special electronics with volume control, 3-way toggle switch, 3-stage selector (-15/0/+15 dB), parametric filter and tone control for the bridge pickup - 18-volt operation It's wonderful, everything is exceptional, inventive and daring! - When you only use the bridge pickup, the tone control becomes a volume knob (!) UTILIZATION Extremely pleasant neck, perfect access to upper frets, it's as fast as it gets! The action can be set very low. Slightly aggressive but very versatile body shape. Daring pickups positions (3rd octave for the neck pickup and 4th octave for the bridge pickup), very effective, and they allow you to perfectly block the thumb for walking bass lines. Average weight. Total versatility. The feel of the pickups is disconcerting at first but after a while it becomes very pleasant even if the thumb doesn't normally like thin edges. SOUNDS YOU CAN PLAY EVERYTHING WITH THIS BASS! The acoustic sound is surprising. The electric sound has a very dynamic response without noise. The sound is absolutely CLEAN. Slapping is amazing!! When tapping it sounds perfectly precise! With finger picking the sound is accurate, clear and rich with a long sustain! With a pick you get an incredible sound with lots of overtones! Dynamics, precision and balance regardless of the position on the neck and the string you play! Very comprehensive electronic possibilities... it's incredible! The parametric filter can replace the standard 3-band EQ (it's the best bass EQ to my taste and Patrice Vigier says a second one would be necessary to scoop the whole frequency spectrum of an active preamp...). This solution makes a standard 3-band EQ fully obsolete. The French passive Benedetti pickups are a delight. Nowadays, Vigier uses Delano pickups. No noise in spite of the very large frequency response. Thanks to the design and the production quality, every sound is possible, from a very fat and damped tone (double bass-like) to a very brilliant and sharp one. OVERALL OPINION I bought it at the beginning of 2008 on an auction website. It was love at first sight. I never thought I would ever own such an old secondhand Vigier bass guitar! But for me, it sounds better than all "modern" basses! Vigier builds excellent instruments and this one is another proof of that! It's not new so it could use new frets, an electronics restoration and a new varnish... But it's the ultimate bass for metal freaks looking for an accurate, natural and dynamic sound. But also for everyone else looking for a versatile instrument.

Shawn Lane was a long time user of Vigier guitars back in the day. As an innovator in shred and fusion music, his style required a more unique neck, and this thing sure delivers. The guitar has an alder body with a flamed maple top, a special 90/10 maple-carbon neck with NO truss rod, dot inlays, 24 frets, a tremolo with ball bearings, a special zero radius neck, rosewood fingerboard, HSH configuration, one volume, one tone and a five way switch. UTILIZATION First off, this guitar has a zero fret system. That allows the open and fretted notes to sound consistent. When you normally play a note, it'll resonate differently than if you fret it. This helps reduce that phenomenon, as well as gives you some consistency with the action. The neck has no truss rod, and there's a special mixture of carbon and maple to give the neck strength that overcomes any climate that may be thrown at the guitar. Finally, the crowning feature on this guitar is the neck. It has no radius at all. It's 100% flat, and it's bizarre to play. You can get CRAZY action with this thing. It can get so low that it's not even funny... SOUNDS The pickups installed in this thing are DiMarzio pickups. The Air Classic in the neck is a cool pickup that gives a very vintage-esque tone. The notes really do bloom when you play this, and it's crazy sensitive to your pick attack. If you pick softly, you get this really calm and collected note separation. If you pick hard, it starts to sound pretty rocking and raunchy. The middle pickup is an FS-1, and this works nicely with the other two humbuckers. It never sounds too overpowered, but just using the middle pickup alone is not necessarily my thing. The neck pickup in this is also an Air Classic, and it follows the same formula as the bridge. However, this time, it can get some pretty trick and smooth lead tones going on. OVERALL OPINION If you're a fan of shred, definitely check this guitar out. The zero radius fretboard alone is worth messing with just to see how low you can get the action before it bends out. You can get it so low that even Holdsworth would be jealous.

Made by Vigier in France, I wanted a guitar to replace my aging Steinberger M-series, and I wanted it to have a Floyd Rose trem. One piece maple neck, which graphite insert and no truss rod. EMG 81 in the bridge, 85 in the and SA in the middle, 5 position switch and volume and tone control. 24 frets, 6100 style. Floyd Rose whammy bar. UTILIZATION It's without a doubt a very easy to play guitar, the action it shipped with is the action it still has, which was perfect, not too low so you still can hit the strings without buzzing, yet low enough for easy cruising. I also seem to prefer the sound of guitars that have necks without a trussrod. SOUNDS Have used this for many years with a lot of different set-ups from old Marshalls and fender, Mesa Trem-o-verb, Fryette Sig-X, Deliverance, Memphis, Rivera Knucklehead 2, Soldano Avenger, THD Plexi, UniValve, BiValve, Flexi-50, rack set-up with an Axe-Fx into a Fryette 2/50/2, etc... The gain sounds is why I got it, I'm a big fan of EMGs for single note stuff, the clean can get a bit sterile, which is less of an issue. I guess the down side on EMGs in any guitar would be that they won't sound like a Strat pick-up, but then you won't expect that anyways. OVERALL OPINION There is nothing in terms of playability or sound I don't like. My niggles are that the body could be a tad bigger. And that the pick-ups are wired that the #3 position on the 5 way switch is neck and bridge pick-ups together instead of middle pickup alone. If it was a Strat it would bug me, but I actually quite enjoy the two different EMGs together for a darker more mellow lead sound that isn't the "a monkey wearing boxing gloves could make this sound good" typical neck pick-up sound. The one negative side effect of using a guitar with EMGs is that they end up with the "stereo" jack in order to break the circuit and not drain the battery that wear out more quickly than your average guitar jack.

(Originally written by bedrael/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Beautiful guitar made in France. Alder body, maple neck with carbon truss rod and maple fingerboard. 24 frets, 7 strings. H-S-H pickup combination with 5-way toggle switch. UTILIZATION At first sight the most impressive feature is the neck quality. It feels pleasant and is perfectly adjusted. Access to the 24th fret is not as easy as you might think. The guitar is quite heavy considering it has no mahogany. SOUNDS I play mainly heavy metal, prog metal à la Dream Theater and progressive rock à la Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree. The guitar is great for all these music styles. You can use it with every music style thanks to its versatile pickups and the 5-way toggle switch. The overall sound is crystal-clear, round and well-balanced. As a summary, it has an amazing prog rock sound. OVERALL OPINION I've owned it for one week. I also have a Musicman Petrucci. The playing feel of both instruments is very different but they have a similar sound. The Vigier is more versatile, it can even sound like a Strat, which is impossible with the Petrucci. As a summary, the Supra 7 is an exceptional instrument with a very good finish quality that justifies its price. I bought it because I wanted a 7-string guitar without a Floyd Rose tremolo. And I'm not disappointed at all. Now my Petrucci is jealous!

This is a very cool guitar for the boutique minded guitar musician in mind. This guitar is from a company from France who specializes in the exotic woods exotic tops and hot rodded tones. They have a beautiful look to them with the flamed maple tops and the quilted maple tops and the overall dressing on the guitar. These are some of the most gorgeous guitars that you can find and though they may be a little difficult to find in some countries they are ever expanding their marketing prowess. UTILIZATION These are very exotic guitars and they have a solid tone that speaks to the hot rotted high gain rock 'n roll player. These are the kind of guitars that are going to get the attention of someone who plays charvel guitars or Jackson guitars and wants to step up to a boutique style guitar. There aren't a lot of dealers in the United States for these guitars but you can find them in some boutique dealers on the East Coast and West Coast. This one features a basic natural bare wood body and a black pick guard. You have a humbucker in the bridge and two singles is the middle and neck position. Pretty basic HSS setup and not too hard to find great versatile tones with this guitar. SOUNDS The tone of these are very hot rotted Fender Strat type tones. If you've ever put a humbucker on a Fender Strat then you basically have that tone. SUHR guitars or Anderson guitars would be a rival or a competition to this guitar maker. These guitars specialize in the beautiful quilted tops and flamed maple tops that you see on some of the exotic guitars from say Paul Reed Smith and some of the custom Fender Strat guitars. These guitars usually are set on alder wood or maybe a mahogany wood or even a bass wood body. They have a great feeling and they're pretty slim and pretty easy to play. This guitar sounds best to me with any high gain amplifier situation. Since they usually have humbuckers in the bridge position and sometimes the neck position, these guitars will excel at loads of distortion type settings. The feel of the guitar is more towards the fender side of guitars more than the Gibson side of guides necks. They have a pretty fast neck and a good feel to them and overall are a very well balanced guitar. OVERALL OPINION These guitars are not for the budgeted musicians or the beginner musicians. These are pretty expensive guitars because of the exotic wood and the precise build standards. These are gorgeous looking guitars and an excellent sounding guitar for the money. You can find these new online most the times for right around $2700. That is not a cheap guitar but it is right around the range of the good standard or custom Gibson Les Paul. So these are a bit more than a Fender Stratocaster price but more like the range of the Gibson upper-class guitars.

This year guitar basically the European version of the super Strat guitar. They have a Fender Stratocaster similarities but have their own body shape and look to them. They're headstock sir shape a little bit differently than offender would be little bit more pointed and and. The body is shaped somewhat like a Fender Stratocaster but has a little bit sharper points. This one comes with a home bucker a single coil and a home bucker in the neck pick up. You get a sweet looking finger flame maple top on top of either in alder or base would or even mahogany body. The neck is generally maple with a Rosewood fretboard and the tone is pretty much a hot rotted Fender Stratocaster town. If you've ever played and Anderson guitar or a sir guitar in this would be the European version of those guitars. This is definitely a boutique guitar the prices represent that. UTILIZATION These guitars are pretty easy to find a good tone out of. They simply have two humbuckers and one single coil in between the bridge and neck positions. You have a volume control and tone control as well as a Floyd Rose bridge. You get the pick up selector that is s five way pick up selector and locking tuners. It is a recessed Floyd Rose bridge so the action on the neck is going to be quite low and very fast to play on. SOUNDS This guitar is a gorgeous looking guitar with very high quality wood combinations and pickup's match the hot Rodded look. The tone of this guitar is an exceptional one. They are not easy to come by here in the states but there are some dealers that carry them such as rebel guitars out of Mississippi and some of the higher-end boutique guitar dealers on the west coast and the east coast. You can always play these guitars at the annual namm convention in Anaheim California. I was my first introduction to these guitars back in the day. This guitar sounds great with a high gain amplifier such as a Marshall or Mesa boogie or anything of that nature. These are the European hot rotted strats so therefore they mix well with a hot rotted super amp. They have a great sounding distortion when you really crank up the volume in some amplifiers and they can have a very good articulate clean tone with a nice clean amplifier. OVERALL OPINION These guitars are fairly expensive ones to buy. They range anywhere from 2000 up to $4500 depending on the wood combination and what type of quality the top laminate pieces are. So finding one at a decent price for a budget consumer is probably not very likely. However, this is a boutique guitar and is marketed towards the professional guitarists or someone who's been playing the instrument long enough to know exactly what they are looking for. So I recommend this guitar to someone who loves the look nd the feel of these guitars or is tired of the boutique builders in the US.

Vigier is usually known for their superstrat guitars, but they have one special guitar in their lineup - the Marilyn. This guitar is a total death metal machine meant to blast away any girly rocker that comes its way. The guitar features a uniquely contoured and cutout body, alder body wood, a maple neck with phenowood fretboard, 24 frets, a hard tail bridge, two uniquely played humbuckers, one volume, one tone and a three way switch. UTILIZATION Looks aside, the first feature that stands out with this guitar would probably be the zero fret system. This allows you to have more consistent and stable action than with a normal fret setup. It also adds consistency in tone, allowing the open notes to sound similar to a fretted note. The guitar is nicely put together, the fretwork is top notch, and there's actually no truss rod inside this guitar. Instead, there's a combination of carbon and maple that helps make this thing stable ... or something. I'm not really sure how it works, but you can read about it on Vigier's website. SOUNDS The guitar is a take no prisoners style guitar. There are dual X2Ns in this thing, and those are some of the hottest pickups in existence. The X2N in the bridge gives a clear, bitey and powerful tone that'll overdrive any amp out there into a super high gain death machine. The X2N in the middle is kinda unique, but I find this one to be a bit useless. I'm a fan of fat and warm neck tones to allow for easier legato. The X2N in the middle is the exact opposite of this, and I kinda struggled with it a bit. OVERALL OPINION Those of you who are Necrophagist fans will probably know this guitar. It's a unique guitar that stands out in the Vigier lineup. They're normally known for superstrat guitars, but this metal machine should easily fit in even the most brutal grindcore band out there. Check it out if you get a chance, but they're kinda hard to come across if you don't have a Vigier dealer in your neck of the woods.

...and for good reason. Been using Vigiers for over 10 years now. They're like the best kept secret in the Super Start class. This guitar is their fretless version of the Excalibur, 2 humbuckers and a single coil, with the 5 way selector, going bridge, half bridge and middle, bridge and neck, half neck and middle, and neck pick-up for a sound. I've used with string gauges ranging from 009 to 042 to 013 to 056. With a wound g string as well as a plain g string. Bridge is a hard tail, seeing that a whammy bar would make for a slippery ride with no frets and all. Fretboard material is what Vigier calls Delta metal, which I believe is essential brass. Fret markers on both sides of the fre board, kinda like fret edges. UTILIZATION Easy enough to get to the top frets, intonation and sustain is another story. Or better put is the players responsibility. As a rule with fretless guitars they have a tendency to have a really fast decay on their sustain when it comes to the plain strings. Your options are...heap on gain and compression, that will help. Use a wound g string so you have only 2 plain strings, or fret with the finger stood up so the edge of the finger nail becomes a node point, this way you have all the sustain you could ever want-regardless of gain levels-on the plain strings. Kinda like a sarod player. SOUNDS Great way to get a more cello like sound, wonderful with a sustainac or ebow. With the nail stop technique makes for a great lap steel sound. Chords while a pain in the neck to intonate are a fun ride. As for the brass board, it sustains better than most woodboards...obviously. However, not a fun hang in cold climates when you bring it in from the car. Or for that matter in hot climates. OVERALL OPINION Not an instrument that will have one sounding great in minutes, but with a couple of days it's be a fun ride. The advantages...you get to slide down into pitch, slither harmonics around, in general get all kinds of fun in between and out sounds. The bad part...sometimes that happens when you don't intent it to. The fret markers on the side of the finger board are a great initial aid, however once you get cruising it's easier to just have your ears guide you and more importantly learn to recover when landing in out territory-or not. I' say the best bet for any one starting to experiment with fretless guitars is to have a tuner in line to double check the starting point. Or better yet play over a drone you pre-record. This way you can actually hear that major third that your tuner tells you is 14 cents flat will actually sound it tune. The beauty ot Just Intonation over equal temper tunings at work.

(Originally written by scoobysnack/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Mine (number 2/10) was stolen 11/22/2008 in France. Please contact me if you see it somewhere. UTILIZATION Mine (number 2/10) was stolen 11/22/2008 in France. Please contact me if you see it somewhere. SOUNDS Mine (number 2/10) was stolen 11/22/2008 in France. Please contact me if you see it somewhere. OVERALL OPINION Mine (number 2/10) was stolen 11/22/2008 in France. Please contact me if you see it somewhere.