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Vincent Guitariste « Great »
Published on 11/11/11 at 11:39According to the manufacturer, all Vigier are made in France.
Pickups: Seymour Duncan (liabilities), HSH configuration, 5-way switch.
Vibrato: Floyd Vigier, bearings.
Neck: 24 frets, rosewood fingerboard.
Block-strings.
For more details, the URL is: http://www.vigier.fr/page/fiche_produit.php?id_prod=227
The model I bought is displayed at the bottom of the webpage: light sapphire, rosewood fingerboard.
UTILIZATION
Comfort of the handle: it is of course a very personal opinion. Do not support maple necks, for example, I was completely unable to play on the first Excalibur that the vendor had proposed.
The handle is quite round (compared to an Ibanez for example). The frets are fairly thin and not very high, so that the rope plating one is easily in contact with the key (token of speed). The feeling on the neck is quite similar to the one I have on my Ovation Elite.
I do not have very big hands (span 22 cm), but access to acute poses no particular problem.
The action is very low. The site says Vigier 1.5 mm at the 12th fret for the high strings, in reality it is more than half, probably not far from Shawn Lane model specifications. Yet it does not frieze, regardless of the box and the rope. Despite this, make rest from easy. Slapper and is particularly easy (NB I do not use a pick).
Compared to my Ibanez, yet the handle flat and fast, the Excalibur has nothing to do. Whatever you try to make the effort to provide muscle is virtually zero. Nothing to do either with the Charvel and other Bédarieux Lag I've tried (see 3. And 4. For more details on this point).
I stress again that this is highly dependent on the model, since the first that I had been trying, I was extremely uncomfortable. One way to find out what works for you anyway: try the instrument!
Comfort (others): the guitar is light enough - much more than my Ibanez S4570 Prestige, which must weigh in 3.5 pounds - well balanced.
Selector positions microphones and volume controls and tone controls are well placed, the rod of vibrato is great at hand.
SOUNDS
When I bought this guitar, I also tried many other models. This is the one I tried last, and there was no hesitation, all the others were soundly defeated.
The two knobs - volume and tone - allow a real sound setting. This applies to the clear sound at its full.
In his clear, simple on the micro or intermediate positions 2 and 4, we get easily slamming attacks with acute very present, but it is also easy to soften a little by turning the knob. You can do the Dire Straits like Scott Henderson with no problems.
In full, the sustain is incredible, even when the tone knob is a 10% or 20%. The holding of the sound is even more spectacular than the strings are mounted extremely low. The pickups do not "spit" it (what my Ibanez prestige tends to do), even when the highs are in the bottom. The sound is extremely clear. The downside is that with a report of this quality, we must learn to play a little cleaner because all means!
The quality of the vibrato is probably also responsible for some of the sustain. Is this the mount bearings instead of the conventional system with knives? Anyway, between turns of rope (5 weeks), I did not once to adjust the fine-tuning knobs.
Do a simple test on your guitar: the harmonic at the 5th fret of the G string. you pinch, it makes you a floor two octaves. Acting only on the vibrato on a slow tempo, you get the note and back: sol-fa-re-mi-do-ré_mi-FG.
On my Ibanez prestige, I go down to D (1), and then nothing: a vibrato while cushioning. The Excalibur allows me to complete the descent and ascent, and the note is still going on. This is probably the combination of the qualities of micro and vibrato that makes this place.
OVERALL OPINION
I got my Ibanez Prestige for 10 years and was the only guitar that I played for its versatility and pleasure. For two months, I do not play on the Excalibur.
Before buying this guitar, I tried: another Excalibur, maple fingerboard, which infuriated me, then a Lag Arkane 1000 (Asia so), then a Charvel that I am unfortunately unable to remember the name model, a Lag Arkane 3000 (Bédarieux model) and finally the Excalibur rosewood handle that I decided to buy right away.
Acquire Charvel soon became out of the question for two reasons: the lack of tone knob, and maple fingerboard, I definitely can not bear (too rough).
I could hesitate between the Excalibur and Lag if I'd stayed in the first exca model I tried. The 1000 Arkane me more because of the versatility (it is mounted also Seymour Duncan HSH, so it's probably not a coincidence) that can clean sounds, like the Excalibur, spend smooth to slamming and can play hard as the country. But I found the handle of the 1000 uncomfortable.
Having been a big frustration on the Charvel, I pressed on Lag model Bédarieux. And there, huge disappointment. Of course it's an absolutely beautiful piece of violin making, with quality wood and superb finish. But that's not enough: I found that spending to handle double Di Marzio Di Marzio double bridge had virtually no effect on the sound, any more than playing on the tone knob. I quickly ended up not knowing what to play, which is usually a bad sign when trying an instrument.
When I asked the seller a guitar model mounted Seymour Duncan, he brought me the Excalibur Custom with rosewood handle on which I felt immediately at ease, and there I could not stop play: the ideas were their own, the notes also. Again, it's zero effort, the notes come out alone.
The only trick with such an instrument is that it can easily be convinced that is a good guitarist ...
And 1600 euros (used of course), when I paid my Ibanez 4000 guilders in the Netherlands (2000 euros at the time), there was frankly no hesitation.
This choice I would do without any problems.
Pickups: Seymour Duncan (liabilities), HSH configuration, 5-way switch.
Vibrato: Floyd Vigier, bearings.
Neck: 24 frets, rosewood fingerboard.
Block-strings.
For more details, the URL is: http://www.vigier.fr/page/fiche_produit.php?id_prod=227
The model I bought is displayed at the bottom of the webpage: light sapphire, rosewood fingerboard.
UTILIZATION
Comfort of the handle: it is of course a very personal opinion. Do not support maple necks, for example, I was completely unable to play on the first Excalibur that the vendor had proposed.
The handle is quite round (compared to an Ibanez for example). The frets are fairly thin and not very high, so that the rope plating one is easily in contact with the key (token of speed). The feeling on the neck is quite similar to the one I have on my Ovation Elite.
I do not have very big hands (span 22 cm), but access to acute poses no particular problem.
The action is very low. The site says Vigier 1.5 mm at the 12th fret for the high strings, in reality it is more than half, probably not far from Shawn Lane model specifications. Yet it does not frieze, regardless of the box and the rope. Despite this, make rest from easy. Slapper and is particularly easy (NB I do not use a pick).
Compared to my Ibanez, yet the handle flat and fast, the Excalibur has nothing to do. Whatever you try to make the effort to provide muscle is virtually zero. Nothing to do either with the Charvel and other Bédarieux Lag I've tried (see 3. And 4. For more details on this point).
I stress again that this is highly dependent on the model, since the first that I had been trying, I was extremely uncomfortable. One way to find out what works for you anyway: try the instrument!
Comfort (others): the guitar is light enough - much more than my Ibanez S4570 Prestige, which must weigh in 3.5 pounds - well balanced.
Selector positions microphones and volume controls and tone controls are well placed, the rod of vibrato is great at hand.
SOUNDS
When I bought this guitar, I also tried many other models. This is the one I tried last, and there was no hesitation, all the others were soundly defeated.
The two knobs - volume and tone - allow a real sound setting. This applies to the clear sound at its full.
In his clear, simple on the micro or intermediate positions 2 and 4, we get easily slamming attacks with acute very present, but it is also easy to soften a little by turning the knob. You can do the Dire Straits like Scott Henderson with no problems.
In full, the sustain is incredible, even when the tone knob is a 10% or 20%. The holding of the sound is even more spectacular than the strings are mounted extremely low. The pickups do not "spit" it (what my Ibanez prestige tends to do), even when the highs are in the bottom. The sound is extremely clear. The downside is that with a report of this quality, we must learn to play a little cleaner because all means!
The quality of the vibrato is probably also responsible for some of the sustain. Is this the mount bearings instead of the conventional system with knives? Anyway, between turns of rope (5 weeks), I did not once to adjust the fine-tuning knobs.
Do a simple test on your guitar: the harmonic at the 5th fret of the G string. you pinch, it makes you a floor two octaves. Acting only on the vibrato on a slow tempo, you get the note and back: sol-fa-re-mi-do-ré_mi-FG.
On my Ibanez prestige, I go down to D (1), and then nothing: a vibrato while cushioning. The Excalibur allows me to complete the descent and ascent, and the note is still going on. This is probably the combination of the qualities of micro and vibrato that makes this place.
OVERALL OPINION
I got my Ibanez Prestige for 10 years and was the only guitar that I played for its versatility and pleasure. For two months, I do not play on the Excalibur.
Before buying this guitar, I tried: another Excalibur, maple fingerboard, which infuriated me, then a Lag Arkane 1000 (Asia so), then a Charvel that I am unfortunately unable to remember the name model, a Lag Arkane 3000 (Bédarieux model) and finally the Excalibur rosewood handle that I decided to buy right away.
Acquire Charvel soon became out of the question for two reasons: the lack of tone knob, and maple fingerboard, I definitely can not bear (too rough).
I could hesitate between the Excalibur and Lag if I'd stayed in the first exca model I tried. The 1000 Arkane me more because of the versatility (it is mounted also Seymour Duncan HSH, so it's probably not a coincidence) that can clean sounds, like the Excalibur, spend smooth to slamming and can play hard as the country. But I found the handle of the 1000 uncomfortable.
Having been a big frustration on the Charvel, I pressed on Lag model Bédarieux. And there, huge disappointment. Of course it's an absolutely beautiful piece of violin making, with quality wood and superb finish. But that's not enough: I found that spending to handle double Di Marzio Di Marzio double bridge had virtually no effect on the sound, any more than playing on the tone knob. I quickly ended up not knowing what to play, which is usually a bad sign when trying an instrument.
When I asked the seller a guitar model mounted Seymour Duncan, he brought me the Excalibur Custom with rosewood handle on which I felt immediately at ease, and there I could not stop play: the ideas were their own, the notes also. Again, it's zero effort, the notes come out alone.
The only trick with such an instrument is that it can easily be convinced that is a good guitarist ...
And 1600 euros (used of course), when I paid my Ibanez 4000 guilders in the Netherlands (2000 euros at the time), there was frankly no hesitation.
This choice I would do without any problems.