Vantage Members Group?

[Psychicpet]

hey all........

is there anyone out there who owns one of these fine pieces of... um... bass history?

just wondering if there is already a "Vantage Bass Owners" group?

[dangnewt]

There is a small group. I'm actually in the Vantage former owners group.

I have become inordinately fond of Peavey necks so, I never got comfortable with the Vantage. Solid instrument though.

[jordanm]

Ive got an old Vantage fretless, the thing dives like Greg Louganis, but its a neat bass to mess around with from time to time.

[brandonwong]

I have a 4 string which i have now defretted and its my history piece.
It's my first bass.

I always thought its an unknown brand.
Where else can i find information on this brand?

[dhadleyray]

My first bass was a vantage. Wow, that's a name I never thought I'd see on TB!

[Psychicpet]

ahhh...... well there might be pictures and stories by tomorrow

[dangnewt]

Originally Posted by brandonwong

I have a 4 string which i have now defretted and its my history piece.
It's my first bass.

I always thought its an unknown brand.
Where else can i find information on this brand?

There are a few Vantage threads over the years. The best website I ever saw on Vantage and other brands from the Matsumoku factory.

http://www.matsumoku.org/models/vantage/vs/vs.html

[brandonwong]

Hmm... thos vantage are of a completely different shape from mine.
I know mine is made in Korea and it has a Fodera Monarch kinda shape.
I bought it in 1995.

[Radio Kaos 64]

I have a headless fretless Vantage, flat black, looks like graphite. Steinberger-type bridge, ebony fretboard, really nice bass. Never seen one like it either, in person, or online!

[dangnewt]

Originally Posted by brandonwong

Hmm... thos vantage are of a completely different shape from mine.
I know mine is made in Korea and it has a Fodera Monarch kinda shape.
I bought it in 1995.

Sometime in the late 80's early 90's, Samick purchased Vantage and began making them in Korea. I'm not sure if they produced the same models or if they really just bought the name. I don't believe the Korean-made Vantages were as well-built as the Japanese ones.

[Saint]

I'm sort of a Vantage owner still. I got mine new around 1981 and it was one of those with 2 p-bass pickups and fake walnut/maple body to make it look somewhat like the Aria's that were popular at the time. It was a great buy for the money and it was my sole bass until about 1995 when the wiring started to go and my wife brought me a Rickenbacker.
I actually kept it in my office for a few years so that I could play with it during the day (unamplified) as a break from the 14-18 hours daily I was working back then. In 2001, I decided I wanted to start building basses and used the Vantage as my experiment to see if I had the aptitude. I sanded away all the fiberglass and urathane, sanded and slightly reshaped the body and neck, stained it red, coated it, through on a ken smith bridge and active emg pickups/eq. Today it is my my main bass for band practice and one of 2 that are my default basses for recording.

[Psychicpet]

well,

pics to follow later this evening but I just acquired an Avenger bass, made in Japan, in trans red, single(what seems to be DiMarzio) P p/u and a fretless maple fingerboard in mint shape for a ridiculously cheap price and the thing sounds sooooooo amazing!

I love it now that I own a "crap" bass that rips!! gonna make some heads turn at gigs now!

[Saint]

Originally Posted by Psychicpet

well,

pics to follow later this evening but I just acquired an Avenger bass, made in Japan, in trans red, single(what seems to be DiMarzio) P p/u and a fretless maple fingerboard in mint shape for a ridiculously cheap price and the thing sounds sooooooo amazing! :

I think the original pickups on my Vantage were supposed to be DiMarzio's. They did sound great.

BTW, my bass is a VP-795. I looked at Dangnewt's link and the material stuff all has ??? on it such as "Walnut/Maple??". Well, I can tell you, mine sure looked like walnut and maple and for about 15 years, I thought it was, but it was actually an extremely well done fiberglass fake.

[Psychicpet]

!!!!







the 'venger!

[bearfoot]

Mine is a late 90's 330B P/J in trans green, 20 frets. It has been a real workhorse, sounds fat and gnarly and has been played on many gigs in many strange places. It has a plastic frog crazy glued on the headstock. The J pickup is a bit noisy, and the hardware is a bit lightweight, but the body vibrates when you play it and the old frog bass has got a lot of soul.
One of these days, I will replace the J pickup, and a heavier bridge and tuning machines.

[El-Bob]

i am borrowing an sg shaped one from my school, it's old, heavy, and awesome

[arjosy]

I own a VP-695 and VP-795. The 795 is the one with the two DiMarzio P-Bass pickups. I bought the 795 new in 1981. I still have the Vantage tag that was hanging on it at the store. I'm pretty much a J bass guy now, but I love these old war horses. They play and sound great. I'll post a photo of the twins if anybody expresses any interest in seeing them

[dangnewt]

Originally Posted by arjosy

I own a VP-695 and VP-795. The 795 is the one with the two DiMarzio P-Bass pickups. I bought the 795 new in 1981. I still have the Vantage tag that was hanging on it at the store. I'm pretty much a J bass guy now, but I love these old war horses. They play and sound great. I'll post a photo of the twins if anybody expresses any interest in seeing them

This is TB, of course there is interest in the pics.

[arjosy]

Well OK then!!! Note the hang tag tucked under the strings of the VP-795B (the dark one).

[dangnewt]

Nice basses. Mine was sort of a combination of the two of yours - dark wings with 1 P-pickup. I bought it at a pawn shop for less than $100.