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It could be a Vintage year!

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• Review

The company that brought you the Metal Axxe guitars, the battle-scarred Icon series and the Advance range of electrics, has set its sights on the acoustic market. The VEC380N here is one of its big hitters...

The VEC380N is unique; it's as wide as a super jumbo but not as deep as a regular dreadnought guitar. It's depth is similar to Yamaha's APX500.

Cosmetically, it has an attractive old-school slotted headstock and tasty flame maple back and sides. It's even got an ebony fingerboard.

If it's a beauty queen you're after then the VEC380N is the pick of the litter here. The flame maple back and sides help it to stand out from the crowd, and that slotted headstock with its gold machine head looks ace.

The preamp and pickup system helps this guitar punch above its weight too. It's a Shadow system and what those guys don't know about amplifying acoustics, er, isn't worth knowing.

Plugged in this guitar can handle just about anything. Conversely, its shallow body results in a bright acoustic tone that lacks some depth in the bottom end.

A price of only £169 in some shops could be the real clincher!