The Reissued Series from Brit brand Vintage is about revisiting classic electric guitar styles to inspire new instruments.
As with all Vintage guitars, Trevor Wilkinson's design nous has been brought to bear here, as have his hardware and pickups - let's dive in...
Those who started playing in 1972 might experience a warm fuzzy feeling at the VHB72's silhouette. Sure, the headstock's different - it's more of an S-style silhouette - but the guitar's profile and semi-hollow chambered body reveal the Thinline '72 Tele as the chief inspiration.
There are some tonal similarities, too - both sport humbuckers to tame feedback and kill noise in high-volume settings, and both could be put to work on the same songbook. Nonetheless, the V72 has plenty to set it apart.
"The V72 walks a line between the past and the present."
The V72 has a one-piece maple neck, with the subtle swell of a volute under the nut, bolted on to the body. The Wilkinson WVFS bridge is a neat, string-through arrangement with a six-saddle block tailpiece, more 2016 than '72, and super-stable.
A set of Wilkinson Deluxe tuners - their design in the classic Kluson style - helps maintain the vintage vibe and keep things in order. This is a guitar with backbone, and it's hard to throw out of tune.
Vintage claims that the 'buckers have great low-end response - good and tight - and that's true. We find that, for a semi-hollow, chambered electric with high-output pickups, the V72 is never shrill.
It has the Tele-esque twang and great note definition, no matter what pickup you're switched to - bridge, neck, or both. Its bright and characterful mids are harmonically rich. Country and blues tones sit square in the V72's wheelhouse, but it has plenty of attitude for hard rock, too, with a little feedback always in reach when you crank the gain up high.
Spend some time with the V72 and a pattern emerges. It looks old-school, with the glitzy chintz of a pearloid pickguard, while the flame-maple veneer adds an uptown aesthetic that belies the price tag.
And yet there are concessions to modernity, such as the military-grade minimalism of the tailpiece and the relatively unobtrusive heel. The V72 walks a line between the past and the present. It feels like it's rooted in both worlds where, say, an Epiphone Blueshawk is more of a throwback, while Squier's Vintage Modified '72 Tele Thinline is more period-appropriate.
It would be nice to try a V72 fitted with a clubbier, more rounded neck profile, which could only add to its sturdiness, but the easy ride on offer is going to be a big winner for beginners looking to navigate the fretboard more nimbly.
