Wilkinson pickups would be better than the no name Fender pups in the Fender Mexican. Wilkos actually are about 60 / 70uk a set on the UK market as after market pups. Not cheap generic crap.
Not to be confused with the oem ones tho. The retailer in my town gave up on vintage after some batches of strats that All had truss rod issues - broken, jammed etc. They can be geat i guess but you need to try first. Also, neck ia thin and very playable, however not the most stable for tgebsame reason. If you can try a signature model or an older V6 Reissued, those would be the best bets.
I have the V6 and it's just amazing. I just love everything about this guitar. The frets were little rough on the edges when i bought it but with a little rounding it became perfect. 10/10
For the price I must say it sounds amazing and from what ive heard they feel amazing everyone that has played one so far say they cant put it down and it has great pickups in it
@@Crashed2023 just needs to be cleaned out, i had the same thing happen in my fender. it's what happens when you don't use a blade switch for a while, corrosion on the contacts.
Thanks for the real comparison. Very thorough and realistic. Thanks! For the record, I think the Vintage sounded clearer. Not just brighter, but less muddy. A much better choice, in my opinion. Where I live, the MIM is 75% MORE! And you certainly aren't getting 75% more guitar for the money.
Have you guys heard Dave Simpson play that Vintage Icon V6? That guitar can stand up and walk if you've got the skills. That was the Most incredible sound I have ever heard coming from a guitar.
They are good guitars. Frankly they probably come from a factory that makes parts for Fender anyway. The guy on here throwing his toys out of the pram is just an idiot - I have Fenders, a Gibson 333, and a bunch of other brands and over the years I've discovered that most brands are basically pretty well-made, because they all use the same CNC machines to cut the wood. The hardware, pickups etc can all be replaced, so it's worth gaining a few maintenance skills. I have guitars that have cost me £40 that now stand up well compared to my 50th Anniversary Strat. Dave Simpson is a great player and proves every week that a good player will get great sounds out of guitars at any price.
barely any difference at all. there is no such upgrade that makes a major difference unless a part was totally crap in the first place. Ask anyone who wasted money on badass bridge in the 70's.
Nice job. I really like your clean tone on both guitars, but tend to like the Wilkenson pickups on the V6. The V6 is a budget guitar and you get a lot for your money... No doubt.
Preferred the v6 myself. Watched a comparison of a Mexican fender and USA one earlier, Mexican was the chosen one in the comment. I love mine, changed pick ups ect but just brought the semi hollow vintage V72H, turns up tommorow. Never had one before so its going to be fun fun fun.
Imagine places were swapped and Vintage guitars was first and countless guitar legends were playing them, and then came Fender as it is now in terms of hardware and what not. Would people be so keen on buying Fenders? 🤔 The moral is that Fender is riding on fame of all big names without even trying to improve their guitars, whereas their contenders - including Vintage JHS - improve their guitar quality.
I get what your saying but the original design was so far ahead of its time that there wasn’t much to improve. You gotta remember, all these other brands are copies of Fender. The value of these newer brands is incredible and you can’t go wrong with one but a Fender was, is and probably always will be King.
@@mikepj1025 Not much to improve? Why would Fender not treat guitar lovers to veneered tops, like Gibson or many Strat copies already do? Fender design might have been revolutionary 70 years ago, but they were not that revolutionary to hardly change anything in those 70 years.
🙋🏼♂️ my opinion as to the veneered tips is simple, Fender players don’t care about veneer tops at all. Gibson priced themselves out of reach for most players. All I’m saying is Fender managed to design a guitar that anyone can afford with all there levels of guitars and also a modification platform that anyone can change anything without bringing it to a costly luthier. Fender is constantly putting out products for all price ranges and high quality. I love my Gibson Les Paul but they have 2 levels of guitars very expensive and unattainable.
@Quiksilver Vintage sell their V6 range guitars to be an affordable Fender Strat copy for a price of their Squiers, not an expensive rival. Their LP copies though - like the V100 Paradise - have an awesome veneer: images.app.goo.gl/7VjaZ1z1G7c9pPUs8
I've a Vintage Thomas Blug model. I've removed the dummy coil and wired it like a std strat, but I've not played my USA strat fpr about a month since I got the V6. Amazing value for money and a all round work horse instrument. No cheap import switch, it had a oak grisby style switch as stock.
The vintage sounds better to me. more clarity. Ive had a mexican strat and several usa ones. The usa ones were all excellent in their own way. I now only have a sunburst vintage v6. I replaced the pickups with seymour duncan hot strats - I didnt need to - just did it for a different sound. The original pickups are very good but the seymours are much higher output. Good vid my friend.
That was an excellent demo! I notice slight noise on selector switch on the Vintage! Both sound great! I'm glad you didn't do any silly overdriven sounds which tell nothing!
The fact that the Fender costs more, AND you decided to make upgrades on it to match the tuners and trem that come standard on the v6....This seems significant
You should play more than talking. What happened to the selector on the Vintage Icon? Very noisy... But what a splendid sound... more fenderish than the Fender.
Mexican (ceramic pickups) vs Vintage VS6 (alnico V) pickups. It comes down to a matter of preference. Ceramic are known for warmer and fatter sound with alnico more clarity and bite. IMHO
I don't own both. So I have no bias whatsoever. Base on the tonal quality. Fender wins. I cannot speak for the build quality or the feel of each guitars since I don't own one. But fender has more tonal characteristics, while the vintage has a one dimensional tone. Not that I say vintage has bad tones, but fender clearly got this comparison.
Hello Jesse, I believe the comparisson should have been done with fully original parts to be more accurate and reliable.it gave me some ideas though. I have a little question: did you have to modify something on the fender to fit the tuners or did they just fit right then?
Not sure if the issue isn't just your guitar i have a vintage v6 reissue d not the icon i dont have that crackling noise at all as for me I've owned an American fender many made in Mexico fender strats and many squier strats and in my opinion my vintage V6 was a total upgrade sounded better great quality and my vintage was a little bit heavier then my American HSS fender maybe I just found the right deal
V6 sounds like a real Strat. IMO - a lot better than MIM. The only bad thing in Icon Series (for me) is a crappy look. F for fake. By the way - nice playing. Thanks for this comparison :) Cheers.
Both guitars sound good, V6 just as good for that price...sadly this toggle switch crackles like mad....but this you can also encounter with a genuine Fender...I had that problem it is something that happens a lot. Often it has to do with melting the wires of the pickups. A seller told me who repaired it. It is one of the last actions on the production of the guitar. When the person does his job too fast or is sloppy, this happens...I hear its a typical Fender thing. So maybe it happend here also. It doesn't have to be the switch and yet it can be the switch...depends on the situation. But I think its not normal that it cracks like that.
the fender blows the v6 into the weeds, the guy enjoyed playing it sounded way better on the fender, the V6 was obviously a struggle and had poor quality electrics
Don't know why you had this issue i have a vintage reissued v6 a friend of mine bought his Fender we hooked them into the same amp my Vintage V6 blew that Fender Player Series away it had much better tones had more volume power and had the quality of a American series Fender Strat & my Vintage V6 weighted a few more pounds than a Fender it was so good I brought a Vintage V100 the man who makes Vintage originally worked for Leo Fender
Guitars are made for guitarists, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, SX and so on are tools of Hendrix, Slash, Vai, Me and so on. Why the competition? There's always someone who is gonna have better. Let's be content with getting in the zone not the means of transport getting there.
Your right its not a Fender and it sou b ds Awsome all you fender guys just paying for a name tag there's still alot better guitars than Fender but that's just my opinion !!!
Vintage V6 is better, in terms of specs, than some MIM Fenders, mostly 90's MIM, 2006 and up models go side by side more or less. The Vintage is more price friendly, has good woods, locking tuners, Wilkinson bridge and pickups, graphite nut... quality. I got mine for USD 100! Plays damn fine! Set it up well and you got an axe that has nothing to envy against a MIM.
+Enrico Zurma Not sure what pickups are in that specific MIM but people often buy Wilkinson pickups to upgrade the MIM Standard! They're really good for a modest price.
I own examples of both myself - Classic 50 and V6JMH. The finish on your V6 is matt, because they don't understand relicing, mine is non-reliced, high gloss. The pickups on the Vintage are better, but the machine heads are garbage - the post holes weren't deburred causing a lot of string breakages when restringing the guitar and they're just too fiddly to be any use on a gigging instrument. If you want locking tuners, there are much better out there. Sorting the nut slots and putting a spacer under the tree sorted the tuning stability on both guitars. The bridge? I wouldn't take one over the other. I ended up putting an EMG DG20 set on the Mexican. It get's more use, but that's just because I prefer that neck profile. On the Mexican, I'd recommend changing the pickups and a pro setup. The Vintage, change all the hardware and the pots and switches (keep the pickups, though), and a pro setup. Out of the box, neither is "great", but they are both equally capable. The Vintage isn't actually a better instrument than the Mexican, or vice versa, BUT it is better value for money, even if you make the upgrades. At the end of the day, Fender has overheads to pay - factory maintenance, healthcare, insurance, etc etc. JHS (the Vintage brand distributor) just sub-contracts the work to Asian factories.
I own a Vintage (without a dud pickup switch) and it sounds awesome. But the comparison isn't that accurate as the MIM you buy won't have been 'upgraded' with Vantage parts. They are both good guitars - sound is in the ear of the beholder in anycase 🙂
I have a v100 paradise LP copy and that’s a graphite nut, by a firm called ‘nubone’, despite being white and looking slightly odd to the untrained eye. So I know they do make guitars with graphite nuts.
If it's scratchy when you change pickups and or turning the tone / volume knobs you probably have dirt or dust in your pots.. dirty pickups..canned air my friend blow that stuff outa there
Tom Clements Music sure depends on which Mexican Strat you are talking about.... as he said, the Deluxe Player Strat he is using (and my blue sapphire one) are ash body.
Vintage sounds great, but I am not feeling that static. Electronics need some work? Shielding? Sounds good though. Remind me of some Tex mex pick ups by Fender.
That's not a shielding problem, that's cheap import electronics and wiring on a cheap guitar. Fender uses the same electronics on their MIM and their USA guitars. If someone wants a Stratocaster, buy a Stratocaster
Randy Woolum Yeah, I am with you. I have a mex strat, a squeir strat with upgraded pots and tex mex pick ups for fun and love it! And then the fsr tele made in Mexico is great. .love it. All my guitars but the Squier and an American tele were nex made and I an happy / have more than I deserve. But I'd seen and heard some vintage brand stuff, a tele in particular. Donahue - something that was written up well. But the static in this strat was off putting for sure..
You can't say that, although I also like the Vintage company very much, but the comparison here is purely factual junk! Because both Strats have different body woods! The Fender has an ash body and the Vintage V6 a poplar (or later alder) body! Then the fingerboards are made of different woods! We have two totally different guitars in front of us, which are constructed completely differently, so no comparison makes any sense!
+Mr.Skipps Most often its just cruft in the switch itself. some electrical contact cleaner in there n move it through its range a few times will take care of it easily enough.
Malcolm Browning Your argument is something that I already expected...I've owned more than a dozen Fender MIMs and a few American and I never had the slightest problem with any...and that's what you pay for...peace of mind... Now if you don't like the sound of the Pups that's subjective...it's your taste, personally I think they're great except for the Bridge Pup on Strats cuz of lack of tone knob....I mean even Guthrie Trapp's Tele is equipped with Mexican Tele Pups and he says he loves them so taste in sound is not an argument because if you said that they had shitty output like a squier bullet then that would be an argument because it's lacking in quality but not the Pups that come in Fender MIMs. but hey...like what you like. I just bought an Epiphone Les Paul Studio...and here we're talking cheap guitar, I put a 498T in the Bridge and a Dimarzio Air Classic in the neck, push pull pots to split the coils and the guitar is mind blowing, mainly for two reasons 1- it sounds great and 2- it stays in tune for hours even after doing crazy bends. take care. Mike. PS and I've been playing for 30 years. expensive guitars are great but some cheap ones are also great.
vintage is superior ....though affordable ...i have a squier, mim and a vintage icon flamed sunburst in gloss finish...the vintage makes me play like me
you must be deaf if you cant hear the difference in quality with the Fender... it sounds more varied on every selector, and the bridge sounds ace like a tele! but the vintage sounds ok, i loved them at first ive played quite a few of em, but lets be rate, the fenders on another level
Except right off the bat he put Wilkinson hardware in the Fender (the one that Vintage uses by default), just to make it playable. Poor, poor brand bootlickers...
preferuji Vintage neb je prostě lepší , čistota tonu neznamená nic nic nevypovídá o hratelnosti , vezměte si obě kytary do kapely pak mužete dělat závěry u mě jednoznačně vihrál Vintage
If I had the MIM strat, I'd probably consider leaving the ceramic in the bridge and then replace the others with alnicos that were a touch hot. Now, they come with alnico, so I guess you'd have to go the other way with the bridge. Too much is made of pickup levels in side by side comparisons. In reality, you'd just change your levels for either guitar until it sounded like you wanted it to.
David W I'm undecided on whether to purchase a vintage strat or a Fender MIM,can anyone give me any advice on this?I play mainly blues but sometimes like a bit of gain.
