Guitar Anorak's Pages

JHS Vintage Gordon Giltrap Signature Guitar Range

JHS Gordon Giltrap Vintage Guitar range advert
Update Jan 2012 - Electric Guitar added to the Gordon Giltrap Signature Guitar Range

Full information available Click Here

The story of the new Gordon Giltrap Signature Guitar Range

The VE2000GG was developed in collaboration with Gordon, JHS and Rob Armstrong, master luthier and designer of Gordon's original custom built guitar on which the signature model is closely based.

Initial Press Release

John Hornby Skewes & Co. Ltd. the worldwide trade distributors of Vintage® brand instruments is proud to announce the launch of the  Vintage Gordon Giltrap Signature electro acoustic guitar.  

Highly regarded as one of the worlds greatest guitar players, Gordon has been at the forefront of  acoustic guitar playing since the late 1960's and has released more than thirty albums in his four decades in the music business.

Designed in conjunction with respected master luthier Rob Armstrong and Gordon himself, this crossover Grand Auditorium/000 style Vintage electro-acoustic is based on a hand-crafted instrument that Rob made back in 1980 and Gordon plays today. Featuring a high grade solid North American cedar top, with mahogany back and sides the signature "small waist" body is complemented by Rob Armstrong's trademark headstock design.

giltrap 2845


"I have played many great guitars in my years in the business and this one ranks alongside some of the very best," says Gordon when asked about his new signature model, "it is an outstanding guitar by anybody's standards and at any price. My original guitar has a very strong treble with a sort of springy and expressive sound to the bass end, the new Vintage guitar has all of this combined  with an overall warmth and balance to its tonality."  


The bridge is high grade rosewood, with a gradually compensated natural bone saddle providing excellent intonation, whilst the mahogany neck comes with a top quality rosewood fingerboard, with genuine abalone inlays and side dot markers.  

Electrics are provided via a Fishman® Presys Blend preamp and Sonicore pickup system, which features a built in-microphone with mic blend control, notch - anti feedback control, phase control button, three band EQ and volume control, as well as a built-in tuner guitar tuner with flip-top easy battery access.  

"When Rob Armstrong first set eyes on the first sample all he could say was WOW, and that's before he even picked it up!" continues Gordon, "I echo his sentiments. I am proud to put my name to this guitar and for it to be a part of my musical legacy."  

Rob Ketch, Fishman's Vice President-OEM Sales also commented on the collaboration “Gordon Giltrap is a longtime Fishman Artist. Gordon has been using our premium Rare Earth Blend system for a number of years. The Presys Blend system was chosen for the Vintage VE2000GG model to deliver the benefits of pickup and microphone blending with the addition of an onboard chromatic tuner. This combination of features makes Gordon's Signature guitar the perfect performance instrument for the working musician and enthusiast alike.”      
Specification:
giltrap 2845


Model: VE2000GG
Price: £479

Top: Solid North American Red Cedar, high grade, close grained
Back: Mahogany
Sides: Mahogany
Neck: Mahogany
Fingerboard: Rosewood with Abalone inlays
Side Position Markers: Abalone
Bridge: Rosewood
Top Nut: Natural Bone
Saddle: Natural Bone, compensated
Scale: 642mm / 25.27"
Preamp: Fishman Presys Blend
Pickup: Fishman Sonicore
Tuners: Grover 102
Strings: High quality USA made
Finish: Clear Satin
Case: Supplied with Kinsman hardshell case

12 string model - VE2000GG-12
Price: £499



The free DVD

The 5th and 6th of July 2010 were set aside to film a promotional DVD for my new Vintage VE 2000GG signature guitar. This DVD will make a great promotional tool for JHS  and a copy will be included with each guitar.

My friend Harold Houldershaw is the man behind the camera's lens and it was he who created the Symphony Hall DVD as well as the Double Vision DVD. Harold is a great guy and a joy to work with.

giltrap 2845


The whole point of the DVD is to give a complete background story as to how the guitar came about, my association with Rob Armstrong, and the initial meeting where Dennis Drumm the MD for JHS approached me with the idea of creating this instrument.

On the DVD we look in detail at the instrument and I then go on to play several pieces to let the viewer hear how it sounds.

The package opens with Heartsong, and then after the aforementioned chat I play Shining Morn, Em's Tune, Five Dollar Guitar, Dublin Day, Rachel's Reflection's and On Camber Sands, but not necessarily in that order!



I decided it would be rather nice to feature another JHS Vintage series guitar and one I'm currently using. The Trev Wilkinson designed Vintage Advance AV3 for The Dodo's Dream. The whole thing is completed by a different take of Heartsong. We even include some hilarious out-takes.

My good friend Paul White edited and mastered the audio to make sure we got it sounding as good as it can be whilst remaining true to the original recorded sound and performance.

The Reviews

Superb reviews of the new guitar are now coming in thick and fast.
Click the icons at the bottom of this page to read the reviews:

Guitarist Magazine's Oct 2010 which crowns the guitar "Guitarists Choice" with 5 star ratings for value for money and an overall score of 4 1/2

Playmusic pickup Magazine gives the new guitar the thumbs up - "best value for money that we've seen in any product in any category in 2010"

Read their full review online here (pages 26/27), watch the videos below from Youtube or click the icon at the bottom of the page for a PDF version.







There is also a two page review of the 6 string model in the Dec edition of Acoustic magazine which gives the guitar their maximum score of 5/5 in all categories - build quality, sound quality and value for money, rating it "superb, almost faultless". The reviewer was so impressed he bought the guitar there and then ! Again, there is a PDF file available at the bottom of the page.

August 2011 Vintage's Gordon Giltrap model gets a mahogany makeover

The Vintage® Gordon Giltrap signature model has received nothing but praise since its release, and Vintage has now introduced a new acoustic-only version of the guitar in beautiful mahogany.

The Vintage V2000MGG features the same distinctive slim-waisted Rob Armstrong-designed body shape as the original cedar-topped version, this time with a solid mahogany top (without binding – Gordon's preference), mahogany sides, gold-plated Grover® tuners and a tusq graphite nut and saddle.

Priced at a mere £399, the V2000MGG includes a signature hardshell case and a stick-on scratchplate with a printed Gordon Giltrap signature (to be fitted if desired). The guitar has a punchy tone that covers the complete sonic spectrum with ease – it's at home whether you're strumming away on big open chords, or if you're more prone to delicate finger picking exercises.

Gordon said: “My new mahogany model is an absolutely fantastic instrument. It's the same spec as my standard Vintage V2000GG signature model, but without the pickup system. It's an amazing guitar and represents incredible value for money. I'm absolutely thrilled with it – a wonderful guitar!”

VE2000MGG £399.00 rrp

Specification:
Top: Solid Mahogany
Back and Sides: Mahogany
Neck: Mahogany
Fingerboard: Rosewood with Abalone inlays
Side Position Markers: Abalone
Bridge: Rosewood
Top Nut: NuBone
Saddle: NuBone, compensated
Scale: 642mm / 25.27"
Tuners: Grover 102
Strings: High quality USA made
Scratchplate: Clear with printed signature (not fitted)
Finish: Clear Satin
Case: Supplied with Kinsman 'Gordon Giltrap Signature' hardshell case


giltrap 2845


The latest addition to the range is my Deluxe GG Vintage acoustic.,  VE2000DLX

giltrap 4138
 
giltrap 4138























giltrap 4138




I’ve got to tell you that it has surpassed all my expectations. It sounds FANTASTIC, and belies its retail price of £599. I truly believe we have a potential award winning guitar here. There is nothing on the market that can touch this for outstanding value for money and quality.

This is what you get.. Solid Rosewood back, Rosewood laminated sides, Ebony fingerboard, Cedar top,  Plush fitted case, and a Fishman  Rare Earth pickup as standard. It has already garnered an amazing review from David Mead in this month's Acoustic magazine. Read the review here






The Conclusion

Should I buy one ?

If you are in the market for a good electro acoustic but counting the pennies is never far from your thoughts - and let's face it, we all need to be mindful of spending in these thrifty times - then we couldn't recommend the Vintage VE2000GG highly enough. This guitar reflects the input - and by that we mean genuine hands-on input -invested by a top class luthier, a world renowned guitarist and a manufacturer / distributor that knows their market. It even comes with a quality fitted case. Looking at what it offers in terms of pure bang-for-buck the Vintage VE2000GG stands out as the best value for money that we've seen in any product in any category in 2010.

PM


Vintage Guitars are distributed in the worldwide by John Hornby Skewes & Co. Ltd.