Any Vega fans here?

frankmcr · #1 11-08-2019, 07:23 PM

Late '60s small dreadnought, probably interesting to those who are:

https://shop.gryphonstrings.com/prod...adnought-55890

SpruceTop · #2 11-08-2019, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankmcr

Late '60s small dreadnought, probably interesting to those who are:

https://shop.gryphonstrings.com/prod...adnought-55890

I'm a Vega fan, banjos that is but thanks for the heads-up on a Vega guitar!

Rockysdad · #3 11-08-2019, 07:33 PM

One of GM's blunders.

guitar george · #4 11-08-2019, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockysdad

One of GM's blunders.

I had a dark green Vega hatchback and loved the looks and everything about the car until it started burning lots of oil. I felt sorry for the guy that bought it off me. He was told about the oil problem.

McCawber · #5 11-08-2019, 08:59 PM

My pickin' buddy had a killer 60's vintage Vega 12-string. As I recall, it had a shape that was very similar to a Harmony Sovereign 1260, but a bit deeper. In those days we used heavier strings and tuned 12's down at three or four frets - everyone wanted to sound like the Rooftop Singers and Walk Right In . . . .

Osage · #6 11-08-2019, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McCawber

My pickin' buddy had a killer 60's vintage Vega 12-string. As I recall, it had a shape that was very similar to a Harmony Sovereign 1260, but a bit deeper. In those days we used heavier strings and tuned 12's down at three or four frets - everyone wanted to sound like the Rooftop Singers and Walk Right In . . . .

The Vega's that look like Harmony Sovereigns actually are Harmony Sovereigns. At least the bodies. Vega bought them finished from Harmony and added their own necks and bridges.

Wade Hampton · #7 11-08-2019, 11:32 PM

Interesting guitar. A former roommate of mine had a Dutch-made Vega guitar, built when Martin owned the brand name and had a factory in the Netherlands making them. But that guitar was built some ten years or so after the one that Gryphon’s selling.

Wade Hampton Miller

MrDB · #8 11-09-2019, 08:33 AM

I had a Vega dread back in the late 60's. Nice guitar, wish I still had it. Then again, I can say that about a lot of guitars I no longer own

Riverwolf · #9 11-09-2019, 09:14 AM

Thought you meant Suzanne Vega - yes, big fan!

jpmist · #10 11-09-2019, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

Thought you meant Suzanne Vega - yes, big fan!

Me too! Very under-rated fingerstyle player. . .

frankmcr · #11 11-09-2019, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

Thought you meant Suzanne Vega - yes, big fan!

Suzanne Vega
sitting on the hood of a Vega
strummin' a Vega
under a sign says "Las Vegas" . . .

Bob Womack · #12 11-09-2019, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitar george

I had a dark green Vega hatchback and loved the looks and everything about the car until it started burning lots of oil. I felt sorry for the guy that bought it off me. He was told about the oil problem.

Ya had to unbolt the engine from the engine mounts and rock it over to get to the spark plugs.

Bob

zombywoof · #13 11-09-2019, 06:10 PM

In terms of flattops, I am a fan of the late 1930s-Vega Profundos. .

Osage · #14 11-09-2019, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zombywoof

In terms of flattops, I am a fan of the late 1930s-Vega Profundos. .

I've always wanted to like them but have never played one that I thought sounded great. Nice necks and they definitely look cool. i've thought about finding a beat up one and X-bracing it but never seem to get around to it.

devellis · #15 11-10-2019, 08:48 AM

I remember talking to a guy who went dumpster-raiding after Martin took over Vega. Apparently, they pretty much threw everything away. There were tons of fingerboards, bridges, and partially-completed instrument bodies that just got dumped. The stuff having the leas damage were the smaller, harder bits like ebony fingerboards and bridges. Also, lots of wood got dumped for no apparent reason other than Martin had plenty of its own back then. Apparently it was a real treasure trove.

Martin was really interested in acquiring the name, not in reproducing the Vega instruments as they had been built for generations. Vega made some outstanding guitars but their mandolins and banjos were even more exceptional and highly innovative. David L. Day, who had worked for Fairbanks and went to Vega in a leadership capacity when they acquired the Fairbanks company was a very creative guy. With time, the company lost some of the luster it had in the first few decades of the 20th century (based first on banjos and then on mandolins as well) but its guitars continued on as very good instruments for some time thereafter.

I still have a tenor banjo, a mandolin, and a mandola from the teens/twenties era of Vega and, although I don't play them much, they're all great instruments. I never managed to get my hands on a guitar. The better ones that were still in excellent shape were generally pretty pricey because of the greater popularity of guitar. It seems that something newer of comparable quality could always be had for less, especially where flat-tops were concerned. But some of their archtops were pretty darn special and their better flat-tops were not too shabby, either.