VINTAGE HISTORIC SERIES 'ORCHESTRA' ACOUSTIC | REVIEW

Vintage Historic Series 'Orchestra'

MSRP (UK) £179 (US) $TBC

With a beautiful satin top coat over a gorgeous Vintage Sunburst finish, the Vintage Historic Series Orchestra acoustic guitar, radiates class in every sense of the word. Stunning cosmetic features for this beautiful model also include contrasting black/white/black body binding and soundhole rosette design, classic 3-aside headstock with gold logo design, and attractive split-block, white inlaid fingerboard position markers. Nick Jennison reviews.

I like “old things”. Especially “old guitar things”. think that’s a common thread among guitar players. We like gear that is evocative of a bygone era - a golden age of guitar playing, be that pre-war Martins, ‘50s Les Pauls or even early ‘80s superstrats. 

We love the idea of “old” guitars, but the reality can be… less than enjoyable. Even if you can get past the eye-watering prices that “old” instruments command, they’re often plagued by the design and build limitations of their era, compounded by a decades of play wear. 

This is why instruments like Vintage’s new Historic range of acoustic guitars are so appealing. They offer that “old guitar” aesthetic, but with modern construction, hardware, quality control and pricing. 

Nestled in the middle of the range in terms of size, the “Orchestra” model we’re looking at here is a medium-bodied guitar with a narrow waist, broad, squared off shoulders and a sizeable lower bout. Combined with the satin sunburst finish and old-school appointments like Kluson-style tuners and split block inlays, the look is very “mid-century cool”.

Right out of the box, this guitar exhibits the excellent playability and quality control I’ve come to expect from Vintage guitars. The action is low and comfortable, but with no buzzes or rattles. The fretwork is flawless, with no dead spots, sharp edges or any of the other aberrations commonly found on entry-level instruments like this one.

Sonically, it’s exactly what you’d expect from a classic mahogany-spruce orchestra model: enough low end warmth to feel powerful, but with lots of detail in the highs and high mids. The “vocal” midrange around 4-700hz is slightly scooped, which makes a lot of space for a singer and lends a certain “refinement” to the tone. There’s plenty of dynamic range for aggressive strumming styles, but it’s also responsive enough to a softer touch so that fingerstyle and single note flatpicking styles still “pop”.

The Vintage “Historic Series” Orchestra model is a guitar with a great “old-school” aesthetic, but combined with modern playability and quality control. It’s also exceptional value for money - everything we love about Vintage, basically!

For more information, please visit:

https://www.jhs.co.uk/collections/vintage