NGD Vintage Lemon Drop

MagicPigDetective

Been tempted for months since seeing Dave Simpson’s chanel. Yesterday I stumbled upon Guitar Village’s sale and the V100PGM Lemon Drop was down to £300; an offer I could not refuse. I did have a problem ordering with their website but was sorted over the phone.
Arrived today; still in tune, good set up with low action in great condition.

I’ve been playing a strat for 2 years and have little experience of Gibson and shorter scale guitars. It felt right instantly. It sits well on a strap, not that heavy, the neck is slim and highly playable. Perhaps it’s the shorter scale but it feels so easy to play. A brief play through the Katana sounded great, I do like the inbetween honky out of phase sound. Oh and the maple veneer top looks fine indeed.

https://i.imgur.com/GVeAhbk.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/GDxYKbu.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/OkNrpKr.jpg

bloodandtears

Great guitar.. just like mine.. enjoy!!

skaguitar

is the honky out of phase sound due to the neck pick up being reversed..? lot of guitar for the money...nice

bingefeller

Looks really nice, enjoy it!  

mart

skaguitar said:

is the honky out of phase sound due to the neck pick up being reversed..? lot of guitar for the money...nice

No and yes. It’s reversed to look like Peter Green’s LP, and the wiring is out of phase to make it sound like it.

Jalapeno

Good swag, well done !

guitars4you

reflection of how good the 'budget' end of the market place is today - I've sold a few AFD models - granted they are better with a new set of good strings, fret polish, lemon oil the board and a set-up - But far better than many perceive them to be

MagicPigDetective

guitars4you said:

reflection of how good the 'budget' end of the market place is today - I've sold a few AFD models - granted they are better with a new set of good strings, fret polish, lemon oil the board and a set-up - But far better than many perceive them to be

Yes will get round to doing those; and some of the fretends at the higher end might be a bit sharp. The toggle switch isn’t perfectly straight. Otherwise seems very well built. I did want a Gibson but decided to keep the budget down. This one will do me fine. 

tone1

I had one that I upgraded to Bare Knuckle PG Blues pickups and full CTS pots and PiO caps etc...it was a fantastic guitar and still not sure why I sold it

darthed1981

MagicPigDetective said:

Been tempted for months since seeing Dave Simpson’s chanel. Yesterday I stumbled upon Guitar Village’s sale and the V100PGM Lemon Drop was down to £300; an offer I could not refuse. I did have a problem ordering with their website but was sorted over the phone.
Arrived today; still in tune, good set up with low action in great condition.

I’ve been playing a strat for 2 years and have little experience of Gibson and shorter scale guitars. It felt right instantly. It sits well on a strap, not that heavy, the neck is slim and highly playable. Perhaps it’s the shorter scale but it feels so easy to play. A brief play through the Katana sounded great, I do like the inbetween honky out of phase sound. Oh and the maple veneer top looks fine indeed.

https://i.imgur.com/GVeAhbk.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/GDxYKbu.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/OkNrpKr.jpg

Sexy guitar happy NGD

duotone

@MagicPigDetective ;
How are you getting on with this now?  I am seriously tempted by these Vintage single cuts & it should scratch the itch of a double humbucker guitar I’ve been recently looking for.

Jalapeno

Good enough for Midge Ure !

MagicPigDetective

I have by now aquired a proper Les Paul standard. I still have the Lemon Drop,  been using it for alternative tunings. It stands up well to it. Less refined, the jumbo frets feel huge now in comparison. But a great great guitar, especially for the price. Highly recommended. 

duotone

MagicPigDetective said:

I have by now aquired a proper Les Paul standard. I still have the Lemon Drop,  been using it for alternative tunings. It stands up well to it. Less refined, the jumbo frets feel huge now in comparison. But a great great guitar, especially for the price. Highly recommended. 

Thanks @MagicPigDetective ; ,Dave Simpson set of videos really sold it to me too, sounded awesome.

Good to know it’s well regarded & still gets used even though you own a Gibson now. Am really not sure what finish to go for?

V100MRPGM - Prefer the plainer top on this one & browner satin on the back/neck, but not a huge fan of the relic job & would probably end up changing those tuners to Kluson vintage style (so +£40 basically). But looking at the guitar from the front I do prefer the yellower/faded appearance.
https://www.jhs.co.uk/vintage-v100-icon-electric-guitar-distressed-lemon-drop?___SID=U

V100PGM - Various pics I’ve seen online the top looks much more orangey & the back/neck look more red. I prefer this is in new ‘box fresh’ condition without the relicing. Like the look of the Kluson vintage style tuners, looks much more traditional to me. Looking at the guitar from the front I’m not a massive fan of the more prominent orange colour closest to the binding.

https://www.jhs.co.uk/vintage-v100pgm-reissued-electric-guitar-lemon-drop

TTBZ

Do you think these give a close enough "Les Paul experience" to decide whether or not I actually want a Gibson LP (bar the backwards neck PU)? I feel like I need to live with an LP style guitar for a bit to decide if I want to spring for a proper one as it's been a few years since I had one. Basically to see if the design/ergonomics shortcomings are something I could get used to again or if I'm too used to lighter/less clunky designs

TheMarlin

The Lemon Drop is a fantastic guitar, as is the AFD. When I first joined here about ten years ago, Vintage was a dirty word, a derided brand. 

Increasingly, I’ve seen more and more love for Vintage here, and have seen the brand gain some respect.   

I have to say, Vintage were good in the past, but lately they’re excellent.  Now, you get all Wilkinson hardware, & build quality is fantastic.

I just got one of these in trade. 

https://www.jhs.co.uk/products/guitars-folk-instruments/electric-guitars/vintage/vintage-reissued-electrics/vintage-v6-reissued-vibrola-tailpiece-gun-hill-blue

Massively impressed.  It’s an absolute joy to play, very stable tuning, no tough frets, spot on! Not touched any other guitar since it arrived, and there are four others in my office. 

Standard setup was great, the pickups are just lovely, vintage output with a slight raspy gritty edge, incredibly touch sensitive. There are a few flaw finish issues if you hung around, but you get those on a Gibson these days

This guitar loves ‘edge of breakup’. Pick light, it’s clean, pick a bit harder, superb overdriven sounds, dig in, AC/DC.  It’s so much fun!  I’ve left my amp like that since the guitar arrived. 

Neck is not big, but it’s almost Ibanez Wizzard wide and flat.  I played an RG750 as my maIn guitar for about 10 years, and though this is no Wizzard neck, it does remind me of it.  Upshot is that after playing a while, it just fits in my hand beautifully, very comfy and familiar. 

I love the trem. It’s very different to Bigsby, it doesn’t have the pitch variability of the Bigsby, it’s stiffer, and the springiness comes from distorting metal rather than a spring. It’s not cast Aluminium like a Bigsby, you’re bending thin steel.  As a result, The higher pitched strings near the handle vary in pitch more than the bass strings, plus it only wants to vary by about a semitone, a tone if you punish it, a Bigsby will go several tones. 

Anyway, it’s more subtle than a Bigsby, and all the design flaws give it a slightly haunting tone when used in chords, particularly if you bend and start to return to pitch at the point you attack the strings - bit of delay, and it’s an absolute joy. 

I bought this for my daughter, but I love it.  So now I need to buy another!  I can’t heap praise on this guitar enough. 

It’s truly amazing what you can get for your money these days. I wish I’d had a guitar half as good as this when I was learning to play.  

rossi

They do play well .My lowly Zip bought for a song plays really well and is really my guitar to go now it has a cheapo  gold foil pickup fitted .Just suits me size wise and the neck and fret board are great for me .I wanted a Gibson LP Special but the Vintage is so playable and light I will route it out for two P90's or get another Zip top do similar .The weight puts me off proper Les Paul types .I am getting too old. I do have a Midtown to sate my Gibson lust  but its larger than I like and still heavy and tends to stay in the case but quality wise is perfect .I am glad your enjoying your Lemon Drop .Always fancied one .

MagicPigDetective

TTBZ said:

Do you think these give a close enough "Les Paul experience" to decide whether or not I actually want a Gibson LP (bar the backwards neck PU)? I feel like I need to live with an LP style guitar for a bit to decide if I want to spring for a proper one as it's been a few years since I had one. Basically to see if the design/ergonomics shortcomings are something I could get used to again or if I'm too used to lighter/less clunky designs

Yes I do. I bought one for this exact reason. Lived with it for two years, got on with it famously, then bought a Gibson LP (because I just had to have Gibson). The Vintage still feels geat to play and the Wilkinson pickups excellent.

tony99

what's the score with the distressed finish on these? is it some sort of nitro?

dc77

   Here's mine. Purely got it for a serious attempt if I'd get on with a LP style guitar. Also the PGM model but I fitted the pick guard and matching control knobs. Everything ticks the boxes for what I want it to do. Only thing I will be upgrading wise is the wiring which is poor and very untidy.
I don't like a low action and the high e just touches the back of the bridge when I set it for my preferance with the tail piece fully down. I got it as an experiment so overall Im happy. 

  

InactiveX

Jalapeno said:

Good enough for Midge Ure !

Pfffft. That means nothing to me.