2003 Catalog
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Authentic is how we wish you would describe Vigier. Authentic because while industrial guitar manufacturers spend most of their time on marketing and paying musicians to play their guitars, we have devoted 20 years to sound research, technological developments, and manufacturing improvements that respect tradition. Authentic because we have only one manufacturing site that builds as many guitars in a year that an industrial manufacturer does in a few days. This is why our guitars receive the attention that an expert musician looks for in a professional instrument. Take a Vigier in your hands and you'll feel and hear it is Authentic. Original antique violin Custom black diamond Ron Thal Excalibur® Original and Custom models have our undetunable, reliable, and exclusive Floyd Rose type tremolo mounted on ball bearings. If you use the tremolo intensively, this is the perfect guitar for you. Ultra white gold Ultra Blues light sapphire Special fire burst The Excalibur Ultra is an alliance of nice looks and efficiency. With its set of EMG 81 & 85 pickups, it embraces with ultra accuracy the clean, crunchy, or dirty sounds of all kinds of music. The Ultra Blues subtly merges the world of the classic single-coil and humbucker sound. Both single-coils are like those on the Expert '63 while the bridge pickup is a Virtual PAF by DiMarzio. The Excalibur Special is the luxury version of the Supra. Its flamed maple top gives it a little more heat and sustain. A colored headstock is available as a special order. Mick Taylor Shawn Lane Supra7 urban metal Indus textblack Christophe Godin / Gnô Supra urban blue Our 7 string model’s sound reputation comes from its clarity and precision when overdriving amplifiers. It will cut through with a colossal sound. The Indus™ has the characteristics of the Supra and has the hottest sound of all of the Excalibur range. Its black textured finish gives it a classy and high-tech look. The Supra™ is the most simple and efficient Vigier. You will love its crunchy bridge and warm neck pickups that can all be splitted in intermediary positions. Equipped with our non locking-tremolo mounted on ball bearings and locking machine heads, it is free of tuning hassles. Ron Thal / Bumblefoot If you are into progressive music, the Surfreter® Jean Beauvoir is undoubtedly the guitar you need. With our exclusive Delta Metal fingerboard and our 20 year experience, we can guarantee that it is the only fretless in the world with such sustain. The Surfreter is available in two versions: Supra (as shown) and Special with a flamed maple top. Tim Donahue Surfreter Supra in clear red with colored headstock option Craig Erickson Expert retro white Walter Trout Expert retro blue Expert retro red If you're not stuck in the past, the Expert® is the single-coil guitar that you've been looking forward to. It combines tradition and modernism and is available in 3 pickup configurations: Retro '54, Standard '63, and Texas Blues. It is noiseless with a single-coil sound that has been rarely heard. Our guarantee against de-tuning is its non-locking tremolo mounted on ball bearings. Three classy and discrete colors with a Flip- Flop effect are available: retro red, blue and white. A 3 single-coil guitar made for expert ears. Geezer Butler / Black Sabbath Mick Cervino / Yngwie Malmsteen The Excess® series has been adopted by various players including some of heavy metal's legendary bassists. It’s a very efficient bass, designed for stage performance. The sound is full with a lot of room and it cuts through. Also available fretless with the Delta Metal fingerboard for endless sustain. Excess Surfreter natural alder Excess Indus textblack Excess clear red Roger Glover / Deep Purple Masayoshi Yamashita / Loudness Glenn Hughes Available in 4, 5, or 6 string, the Passion has the principal construction characteristics of the Arpege model. Its main differences are the pickups that are set close together and the Nick Douglas / Doro electronic composed of a balance and a parametric equalizer. The sound of the Passion is unique and can be percussive with a lot of room. Available in 4, 5, or 6 string, the Arpege is the state of Vigier art. Its 10/90 neck-through construction, combined with a laminated body, give this bass incredible response and makes it lightweight. Like on all Vigier basses, its pickups are ultra dynamic with a wide frequency response range. Its active electronic is Arpege natural maple essentially composed of a balance and 12 preset Passion natural alder sounds made by two parametric equalizers. Passion antique violin BODY • Comfort When we design the shape we keep in mind the harmony between the player and the guitar. The perfect balance of the instrument is achieved by aligning the neck with the axis of the human body. Our guitars weigh approximately 3Kg and are undoubtedly one of the lightest in their category. So, for those who play spectacular, action filled concerts, or just endlessly somewhere, we are positive that you'll appreciate the manageability and lightweight. • Wood Depending on the models, we can use alder, maple, or ash. Selected in Europe's forests, these woods are real and solid. They are dried naturally for years in our factory before we cut them. The body is made up of only 2 center-joined pieces not 4, or sometimes even 7 pieces like industrial makers. • Finish The summit of quality is denoted in our finishes. Our master finisher sprays over 10 thin coats of varnish between numerous sanding procedures. In order to not overseal the wood, we spray a minimum amount of varnish so it vibrates, yet enough to protect it for a long time just like on an acoustic instrument,. We wait at least one month before final sanding and polishing is proceeded. That is state of the art. Please refer to the end of the catalog for each models standard color. TREMOLOS Long before others, we built our own locking tremolo so we know what guitar virtuosos and heavy tremolo users need to stay in tune. Usually, the bridge's pivot system is fitted with knives but we decided to replace them with ball bearings and this is exclusively used on Vigier. Once the knives are worn, there is no way the tremolo can come back to its original position because there is friction. When this happens you will have detuning problems. Our ball bearings can turn 10,000 times per minute and so are impossible to wear. • VIGIER® 2010 and 2017 tremolos This non-locking tremolo is set on the Excalibur Supra, Special, Indus, Ultra and the Expert for guitarists that are looking for a rich and crunchy sound. The perfect tuning stability is also ensured through the locking machine heads that are 2010 non-locking tremolo precisely aligned with the strings by our traditional zero fret and graphite string retainer. Another important detail, is the short distance between the bridge saddle and the place where the string is anchored. Also, each saddle can be locked into position once intonation is set and a small roller is located at the string break point to minimize friction. The 2010 tremolo has as much tuning stability as most guitars equipped with a regular Floyd Rose. • VIGIER® Floyd Rose® licensed tremolo This tremolo is available on the Excalibur Original and Custom models. It makes the guitar virtually undetunable. The only slight detuning problem may occur from the string’s metal stretching! Also the tuning stability comes from the indispensable one piece locking nut and our zero fret that guarantees exact first fret action height and accurate tuning. For your playing comfort, the saddles are hand adjusted to precisely match the radius of the fingerboard. For your convenience, the angle of the tremolo arm can be set while you're playing and removed easily when you are not. Finally, the Vigier Floyd Rose™ tremolo Allen keys have been neatly fitted at the rear of the headstock. BRIDGES • Basses This solid, quick-release bridge was specially designed to fit the Vigier bass series. To change strings, you simply lift them away. The saddles are set in individual tracks and have independent height and intonation adjustment. To help remove extraneous noise or unsetting problems, the saddles are locked into position once adjustments are complete. • Guitars Similar to the Excalibur Surfreter, a flat mount fixed bridge is available on the Excalibur Supra & Special and the Expert guitars. It is fully adjustable and features through-body stringing. On the Marilyn model a solid bridge with a tailpiece combination has been fitted. Passion bass bridge MACHINE HEADS We use locking machine heads in combination with our 2010 & 2017 non-locking tremolos. ELECTRONICS Depending on the model, we can fit passive or active electronics. Our commitment to offer the most up to date electronics dates back to 1983 when we earned our credibility by being the first manufacturer to incorporate a microcomputer in our memory guitar. • Pickups Before any pickup is mounted on a Vigier it's entirely controlled. Each pole is adjusted so that the strings have a balanced output level. Another small, but important detail is that most standard humbuckers have two adjustment screws however, we took the time to add a third screw so that height or tilt adjustments can be made easily and an equal distance between the strings and the coils can be achieved. Configuration H-S-H H-S-S S-S-S H-H Position 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Neck Middle Bridge • Pickup selection for the Excalibur® and Expert® series: • Details We sprayed conductive paint inside the electronic cavity and depending on the model, the backplate or the pickguard to reduce hum when playing at high volumes.