I posted in the VLP Models thread a few days ago about a VLP-550 (cherry burst) that I was acquiring. After a rather roundabout voyage from the seller, it fell into my grubby paws this afternoon (late). It took a bit to get it unpacked as it arrived a if it was a brand new instrument from the factory to the dealer and once into the open, even LOOKED like a new guitar! I had to look closely to find the dings (there ARE a few) and the buckle marks on the back are also hardly noticeable. Brand new 9-42 Earnie Ball strings were mounted, which took a me a while to stabilize, but I feel they are a bit too slinky (no pun intended
) for this axe with its 25 inch scale.
Plugged it into my little Peavey Backstage Plus turned LOW (everyone was home and the baby downstairs was napping). What was really nice is that it is 100% original and everything works! The seller also informed me that the model number is also the finish ID, which is what the catalog on the Mats home website shows.
Very little needs to be tweaked for the present setup to go from "good" to "perfect" for my taste. Intonation is slightly off and possibly a set of 10s.
VLP-550b by
staubkorb, auf Flickr
VLP-550a by
staubkorb, auf Flickr
More photos forthcoming.