***NOTE*** This is MY opinion and stance on them. We all have different tastes and standards, so please keep that in mind.
The joys of subjectivity Im afraid. Some people swear by them. I got to jam on a used one at guitar center for a bit... felt extremely generic and I personally didn't see any value in it; certainly not the 2 grand price tag they wanted for it... and thats for a used one. It honestly felt gimmicky; and I thought it was ugly to boot. For that kind of avant garde type guitar; I'd point people to a parker wayyyy before a vigier. Another problem I could see is setting the relief. Some people prefer higher relief; and the vigier is pretty much thats what you get and you cant change it.
The one thing that really confused me was these things get rave reviews for fit and finish quality, and frankly I didnt really "get it". I've seen plenty of images of vigiers online, and their tops always sucked, and the one I tried was no different. What bugged the crap out of me, is theres a techinque for doing figured maple. You do a black or very dark base color stain and let it dry. Then you sand it back almost all the way; then you put the primary color on top. If you sand poorly, you create what makes the maple to look "dirty"; not the intended effect (at least for most people working with figured woods). The vigier I was playing on wasnt sanded "right". If this was "intentional", I gotta say its real not pleasant to look at either way.
Ill give you some specific examples of "issues" I have with these things. And keep in mind this is a FOUR THOUSAND DOLLAR guitar; so yeah im gonna be real nit picky here.
https://images.reverb.com/image/upl...upersize/v1602243276/dfh8fwu5uxaang1q8twa.jpg
- So first up, that fret work is unacceptable to me for a guitar of this supposed caliber. The 14th and 15th frets arent even crowned, thats crap. The "polishing" work is crap.
- they didnt nip the tang ends and back filled like oh... basically every high end luthier
- 15th fret inlay dot is out of round... seriously?
- the pickguard is rough cut, theres no finish detailing on the chamfering
- im sure its probably lighting here, but that neck joint isnt looking super hot from that angle at least.
then ->
https://images.reverb.com/image/upl...upersize/v1602243276/v7y2z4zlyeothbyy64ki.jpg
- that faux binding job they did is crap. Its uneven, sloppy, and the horns and interior curves are a joke
- that neck joint still isnt inspiring from this angle either; but I am willing to give this one the benefit of the doubt.
- .... the side dots arent even centered lol
https://images.reverb.com/image/upl...upersize/v1602243277/js4kdlkqvaxm9ylbq50u.jpg
- again that neck joint lol
- HOLY COW theres super glue squeeze out they didnt clean up on the frets! Thats not great lol
https://images.reverb.com/image/upl...upersize/v1602243276/tdondutjxsllmcygksby.jpg
- is recessing the back cover really that much to ask? lol. Also, using cheap plastic on a 4000+ instrument seems tacky to me, but thats just a personal thing.
https://images.reverb.com/image/upl...upersize/v1602243276/ci6nfhyeifrwk7qfnvpf.jpg
this is EXACTLY what I mean about the "dirty maple" I mentioned earlier. I understand its intentional on this finish, but this is EXACTLY what it looks like.
https://images.reverb.com/image/upl...upersize/v1602243276/wndnb4pohn0t1is031ba.jpg
- this fret work is crap. Im sure it plays fine, but for a guitar of this price and caliber, I dont personally find it quality at all.
Im sure this t hing plays and sounds amazing; I really do. The thing is, after a certain price point, you begin to pay for boutique features, and part of that entails some modicum of finish quality that should be incumbent of that prestige. The problem is I can do this with critique with basically any vigier just by photos alone. Finding defects like this on a PRS CU+ (custom 22/24 or higher), EBMM or J custom (just to name a couple) is going to be VERY difficult. The one thing I'll give credit due here, is the one I played did play VERY well and the neck felt amazing... but nothing above an average american fender either.
But as I said, some people swear by them; I think we have our own ears and haptic responses that drive us towards one guitar instead of another. My biggest gripe with vigier is their detail work is frankly crap; and not just for a 4000$ instrument; its just flat out lazy cost savings. Id argue youre better off getting a mayones if you want something more boutique.