PRODUCT REVIEW
features a glossy finish, while
the back and sides are satin
finished. I like the feel of
the satin finish a lot, and
the gloss really makes the
laser etching pop. It’s
a really sweet-looking
guitar, and everywhere
I took it people fell in
love with the looks.
that mutes the pickup when active, in addition
to simple, intuitive controls: Volume, Bass,
Middle and Treble, with Phase and Tuner buttons. I left everything flat, and I don’t think
the sound tech did any EQing at all. Isn’t that
the goal for a true stage-ready axe?
Playing the Vg
The neck on the Luna
VG guitar is made
of mahogany and is
very comfortable and
playable. It’s nice and
round, and measures
1-5/8" at the nut. The
scale is 25. 5", making it
pretty stable if you use a
lot of tunings, which Genfan
certainly does—she uses over
30 currently. I went from standard
to DADGAD to CGDGBD one after
another with no problem. The tun-
ers are standard Grovers, so they should
hold up pretty well under the added stress
of multiple wacky altered tunings. We found
that the high-E string needed a little setup
because of some mild splatting (my word,
but you know exactly what I mean) above the
sixth fret. Also, when I changed the strings, I
grabbed a set of .011s instead of .012s, and
the G-string, at .022, sat down in the nut way
too far and was not playable. I pulled a .024
out of a set of .012s and it played fine, but...
good to know.
genfan’s Verdict
We got our review guitar before Genfan got
hers, and I was anxious to hear what she
thought once she got her hands on one.
Here’s what she had to say to me via email: “I
love its playability, and the top sounds really
alive and resonant. I have to tell you that I ran
it through about six of my favorite tunings
and it did a great job of holding the tunings
(even with light strings)! Intonation up the
neck was intact as well. I’m thrilled!”
The Final Mojo
Gig-friendly guitars and budget-friendly
guitars: The two concepts seem incompatible, but Luna makes it happen with the Vicki
Genfan model. With a light body that’s small
and comfortable to hold, great electronics
that are beyond stage ready, a comfortable
neck, and great playability, the Luna Vicki
Genfan model has given us a true no-brainer
on a moon-silver platter. It has also given
new meaning to the old chestnut, “Take
two, they’re small.”
The Story on genfan’s guitar
Luna commissioned North Carolina luthier
Gray Burchette to make Genfan’s personal
guitar—a real goddess of a jumbo that
carries the Luna headstock and signature
moon-phase fret markers. The Luna VG
signature model is inspired by that guitar,
but it’s not a duplicate or a junior version.
Genfan’s personal guitar is not a cutaway (she uses that bout for percussion),
and the VG model is an OM instead of a
jumbo. Further, her guitar features a solid
spruce top and back and sides made from
that aphrodisiac of the rosewood family,
cocobolo. The VG model has a rosewood
fretboard, moon-phase fret markers, a solid
spruce top, and rosewood-laminate back
and sides (it also smells faintly of unsexy
glue). The laser-etched “henna tattoo”
motif designed by artist Alex Morgan in
the UK is the same on both guitars. (Many
other Luna guitars—including the Henna
Paisley T Black, which we’ve reviewed
online at premierguitar.com—also feature laser etching.) The front of the guitar
Rating:
The VG’s B-Band pickup and preamp are
impressive indeed. First of all, the batteries
live in a little box in the side of the lower
bout, making battery changes incredibly
easy. Second, it has two outs: a 1/4" and an
XLR, which is just outstanding. And they’re
right next to the battery compartment, not
endpin-style! Do you know how many crappy
DI boxes there are in the world that this guitar
renders unnecessary? Third, it sounds great. I
took it to a gig in a medium-sized room with a
traditional PA system, and the sound was rich,
full, and very warm. I had no feedback problems at all, and the guitar was comfortably
loud. I lost count of how many people came
up to rave about how great it sounded. The
preamp has a pretty darn responsive tuner
you like inexpensive, pretty
guitars that play and sound
outstanding—and have stage-
ready electronics.
Buy If...
Skip If...
you’re a brand snob.
luna Guitars
Street $499
lunaguitars.com
CLICKHere…
or use a mobile
device to read
this QR code
to hear sound
samples of this
guitar in action at
premierguitar.com
www.premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR MAY 2010 187
