Over £8,000 worth of Vintage Guitars to be won

John Hornby Skewes & Co Ltd, worldwide trade distributor of Fret-King and Vintage guitars, has signed on as a sponsor of Live and Unsigned - the UK's largest national music competition for original unsigned acts and bands of any style or genre.

As part of this sponsorship deal, the winner of each of the Live and Unsigned regional finals will pick a Vintage guitar of their choice up to the value of £350. Supremely affordable but with professional level tones and playability, Vintage guitars and basses are the only choice for the busy touring musician who needs an instrument they can look to and rely on for night after night of tearing up stages across the country.

There's something for everyone in the Vintage range, and winners will be able to pick from delicate acoustics to rumbling basses and rocking distressed electrics. Check out the following pages for more on the Vintage range...

The Vintage Icon Series features a number reliced versions of classic guitar and bass styles, all masterminded by Trev Wilkinson.

All the Icon axes play and feel as good as any new-looking guitar on the market, but they also look like they've been slung around dark, sweaty stages for the past 30 years. Cooler than cool.

A big part of the Vintage Icon series is devoted to signature models to some of the hardest rocking axe slingers around. German virtuoso Thomas Blug came to Vintage to get a fully functional, modernised version of his beloved - but battered - '61, and then again to nod his head to Jimi Hendrix with the Vintage Summer Of Love model.

Also in the Icon range is the Mick Abrahams Signature VS6. With its sizzling pair of P90s and its beaten to hell cherry red finish, it's just the kind of thing Mick would have fallen for when he was tearing up stages night after night with Jethro Tull.

The Vintage V6 Series offers supreme playability, maximum tone and unrivalled versatility, all in one of the most recognisable double cutaway shapes of all time.

The V6 offers an extraordinarily high level of specification, with Trev Wilkinson-designed hardware across the board, including his celebrated Wilkinson WVC original specification vibrato.

The Vintage V2 series harks back to that classic single cutaway, two single coil machine that brought the electric guitar into the public consciousness.

Ideal for rock, country, jazz, blues, indie, and just about anything else you care to throw at it, the V2 features hardware designed by Trev Wilkinson, including the all-important Wilkinson 3-saddle bridge - still regarded by players the world over as the key to this style of guitar's unbeatable tone.

In terms of looks and attitude, few guitars can match the out and out appeal of the Vintage V100.

Its mahogany and maple tonewoods are the ideal recipe for the kind of sounds that this style of guitar is renowned for - smoky, sultry, sweet-toned bluesy licks with a warm jazzy feel from the neck pickup help soothe the soul with an emotional calm.

Charging to the other extreme with a flick of the 3-way selector switch allows the back pickup to rage and rampage through high gain amplification like no other.

Perfect for rock, metal, blues and more, the Vintage VS6's twin Wilkinson humbuckers, set neck and mahogany work together to create clear, ringing tones that sustain for days.

Lightweight on the back but heavy on your adoring crowd, the VS6 has a pure, no-nonsense attitude perfect for stalking the stage and ripping out solo after solo while dressed in a school uniform.

Smooth and sophisticated, the Vintage VRS series has everything you need to play your way to the top.

As usual, there's a trace of Wilkinson all over it, two soulful humbuckers, 24 frets and optional vibrato depending on what model you plump for. Beautiful to look at and amazing to play, the VRS is your ticket to stardom.

Reminiscent of those beautiful old hollowbodies from the ‘50s, the Vintage Semi-Acoustic series includes a range of classic styles suitable for every player and need.

Take your pick from single cutaway jazzboxes to double cutaway, a twin-humbucker 12-string, or a full-on fat-bodied, Bigsby-equipped tone machine - there's something here for everyone who can't get enough of that classy semi-hollow sound.

Vintage Icon basses play and feel modern, but look like they've seen years of action in hot, crowded clubs and concert halls.

Featuring all the mod cons of the Vintage ReIssued bass range, but with added authentic battle scars, the Icon basses have the mojo - and the sounds - you need to get noticed.

Pick a Vintage ReIssued bass and you'll get classic bass design and sounds juxtaposed with modern comfort and playability.

The range has a number of colour, body shape and pickup variations that mean you can get the tone you want - there's always something in the ReIssued line that will do the job, and do it well.

The Gordon Giltrap Vintage signature six-string recently won the 2011 MIA (Music Industries Association) Award for Acoustic Guitar Of The Year.

We weren't surprised, of course - designed between Vintage, Gordon himself, and renowned luthier Rob Armstrong, the guitar is a joy to play, with distinctive looks and sounds, and specifications to satisfy the pros.

There's also a twelve string model and an all-mahogany version, and they've got all the chops too.

Great for small hands, but ideal for guitarists on the move, the Vintage travel guitar series is compact in dimensions but has a warm, full-sized sound.

Perfect for strumming around a campfire, taking on holiday or giving to your kids to learn on, the Travel Acoustic's solid spruce top and mahogany back and sides are the perfect materials on which to build your performance.

Mahogany guitars are becoming increasingly popular these days. Vintage offers a number of different models, and each of them is lightweight, ergonomic in appearance and robust in performance.

Bold and responsive, the mahogany tone they produce is distinctive and suitable for all style of acoustic playing, so make sure you try one for yourself.

True acoustic stalwarts, Vintage V300 guitars feature comfortable, fast playing necks, superb dynamics and volume from their manageable, parlour-esque bodies.

Perfect for strumming, fingerstyle or slide licks, the V300 has a solid spruce top that will only improve with age. Affordable and great fun - every home should have a Vintage V300.

A step up in size from the V300, the Vintage V400 Dreadnought series offers more bass than its little brother, making it ideal for singalong strumalongs and booming chords.

It also features a solid spruce top and all the best hardware, so if you fancy busking without a hitch, or just playing an exceptional value for money dreadnought, then the V400 is for you.