Guitar Info

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We seem to be in a blue mood these last couple of days on Guitarz, and today's guitar is a 1960s Silvertone-branded "Phantom" which according to the seller is correctly designated as a EV3T. It's obviously inspired by the 1960s Vox guitars - as is further evidenced by the headstock shape - but the body shape is symmetrical as opposed to the offset lozenge of the Vox Phantom. If anything, it's somewhere between a Phantom and Vox's Mark series teardrop-shaped guitars.

As with anything stamped "Silvertone", you can guarantee this is another manufacturer's guitar, re-badged. It has a Domino look to it, although I don't think I've seen a Domino of quite the same design. The neck bolt plate confirms that this guitar is "Made in Japan".

This guitar is currently listed on eBay with what I'd call a slightly optimistic Buy It Now price of $975.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

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This guitar, currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $299, presents us with something of a conundrum. The seller lists it as follows:

Vintage Rare Hofner Electric Guitar

I bought this guitar around 2002. I suspected it was a Hofner though it did not have anything on the headstock to indicate that. At the Dallas guitar show that year there was a Hofner guy that confirmed for me that indeed it was a Hofner and offered a substantial amount of money for it. I declined because my intentions had been to get the guitar working for my own use but it's been sitting around, I've had some financial problems, and now I want to sell it.

I think that the "Hofner guy" at the Dallas guitar show doesn't know what he's talking about. I'd swear that it was a Vox Marauder. Unless Hofner had a near identical model, or Vox/Hofner had guitars built at the same factory and branded them afterwards (which is something I'm not aware of, but I'm not ruling it out).

Can anyone confirm or deny my suspicions?

G L Wilson

EDIT: The listing has ended already. I guess someone used the Buy It Now option. I did, by the way, email the seller saying I believed it to be a Vox Marauder.

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

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The seller of the Vox Bulldog we looked at earlier today was also selling this Vox Invader, with a Buy It Now price of $2,250. Like the Bulldog, it failed to sell.

Again, we see some Mosrite influences, but this one is a bit more Vox-y with the classic sixties-style Vox headstock and the on-board effects that various other Vox models also carried. It's like a Vox/Mosrite hybrid, and is certainly an attractive guitar. I'd love to find out how it plays and sounds.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

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The Vox Bulldog is one of the later 1960s Italian-made Voxes, and it seems that with this model they are trying to evoke a Mosrite vibe, with its slanted neck pickup, carved top, assymetrical headstock, and even the shape of the body although here it's not quite so "upside-down Strat". This example in excellent condition was recently being offered for sale on eBay with a starting price of $1,895 but failed to sell.

In the current financial climate that is probably too much to ask for a vintage guitar such as this, despite the condition. People simply aren't willing to pay out for a vintage instrument that isn't a sure-fire investment, and unfortunately in this ultra-conservative area that means vintage Fenders and Gibsons, maybe one or two other key brands. The quirkies like this one, just aren't going to be seen as an investment. And for anyone interested in a guitar such as this as a player's instrument, well, the price is probably too prohibitative.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

You can find anything you want to know about vintage Vox guitars here so I won't say more...

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

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Here's yet another one for all you guitar detectives:

Hi Gavin,

I bought a lovely vintage teardrop guitar off of ebay, but am struggling to find the manufacturer of it... It's likely Kawai or Teisco, but I can't find a similar/same one online in Google searches. Usually the selector switches/plate are what doesn't match. Any ideas?

Cheers,
Bobby

Hey Bobby, any chance of a look at the headstock? Also, is there any indication of where it was made, like a stamped neckplate saying "Made in Japan"?

My guess would be it was made in Japan, and I think I'd incline more towards Kawai than Teisco, but I have to confess that I really don't know. Perhaps other readers may have some better ideas.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

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I think in the early days Vox must have been rather slapdash about the names they applied to their guitars, as I had previously thought that the above-pictured bass was the Vox Bassmaster and not the Vox Clubman Bass which is the name that appears on the headstock on this example currently for sale on eBay. To confuse things even more, the name Vox Bassmaster also appeared on a completely different design of bass.

These early Voxes, made in Dartford, Kent, in the UK, were essentially student model guitars with a very thin plywood body. It looks as if the original finish (most likely red) was removed from this example a long time ago. Note also the jack socket, which would have been added later. Early Voxes such as this had a TV-like co-axial socket, as did the Vox Clubman II guitar I used to own (before I upgraded it).

Despite their student status, these basses are known for their distinctive sound and playability. Personally, because of their cheap construction, I wouldn't have thought they were eminently gig-worthy but perhaps to get that certain sound in the studio they would be desireable.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

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Here's another treat for our left-handed friends: what appears to be a 1960s Vox Teardrop bass. However, it is a bit of an oddity. It's not a true vintage instrument, as it has been assembled from New Old Stock (NOS) Vox and Eko-made parts.

It certainly looks the business but - I'm trying to think - was there ever a solidbody teardrop-shaped bass issued by Vox back in the day? I'm aware of the Bill Wyman model but that was a semi-hollowbody. Given that this looks to be a short-scale bass, maybe the lefty body used was originally intended for the Vox Mark VI 6-string guitar.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

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Further to my recent blog post about the Vox Custom 25 guitar, here - by way of further illustration - is the Custom 24 model with a more Gibson-esque scale-length of 24" and other appointments such as separate bridge (not quite a Tune-o-matic) and tailpiece, coil tap switches, etc. Like the Custom 25, it is of through-neck design although in more subtle darker timbers.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

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My first ever electric guitar in the 1980s was a then contemporary Vox Standard 25, the design of which was obviously based on the Stratocaster but with a much more rounded-shaped body. The Vox Custom 25 - as seen here - was the deluxe version and shared the same body shape as the Standard but was of through-neck construction and had dual DiMarzio humbuckers and a Les Paul like control layout. For myself I really dislike the pickup selector switch on the upper horn - I find it's far too easy to hit accidentally while playing and also aesthetically looks ugly, I always think. (I know, I don't really like it on Les Paul guitars either, and I'm speaking as someone who play a Vintage LP-style guitar these days).

These guitars, along with the Standard and Custom 24 models with a more Gibson-like scale length, are often spoken of today in reverential tone by those in the know. Phrases like "the best guitars ever produced under the Vox name" are often bandied about. This is very possibly true - at least until the latest boutique offerings from Vox. They were built in Japan (I want to say at the now legendary Matsumoko factory but I don't actually have any info to corroborate that - I think I read it somewhere) and were extremely solid, reliable and well-made guitars if a little on the weighty side. My Standard 25 served me well for many years until I fell in love with a paisley Stratocaster, which I did prefer because not only was it prettier but it seemed to be much more resonant and ultimately much more playable.

Nevertheless, these early 80s Voxes are ones to look out for!

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Bertram


Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

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Here we see a Crucianelli élite stéréo archtop guitar from 1971, currently being offered for sale on a French website. Made in Italy, Crucianelli had strong ties with Eko (as discussed here) and this same body was also used for the Vox Super-Linx which was also produced in the Eko factory.

The most interesting feature of this guitar, however, must be its four pickups - two for the treble and two for the bass strings - and the independent pickup selectors for treble and bass. No doubt this allows for some interesting pickup combinations, which would be made all the more interesting by the stereo output.

Thanks to Dirk Lubbe for bringing this beauty to my attention.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

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Latvis from Finland writes:

Hi,
just found your site and like to tell that I own rather rare??? (at least here in Finland) Vox Spitfire MK VI I bougth it in 70s and it was in bad condition and somebody has put not-original gibson style bridge to it (and I later change this to roller bridge)

I like to know
- is this italian or english
- what year model?
- is it possible to find original style bridge?

many thanks

btw. My Vox sounds good old vintage... listen to my one-man-band home demo
http://thebandofnoreturn.com/music/moe-velvetin_hyva_rumpali.mp3

- Latvis
rockdata.org

Where to start? This is a bit of a tricky one. According to the official Vox Showroom website, the Spitfire was a solid-body looking like it had been modelled on the Strat. It also insists on referring to the above-pictured guitar as the Starfire Mk VI. However, a close-up photo of the headstock shows the name is indeed Spitfire.

Despite this confusion with the name, we are told that: "Early British models were produced under the Starfire MkVI Acoustic moniker while later Italian made models were produced as simply The MkVI Acoustic."

I think we have to assume that where they say "Starfire" they actually mean "Spitfire", and seeing that Latvis' guitar has the "Spitfire" name on the headstock it should be British-built and not one of the later Eko-made Italian versions. Production by Eko began in 1965, but as guitars were still being produced at the Dartford factory in the UK at the same time, I cannot say categorically that Latvis' guitar was from before 1965.

It does however seem very odd that they used the Spitfire name for two very different guitars. But I've seen these kind of naming inconsistencies with Vox guitars before, so I shouldn't really be surprised.

As to the subject of finding an original bridge, unfortunately I think this requires trawling through guitar forums, messageboards, and the listings on eBay. I understand the desire to have the guitar as near to 100% original as possible, but if the current replacement bridge does its job - and it doesn't look too out of place - I'd say live with it.

As ever, if anyone else out there has any more info, please let us know via the comments! Thanks!

G L Wilson

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I was aware of the model name Vox Marauder but I don't think I've ever seen one before. Blimey, and I thought that the Telecaster was "slab-bodied"!

My guess is that this is another one of the Eko-built Voxes from the later 1960s. It certainly looks very Italian with all those controls including a row of push-buttons. As with many other Vox guitars of the same era, this guitar features built-in effects. Unfortunately, it seems that on this example the electrics need some attention - it shouldn't be too big a problem for someone who knows what they are doing.

It also appears to be missing the trem arm, and the cover for the switch on the upper horn. The square-edged single coil pickups look to be standard Vox issue, such as on the Vox Harlem that we looked at recently.

G L Wilson

EDIT: So much for my guesses, apparently this Vox was all British!

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Isn't it?

It's a Vox Starstream V269 (check the photos on the eBay page - he's got the wrong model name in the text of the listing) and was made in 1967 by Eko in Italy. The guitar features two Ferro Sonic pick-ups, tremelo, built in E-tuner, distortion booster, treble and bass boost, Wah-Wah, and repeat, plus a padded cushion on the back.

The example pictured above is in NOS (new old stock) condition, having been discovered in its original case unopened in a warehouse in California.

The Buy It Now price is a staggering $9,995.00 (approximately £6,272.16), but then this is a vintage guitar in pristine "as new" condition.

Mind that kind of price makes the Kawai copies look all the more affordable.

Now, does anyone know what model Vox guitar it is that Fleagle plays?

G L Wilson

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This may not be a Vox original, but it's still quite a beauty. Made in Japan in the 1960s, this vintage Kawai teardrop copy carries the Winston brandname. This particular example has the rarer blonde finish as opposed to the more usual sunburst.

Apologies guys (or should I say "dudes"? I think there's an unwritten rule that guitarists have to address one another as "dude". But I digress...), I was meaning to show you this guitar before the eBay auction finished.

The guitar eventually sold for $537.77 (approximately £334.40) which is probably a fair price for such an instrument. I wonder how much a genuine Vox badged instrument (many of which were made by Eko in Italy) would fetch? Probably at least double that price. But would it be a better quality instrument? I doubt it.

The auction says the guitar is labelled as "Winston Brian Jones Original", but surely Brian Jones played a solid-bodied Vox teardrop finished in white. The only player who immediately springs to mind as someone who played a hollowbodied teardrop 6-string guitar was Drooper from The Banana Splits!

G L Wilson

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Recently we looked at a homemade guitar with a clear Les Paul influence, and today I present you with what you could call its Stratocaster counterpart.

The guitar appears to be made from a single piece of timber, probably mahogany judging by the colouring, and whilst the maker has not got the shape correct, it's quite obvious what guitar this has been inspired by. You could say that it was an approximation of a Strat.

Interestingly, despite its Fender influences, the maker has opted to make it a through-neck and seems to have borrowed other more Gibson-esque features in the number and layout of the volume and tone controls, and the use of a tune-o-matic style bridge and tailpiece.

The seller claims that it is well-made and sounds good with a nice tone and resonation. It's not surprising because the woodwork would appear to be perfectly competent; it just appears that any plans of what a Strat should look like were in the maker's head.

The tuners that the seller mentions, with a star on the back of each, are - I believe - from a Univox guitar. I have seen similar on Univox branded Strat-a-likes.

G L Wilson

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This Vox Harlem is a model I've not seen before. The seller refers to it as being a "vintage Italian guitar", so that makes it one of the Eko-built Voxes. The seller also claims that the treble-side scalloping of the fingerboard is original from the factory, and has not been carried out retroactively. This is way before Yngwie Malmsteen and before even Ritchie Blackmore had scalloped fingerboards on their Strats. Could this Vox Harlem be the first electric guitar with this feature? Does anyone out there know of an earlier example?

Pre-electric guitars, it is my understanding that some baroque guitars had such scalloping, but I don't know the full history here. Again, if anyone can fill in the blanks, please leave a comment below.

G L Wilson

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Here's a great clip showcasing the now legendary VOX guitar organ on the I've Got A Secret TV show back in 1967. Thanks to Andy Stone for finding this one!

G L Wilson

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Blimey! I had one of these way back - it was my first ever FX pedal. Actually, I ought to still have it as I never remember getting rid of it. I think I'll raid my box of bits and pieces later and see if I can find it. I'm going to watch this auction. If it's really worth 99 quid, then mine will be going on eBay too.

I seem to remember it was a rather nasty distortion effect. Later on I used to use it in conjunction with a Boss Distortion/Feedbacker pedal to create my own hyper-distortion sound through a Vox AC30. That was a brutal sound!

G L Wilson

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