Vintage 1960s Mark in Dartford Kent, Vox Clubman Bass for South Paws

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A guilty secret of mine is that I do actually quite desire one of these: a original 1960s Vox Clubman Bass, "Made in Dartford, Kent" (England) by Jennings Musical Industries (JMI).

Pre-dating the Italian-built Vox guitars of the later 1960s, the short-scale Clubman Bass was part of Vox's range of "student" instruments. The body was made of plywood, and whilst the neck had no adjustable trussrod it did have a steel bar embedded beneath the fingerboard. [EDIT: According to the Vox Showroom website, it had TWO non-adjustable steel rods embedded in the neck.]

So, if it's such a cheap, crudely made instrument, why should I be interested?

Well, it's just that the Vox Clubman Bass has quite a reputation for playability and versatility. It has that particular sound that typifies an era but yet still manages to sound relevant today. I also quite like the design and used to own a similar Clubman II guitar that was my 2nd electric guitar (I've lost count of how many have followed - I'm sure it's in three figures) so it's partly a nostalgia thing, I guess.

This particular example, currently being offered for sale on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £320, is the rarer left-handed version. Whether it sells is another matter; a right-handed example in the more common red finish failed to sell earlier today with a Buy It Now of £399.  I know these instruments are quite desirable amongst collectors and people like me, but I do wonder if perhaps they are being priced a little too highly in today's market.

Note that this example has a jack output socket which is probably a later conversion as from the factory it would have been equipped with a television-aerial type co-axial socket.

G L Wilson

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Teisco 1968 Crescendo - White - Made in Japan

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We've posted many Teardrop shaped guitars over the years and they are among my favourite designs and this Teisco Crescendo is no exception. With two Teisco pickups and a hollow body, I'm sure it has a distinctive tone. I like the look of the tremolo and the little nick out of the scratchplate. Very stylish.
The seller has this to say...
This a Teisco Crescendo 'Teardrop' style guitar dating back to 1968, made in Japan. The guitar is in very good condition, given its age, with a few knocks and scratches the note. The main mark to note is a long hairline crack in the lacquer along the edge of the body. This is not structural and we have taken photographs of the crack. There is also some minor lacquer cracking near the neck socket; again, see pictures. Overall the guitar is in tidy condition and is a great collector's piece, as these are very difficult to come by.

David in Barcelona

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Vox Phantom bass - rare left-handed model

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Here's something you don't see very often, a left-handed Vox Phantom Bass. This particular instrument has been custom built from original 1960s New Old Stock vintage parts. Like the doubleneck Eko we looked at a few days ago, I'd wager that this Vox was pieced together by Brandoni Guitars. Remember that the Eko factory in Italy also produced Vox guitars in the 1960s after production was outsourced, Vox guitars having previously been built in Dartford, Kent, in the UK.

This bass is currently listed on eBay and has a Buy It Now price of £1,500.

G L Wilson

© 2014, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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Vox-inspired guitars from 1960s Japan

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Here's a 1960s Japanese copy of a Vox Teardrop style guitar that I've not seen before. It's not that accurate a copy having quite a few features that are a distinct departure from the original. Most notably, the body has a German carve to the top and a triple-bound body.

Don't be fooled by the Vox name on the headstock, which has almost certainly been added at a later date by someone owning this guitar. The eBay seller claims (quite predictably) that the guitar may be a Teisco. It's not a model that I have seen before, but it is plausible.

Below we see a 1960s guitar that is definitely a Teisco-made Vox copy. The Teisco EV-2T is based (loosely) on the Vox Phantom. As with the Teardrop guitar, the resemblance is quite superficial.

The necks of the two guitars are very similar. Note the multi-laminate construction, the shape of the headstock, and the position of the bolts for the string retainer. Here is the Teisco EV-2T (Phantom):

And here is the Teardrop:

If anyone out there has any further information on these guitars - particularly the Teardrop - then please leave a comment below.

The Teardrop is currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of US $649.99, and the Teisco EV-2T (Phantom) is similarly listed at US $539.96.

G L Wilson 

© 2014, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

1960s Vox Phantom VI Special with built-in special effects

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Guitarz reader Andrew K writes:

Okay, what we have here is the Vox Phantom VI Special with the onboard effects. This was the full, top-of-the-line, Vox Effects guitar. While the Starstream and other hollowbodies contained the smaller 3 effect unit the special contains ALL the effects. And I do mean all. Reliability notwithstanding these were truly special instruments, they were just about the only special FX guitar ever built that was fully analogue and actually functioned properly, and to top it off they were dead awesome and dead sexy. They are not as specialised as the guitarorgan or as standard as the Starsteam and other hollowbodies, they stand alone and thanks to the fact the company was circling the drain, there are relatively few of them in good nick. The fact they kept breaking may have counted against them in the long run.

And, Ian Curtis played one in Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" video. Enough has been said, but still I will say more.

I am now enclosing an interview done with Bernard Sumner for the excellent book by Pat Graham called Instrument. The instrument being discussed was the self-same Vox Phantom VI Special.

Ian really liked this guitar. The Phantom had tons of effects built into it, as an added bonus. It had a pause unit, and a thing called the 'replat'. when we got the guitar, half the effects didn't work, and we were thinking "what the hell is the replat?" We got the guitar repaired, and it turned out that 'replat' was actually repeat - it was just a misprint. The guitar has a battery in it, and if you press the buttons in the wrong combination it will go into the self-oscillate mode and start to make this strange twittering sound that Ian liked very much. It is a pretty wacky guitar.

Ian didn't' really want to play guitar, but for some reason we wanted him to play it. I can't remember the reason now. It sounded like some of the thinner guitars on the Velvet Underground tracks, clean and jangly. I think Ian used to only play on 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'... no I'm wrong, there was another track too. Maybe, 'Heart and Soul'? I do remember Ian used to play only one chord, which was D. We showed him how to play D and we wrote a song. I wonder if that's why we wrote 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', you could drone a D through it. I think he played it live because I was playing keyboards. On the record, I played guitar, a twelve-string Eko (misspelt 'echo') an Italian guitar that sounded pretty good.

To pick it out, I think we just went to a record shop and said, that one looks cool, get that one and he said, yeah, I like that. I kept the guitar after he died, kept it under my bed in a case and then gave it back to his daughter when she came of age.

We did use it on a couple of New Order recordings. The one I remember is 'Everything's Gone Green'. On the rhythm guitar part on that song, you can hear this guitar. It just plays the D chord. That's a joke...

-Bernard Sumner.

If all of that is not reason enough for a feature, then I have absolutely no clue what is enough justification.

Do as you will.

Andrew K

P.S. if you read the description, It has a neck made by a furniture manufacturer. Quirky enough?

Currently being auctioned on eBay UK with bidding currently at £1,500 and three days left to run at the time of writing



© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Vox Phantom XII assembled from 1960s Italian "new old stock" parts

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Here's another for our southpaw friends, a Vox Phantom XII. The Vox Phantom is one of those guitar designs that you either love or hate. I'm in the former camp. Anyway, I'll let the eBay seller explain about this particular example:

Italian made Vox Phantom 12 string left handed guitar... BRAND NEW... custom made from matured, original unused parts.

This is an example of a limited supply of old Vox and Eko guitars that have only recently been assembled from stock that has been stored, slowly maturing for many years.The body,neck,scratchplate and control knobs are all vintage original Vox old parts... the bodies were sprayed up and stored in the mid to late 1980s ... Modern Vox type pickups have been added with a set of repro machineheads. The electric wiring is brand new. What you get is a vintage guitar BRAND NEW!!!

Finished in Black with 3 single coil pickups, chrome hardware, rosewood neck.

This guitar is a beauty!!!

Why buy a new Vox made in Korea for over £1200 or an American rip off when you can have an Italian LEGEND for £865!!!?

I'm guessing that the seller, elitepianos are one and the same - or else closely allied to - Brandoni Guitars.

The neck would appear to be a right-handed example - note in the above photo that the Vox logo appears to be upside-down for a left-handed player. I don't suppose this will pose any real problems, but I hope they made some concession to the player with regards to the side dots on the neck - they're not a lot of use on the wrong side.

Currently listed on eBay UK for £865.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!

The Strawbs "Shine On Silver Sun" and a Vox Winchester

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Further to our previous post, here is a 1973 clip from BBC TV's Top Of The Pops featuring The Strawbs performing "Shine On Silver Sun" with guitarist Dave Lambert playing his Vox Winchester, which - as we have already seen - has a body made from a Vox wah-wah pedal.

Note that his Winchester features two pickups rather than the single pickup we looked at in the previous post. Also, the neck has a different headstock, implying these were assembled from whatever Vox parts were lying around.



G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!

Vox Winchester guitar has metal body made from Wah Wah pedal chassis

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Talk about re-cycling ... and you thought that Fender's recycled parts Swinger and Maverick models were quirky! I think that the above photos of this rare 1960s British-made Vox Winchester guitar speak volumes. Do I really have to add anything? Other than perhaps to draw your attention to the really weird positioning of the volume pot in a window in the rear of the guitar! (If it IS a volume pot as the eBay seller suggests. See the Dave Lambert link below.)

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $2499. Thanks to Nathan for bringing this guitar to my attention. Nathan points out that Dave Lambert of the Strawbs owns an example.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!

1967 Vox Grand Prix V286

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There's been an interesting conversation about vintage Vox 

guitars in relation to this scary picture in a 2009 post, but it

was before Blogger had all the blog comments wiped off!

We've always been ardent admirers of vintage Vox guitars here at Guitarz - their instruments combined the genius of both British and Italian lutherie! Can you imagine a more dazzling vision than this Vox Grand Prix V286? 

It has everything a guitar lover can expect in a guitar: first a design that combines classicism with killer details - the trademark Vox anti-Fender headstock, the fierce claw-like florentine cutaway, the curved control plate... Then it offers several technical innovations such as a E-tuner, a hand-activated wah, other onboard effects such as a fuzz (labeled distortion but based on the circuit of the Vox Tonebender fuzz), a treble/bass booster and a superb repeat percussion (one of my favorite effects lately).

Onboard effects are really out of fashion nowadays but I have a softspot for them - must have been cool back then to just plug your guitar in your amp and still have a wide array of sounds at hand... There was no reason to be a purist in more innovative times!

Anyway, to help you to really get the point of this guitar, I add a scheme and a demo video - thank you Internet for providing all kind of documentation! And have a look at what instruments the new Vox proposes since a few years, their guitars keep the innovation and the good looks of the origins up to date, and a model like the HDC-77 is high on my wish-list!

:  

Bertram D

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - 10 years and counting!

Vox Mark IX, vintage 9-string electric teardrop guitar

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This isn't just any old Vox teardrop-shaped Mark series guitar. Just check out that headstock. Several manufacturers have dallied with 9-string guitars, that is, guitars with six courses, three of which are doubled. These have taken several forms. I have seen acoustic 9-strings which had the bass strings doubled (I believe Gordon Giltrap used such 9-string guitars), and of course there have been various electric models such as this Vox Mark IX from 1966 which have the higher strings doubled. The intention is to create a 12-string sound on an instrument that is a little easier to handle than a 12-string and on which you could also play lead lines or riffs, power chords or whatever, on the single strings depending on whether they are to the bass or the treble side.

Personally, I'd like to see a 9-string with the B, G and D strings in pairs. This is the way that some studios set up their 12-string guitars and does have a certain logic. The problem with doubling just the three higher strings as on this Vox, is that only the G has an octave string, as the E and B strings are merely doubled up in unison. I know from my own 8-string acoustic that adding octave strings to the middle most courses gives very good results.

The Vox Mark IX was not a particular success story, and examples are very rare. This example, in excellent condition, is currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $3,495.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - 10 years and counting!

What's that guitar that Tom Cullinan from Quickspace is playing?

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James writes:

Hey, I've been following your guitar blog for a long time now and it is great. I check it every day.

I was wondering since you seems like an expert in guitar identification, if you can tell me what guitar is pictured in the attached image? It' the guitar played by Tom Cullinan who played in a band called Quickspace. I've been trying to figure it out for ages. Sorry I couldn't get a better picture.

Your help would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

James.

Hi James, it looks to be a Vox Clubman. This would be an early 1960s, Made in Dartford, Kent, UK, Jennings Musical Industries (JMI) Vox, before guitar production was outsourced to the Eko factory in Italy. If it is anything like the Vox Clubman II that I used to own (the II had a different body shape), then it's a very basic student model with a very thin (approx 1" thick) plywood body, and non-adjustable trussrod in the neck (basically just a neck with a steel bar beneath the fingerboard). From the picture you have supplied, it looks like this example has been modified with tuners moved to both sides of what was once a 6-in-a-line headstock.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - 10 years and counting!

1960s vintage Vox Student Prince

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A 1960s student-model guitar from Vox might sound like a bad idea to some, for early Vox guitars were not exactly known for their high quality in the first place; so, an even inferior model would not, on the face of it, present a very good prospect. However, the back of the headstock of this Vox Student Prince tells us that this is one of the later 1960s Voxs from the period when guitar production was no longer from Dartford, Kent in England, but was outsourced to Italy - most famously with the Eko factory. That would make this unassuming little - almost 1950s-style - guitar a contemporary of the more famous Vox Mark Series, Teardrop and Phantom models.

At first glance it would appear to be an archtop acoustic guitar with a pickup mounted at the end of the fretboard. However, turn the guitar sideways on and you'll see that this guitar does not have a full-depth acoustic body and is more of a thinline. It also has a bolt-on neck which is much more in keeping with the construction of electric guitars, although Eko were known for their bolt-on acoustic guitars such as the Ranger series. Note also there is access for the adjustable trussrod at the end of the fingerboard. The earlier Vox guitars from Dartford did not have adjustable trussrods, just am immobile steel rod embedded beneath the fingerboard for strength (I know this from having changed the fingerboard on an old Vox Clubman II guitar in order to convert it to fretless).

It looks to be in excellent condition for a guitar approximately 45 years old. The sunburst finish looks as good as new, although perhaps with a guitar this shape you'd expect to see some binding but I guess that was left off as befitting the guitar's student status.

This Vox Student Prince in currently listed on eBay (with just over a day left to run on the auction) with a not unreasonable sounding starting price of $395 and no bids at the time of writing.

G L Wilson

EDIT: It didn't sell and has been re-listed.

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

1960s Silvertone "Phantom"-inspired guitar

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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!

Vintage 1960s solidbody electric guitar - but is it a Hofner or a Vox?

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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!

1960s Vox Invader

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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!

1960s Vox Bulldog

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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!

1968 Vox Bossman V265

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Very similar in shape to the previous Klira Lady, this is the Vox Bossman - not as exciting as the Teardrop/Starstream or the Apollo designs, but still sophisticated enough to bear built-in effects - a fuzz and bass/treble boosters...

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!

Unknown Teardrop guitar - not a Vox as far as we know

guitarz.blogspot.com:

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!

1960s Vox Clubman bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:

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!

Vox Teardrop bass for southpaws

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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!