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.

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