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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!
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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!
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!
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© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - 10 years and counting!
Such a beautiful guitar...
ReplyDeleteHell yeah, demonstration by Chris Jack from The Routes!
Especially for Bertram, here's the transcript of the comments from that previous post:
ReplyDeleteWed, 23 Dec 2009 18:24:13 +0000
Andy S
Some Google searching tells me Fleagle plays a Streamliner!
http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2008/Jan/_60s_VOX_Streamliner.aspx
As for the other one I'd be scared to play it!
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:46:37 +0000
Kevin
What is that triangular thing behind the bridge (it looks kind of like a bottle opener)?
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:19:02 +0000
G L Wilson
I do believe that's a palm-operated wah-wah.
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:03:53 +0000
Kevin
I didn't know such a thing existed. Doesn't sound too practical.
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:26:14 +0000
bertram
are the banana splits something that us from the continent should know about?
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:49:05 +0000
G L Wilson
Blimey! I thought the Banana Splits had international currency.
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:32:44 +0000
Andy S
Maybe your too young to remember them Bertram.
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:02:34 +0000
bertram
how could one forget this horrific vision (did they perform in these costumes)?
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:06:45 +0000
G L Wilson
It was a kids TV show in the early 1970s. The characters in the costumes mainly appeared in slapstick-style sketches as links between several cartoons. They also "played" a couple of songs in film sequences, but you can guarantee these were recorded by session musicians. They weren't a live act!
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:48:20 +0000
bertram
didn't have a TV when a kid - still don't! but I don't think this was ever aired in france...
Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:45:50 +0000
bertram
anyway, they have cool guitars, don't they?
is the hollow florentine a Vox Apollo?
Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:47:50 +0000
celestinocamicia
The red one is a Vox Grand Prix! Here is how it sounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-_OTWvznuw
Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:41:41 +0000
Andy S
Don't care about the actual date I like just because it looks old. Love the key like tuners.
Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:55:55 +0000
Matt-D6
It's hard to tell from the photos, but the f-holes ( to 'me' ) don't appear to have any more depth than the relief ( crudely ) chiseled out for the pick-up? As in they are purely cosmetic. There is a 'possibility' it's date is genuine in that the cut-out for the pup and the pup itself don't seem to be to scale. Perhaps another pup had been in place previously? Given the seller isn't asking all that much, I'll refrain from my usual "forgery claim" but I'm not going to label it as a "very expensive doorstop" either.
Testament to the ingenuity we 'used' to find so commonplace. Let he who has not put together a Heathkit amplifier with a borrowed soldering gun ( or cobbled an amp together from scratch? ) cast the first stone!
thanks gavin!
DeleteWow, that Hand Wah thing is insane! As Bertram notes on-board guitar effects are very out of fashion these days, it's probably a dark conspiracy between Roland/Boss and a cabal of Boutique Pedal makers (the Stompbox Illuminati, perhaps?). The funny thing is, with the exception of a 90s Danelectro model whose name escapes me, the current crop of guitars that sport onboard effects are the super expensive Gibson Darkfire, Dusk Tiger, Firebird X monstrosities and to a more limited degree modelling guitars like the Fender VG strat, and the Variax Guitars all of which have been interesting concepts but none so compelling and/or affordable enough for me to get.
ReplyDelete