![]() If your feeling nostalgic, or are a fan of early Beatles or Rolling Stones recordings, this would be a great guitar to own. It's a very fun guitar to play with that unmistakeable early 60's "British Tone" and total Beatles vibe. The frets have a lot of life left with a few minor wear spots in the cowboy chord positions, but nothing that interferes with play. The pickups sound like the early Beatles or Stones recordings. The guitar plays great all the way up and down the neck. I rewired the controls to be a little more useable, more like a Stratocaster. Theses were originally wired up in some kind of reverse Italian logic fashion that made the controls turn backwards, very non intuitive and barely useable. The original pick guards on these guitars tended to shrink quite a bit with time and usually self destructed leaving behind very few original condition Vox Phantoms. The only non original part is the pick guard which I had custom made to the exact specs of the original, including the "Vox Phantom VI" logo engraving. It is in nearly all original condition including the neck, tuners, pickups, frets, tremolo, bridge, pots, knobs, switch and wiring. ![]() Having said this, there are a lot worse guitars out there, and as well as being historically important, the 1820 bass can certainly provide the goods when required.This 1966 Vox Phantom is in remarkable condition considering its age. Over the course of the 70s, the Japanese output improved dramatically, and in many ways these early 70s models are a low point for the brand. These new Epiphones were based on existing Matsumoku guitars, sharing body shapes, and hardware, but the Epiphone line was somewhat upgraded, with inlaid logos and a 2x2 peghead configuration. The Matsumoku factory had been producing guitars for export for some time, but the 1820 bass (alongside a number of guitar models and the 5120 electric acoustic bass) were the first Epiphone models to be made there. Other electric models include: HOFNER ELECTRICS: Committee, Verithin 66, Ambassador, President, Senator, Galaxie, HOFNER BASSES: Violin bass, Verithin bass, Senator bass, Professional bass GIBSON ELECTRICS: Barney Kessel, ES-330TD, ES-335TD, ES-345TD, ES-175D, ES-125CD, SG Standard, SG Junior, SG Special GIBSON BASSES: EB-0, EB-2, EB-3 - plus a LOT of acoustics branded Gibson, Hofner, Selmer and Gianniniīy the end of the 1960s, a decision had been made to move Epiphone guitar production from the USA (at the Kalamazoo plant where Gibson guitars were made), to Matsumoto in Japan, creating a line of guitars and basses significantly less expensive than the USA-built models (actually less than half the price). This catalogue saw the (re-)introduction of the late sixties Gibson Les Paul Custom and Les Paul Standard (see page 69) and the short-lived Hofner Club 70. The Vox Phantom XII featured a unique five-sided body shape with three pickups in a twelve-string arrangement. Selmer were the exclusive United Kingdom distributors of Hofner and Gibson at the time, and this catalogue contains a total of 18 electric guitars, 7 bass guitars, 37 acoustics, and 2 Hawaiian guitars - all produced outside the UK and imported by Selmer, with UK prices included in guineas. Vox made guitars in Italy and England between 1961 - 1969 (and later in Asia and the US) after developing their brand with effects and amps. Scan of 1968/1969 Selmer guitar catalogue (printed July 1968), showing the entire range of electric and acoustic guitars distributed by the company: guitars by Hofner, Gibson, Selmer and Giannini. ![]()
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