Vox Wyman

[chromium]

Nice score on the Vox!  Always wanted a Constellation, but probably won't ever happen at current day prices...

Oh, and there's this as well:

http://elderly.com/vintage/items/55U-5069.htm

[Aussie Mark]

The Vox has arrived, and yes, the neck is ridiculously skinny.  When I joined the Stones tribute band I managed to adapt to playing short scale basses and the 24 fret crampedness of a Dan Armstrong reissue, so I'll be able to live with playing this one too I guess.  I haven't plugged her in yet (have relatives from interstate staying with us for Christmas) but will do so over the next couple of days.  The neck seems pretty good and it plays quite well unplugged.  I was very surprised the see there is a truss rod wheel adjuster at the body end of the neck, similar to Musicman basses.  That's pretty rad for 1966.

[dadagoboi]

I was very surprised the see there is a truss rod wheel adjuster at the body end of the neck, similar to Musicman basses.

The wheel on my early 70s Italian Phantom IV went round and round and did nothing, hope you have better luck with yours!

[Chris P.]

Isn't the truss rod wheel a Burns invention?

[Dave W]

My Italian Vox violin bass had the pencil neck and the truss rod wheel. It worked.

Isn't the truss rod wheel a Burns invention?

IIRC Burns was first, and their wheel turned a gear, like the later Gretsches. The Vox may not work that way. It may just be a conventional rod with a wheel that acts as a nut.

[mc2NY]

WOW!! What a bunch of Vox haters ( ya bastards!!)

I played a Vox Constellation teardrop (like a Wyman but with all the onboard effects) for maybe 5 years exclusively, during my progrock days and into punk/new wave period. Yeah, pencil thin neck.

I actually owned two identical ones in the Trans Wine finish. I loved the bass and still own it decades later....probably because I played so many gigs and sessions with it. My spare got knocked over by someone during sets while I was backstage and cracked the neck, so I sold it.

Using it full-time, I found the pickups weak,and the tuning machines not that great. I had the House of Guitars  tech install Schallers and a pair of Model Ones on it back then. I recall him trying to talk me out of modding it, since it was mint and rare...but I had him do it and make me some custom wooden rings that would allow me to reverse it and put it back to stock, which I never did.

The bass was incredible with the Model Ones and made me develop my use of sustain and controlled feedback live, due to the hollow body. I really loved the bass and got a great sound out of it both live and in the studio.
You just could never sit down with the teardrop shape.

I also later bought a sunburst Constellation IV as a spare and left it stock.

Also have a pair of matching Constellation 12-strings, which are killer. Changed the tuners to mini-Schallers on my main player. EVERY Ric 12 player who has heard it has asked to play it and then has asked to buy it...it's that good. It has the treble boost onboard circuit that Roger Mcguinn had custom wired into his Ric 12 to make it sound good and give him that now famous "Byrds 12 string sound." Which is why everyone loves the way my Vox sounds....and the Vox neck is waaaay nicer than a Ric 12.

But yeah....some of those other Vox models can be dogs!!  Ya gotta know the good ones from the bad ones.

[chromium]

^^
Beautiful Constellation!  Bet your modified one roared with the Dimarzios.

[Chris P.]

I only hate the very narrow necks. I tried the original Vox of Janneke of Dutch band the Deaf wit a Fender-ish neck and I love it:





Spike of the Deaf has two copies made by a Dutch Luthier:

[Thornton Davis]

As long as we're posting photos of our Vox teardrops. My 1968 Stinger IV.



TD

[Rob]

NICE!!!!

[Aussie Mark]

I finally had time today to plug it in and give it a whirl. The neck plays really well despite being ridiculously skinny - it's too skinny for my gorilla hands to play finger style, so I'll have to get used to playing with a pick again whenever I use this in the Stones tribute (and it's more authentic that way too, I suppose).

The non-stock Strat pickup at the neck sounds surprisingly good - big and tubby like an EB-2 or Rivoli, with the tone control giving it quite a bit of bite when dimed. The bridge pickup is very weak, so the pickups are not balanced well at all. I've ordered an Allparts 4 pole single coil and will play around with various combinations of the pickups once it arrives.

Overall, I'm happy with it for the price I paid - all I need it for is a stage prop that is playable and sounds ok .. and it is all of those.

[Aussie Mark]

The neck is skinny ... but it works.  I played with a pick at a gig for the first time in more than 25 years last weekend ....

[mc2NY]

I found a shot of my Vox Constellation teardrop with the Model Ones added....Schallers too. My first "collection."

This made is a great bass. I used this thing as my main bass for maybe six years. Recorded great and stayed in tune. Once I got used to how to control and use the sustain/feedback on tight stages, it became an added sonic tool.

Still have both the teardrops in the pic.  The Alembic looking bass was custom built for me by Ryan Brodesser, a builder outside of Rochester, NY. The Fender Bass VI is a 2/63, if I recall. Sold it to Entwistle in the 80s. Same one Sotheby's auctioned off after he passed.

The banjo burned up in a house fire but you can see why I sometimes mention I incorporate a "banjo claw" style in some bass runs.