With ‘Beatlemania’ and the ‘British Invasion’ firmly underway, Vox needed a US distributor for it’s products. Enter the Thomas Organ Company. This 1965 Vox guitar and amp catalogue was the first issued by the Thomas Organ company for the US market. It features a few Italian-made guitars, as well as a lot of British made ones. In contrast, the next catalogue features almost exclusively Italian instruments.

Details, images and sound clips of the Hagstrom 12, solid body electric twelve string. Also known as the F-12S in the United States. There are obvious similarities to the Hagstrom II and Hagstrom III, but without the Hagstrom tremolo. All have the famous Hagstrom low action, and fast-playing neck.

The Vox Bassmaster was one of numerous early Vox guitars styled, at least vaguely, on Fender instruments. As an entry level bass it wasn’t bad. It had a very thin neck, and along with it’s short, 30″ scale, made an ideal students bass. It was British made, but a forerunner to later Italian models. Have a look at a 1963 Vox Bassmaster, and a 1965 Vox Bassmaster, with sound clips.

The Gibson SG came in several varieties; and the Special is a typical 60s Gibson in many ways. Naturally, it has a mahogany body with a set mahogany neck, in true Gibson style. The pickups are typical Gibson single coil P90s, and the control layout, too, is classic Gibson. Have a closer look, or check out the SG Special soundclips of this guitar, through various vintage amps.

A closer look at a 1979 Gibson ES-175D. By the late 1970s, the ES-175D had followed the path of most Gibson guitars and changed it’s mahogany neck, in favour of a maple neck with volute. It didn’t last long, and the neck was again mahogany by 1983. Details of the changes in the ES-175D over time are detailed in the ES-175 timeline.

Details of this sixties hollowbody, with two new photosets: a 1962 ES-125TC and a 1966 ES-125TC. The ES-125TC was a thinline version of the ES-125, only available from 1960 until 1970, changing very little in that time. Gibson shipped over 5000 of them in that time (and another 5000 two-pickup versions, the ES-125TDC).

Details, images and sound clips of the Hagstrom III solid body electric. Also known as the H3, and in the United States, the F300. There are obvious similarities to a Fender Stratocaster, but this guitar does have it’s own character: in feel, playability and tone. Hagstrom made some very nice guitars!

Details and images of the VOX Ultrasonic XII V275. The Ultrasonic XII was a late sixties Vox twelve string based on the six string Ultrasonic V268. Both had the same built-in electronic effects: distortion, wah-wah, repeater and treble/bass boost (listen to Ultrasonic sound clips). Differences between the two models are very subtle; really just a different headstock shape to accomodate the extra strings. This is one of the late sixties Vox guitars made at the E.M.E factory in Recanati, in Italy, primarily for export to the American market.

Vox guitar and bass pickups of the 1960s were all of relatively simple single-coil design. The first produced were British-made, and these appeared on all the early British models: The Clubman bass, the Bassmaster, and the Phantom bass. Later models were made in Italy, along with the guitars themselves, and these were largely for the American market, under the distribution of the Thomas Organ company.

This interesting guitar tuition book featuring the Shadows, is peppered with Vox guitar and amp images. The Shadows themselves used Fender guitars and Vox Amps, but the then-new Vox Phantom guitars and Phantom bass feature prominently. There are also advertisements for a selection of British-built Vox guitars, the Consort, Dominator, Super Ace and Clubman bass. This book is undated, though most likely from 1963.