![]() Generally speaking, it was greeted with sarcasm and derision upon its release, and quickly abandoned by the wiser folks at Vox. It's working fine, but the "music" it makes when its played is somewhat laughable. It's a museum piece, really, and perhaps the greatest oddity in the entire VOX catalog. This is not an instrument one really "plays". I played it once, and put it away for 30 years. This ULTRA-RARE instrument was previously owned by FRED FRITH. It's been in storage since I acquired it from Fred in 1985. ![]() PINK FLOYD used it to great effect on their classic song INTERSTELLAR OVERDRIVE. The second one went to BRIAN JONES of the Rolling Stones, who also declined to endorse it. The first one Vox made went to the JOHN LENNON, apparently in the hopes that he would agree to endorse it, but Lennon declined to do so. Very few of these Vox oddities still exist today. So.this is a white 1966 VOX GUITORGAN (or " Guitar Organ", or PHANTOM GUITAR ORGAN) Model # V251 manufactured in the U.K. Crazy, right? The neck & body of this guitar actually contains much of the guts of a Vox organ. Then the crazy people at Vox decided to add an organ to it. 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.The origins of this highly unusual instrument begin with the highly coveted VOX PHANTOM Guitar. 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. 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. 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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