Back in the sixties Vox-branded guitars ruled the scene. Famous not only for their models but also those music legends who used them.

In 1998, two designs were reissued. Both were used by rock band members like Brian Jones of The Stones and Ian Curtis of Joy Division.

“It’s the sort of instrument that could become a real workhorse.”

The two designs: The classic Teardrop Mark VI and the Phantom VI, has a tiny resemblance to the old models. Both have new features that are fascinating and impressive. But even though they are included in the Virage trademark along with the Series 33 models that are modestly priced, Model 77 and 55 series are expected to have the right mixture of the best modern design with a much cheap prices that will not make buyers to turn their heads away.

As of the moment only Series 55 has the two designs available: double and the single-cut design. While the Series 77 only have one which is the double-cutaway design.

Rich Lasner gathered a considered crack team to come up with the models for the Vox Guitars. They are Ibanez Hoshino, Steve Vai’s of JEM. Eric Kirkland and Bob McDonald.

All Solid, single-cut body model with a transparent finish, ash-top solid Mahogany. It may lack the slightly the 3-D contouring level of the Series 77 but is it a very concrete instrument.

“From the design perspective the body contouring is quite similar, although the 77 has a fully arched back instead of the bevelled back of the 55. In manufacturing, the 55 is all cut from solid, instead of the laminated top and back of the 77,” says Kirkland.

All modern Vox electrics feature the company’s own design CoAxe pickups. Neither a single-coil nor humbucker in the traditional sense, the design incorporates a central row of pole-pieces encased in a high-impedance coil that’s flanked by two blades. The entire construction is then surrounded by a low-impedance winding, which cancels the hum.
“The basic idea is that the coils are coaxial: they’re on the same plane, not stacked,” Kirkland tells us. “The advantage is that the centre sensing coil can work like a true single-coil and the outer, noise-cancelling coil is outside the magnetic field, between the central poles and the blades.

Coils are coaxial meaning they are on the same plane not stacked. Its advantage is that the center sensing coil can work like a true single-coil. While the outer noise-cancelling coils is between the pole and the blades. Where it is outside the magnetic field.

“Being outside the field allows the noise-cancelling coil to have relatively low impedance, so it doesn’t take any of the sparkle away in the clean or crunch modes. Both the centre sensing coil and the outer noise-cancelling coil are tapped, so we can offer a good range of noise-free tone.”

There are three option available for each pickups, these are clean, crunch and dirty. These three options are sometimes called single-coil, P-90 and humbucker.

A standard three-way toggle for pick up selection is also included for the guitar’s electrics. There are also another two of this three-way toggle switches for independent selection for the three modes.

The Series 33 is way cheaper compared to the Series 55. It is only under  £300.

What comprise the Series 33 as to the Series 55? It has a single master mode switch, two modes: clean and lead. The headstock and the fingerboard are both unbounded. The positions are marked by dots. As for the Series 55, it has a mode switch for each pickup with three available modes. Fingerboards and headstock are bounded and the position is marked in wave inlays.