Vox Spyder IV Hollow Body Electric Bass Guitar (1968)
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Item # 8255
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Vox Spyder IV Model Hollow Body Electric Bass Guitar (1968), made in Recanati, Italy, serial # 401358, sunburst polyester finish, laminated maple body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, original grey hard shell case.
The colorfully named violin-body Spyder IV was one of the final Vox bass designs, a direct descendant of the company's earlier 1966 V-250 "Violin Bass". The "Spyder" and its sister instrument the Astro IV were built with the same arched, f-hole hollow body, but used the newer very narrow neck that Rolling Stone Bill Wyman requested for his namesake teardrop-body model in 1966. By 1968 all Vox basses used this neck design, which is about the slimmest ever fitted to a professional class bass!
The Spyder IV is a pretty far-out take on the Hofner-inspired violin bass and has the typical evolved Vox appointments for 1968: wider-cased metal-covered "Ferro-Sonic" pickups (with more output than the earlier designs) and a *very* large headstock with larger long-stemmed tuners and a giant VOX logo made of individual gold plastic letters. The somewhat muddy orangey-brown sunburst finish on this body was one of several finish options. The electronics are straightforward with a 3-way switch, single volume, and two tone controls. The large chrome tailpiece with a gold VOX logo and the adjustable bridge were standard fittings; the slightly lopsided pickguard with a large plastic fingerrest is specific to this model.
The Spyder IV was the plainer of this set of violin-body instruments, differing from the Astro in not mounting the elaborate onboard transistorized effects that were pioneered by the company in this period. Otherwise they are exactly the same instrument, although oddly this less expensive version seems to be rarer today. These third generation 1967-68 Eko-made models are some of the nicest of all Vox instruments in terms of build quality and fretwork, and this is a fast-playing and good-sounding, if rather eccentrically styled, bass from the company's final '60s line. A distinctive instrument by any standard, this model remains an oddball Vox classic, perhaps, but one with a pedigree!
Overall length is 47 3/4 in. (121.3 cm.), 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 29 1/2 in. (749 mm.). Width of nut is 1 7/16 in. (36 mm.).
This is an all original, very clean bass with only some typical checking to the heavy polyester finish and some small dings and dents here and there. One check on the back treble side edge is deep enough that a bit of finish is flaked off. Other than this, the bass shows only minimal signs of use, the frets show virtually no wear and the neck has none of the common lamination or fingerboard cracks often found on these Eko/Vox creations. Even the oft-missing bridge cover is still intact. An excellent-playing and sounding example of this unmistakable Vox bass, complete in its original oblong case. Excellent Condition.
The colorfully named violin-body Spyder IV was one of the final Vox bass designs, a direct descendant of the company's earlier 1966 V-250 "Violin Bass". The "Spyder" and its sister instrument the Astro IV were built with the same arched, f-hole hollow body, but used the newer very narrow neck that Rolling Stone Bill Wyman requested for his namesake teardrop-body model in 1966. By 1968 all Vox basses used this neck design, which is about the slimmest ever fitted to a professional class bass!
The Spyder IV is a pretty far-out take on the Hofner-inspired violin bass and has the typical evolved Vox appointments for 1968: wider-cased metal-covered "Ferro-Sonic" pickups (with more output than the earlier designs) and a *very* large headstock with larger long-stemmed tuners and a giant VOX logo made of individual gold plastic letters. The somewhat muddy orangey-brown sunburst finish on this body was one of several finish options. The electronics are straightforward with a 3-way switch, single volume, and two tone controls. The large chrome tailpiece with a gold VOX logo and the adjustable bridge were standard fittings; the slightly lopsided pickguard with a large plastic fingerrest is specific to this model.
The Spyder IV was the plainer of this set of violin-body instruments, differing from the Astro in not mounting the elaborate onboard transistorized effects that were pioneered by the company in this period. Otherwise they are exactly the same instrument, although oddly this less expensive version seems to be rarer today. These third generation 1967-68 Eko-made models are some of the nicest of all Vox instruments in terms of build quality and fretwork, and this is a fast-playing and good-sounding, if rather eccentrically styled, bass from the company's final '60s line. A distinctive instrument by any standard, this model remains an oddball Vox classic, perhaps, but one with a pedigree!
Overall length is 47 3/4 in. (121.3 cm.), 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 29 1/2 in. (749 mm.). Width of nut is 1 7/16 in. (36 mm.).
This is an all original, very clean bass with only some typical checking to the heavy polyester finish and some small dings and dents here and there. One check on the back treble side edge is deep enough that a bit of finish is flaked off. Other than this, the bass shows only minimal signs of use, the frets show virtually no wear and the neck has none of the common lamination or fingerboard cracks often found on these Eko/Vox creations. Even the oft-missing bridge cover is still intact. An excellent-playing and sounding example of this unmistakable Vox bass, complete in its original oblong case. Excellent Condition.