Vox Hawk IV Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1967)
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Item #14040
Vox Hawk IV Model Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1967), made in Recanati, Italy, serial # 374105, white polyester finish, African mahogany body, laminated maple neck with ebony fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
While there are not too many bass guitars we'd describe as "cute," the diminutive Vox Hawk IV certainly qualifies. This later Vox bass design was an evolution of the Panther, itself the Italian-made descendant of the original early-mid 1960s JMI/Vox UK-made student basses. With a small, vaguely Fenderesque body and VERY thin 30" scale neck, the Hawk is extremely handy to play, and though to a full-size player it feels almost toy-like the bass handles very well.
This model also has a super special feature specific to Vox in 1967-8: onboard transistorized effects pioneered by the company in this period. Amazingly even this humble beginner's bass is equipped with a "distortion" circuit, an onboard fuzzbox adjustable from a sizzly buzz to a stunning white noise maelstrom. The rotary Treble-Bass boost is also quite effective, especially in the Bass boost position where it produces enough deep bottom to embarrass a Gibson EB-0! There is also a "G" tuner, more important in the pre-electronic tuner days of 1968 and no longer really working. The battery and circuitry is under a trap hatch on the back covered by a circular pad.
These third generation 1967-68 Eko-made models the nicest of all Vox instruments in terms of build quality and fretwork. Although built to a beginner's price, the Hawk IV maintains this level of workmanship and is a well-designed and quite useful lightweight bass. The single wider-coil Vox bass pickup is set close to the neck and gives an amazingly full tonal response, controlled with volume and tone knobs, and the added active circuit adds another dimension! Designed for young student and teenage garage band use this remains an excellent starter bass, attractive for kids or any player with small hands and even as a knock-around recording bass-with a convenient fuzzbox inside it! With a white Poly body finish, white pickguard and natural finish laminated maple neck this little bass still looks great.
Like most Vox-branded instruments sold in the US, this Hawk was built at the Eko factory in Recanati, Italy for the American distributor, Thomas Organ. Vox's parent company JMI (Jennings Musical Industries) in Dartford, Kent was already overstretched by 1964 supplying Vox amplifiers to the UK and world markets so instead of expanding their meager guitar-making facilities, Jennings outsourced the great bulk of instrument production to the Italian firm.
These Eko-made Vox guitars are more consistent than their English cousins, in many cases better playing instruments. By the time Thomas in California formalized American distribution of JMI's products in 1965, nearly all Vox guitars would be of Italian parentage. They were quite popular in the US at the time and remain cool, very playable relics of their period, always brimming with the 1960s vibe. The Hawk IV is one of the rarer models, only appearing in the 1967 catalog and far less common today than the hollowbody models it was listed alongside. This rare white-finished example remains a very playable piece of Vox history and just a super cool little bass.
Overall length is 42 1/8 in. (107 cm.), 11 3/4 in. (29.8 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 29 3/4 in. (756 mm.). Width of nut is 1 7/16 in. (36 mm.).
This is a nice all-original example of this rare mini-bass, relatively clean and complete. There is some light finish wear overall but less checking than most with some small dings, dents and chips including one larger area of chipped touched-up finish on the tip of the lower body horn. There are thankfully no lamination cracks in the neck which are very common on these Italian-made Voxes. The pickguard has shrunken up noticeably as they all have, with a couple of splits at the lower screws and the bottom rear corner cracked off. It is securely held in place and not causing any problems, although one can just see the tip of the electronics cavity under the bottom edge!
The onboard Fuzz and Treble/Bass boost still work great, the G-tuner has so weak an output as to be useless, but hey that's not where the fun is anyway! The back pad has some fabric wear along the edges. The original frets show almost no wear, the neck is dead straight, and this is a delightful little bass to play, even BEFORE cranking up that always-tempting fuzz! It resides in the original deluxe rectangular Vox HSC, worn but solid. Excellent - Condition.
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While there are not too many bass guitars we'd describe as "cute," the diminutive Vox Hawk IV certainly qualifies. This later Vox bass design was an evolution of the Panther, itself the Italian-made descendant of the original early-mid 1960s JMI/Vox UK-made student basses. With a small, vaguely Fenderesque body and VERY thin 30" scale neck, the Hawk is extremely handy to play, and though to a full-size player it feels almost toy-like the bass handles very well.
This model also has a super special feature specific to Vox in 1967-8: onboard transistorized effects pioneered by the company in this period. Amazingly even this humble beginner's bass is equipped with a "distortion" circuit, an onboard fuzzbox adjustable from a sizzly buzz to a stunning white noise maelstrom. The rotary Treble-Bass boost is also quite effective, especially in the Bass boost position where it produces enough deep bottom to embarrass a Gibson EB-0! There is also a "G" tuner, more important in the pre-electronic tuner days of 1968 and no longer really working. The battery and circuitry is under a trap hatch on the back covered by a circular pad.
These third generation 1967-68 Eko-made models the nicest of all Vox instruments in terms of build quality and fretwork. Although built to a beginner's price, the Hawk IV maintains this level of workmanship and is a well-designed and quite useful lightweight bass. The single wider-coil Vox bass pickup is set close to the neck and gives an amazingly full tonal response, controlled with volume and tone knobs, and the added active circuit adds another dimension! Designed for young student and teenage garage band use this remains an excellent starter bass, attractive for kids or any player with small hands and even as a knock-around recording bass-with a convenient fuzzbox inside it! With a white Poly body finish, white pickguard and natural finish laminated maple neck this little bass still looks great.
Like most Vox-branded instruments sold in the US, this Hawk was built at the Eko factory in Recanati, Italy for the American distributor, Thomas Organ. Vox's parent company JMI (Jennings Musical Industries) in Dartford, Kent was already overstretched by 1964 supplying Vox amplifiers to the UK and world markets so instead of expanding their meager guitar-making facilities, Jennings outsourced the great bulk of instrument production to the Italian firm.
These Eko-made Vox guitars are more consistent than their English cousins, in many cases better playing instruments. By the time Thomas in California formalized American distribution of JMI's products in 1965, nearly all Vox guitars would be of Italian parentage. They were quite popular in the US at the time and remain cool, very playable relics of their period, always brimming with the 1960s vibe. The Hawk IV is one of the rarer models, only appearing in the 1967 catalog and far less common today than the hollowbody models it was listed alongside. This rare white-finished example remains a very playable piece of Vox history and just a super cool little bass.
Overall length is 42 1/8 in. (107 cm.), 11 3/4 in. (29.8 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 29 3/4 in. (756 mm.). Width of nut is 1 7/16 in. (36 mm.).
This is a nice all-original example of this rare mini-bass, relatively clean and complete. There is some light finish wear overall but less checking than most with some small dings, dents and chips including one larger area of chipped touched-up finish on the tip of the lower body horn. There are thankfully no lamination cracks in the neck which are very common on these Italian-made Voxes. The pickguard has shrunken up noticeably as they all have, with a couple of splits at the lower screws and the bottom rear corner cracked off. It is securely held in place and not causing any problems, although one can just see the tip of the electronics cavity under the bottom edge!
The onboard Fuzz and Treble/Bass boost still work great, the G-tuner has so weak an output as to be useless, but hey that's not where the fun is anyway! The back pad has some fabric wear along the edges. The original frets show almost no wear, the neck is dead straight, and this is a delightful little bass to play, even BEFORE cranking up that always-tempting fuzz! It resides in the original deluxe rectangular Vox HSC, worn but solid. Excellent - Condition.
