Here it is, the lovely Teardrop...

I have this guitar since 1994 and my thoughts haven't changed: this really is state-of-the-art design. I'll never be objective with this axe. I've wanted one so much it could be the worst guitar ever made I would still claim it to be the best...

For those of you who haven't already, I recommend reading "The Vox Story" by David Petersen and Dick Denney for more info about Vox gear. According to them, this semi-Mark VI dates from around 1966.

Its tear-shaped body is now a true legend and a piece of art from the sixties era. When someone comes in the room where my guitars and all of my stuff are, it is the first thing they notice...

I have bought this guitar in England near Manchester. I was looking for a StarstreamVI (due to my huge love of Spacemen3's sound) but had'nt been able to locate one. Note that I did a three-day trip in England with my dad's car only to buy this guitar! I slept in the car, ate in the car (it was beginning to smell very bad when I came back!) because it was too rainy and I only had enough money to buy a guitar, not to eat or sleep elsewhere! I even took food from France! I've never regretted it.

 

 

Look at this body...the sunburst is marvelous and I'm not sure the '59LesPauls have a so much flamed top!!

 

I have noticed a really interesting detail: this is a UK-made MkVI; the american ones (Italian) I see on Ebay or on some records (like the Pandoras) have a shorter pickguard...

Details. There is one thing missing on this guitar; it's the absolute end of the tremolo bar. Don't know what happened.

Chrome is everywhere, and in good order. The bridge is good, too.

Detail of the head. I know the guitar hadn't this name on the US market, because of the "spitfire" being another guitar, a sort of Vox Stratocaster..

I found the machine heads to be good...

The trussrod cover is on the head, as opposite to the older guitars which had it on the body.

Back of the head detail.

A cool array of six Vox machine heads and the writing: "Made in England".

Sometime ago, a friend of mine told me he really found this guitar beautiful except the head. Wow! Come on! I love this spear, lance-type head!

Wow! Psychedelic visions nearby!

My pickup selector seems not to be original...

The neck has the later block inlays, rather than the Dot...

Three angular pickups and three controls: Tone for the neck one, tone for the middle one and volume for all!

 

 

Here is a back view, showing the paddle. There is the neckplate, with the serial number.

Needless to say, I believe this guitar has its own feeling. It is hard to play, and impossible to play while on a chair or anything. But, it has a unique voice. I never heard a guitar sounding like this, and I'm serious. It sounds a bit like a Banjo...It has very few sustain but when overdriven gives a big boomy sound I love. I found the combination of this guitar and an AC30 to be fantastic; I can get ultra-rich rythm tones and good controlled feedback. But that's mainly because the AC30 is good at anything, maybe. It is not a good guitar with my Fender amp (although I've played it through a modern Fender, a Blues DeVille, and made one of my best recording this night). Put a fuzz on it and it will be heaven (well, a good rich creamy fuzz, not a super-trebly one); in this case, the guitar has some guts I can't find elsewhere: raw, raw, raw sound! I believe the flute-shaped body is one of the reasons for this; the mediums are magnificent while the treble real sweet.

Well, this guitar is in a class of its own. I LOVE IT.

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The Vox Spitfire MarkVI page.