![]() The bass versions were adapted straight from JMI’s guitar pickups (which were based on Strat pickups) with four larger magnet poles. ![]() The Symphonic Bass kept its early V1 pickups until 1964/’65 a year earlier, the Phantom had been given improved V2 pickups with individual string magnets. Independent fine tuning bridge, units are built into the tailpiece unit. Full contoured body, slender reinforced adjustable neck. ![]() Its smooth styling makes this 6nstrument attractive and elegant. ![]() The 1963/’64 Vox catalog described the Symphonic as “An electric bass in the modern style. Controls were two Volume knobs and a master Tone, like the Jazz. In the mid ’60s (when basses were expected to be thumpier), this could be perceived as an advantage. This gives the bass an arguably greater range of sound than the Jazz Bass, with its second pickup by the bridge. The most-original piece of design is the two pickups – one middle position, the second near the fretboard. The Symphonic has features from both the Precision Bass and Jazz Bass. distributor, JMI had plenty of opportunity to study them in detail even the distinctive Phantom and Teardrop models had a structural design and hardware plainly derived from Leo’s ideas. Like the Soundcaster guitar, this curiously warped copy had an “almost but not quite” appearance, with subtle deviations from the Precision’s lines. The Symphonic Bass first appeared in England in late ’62 (shortly after the Phantom IV) as JMI/Vox’s second “professional” four-string with a (very) Fender-like body and 34″ scale. name – the Symphonic Bass – and even Fender dealers had to squint at the illustration to see the instrument wasn’t one of theirs. In that catalog, it was called the Stingray Bass earlier literature used its original U.K. There’s little further evidence of how this progressed, but for the next few years it didn’t keep Thomas from enjoying a windfall with Vox, though it did remove one instrument from the U.S. With CBS’ corporate money flowing, Don Randall announced, “No longer will Fender try to stop imitators by amicable negotiations.” “So can you.”įender could ignore this when JMI distribution was confined to the U.K., but not after SoCal-based Thomas Organ began aggressively promoting Vox in the U.S. “The top Beat Groups have made a lot of money with Vox,” Thomas crassly announced to potential dealers. The same issue (a NAMM convention special) partly illustrated why in a bound-in Thomas Organ ad/catalog trumpeting Vox as “The Million Dollar Sound – the sound of money.” Besides Beatles-endorsed amps, Vox guitars were heavily featured, many looking like Bizarro World Fenders. A report in the June ’65 Musical Merchandise Review included the headline “Fender Files Infringement Suits” and detailed action in a federal district court with the defendant listed as the Thomas Organ Company, which for a year had been U.S. Rick Huxley of the Dave Clark 5 with a ’64 Symphonic. One time it did happen was triggered by the Vox Symphonic Bass. Despite the way collectors and dealers freely apply the term “lawsuit guitars,” documented examples are few.
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