68'  VOX V272 SIDEWINDER IV  BASS Cherry Red. Various nicks, dents & dings; scratches & heavy weather checking/cracking in the finish. Overall the bass has a cool look to it with an authentic vintage vibe & beautiful patina. 1 7/16" nut width with zero fret; 30" scale length. Neck is straight & truss rod functions properly. Dual single coils with large black bezels. Master volume & dual tone controls with 3-way toggle switch. On/Off switches for G Tuner, Treble/Bass Boost & Distortion. Level control knobs for Booster & Distortion. Effects are operated by a 9-volt battery housed inside the body. All electronics are in good working condition. No original cover retro body battery. code BA631

1968 Vox Sidewinder IV hollowbody bass in excellent, 100% original condition and in good working order. Produced at the Eko factory in Italy for Vox, this very rare bass was only manufactured from 1967-68 and sports a pair of Vox's"Ferro-Sonic" pickups as well as onboard Fuzz and Treble/Bass Booster circuits. The best part is that these onboard effects still work exactly as they should, with a robust, sizzling fuzz tone that conjures up the best psychedelic rock. Add the Boost circuit on top for all out sonic bliss, or use the Boost on its own to punch up the already very round and deep tones from the hollow body. This bass is also particularly lightweight at a mere 7lbs 14oz with its distinctive EB-2.The neck has a medium C shaped profile that stays consistent in both depth and fretboard width as you move up the neck, playing comfortably and fretting easily. The Brazilian rosewood fretboard has original fretwire which shows sparingly little wear, with only light, uniform wear on the fret crowns from frets 1-4 with virtually no wear further up the neck. The nut width should be comfortable to any Jazz Bass player at 1 1/2", and the scale length is a manageable 30". Other tonally meaningful features include a lightweight aluminum nut and zero fret. The oversized headstock retains the original raised Vox logo with stock jumbo tuning machines that turn smoothly and hold pitch well. The small "Made in Italy by Vox" lettering is also still clearly visible on the backside of the headstock and there's notable figuring in the maple on the headstock as well. On the body, the electronics work as they should and despite the array of controls, this bass is very easy and intuitive to dial in to your personal tastes. The Boost and Fuzz are powered by a fresh 9V battery which is concealed beneath a plastic cover under the original padded, snap on cushion. The Fuzz in particular has a very nasty, raucous tone, with a buzzsaw roar that will feedback in a perfect old school Shoegaze fashion. Naturally if you roll off the volume just a touch, the Fuzz behaves nicely and blends very well with the clean signal for a tone that's a good balance between the natural tone of the pickups and the silicone Fuzz circuit. The Boost also helps shape the Fuzz and the bass' overall tone, proving quite useful for a primitive active EQ!

The design of the V272 Sidewinder IV bass was doubtlessly influenced by the growing popularity of the Gibson EB-2 bass in the late 1960s. The 1968 US Vox catalog described the Sidewinder IV bass as follows: "A brilliant all new 4-string double cutaway electric acoustic bass guitar. Has built in G tuner, distortion booster, treble and bass booster. All new easy-to-fret fast-neck with the Vox double T-bar and adjustable steel rod. Two exclusive VOX Ferro-Sonic pickups. Fully adjustable bridge. One volume, two tone controls, 3-position pickup selector switch. Jumbo chrome plated machine heads. Sunburst or Cherry."  The 1968 US Vox price list indicated that the retail price of the Sidewinder IV was $375 USD.

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