Vox Ultrasonic restoration - IT'S HERE!

[GAZINGUK]

Yeah, that's a great deal!!

By the way, the bridge is supposed to be loose. It's just held in place by the spring tension & won't move a millimetre, once it's strung up & tuned.

Even the wooden mount thing...? That's what fell off with the birdge attached.

[GAZINGUK]

Whaaaaaat?! How the hell did you get this mega score!!!

(BTW where do I find the serial number?)

Yeah I know.... just luck, I knew someone that had one for sale since last year in Maine. It didn't sell and I wasn't sure if I could get it here, but everything worked out. I managed to do a deal, it was just a case of right place, right time really. A set of Carvin AP-6 pickups were installed in the guitar, but the original ferro sonic set was in the case along with the instructions. I've put the originals back in today. Oh and I also have the original keys for the Vox case too. Very cool!

[GAZINGUK]

Congrats, I mean!

HaHa!!

[PorkyPrimeCut]

Yeah, that's a great deal!!

By the way, the bridge is supposed to be loose. It's just held in place by the spring tension & won't move a millimetre, once it's strung up & tuned.

Even the wooden mount thing...? That's what fell off with the birdge attached.

Yep. Both pieces are effectively loose until the strings are tightened.

I know exactly how you'll have felt though. The same thing happened to me when I bought my old '59 ES-125T. I couldn't wait to get new strings on it & when the last old one was loose the fucking bridge fell off. WHAT THE FUCK?? NOOOO!!!!!?

I think I actually asked about it on this very forum..

A little piece of double-sided tape wouldn't hurt, once you have it correctly lined up.

[ohm-men]

Hey Pat, great looking project.
I "might" have an original bridge cover of an Italian made Ultrasonic buried somewhere in my parts bin...

[Pacafeliz]

Hey Pat, great looking project.
I "might" have an original bridge cover of an Italian made Ultrasonic buried somewhere in my parts bin...

Thanks man!
Still looking for the bridge though.
Bought the Amazon one for now, sending her off to the repair guy next week. We'll see if it works or if I need another thing...

[PorkyPrimeCut]

...Still looking for the bridge though...

Have you seen there's an EKO Facebook group? That and the Vox one could be good places to ask around.

[solfege]

Arch top bridges are held in place by string tension. You might want to mark where it is before you restring, with some tape or something, but you want it resting on the wood of the top, but not attached in any way.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

Damn, it's echoey in here!

[GAZINGUK]

Yeah, that's a great deal!!

By the way, the bridge is supposed to be loose. It's just held in place by the spring tension & won't move a millimetre, once it's strung up & tuned.

Even the wooden mount thing...? That's what fell off with the birdge attached.

Yep. Both pieces are effectively loose until the strings are tightened.

I know exactly how you'll have felt though. The same thing happened to me when I bought my old '59 ES-125T. I couldn't wait to get new strings on it & when the last old one was loose the fucking bridge fell off. WHAT THE FUCK?? NOOOO!!!!!?

I think I actually asked about it on this very forum..

A little piece of double-sided tape wouldn't hurt, once you have it correctly lined up.

HaHa that's what I did too! I didn't know that was what was meant by a floating bridge. I just thought it was the bit at the top that wobbled. That's funny!

I talked to my tech via e-mail today and he is going to tape the bridge, he suggested putting some pins in it, but I don't want to damage the body so I'm not letting him go that route.

The serial number on mine is 375058, does that mean it was made before the guitars on this thread? Also, the Made in Italy by Vox logo has rubbed off the back of the headstock, but I can see the outline of the print in the lacquer when I move the guitar in the light.

Does anyone know why some Vox guitars don't have the trussrod seams running down the back of the neck and some do? Mine does not and if it was made before some of the instruments on this forum, does that mean they changed the way they made the necks later in the production run?

PorkyPrimeCut I have a quick question for you too, what guage of strings do you use to keep the floating bridge in place since yours is all setup and working?

[PorkyPrimeCut]

PorkyPrimeCut I have a quick question for you too, what guage of strings do you use to keep the floating bridge in place since yours is all setup and working?

The last time I strung the guitar up with new strings I used leftovers. They were most likely Pyramid 10s. Definitely nothing higher. You'll be fine with any gauge though, I reckon. It doesn't take a huge amount of tension to hold the bridge securely in place.

Another thing to point out though...my guitar's a 12 string so the neck, which is strung up as a 6 string, is a completely different feel & profile. More like a 50s Gibson. A really comfortable, wider, flat-backed D shape. I'm sure it utilises the same truss-rod shape though & doubt it's constructed differently, even though there's probably more tension, when fully strung up.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

Does anyone know why some Vox guitars don't have the trussrod seams running down the back of the neck and some do? Mine does not and if it was made before some of the instruments on this forum, does that mean they changed the way they made the necks later in the production run?

I can't answer this but there are folk over on this Facebook group who might be able to help you. I'm happy to ask on your behalf, if you don't use Facebook.

[GAZINGUK]

PorkyPrimeCut I have a quick question for you too, what guage of strings do you use to keep the floating bridge in place since yours is all setup and working?

The last time I strung the guitar up with new strings I used leftovers. They were most likely Pyramid 10s. Definitely nothing higher. You'll be fine with any gauge though, I reckon. It doesn't take a huge amount of tension to hold the bridge securely in place.

Another thing to point out though...my guitar's a 12 string so the neck, which is strung up as a 6 string, is a completely different feel & profile. More like a 50s Gibson. A really comfortable, wider, flat-backed D shape. I'm sure it utilises the same truss-rod shape though & doubt it's constructed differently, even though there's probably more tension, when fully strung up.

Ah... okay, well the old strings on mine felt like a set of .10s, but I wasn't sure if it would require more tension. DR .10 - .46 Pure Blues it is! I've never tried Pyramid strings although I have heard good things about them. I was going to buy a set of their Nickel Classics last week, but the .10s were out of stock in most places unless I brought them over from Germany. I needed a set last week and couldn't wait, so I'll try some next time.

[GAZINGUK]

Does anyone know why some Vox guitars don't have the trussrod seams running down the back of the neck and some do? Mine does not and if it was made before some of the instruments on this forum, does that mean they changed the way they made the necks later in the production run?

I can't answer this but there are folk over on this Facebook group who might be able to help you. I'm happy to ask on your behalf, if you don't use Facebook.

I don't use Facebook anymore, so if you want to ask then great thanks for the offer, if not don't worry it's okay! I prefer this guitar without the seams, IMO it looks a bit better and more like a Fender neck which is cool! Mine is original and correct for this Ultrasonic. In the past I've seen some others for sale without the seams, but not many, so I found it interesting that Vox/Eko changed this aspect of the guitar. I'm guessing that it was for production speed. Here's the back of my guitar:



As I stated above, the back of the headstock did have the Made in Italy by Vox logo on it, but it has rubbed off. I can see the outline of the print in the lacquer when I move the guitar in the light, but it's hard to take a photo of it.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

So, your serial number - 375058 - is after mine - 356512 - and before Pat's - 406899.

I'm not sure how accurate these numbers are & this could easily be a case, like Fender, of the plates being mass-produced & picked out of a bucket, when needed. Mine's missing but I see most of these Italian made Vox guitars have the model name printed on a sticker that's affixed to the neck plate.

I'll ask about the different neck construction now...