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The Vox Astro IV Bass was offered in the 1967 "Vox, It's Whats Happening" and the 1968 "The Sound That Travels With the Stars" catalogs. A color reprint of either of these catalogs is available at North Coast Music. This bass featured a number of onboard battery operated special effects. The styling of the Vox Astro IV was obviously inspired by the Hofner Beatle Bass, popularized by Paul McCartney of the Beatles.
The 1968 US Vox catalog described the Astro IV bass as follows:
"An electric acoustic bass guitar with the popular violin shape body. 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. Has two exclusive VOX Ferro-Sonic pickups. Fully adjustable bridge. One volume, two tone controls, 3-position pickup selector switch. Has jumbo chrome plated machine heads. Sunburst, Cherry, or Sandburst."
The 1968 US Vox price list indicated that the retail price of the Astro IV was $395 USD. In 2011 dollars, the Astro IV would retail for about $2500.
The Panther Bass was produced for Vox in Italy by EKO in Recanati Italy. A decal on the back of each bass states: "Made in Italy for Vox."
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