Vox Bobcat S90 Bigsby Guitar - 2021
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Vox offered an incredible assortment of guitars during the mid to late 1960s. In addition to producing guitars that were unmistakenly their own design such as the Phantom and Teardrop, Vox also offered guitars that resembled popular models produced by Fender and Gibson. The original V219 Vox Bobcat was clearly a Gibson knockoff.
During this time frame, Vox contracted with Crucianelli and Eko in Italy to produce their semi-acoustic models. While a majority of Bobcat production came from Eko, a Bobcat produced by Crucianelli, with it's characteristic "bat wing" pickguard, can be seen in the 1966 Thomas Vox catalog.
The semi-acoustic, double bound body of the 1960's era V219 Vox Bobcat by Eko had a thick poly finish. The original Bobcat had three single coil pickups with black rectangular plastic covers and a kidney shaped pickguard with an engraved "Vox Bobcat" inscription. It also featured a hinged vibrato tailpiece, a three position pickup selector switch and four rotary controls with knurled aluminum control knobs. The bolt-on, removable neck featured Eko open-gear tuning machines. The neck included the Eko exclusive "Double T" aluminum extrusion plus an adjustable truss rod. A vertical Vox logo was engraved into the headstock. The Bobcat retailed for $330 in 1966, or about $2600 adjusted for 50+ years of inflation.
Like the original Bobcat, the 2021 Vox Bobcat S90 Bigsby reissue featured a poly finished double bound semi-acoustic body. The Bobcat S90 Bigsby added a center block to control feedback. The Bobcat S90 Bigsby was equipped with a pair of V-90 "soap bar" single coil pickups. A black plastic pickguard included a "Vox Bobcat" inscription. The Bobcat S90 Bigsby replaced the non-vibrato trapeze tailpiece used on the Bobcat 90 with a Bigsby B70 vibrato tailpiece. Tone selection was facilitated by a three position pickup selector switch, two volume and two tone controls topped with knurled aluminum knobs. Unlike the original Bobcat, the reissue Bobcat S90 Bigsby had a set-in neck and Grover tuners. The neck was ~1.7" wide at the nut. The Bobcat S90 Bigsby retailed for $2139.99 and was made in Korea. |
Vox V219 Bobcat and Bobcat S90 Bigsby Comparison
Body style |
| Lower bout size |
| Center body block |
| Fully bound |
| Finish |
| Pickups |
| Pickup selector |
| Controls |
| Knobs |
| Tailpiece |
| Bridge |
| String mute |
| Pick guard |
| Scale length |
| Neck attachment |
| Number of frets |
| Fret markers |
| Neck support |
| Nut width |
| Tuners |
| MSRP |
| Country of origin |
|
| V219 Bobcat (1967) |
Bobcat S90 Bigsby |
| semi-acoustic thinline |
semi-acoustic thinline |
| ~16.5" |
~16.5" |
| no |
yes |
| yes |
yes |
| poly |
poly |
| three single coil |
two V-90 single coil |
| three-way switch |
three-way switch |
| 2 volume, 2 tone |
2 volume, 2 tone |
| knurled aluminum |
knurled aluminum |
| trapeze w/vibrato arm |
Bigsby B70 |
| floating, wood saddle |
fixed |
| two position |
none |
| white plastic w/logo |
black plastic w/logo |
| 25" |
25" |
| bolt on |
set-in |
| 21 |
22 |
| block inlays |
block inlays |
| Eko TT bar, truss rod |
truss rod |
| ~1.7" |
~1.7" |
| Eko open style |
Grover open style |
| $329.90 (1967) |
$2139 (2021) |
| Italy |
Korea |
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