Univox Hi-Flier

Kurt Cobain's Univox Hi-Flyer

Sounds like Bleach.

As modified by KC

Not really good for live. I do use it from time to time when recording. But I've left it as I got it. Apart from me converting it back to RH and taking his strings off, putting them away and putting my set on.

i have over 25 guitars and basses plus mandolins, ukes,ect..

i think its an 1969 univox hi flier. made in japan.
frets? enough! think its made from solid wood. you can see the wood shine through. one vol, one tone, input jack. it has two p90 style pus, noname. think the body is basswood, since its light. sunburst finish. has that jazzmaster-tailpiece-bridge-thing.
its a crazy body design, flipped strat, which i love.
tuners are noname plastic. neck is nice, a bit thinner than my usa strat. got the suitcase with it.

i love the sound coming out of this sweet piece of japan workmanship.
first i used the original p90, but i decided to swap the bridge pu out for a seymour duncan jb. sounds great. the original pus are a lil on the thin side. lots of treble, but great if the tone knob is at 5.
with the hum this guitar is a killer. you can get every tone you want, twangy, led zepply, nirvana...the only thing u have to to is to turn the tone knob the right way.
love it. sustains like...a mix between gibson and fender.

the set up was really nice, very low with almost no buzzing.
pus were adjusted great.
neck fits nice into the body, which??s very important.
since the guitar is 40 years old, sure, there are some nicks and scratches and a lil bit of rust, but nothing that would bother me.
electronics are okay, had to fight with the pots...but...hey, its very old!

i played it live, means jumping around, jumping into the drums...
no doubt it will withstand all stuff i do on stage.
dont worry about the thin neck...
i can depend on it as on every other guitar i have. (fender strat, squier jag)
i never play without backup...

...

love it, just love it.
i??m from germany, they??re very rare. love the looks, the sound...i just LOVE it. my new number one.
get one, they can be pricey, but...man, they??re too cool to ignore.

1971 Univox Hi Flyer Custom. Not sure what's "Custom" about this except for maybe the natural finish (solid wood) and the 4 ply pick guard. Solid wood body (I know because it is finished in natural), maple 1-piece neck, 2 p-90 pickups, a three-way pickup selector switch. Bought used and it's very old...no case, no whammy bar.
All original which I was looking for. Everything seems to work and DAMN, the tone...I'll get to that. I knew what I was getting, everthing works, and it's all stock so I'm giving it a 10.

Like other posters here, I can't quite figure out where this tone comes from! It weights about 5 1/2-6 lbs. yet sounds like a 12-pound Gibson. Unplugged, this is the most vocal guitar I own, and I own a few. I was strumming it uplugged last night, and my family was wowed! This guitar flat sings! A bolt-on-neck guitar shouldn't sound like this. I've been playing good Fender Telecasters for over 25 years, and NONE of them had the soul and vibration that this little Jap cheapy has. Unbeleiveable!
This guitar fits right into my playing of Roots Rock, Rock and Roll, Punk, Pop. It'll do anything I want it too. It's a little noisy, but the single coil pickups are old. The sound is FULL. The bridge pickup is warm and nasty, yet clear as a bell. The neck is ballsy, thick, and loud. Combined, this thing will honk better than my two Teles and better than any Telecaster I've ever heard. I can't get over it!

I got it off of ebay, unplayed by me. I knew I was taking a chance. It arrived with 9's and played well. The finish has been through years of playing and abuse, yet the neck was awesome...smooth, Tele-like, and pretty stable. Everything was in tact, and I kind of knew what to expect when I opended the box. I then proceded to re-string with 10's, do a complete set-up, and just get everything tight and in playing order.
This little guitar proved to be a challange! As soon as I tuned up the 10's, the action went south. I had to eliminate the adjustable thumb wheels under the bridge (about an 1/8th of an inch height) to get the strings reasonalby close to the fretboard. The frets were in great shape. I tightened all the screws and added dowels and super glue where and when needed. I inspected the neck pocket, and like others have said here, small cracks were present. Nothing major and the neck fits tight, but I'll have to watch this problem area. The neck is shifty, and can cause some problems.

It's a 1971 Japanese toy guitar, and it's lasted this long. How many new, and perfectly-playing Korean/Chinese guitars will be around in almost 40 years? I have no choice but to give it a 10, do I?
I wouldn't trust this without a backup, only because it is so old. I find myself handling this really carefully.

What?

I finally have one...and not because Kurt Cobain played one. This guitar is an amazing little thing. Rich and full, yet trashy and cheap. I'll keep doing whatever is needed to keep this functional. I love it and it will always be a part of my guitar sound.
It sits in the company of Gibson Firebirds, Les Pauls, Fender Telecasters, Vintage (Japanese) Ibanez's, and old Epiphone hollowbodies. A great player that I'll be looking for more of. I hope it dosen't break on me!

TO THE GUY BELOW...THOSE ARE SINGLE COIL P-90 STYLE PICKUPS...

MINE IS THE CUSTOM WITH THE ROCKER ARMS INSTED OF A 3 WAY TOGGLE SWITCH.

PHENOMINAL

PRETTY DARN GOOD. THOSE JAPS BEAT THE HECK OUT OF THE MEXICAN OR CHINESE BUILDERS.

KURT PLAYED THEM

LONG GONE

MY FIRST ELECTRIC GUITAR AS A BOY BACK WHEN I 14...IM OLD BUT NOT GONE.
THESE ARE GREAT LITTLE GUITARS. GRAB ONE (NOT THE HUMBUCKER MODELS) AND I BET YOU WILL BE SUPRISED. I JUST GOT ANOTHER ONE (THE CUSTOM) IN NEAR MINT CONDITION FOR 700.00 SHIPPED...AND I DIDN'T THINK TWICE. GET LUCKY ON EBAY AND THEY RUN 300.00-500.00.

this guitar was made in japan in 1976. it has 21 frets.there is 1 volume and 1 tone there are 2 humbuckers. the brand is univox. they are the factory pickups. i think the wood is plywood and the neck wood is maple on maple.

this guitar definitely fits my style. i am a grunge fan and the world's #1 nirvana fan. i run it through a fender sp-10,a fender fm212r,a fender rumble 15 bass amp,a marshall mg15ms2 micro stack,a fender mini tone-master,but not my roland ac-60 acoustic chorus amp.i also run it through my two pedalboards which contain: mxr phase 100,boss ds-2 turbo distortion,danelectro chicken salad vibrato,behringer ut-100 tremelo,electro harmonix big muff pi fuzz nyc version,boss dd-3 digital delay,boss bf-2 flanger,electro harmonix polychorus,boss ds-1 distortion,electro harmonix small clone chorus,boss ps-5 pitch shifter,boss aw-3 dynamic wah,boss rc-2 looper,ibanez tubescreamer,proco rat 2 distortion,tecch 21 sansamp classic,fender pt-100 tuner,and a dunlop original crybaby wah.it has a replica sound for the album bleach and 3 songs on in utero.this guitar has the early nirvana sound.

the guitar is perfect,but it will rust a little like on the tuners and bridge

once again the guitar is perfect

i have been playing guitar for 5 years,keyboard and drums since christmas, but i have been playing air drums for many years.i own 12 guitars,6 amps,2 pedalboards,keyboards,digital drums,19 pedals,etc..i would buy every single univox hi-flyer in the world.i love the look of it, but im more of a single coil kind of person,but im not sayin the pickups suck.extremely highly recommended guitar.

My Father, the intrepid Yard Sailor, bought a Phase 3 or 4 for $1!!! It's purple, and looks like the original paint unless it was stripped. Obvious mods done: neck pickup changed to a Gibson, don't know if the brige is original but it's got square magnets, and a phase switch was installed. I put $55 Grover turners on it. It fed-backed like crazy, popped it open, saw the sodder joints loose or held on with masking tape. Once that was tightened up, it's been solid. Neck feels fatter that it should for the body, original tremelo with no arm.

Thinner, cheeper sound than I normal go for, but it's probably my drummer's fav of all my guitars (fenders and gibsons). I play it through fender tube amps with all types of distortion boxes. The clean sound is weak, treblely. Phase switch and tone knob do help.

-Nice low action, frets are in pretty good condition, and I play with telephone wires (thickest strings I can find).
-Pickups are well adjusted and firmly in place.
-Pots crackle a little bit, but the sound doesn't die out at all.
-Dinged up scratched all over but all there.
-Suprisingly wide neck, easy to chord on.

-Never gigged with this guitar, but it's been solid in practice.
-Would not trust it with out a back up.

I'm my own custumer support!

Well worth the $1 that was paid for it. And probably only worth the $55 I put into it. I'd like the arm, I know the trem works other wise from sticking an allen wrench down the hole! If you find one in a usuable condition for under $100, it's a great toy with a unique sound.

I have an early original Hi- Flyer custom, as far as I can tell. It has the original pickups,original double rocker switches,case(el cheapo),black-reddish orange to yellow sunburst, tortise shell pick guard, tremolo, and is still an absolutely fantastic guitar.

I got the guitar used in early '71, played a lot of Sabbath back then, met my needs very well.

Everything that's always wrong with one of these cheap Jap guitars, was wrong with this one. It took a lot of tinkering to get everything set up the way I wanted it.

In college I played almost every weekend at some bar or other,so---It's been dropped, thrown, used fer a weapon, and I'm still playing it now (although I play a strat or taylor much more).

Huh? Wass dat?I've been playing

I've been playing 37-38 yrs. This guitar is the FIRST one I owned. Since my playing has evolved over the years, I still find that every time I pick it up- Sweet Leaf just jumps out if it. I will never get rid of it!!!

I think this one is a 78' phase IV model. Maple neck/board body au-naturale, two buckers (one dimarzio super distortion in treb position)and leo quan badass swapped for standard univox compensated stop tail. Lightweight guit., easy on my back. Crap tuners hold tuning for days, somehow. I think this is a strat scale guit, 25.5. 3 way toggle, master vol/master tone.

I bought this off ebay and had no clue about the model's sound, playibility ect. I have owned supposed hi-end axes, including a 2001 1960 USA Les Paul Classic that would never hold tuning and pickup that were so hot...all they could do was melt faces. Even death metal player have to have turn down for cleaner rhythm parts...whatever. This guitar smokes...PERIOD. Bright and clear in a strat-like way, but ballsy and fat like a paul, great sustain, feeds-back easily. Slightly microphonic...but not in a bad way. If you find one of these, GET IT. It can cover a HUGE spectrum of sounds in a convincing way.

Biggest drawback is in access to high register. I was playing the lead to Free - Alright Now and the ending triplet phrase is REAL tough to get to, hand position wise. Depending on how often you play above the 17th fret, you may want to look elsewhere. For me it's not a huge issue, since I have great facility anywhere on the fretboard..but it kind of shocked me when this happened. Most electrics have acceptable access in this range. All else has good workmanship, nicely grained body, medium frets a pleasure, neck just right. Tight neck pocket

Definitely gig-worthy. But NEVER gig without a backup. Neck joint is probably a weak link, but unless you're a mindless ape, will be just fine.

NONE

I love it. It covers clean to "How much distortion can you handle?" The replacement of the treble pup with the Dimarzio definitely helps this thing scream and gives good contrast to the stock univox pup (this pup is good!) ...and I'm sure the wrap-around bridge creates that amazing sustain. The simple control layout is superior to gibsons, 2 vol, 2 tone. A winner in my opinion and that rating doesn't come easily from me. I'm a lover of cheap, underated axes...people should be wary on purchasing expensive guitars, when cheapos can sound and play superior to them.

Japanese made Phase 2 High Flyer
21 frets, one volume, one tone, 3 way toggle switch
Sunburst finish
Floating tremelo

I play blues and 60s rock and the High Flyer is perfect for both. I use it with a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp, Vox Wha Wha, Guyatone Fuzz, and a DOD Grunge pedal. The sound from this guitar is simply amazing, beats any other guitar I've ever played. It sounds bright and trebly and hits the blues/rock sound dead on. The P-90s give it a Robbie Krieger type sound on a clean channel, Pete Townsend sound with the Guyatone Fuzz on and when played through my friends Marshall it gave a Cream era Clapton sound. Other than that it can make surf rock type sounds with the Spring Reverb turned up on my Fender amp and has a garage rock sound with the DOD Grunge pedal.

I bought the guitar used of course and the action was perfect after a few adjustments, Ive very low with no fret buzz. Pickups were adjusted fine along with the bridge. Whomever owned it before me took care of it well, no scratches or rust. Near mint condition, the pots are a bit scratchy but thats perfectly acceptable due to its age and the condition of the rest of the guitar.

I dont play live but I do play for at least an hour or more a day. Its held up fine and I'm shure it would do the same if I was gigging. Hardware looks solid along with the finish and strap buttons. I depend on it every day for at least an hour so its dependable by my defintion, not a single problem as of yet.

Never dealt with them, out of buisness from what I know.

Ive been playing for 3 years and I think this will be my main guitar for the rest of my life. If it were stolen or lost I really do think I would cry, I shudder to even think about that. If it somehow was lost or stolen I would desperately try to hunt another down. I've played Fender Stratocasters, a few Gibson SG's, an Epiphone Casino, a Gretsch hollowbody, a Rickenbacker John Lennon model and own a Telecaster, the Univox High Flyer beats them all in terms of playability and sound, at least for me it does. The perfect guitar by my definition.

i have the 70/71 model (golden univox logo painted between the tuners - like mosrite's) with 2 P90s in a 3 tone sunburst finish.
the body is made of some wood - i have no idea what kind. as those guitars were quite cheap back in the days i guess some cheap

it sounds killer!
very crisp punchy P90 single coil sound. it does great feedbacks and has massive sustain.
distorts easily - i don't even use pedals - i just play thru the overdrive channel of my fender twin and it roars like hell...

nice low action - fender feeling - keeps in tune

it is noisy - but i play punk/garage so why care?
i added some more string trees so the strings keep in the nut and i killed the trem - coz i hate tremoloes...

man i always wanted a mosrite! because they look so cool, and fred smith of the mc5 had one, and johnny ramone, and so on.. of course i'll never be able to afford a real mosrite so i kept looking for a univox coz i heard they sound cool and exactly like the original plus they were kurt cobain's guitars of choice in the early days of nirvana..
i've been playing in bands for like 15 years doing hundreds of gigs and played on about 10 albums almost entirely using telecasters. for recording i also use an sg and a danelectro 59 dc occaisonally.
this guitar slays them all! it replaced my favourite tele as my main guitar. it never goes out of tune and sounds just amazing - not to mention it's looks!

Bough this Bad Boy in say 1977/78
Black
It had Humbuckers
Stop Tail Piece
Basic Guitar

Ok, I sold this after completely wearing it out in 1983ish. I was in college and needed money. I ran this through an all tub Earth halfstack 100 watts. I played Purple, Kansas, Zep, Tull at the time. The guitar was awesome. When I cranked the amp up and played the sustain and feedback and distortion was awesome. I did not use any effects...I used the gain on the amp and pure tube driven high volume. I litteraly could be heard for mile :) My neighbors would call begging me to STOP!!

I remember the Fenders and Gibsons were all priced out of my range. This was a good second tier starter with some great tones, great action, and playability. It looked great too.

I see a lot of the glowing reviews...and I remeber my guitar fondly...but I think its a bit overrated by some.

No issues. I played this guitar every day and hard for many years...the Fret board was about worn when I sold it.

Oh yes, this guitar was tough. It never failed me and never had a problem.

After college I completely stopped playing for about 12 years. In 1997 I started up again by buying a Fender Mex Strat ( a decent guitar), an Epi les Paul Custon ( a beauty but lacking in sound - which I got rid of), a Blackmore Signature Fender Strat (I'm a Purple person - great sounding guitar but spotty quality), a Gibson les Paul DC Standard (awesome), a Carvin DC127 Custom (awesome), and finally a EVH Wolfgang (awesome for heavier stuff). Where does the hi flier rate? Hard for me to say since it was so long ago. Clearly not comparable to my Gibson, Carvin, or Wolfie. Even the Blackmore Strat is not a fair comparison. I like it better than the epi for sure and would rate it above the standard strat...close call though. If I could find one I would buy it...same for my earth amp for nostalia more than anything else. I know Nirvana and Curt loved these things and so did I. It was a great starter with some great tone and playability.

1974-5 (not exactly sure), phase 3 Univox Hi Flyer, Made in Japan (in the Matsumoku factory, same as 70s Epiphone, Aria, etc. Ibanez too? Pretty sure on that, but don't quote me. GREAT STUFF all around), Mosrite Copy, etc etc... This thing's got 2 humbucking pickups, toggle switch, one volume and one tone knob. Pickups? i dunno who made em... has got a tremelo unit (jazzmaster style) installed, good tuners (original), very fast neck, smallish frets, low action, etc... i give it a 9 cos its got what I need and i'll talk about the rest later.

OK, I may be biased as this is my absolute favorite guitar... i have two of em (the other is a Phase 4 with a stoptail/wraparound bridge. i switched that out for a Badass). Totally suits my musical style... I play a lot of Garage (Troggs, Seeds, etc), Psychadelia (Spacemen 3, Hawkwind, Blue Cheer), Stoner/70's (Grand Funk, Sabbath), Punk (Black Flag, Stooges), etc.... Sounds excellent through my Traynor MkIII 2x12 (damn, forgot the year. 1970 i think). The Pickups are rich and full, but not muddy like some other humbuckers i've heard. for humbuckers they're kinda bright and crisp sounding, but just enough, you know? I usually prefer p90's but these pickups have got a great reputation and it's clear to see why.

well, this phase 3 was practically dead stock when i got it. muta been in a closet for 30 years. a FEW nicks in the body. but all the hardware is clean and minty and the pickguard and pickup rings are totally fresh looking. i lucked out on this one.
needed a BIT of setup, but overall, it plays VERY well and didn't need too much.
the guitar has a natural finish.
everything is made very well. i've heard people complain about the tuners, but this stays in tune just fine. the hardwars is all good, good nut, etc etc...

I'm a little overprotective of this one and tend to use my other Hi Flyer for gigging. But, will it withstand countless gigs, the road and abuse? Sure. I wouldn't push it too far, but it's totally solid. gotta watch out for the neck/body joint as the body is very thin. Cracking in this area is common with these, but not a problem. most i've seen (like my other one) appear to have only cracked a bit in the finish, so no problem...
the finish will last as will the hardware, no question.
i would play this without a backup (usually don't bring one anyway), without a doubt.

i wish! but www.univox.org can be very helpful and informative.

been monkeying around for 13 years or so. like i said, i have two Hi Flyers, another Hi Flyer bass, and a Hagstrom Bass.
If this were stolen or lost i would run out and get another one or maybe two more. Perfect guitar for me. Very lightweight, fast neck, great sound, great look... The original Mosrite Ventures guitars are great too, but they sound WAY different (more twang... they're SURF guitars!). the Hi Flyer suits me much better. fairly versatile and all that. other Mosrite copies are cool, for sure, but the Hi Flyer has a sound and character all it's own. Grab one while you can as they prices are getting astronomical. 500 to 600 bucks for one is just way too much... it kills me when i see them listed as "RARE"... Univox PUMPED these babies out and there must be thousands and thousands of em out there.

Mid to late '70's phase 4 Hi Flyer. (What a crappy name.)22 fret maple on maple fretboard, black dot markers, and it's a bolt on. Standard crapenese button tuners, plastic nut. Clear gloss finish on a poplar double cut-a-way body. Gibson styled trapeze tailpice, master volume and tone controls and a 3 way switch. 2 "Magnatone" humbuckers, and a top mounted output jack. The neck is a 24 3/4" scale, that is round, and yet comfortable.

You have to remember that this was not a high end guitar. Keeping that in mind, it's surprisingly nice soundind. The pickups, which were the standard for Matsumuko, are really quite toneful! No, they aren't high output, but will fill the bill quite nicely for blues and jazz. There a richness here that doesn't seem possible considering the thinness of the guitar's body. (A little more than an inch thick.)

Since it's used, there's no way to comment on it. But...

Remember how I said about the thin body? Well therein lies the problem. I've seen quite a few of these, and they all suffer from the same problem of the bolt on neck cracking and splitting the block where it's bolted to. It's a simple fix, but a pain to do. It has to be refinished after the repair. (This one, since it's such a girly looking guitar, will be redone in a Barbie pink._

With the first solid crack on the headstock, these guitars tend to crack. Other than that, which is kinda the same with most guitars, and the need for real tuners, it would withstand th rigours of the road. And I wouldn't play without a backup anytime.

Yea, right.

I like this guitar. It's lightweight, toneful, and has the unique look that I like. The pickups are great, and the neck is really comfortable. I've never cared for maple fretboards, and the output jack tends to get in the way. Otherwise, it's great.

I bought my Phase 3 off of eBay from a lady in Edmonton for $430 Canadian with shipping. I was playing a Westone Spectrum S before(it was my first guitar) and I am amazed at how well this Univox plays. I have tried out a lot of different guitars and I still love this guitar the most out of everything I have played. The tuners never go outta tune even when it's in the gigbag. It's got a tune-o-matic bridge on it, and the only really problem is that the volume knob scratches a bit, but I just haven't got around to cleaning it yet.

It has a really thin neck on it and plays amazing. The pickups are really loud and have a really nice distorted sound. It has really nice sustain and sounds really good. It's tone is so deep and rich, it was the first thing I noticed about it. The pick ups are very high output and are capable of holding a long note. I am using an Electro-Harmonix Small Clone and a Boss Ds-2 Distortion pedal and wow, I can get so many amazing sounds with this guitar.

It's got a sunburst finish. The action on this is really nice and low, but there is a little fret buzz here and there, but I love the tiny frets it has.

This guitar could easily withstand a live show, or as many as I could give it. The finish isn't going anywhere, and the strap buttons are solid. It's a very reliable guitar. I am not doing any "major" mods on this guitar, it's amazing the way it is.

I haven't had to deal with anyone cause I haven't had to do anything to it yet, but I would just go to a local store to have anything done.

I love this guitar. I am definatly buying another one of these guitars, only with P-90's instead of my humbuckers. I am also going to buy a Fender Jaguar. I really love the sustain this thing has, it's a hell of a lot better than any Strat I have played. I wouldn't trade this guitar for any Strat, it plays, sounds, feels, and looks amazing, and has a really light body. I love this guitar.

Probably late 1960's Jap made-volume, tone and 3 way selector switch and rather poor tremelo system (best not to use anyway). 2 P-90 style single coil p/u, thin neck sunburst finish on real thin body. Original case. You probably know by now..........

Gosh be darn........I really love these things. I would hold them up against a Jaguar any day. Action is great and the sustain is amaising. I've never had the humbuckers, so I can't say, but the P-90 single coils rock esp. with my Boss DS-1. The three way toggle sets neck, bridge and both. The bridge id extreemly bright and the neck is...well...mellow>go figure. Did I say I love this thing.

The action is to die for. Every note is effortless for me with this guitar and I'm rather a crude player. The p/u's can be height adjusted for var. sounds.

I hear alot of people say they can't keep these things in tune but I most emphatically disagree. I bend the notes all over the place with 10.5's and stay true as can be. The finish on this thing is P E R F E C T. Like someone stored it for years. Not a scratch front or back-a few dings on edges, but hardly noticable. Kurt played these things live and he was known for pretty abusive playing. Dont do a neck slam-for obvious reasons.

N/A

I've played off and on since I was fourteen (many years ago) and lo and behold, a Hi-Flier was the first guitar my parents gave me. It was pretty cheap back then and hardly respected (like it is now-ha). Just because some grunge hipsters took hold, these things have taken on a bigger than life status. Before Nirvana, you could have probably picked them up at the pawn shop for $100.00 (if your lucky, still can). Don't expect to on ebay though. But even for $400.00 these things are the real deal. I've played Fenders, Gibsons and the REAL bad Harmony guitars-and I will put this thing up to them all in a heartbeat. A very solid 9.5 on the richter scale.

I used own one of these baby.
I remember buying it for $110. Back in 1975.
Olyimpic white. rosewoods frett board. two black soapbar pickups
a tremolo I never use( tuning stablitie wasn't great) Funky looking
head stock. Univox was decal. Big knobs. was stringing it up with
Mapes 9,s. does anybody remember mapes strings back then.

All I remember is that it scream and sustain like an old les paul Jr.
all this from oringnal univox soapbar pickups.
did alot of Jr high and high school gigs with it.
I had alot of people thought I had humbuckers on it.
it was light. so maybe a basswood.
It sounded rich and full. my amp back then was a gibson tube amp
with 2 x12 either altec or langsing speakers.
the amp was point to point wired. so cranking it up and getting
great distortion and sustain was easy. cool combo between the guitar
and amp.

I was 15 or 16 at time . everything about the guitar look great to me
All I know was it was a jamming guitar and my very first guitar that
I bought from being a dishwasher back then.

Through out this review I will not rate the guitar as too it was back
in 1975 and I was 16.

As far as I know it was a work horse.

who dealt with that back then ?

Like I said. It was a Jamming guitar. untill I got upset with my
girlfreind back in 1975 and smash it out in the street then threw it
in the fire place. I was a idiot of course. My gibson amp back then
was given to a drug dealer to save ,what I thought was my freind
to cover his ass miss handling of grass. But I live and learn. I wish
I still had it. But that ok I now own a collecting of fenders gibson
rare proto types. and Oranges and VHT amps. Hoorah !!!

A very early phase one Hi Flyer in black. Made in Japan.
How many frets? 21
Solid-Top? Laminated top? I would bet this sucker is basswood
Which controls are given (volume, tone, 5-way selector, 3-way, tap, etc...)? volume/ tone pickup selecter.
Pickup configuration? (S/S/H, H/H, S/H, Piezo, etc...) 2 P90 like pickups
Make and model of pickups? Univox, baby
Active or Passive electronics? passive analog grunge
Finish black nitro like finish
Body style Just like a Mosrite Ventures...
Bridge style Wacky, deficient Jaguar style bridge
Tuners : the cheapest possible 3 on a tree, but damnit they work and if it ain't broke...
Neck/Scale: very fast maple neck with rosewood board

This guitar sounds like nothing else on the planet. It SHOULD NOT sustain like it does, but somehow it does...Man these things are weird...
It seems to sound best with my Fender silverface Pro Reverb
Is it noisy? On what settings? It's as noisy as the endo of a Sonic Youth concert, but thats rock and roll!
Rich/Full sound? Bright sound? Very rich tone, go figure
What kind of sounds can the guitar make? How much variety? Nice Gibson'y tone with the neck pickup, but less muddy. Great out of phase twang with both pickups, harsh grunge with the treble pickup (must use fuzz box)
Likes and dislikes? The headstock design is insane...Requires ALL strings to be tied down by a string tree, or they will slip out of the nut.

A copy of the legendary Mosrite Ventures model, which were/ are huge in Japan, hence the first wave of the copy era. I actually like the way these play better than Mosrites. Of course the Mosrite is built better, but these wacky little dudes are cool cool cool, other than the string slippage and buzz issues. It sounds surprisingly good and its sexy as Brigitte Bardot. Take it to a good guitar tech and have it set up well (must replace cheesy bridge saddles with Mustang saddles, available through All Parts). Vibrato is puny.

It stays in tune relatively well. I like it as a backup guitar and it looks cool as hell in my living room. I may play a few songs on it but never a whole set. I'm not one of those dudes into funky guitars just cuz they're different. These beasts truly rawk out in a big way.

fuhgeddaboutit

How long have you been playing? 23 years
What other gear do you own? Fender Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Strat, Tele. Gretsch Nashville, Ricky 330/12. etc


Is there something you wish you had asked before buying this guitar?

may I use your washroom?

If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?

I've owned 2 of these suckers. The other one was an insanely rare factory half red/ half blue paintjob (with one red pickup and one blue one) and I'd do anything except sell my soul to George Burns to get it back.
What do you love about it? the looks, the sound, it's light weight


What do you hate? the puny vibrato bar, poor headstock design


What is your favorite feature? the neck, prolly
Anything you wish it had? class

iit's a 1975 i figured that based on the pickup config. and some history research, 21 frets, flat top except routed edge all the way around, volume, tone 3way toggle, two humbuckers stock they are so aged and sound awesome, basswood body rosewood fretboard, old jaguar like bridge and tail piece, old finish but vintage

it's a little noisey but i'm a big sonic youth fan so that isn't really a bad thing, i use a big muff dis. an mxr phase 90 a danelectro octave dis pedal a marshall trem and a digi tech delay through a crate head and a vintage peavey cab, the sound is old nice and warm yum

when i got it i woulda rated this a 1 easily but after about 12 hours woprk and new tuners it's easily a 9 but only because i spent the time

this is waiting to die it's a little better after repairs

yup well i could call krog

i wish i had got it new

1976 Hi-flyer in black. Two humbuckers, not original, 21 very low frets on a thin neck. Normal mosrite style body shape, very thin. Roller bridge, should have had a trem but none was included. Tuners were Gotoh (not original of course). Volume and tone knobs

I play a lot of punk and grungy type music. It sounded good for that. the new pickups were cheap so the sound wasn't too good through a clear channel. I played it through a few amps (15 watts-50 watts) and it sounded good for the music I was playing. Only problem was a weird hum I could never pinpoint. Maybe the cheap pickups.

I bought the guitar used, so it was dinged and scratched all over. Still, it looked pretty well for its age. The action was pretty high, which I kinda liked. neck was straight, tuners sucked. the nut was cracked on the b string which made it tough to keep in tune. Controls were tight and worked well. Neck pickup kept falling out which was a slightly irritating.

I dropped the thing on a cement floor while playing once and I picked it right back up and continued on! These things are pretty tough! I'd replace the tuners and the pickups, as well as the nut, to improve the tuning/sound. I never used a backup which wasn't a problem if you don't mind frequent tunings and smacking the neck pickup back into place every now and again.

company is not around anymore. But parts from other makes work fine.

I've been playing for about 6 years and I own an epi les paul, a Johnson acoustic, and a Fender P-Bass. As you can tell I don't need top of the line equipment! I really liked this guitar though and wish I hadn't sold it. I would like to have gotten one with more original parts, but I settled for this one. I really liked the sound it had and the durability of the guitar. It definitly had personality!

mine is a "phase 3" hi flier. originally came with two humbuckers. im only rating the original stuff on here. the bridge pickup has been replaced and well, it sucks. someone messed with the electronics and screwed them all up, but i just use the neck pickup and it still sounds great. there is no overkill on this guitar. simple. two pickups, selector switch, volume and tone. the only bad things are the cheap tuners and crappy bridge w/plastic saddles. it has a very thin body and neck. copy of the mosrite ventures model.

im only rating the original pickup, and it has amazingly good sound to it. i cant even describe it. i play more grungy type rock and it fits it perfectly. sounds great through a big muff so far ive only played it through smaller amps, my super bassman has an unfortunate blown speaker problem.....

when i bought it, it was in a state of disrepair...missing a string, dirty, scratchy pots, bridge pickup didnt work at all...tone control has been completely disconnected and turned into a second volume control...when i got it home (i had to wait a week before the store could legally sell it-TORTURE!!!!!)i took it completely apart, cleaned it, reattached all the bad connections, reassembled it put strings on it, and it was almost perfect right away. it only took me about an hour. the frets are rather worn out, but they still work. the finish has some scatches and dings, but nothing more than youd expect from 25-30 years of use/abuse. still looks great.

this is a very light weight but solid and sturdy instrument.i would have no problem trusting it without a backup.

univox is...for lack of a better word....dead.

ive been playing for about five years, and this is without a doubt my favorite of the 20 or so guitars that ive owned/do own. its better than the epiphone sg, washburn a-20, mexican fat strat, fake strat, silvertone strat, cortez les paul.........and the list goes on. the lightweight and thin body and neck make this one of the easiest playing guitars ive ever owned. it looks great, feels great, and it sounds great. as i spent two years trying to find one in the first place, if it were stolen i would fall over, pass out, wake up, find whoever took it and painfully extract my revenge over the course of a thousand years. if i found another one, id buy it in a heartbeat. the only things i plan to do with this guitar are find and install an original bridge pickup and replace the tuners. all things considered, this is an extremely well made guitar. value wise it is the best guitar ive ever seen. sure you can spend thousands on some vintage or custom fender or gibson.....but it still wont be as cool as the univox. this is something that sounds great, looks great, and you dont have to worry too much about it getting damaged because it has a relatively low price tag. if you find one BUY IT.

Im not quite sure what year it was made, most likely mid 70's. It was made in Japan. 21 fret Maple/Maple neck with a sort of "boat bottom" profile. Im guessing the body wood is solid basswood, or alder, something, its quite light. There is a master volume knob and a master tone knob as well as a Gibson style 3 way pickup selector switch. Its got 2 really cool lookin great sounding humbuckers. Its got passive electronic of course. The body finish is like, Olympic White, and the neck has a cool honey type finish. The High Flyer body style is kind of a reversed Strat thing, Its got that weird combo Tune-O-Matic/Stop Tailpiece bridge that sucks really bad, so Im putting a Gotoh 510 in it instead. It came with a crappy Gibson gig bag.

I play a few types of music, mainly Punk, like Nirvana, so this thing is perfect for me. So far all I use is a Boss DS-1 through a Peavey Basic 112 Bass amp. My guitar amp is at someone elses house, but Id rather play it through my Peavey because my other amp sucks. The pickups are a little noisy when the DS-1 is cranked, and it usually is, but other than that its great. It sounds great, you can basically hear what it sounds like by watching Nirvana play Rape Me on Saturday Night Live. I love it.

The action is amazing, but I didn't buy it from the factory, thank god for Ebay. Other than the bridge being really crappy, the guitar is amazing. No flaws, and its in great shape for a 30 year old guitar.

I would gig this guitar in a second, but I play bass, so I wont be using it, my guitarist will be using it, most likely downtuned for other songs. The hardware has held out this far, so I think it will for longer. The finish is in amazing condition, so it seems to be a good paint job.

I dont believe it would be possible for me to get in touch with customer support at Univox, so I dunno.

I have been playing for almost 3 years, I own a Fernandes Atlas 4 bass, and I am supposed to be receiving an Epiphone Thunderbird bass, and one of those new Fender Mustangs. Im waiting for them from Musicians Friend. If this were stolen, I would hunt down the bastard who stole it and beat him within an inch of his life, let him recover, then do it all over again. If it were lost, I would definately buy a new one. I compared it to a bunch of Strats, Id take this baby over ANY Strat any day.

This beast was made in Japan, ca 1976. It's very Moserite-Venutures
in appearance. Mine has 2 humbuckers. The neck pickup is rotated about
15 degrees in the opposite direction that a Strat bridge pickup is swung, which I personally thing is the correct way to balance the overtones of the high and low strings. The finish is a very nice sunburst, with a white-black-white pickguard, and a rosewood board over the nicest, skinniest maple neck I've ever played. The neck is
fretted with narrow fretwire, similar to old Fender wire, and is
attached using a 4-bolt chromed plate, with a very '70's "U" for
Univox. The headstock is 3-a-side, slightly offset, with plastic
buttons. As manufactured, the tuners were 3-on-a plate, without
gear housings -- very cheap. The holes for the strings were also higher than the nut, which forced the use of "string trees" to
hold the treble strings down at the nut. This is a source of friction
and tuning problems, so if you find one of thes guits, do what I did
and replace the stock tuners with a Stewart-Macdonald 3-on-plate
set of tuners (about $40.) The holes on these are nice an low, so
as long as you wind the strings down the post three or four wraps,
you can put take the string retainer trees off, put them in a plastic
bag with the old tuners (for when you sell the instrument on the
fickle vintage market) and enjoy your newfound tuning stability.
The trem is a trapeze-style, similar to one of the oddball Fenders (maybe the Jauguar?) The strings go over a trapeze-style roller bridge
with white plastic rollers, then on to the separate whammy plate, which is mounted near the end of the body. The strings mount through an angled plate which sticks up through a slot in the cover plate.

Haters of this style of whammy may note that tightening the springs
periodically -- a fairly easy task -- helps somewhat with trem-induced
tuning problems. And unlike a Strat-style trem, which is integral with the bridge, snugging the springs does not necessitate a new
setup, because the bridge itself never moves.

The pickups stand proud of the guitar's body. They have black mounting
bezels. The pickups themselves have a chromed outer housing, with
a tan (not really cream) top color. The tan part (the top of the
coils) is protected from sweat and crud by a clear plastic sheet,
which has holes cut through it corresponding so that only the pole
pieces are exposed. My guitar tech informs me that these rather
well-built pickups were built by Schaller. I have no way of verifying
this, but they are definitely far higher in quality than was the
average for guitars in the same price range.

The pickups are wired to a 3-way toggle switch, one volume, and
one tone control. The jack is a non-angled style, and is therefore
easy to tighten as needed.

As for ratings: The plastic rollers and the subpar tuners are offset
by intuitive, simple controls, good pickups, and excellent ergonomics.
With my new tuners and accompanying absence of string retainers,
I'd rate it a 9. As-built, however, I'll go for 7.

I love these pickups, whoever built them. This is the only humbucker-
equipped guitar I own. I generally like single-coil pickups, because
most humbuckers sound like mush -- all honky midrange and phasey
overtones. These pickups have clarity, but with just a hint of
"bubble" to them -- a nice option for the sonic tool box.

I like a slightly-overdriven 6v6 amp, generally with no effects (tho
I'll occasionally dabble with overdrive pedals.) Even with these pickups pegged, they have clarity, bite, and warmth all at
once, which is very rare. Add spring reverb, set to about 3, for
a bit of blossom on top of the guitar's natural acoustic reverberance.

One observation on this guitar's unique tone, which does not have
to do with electronics:
The pickups stand very high off the face of the guitar. I think
that this design feature contributes to the unusual tone of this model.

The pickups form a kind of "sound cavity" -- similar to a semi-
hollow guitar, but with less boominess. Mostly what you get is the
high frequencies bouncing off the face of the guitar, instead of
a bunch of midrangey muck. This makes the Univox louder than most other solidbodies when played unamplified. The plastic roller bridge
also contributes, by damping some of the string overtones so that
each string's sound can be discerned when playing a chord. This
contributes as well to the unique tone.

Finally -- this is a guitar which loves to play loud. The pickups
are totally non-microphonic. They simply will not squeal. Hold
a note 'til it feeds back, then push the string between the bridge
and the tailpiece for some wiggly-ass vibrato effects. Try that
with a Les Paul.

The bridge pickup is my baby (not surprising, since it's the most
like a single coil of the three possible settings.) The neck pickup
is only useful for clean playing -- I hate that honking Cream/Santana
tone of an overdriven neck pickup with the tone rolled down. But if
you like it, this guitar will deliver that sound too. So for a
bare-bones control layout, there are a few sonic options. And so
simple to use...

This guitar's a natural for blues, straightforward rock, and (using
that setting I don't like) probably for Seattle-style honk. Why
else would Cobain have been the guy to popularize this machine?
Ironically, given that it's a Moserite Ventures copy, it does
not strike me as being well-suited for playing surf. There
are, however, many Hi Flyers out there with P90-ish single coil
pickups, which would likely work fine on surf.

Guess what? I love the damn thing.

For a guitar which cost about $150 1977 dollars new, the fit and
finish is very good.

The neck joint is fine, the setup went unaltered for almost 20
years from the time I sold it to the time I bought it back, and
all I had to do was a small bridge adjustment because I changed
the strings over to Ernie Balls from whatever was on there when
I got it back.

The fretwork is excellent -- this is a very comfortable guitar to
play. I noticed a little router crud inside the vibrato cavity when
I was tightening the springs. Big deal.

Ok, the original tuners sucked. But otherwise...

The first time I owned the Hi-Flyer, I was into the Hendrix
thing -- banging it on stuff, playing in the rain, playing
slide with mic stands, etc. It's been dropped, left in the sun,
the attic, and the cellar.

Since 1977, I've had to re-solder the ground wire. Once.

It looks fragile, but as long as you don't snap the neck-to-
body joint (which actually may be fragile) you can definitely
depend on it.

Never needed it. I think Aria was actually building Univox at the
time I bought mine new, so whatever Aria's support was like 25
years ago????

You'll notice that I put two entries under "price paid." I sold
this baby in 1979 to finance my first (of 6) Fenders. I bought it
back in 1999, after two decades of abuse and neglect at the hands
of my best bud. It was my 1st electric, and I've never played
anything else so physically comfortable.

So would I buy it again? Well, I did.

It's nice because it has some retro chic, but it's not so
precious that you'd kill yourself if you broke it. I am
very attached to mine, though.

If I'd asked anything, I'd have asked if they had two more
in stock, and bought them all.

In comparing it to the other cheapies available at the store,
I just knew by the feel that it was far superior to the others.
That taught me a valuable lesson, too -- that if a guitar feels
right, you can almost always make it sound right after the fact.
Feel is one of the hardest hings to correct if it's not there
at the beginning.

Three years ago, I had to play a show w/ a friend. It was a
situation where all of the members of the friend's band were
away, so everybody was essentially "filling-in." I had never
even met the drummer and bass player before, and we had to play
an hour's worth of original material three hours after meeting.
I knew my parts pretty well, but it was an unnerving situation.

Then the bass player opened his gig bag, and pulled from it
a black Univox Hi-Flyer (or equivalent) bass. That's when we
all knew everything was going to be ok...

I am a left handed guitarist, so finding a good guitar is hard. I've owned many guitars. Left handed Gibson Les Pual, assorted Strats, pawn shops are great. I bought the Univox Hi-Flyer a month ago and it is great. I call it a "top of the line p.o.s." which is deceiving. This guitar has a tone knob, volume knob,and a 3-way selector switch. Thats not much but all you need. Hey, I've owned worse.

I play in a sonic-rock band and this guitar fits. I bought it without playing it. The neck pickup is amazingly ballsy. The bridge is nice and trebly. This guitar i would rate higher then my Gibson Les Paul i once owned!

Since I am left handed i had to flip the nut and adjust the intonation on it. which was simple with this guitar. It plays pretty good. It gives off cool sounds. The paint job on it is sunburst. It is a pretty old guitar so it had one stratch on it. It as the "old" Univox logo nailed on the headstock.

Reliability is this guitar's middle name. Everything about this guitar is rock solid. Currently this is my main axe. It can take it all.

This model is not made anymore so..........

This guitar is a must have. I love it more then any guitar i've had. It sounds great, plays great and is a tough little man. If you see one, buy it!

My Hi-flyer is kind of neat in that it is black and has the plastic logo on the headstock rather than the decal. From what I've gathered at http://www.univox.org, this narrows the manufacture date down to the 71-72 timeframe, as the 69-71 models were (supposedly) only produced with sunburst finishes. The controls are suprisingly solid. I was expecting rickety old pots and a flimsy input and all that, but everything (volume, tone, and 3-way switch) is rock solid. Pickups are P-90s and they sound amazing. I was actually shopping around for new aftermarket pickups while I was waiting for the guitar to arrive, becuase let's face it: most budget-priced vintage guitars have absolute crap for pickups. Just ask my '74 Fender Bronco. From the various nicks in the finish, I'm pretty sure the body is made from some solid wood rather than plywood. Fingerboard is rosewood with 22 frets, bridge is Jazzmaster/Tune-o-matic style. Surprisingly, the trem bar is still with the guitar, but only works at dropping notes.

As mentioned, I was convinced I'd have to drop new pickups into this guitar, but damn was I wrong. The P-90s in this hi-flyer are incredibly balanced, giving excellent response across all frequencies. The neck pickup is a great surprise, offering a tone that is at the same time both warm and twangy. The bridge pickup does a great job of handling both distorted and clean tones. Distortion for me comes from either a DS-1 or an MXR Distortion. I also have a Boss EQ pedal, however, the tone on this guitar is so good and so balanced that I don't need to use it. I'm still blown away by how good this guitar sounds.

Action is good, though I'll probably have to adjust it to get rid of the fret buzz on the low E fifth fret. Neck is a wee bit shifty, nothing some wood glue won't fix. Tuners and trem are the major problems here. I'll probably have to replace the tuners. They're rusted and they alternately stick and slide. Also, I prefer metal pegs to the plastic stock ones. The trem is terrible, making me even more glad that I never use the things. Use it once and everything goes out of tune. I'm thinking about putting a block in the tail like I did in my strat, so I won't have to deal with that. The bridge is a bit rusted as well, but works fine. The finish is good, with far less nicks and dings than one would expect from a 30-year old guitar.

Once I change the tuners and disable the tremolo, I'm sure this will last me forever. It's pretty damn solid as is, and I don't foresee any instances in which gravity gets its paws on it.

I'd have to build a time machine to answer honestly. Then again, if I did build a time machine, I'd probably do more important things with it, like killing Hitler or something.

Been playing for ten years. My primary guitar before this one was a 1974 Fender Bronco with a Seymour Duncan Jerry Donahue Tele pickup in the bridge and a Duncan Strat standard Tele (looks like a tele neck pickup, sounds like a strat) in the neck. Had a 3-way switch (much smaller than the one on the Hi-Flyer) installed as well, since the Bronco only comes with a single pickup in the bridge. Also have a Squire Strat with a humbucker in the bridge, but I never really use it anymore. I run my guitars into a '69 Fender Bassman head and a Carvin 4x12 cab, usually with a Boss DS-1 or an MXR Distortion in between. Sometimes I'll use a TR-1 Tremolo pedal as well, which incidentally sounds great withe the Hi-flyer's neck pickup. I'd replace it if lost or stolen. I love the shape, the feel, the sound, the price, and the fact that it is not a Gibson product. I hate the rust on the hardware, the tuners, and the god-awful tremolo. My favorite feature is probably the P-90s, which sound so much better than I thought they would. Stacks up pretty well against my other guitars, though I think I like the neck on my Bronco a little bit more. Beats anything I own in terms of balanced ouput and sustain. And it just looks damn cool. Overall, a good quality instrument for a good price.

This guitar is a Phase 1 Univox Hiflier Custom (one of the rare models). It is finished in 3-tone sunburst. The neck is maple, with 21 frets. It uses 2 3-way rocker switches to switch between the Gibson P-90s that are in the neck and bridge. The bridge is a gibson Tune-o-matic. The guitar is 100% stock except for missing the whammy-bar. The tuners could be better, but they still get the job done.

I love the sound. I play a variety of musical styles, from Verbena and Nirvana to Hendrix, Kyuss, Qotsa, Tool, and the Wipers. The Hiflier has a great all around sound. My main style of music is grunge/punk, and it works especially great for this.

Everything about this guitar is excellent, except it has a few scratches here and there. It is made out of some solid wood, NOT plywood, like many other peoples'. I haven't changed anything about this guitar except the strings since I got it off ebay. I use Dean Markely NickelSteel Electric 10-52s.

Everything about this guitar is high-quality. I have a feeling it will be around for a long time.

Univox got shut down many years ago, so there's no chance.

I've been playing for 3 years.
I have a Hohner acoustic, 60's Kingston 12string acoustic-electric, Fender Jagstang with a Dimarzio Super Distortion in the bridge, stock 1965 Fender MusicmasterII, Ibanez EX Series Bass, and another Hiflier I'm building. The Hiflier Custom is my favorite out of all of them. I run it through a Fender Tuner, Boss ds-1, and Electro Harmonix USA Bigmuff. I also have an Electro-Harmonix Polychorus and an Echoflanger, both of which need to be fixed. I run all of that into a Peavey Revolution 112 (going to be replaced with a Mesa Dual Rectifier someday). If anything were to ever happen to this guitar, I would track down another Custom model.