Vox Apollo

1968 Vox Apollo - The features are all listed in the other review, but wanted to add the electronics. The guitar has an onboard treble/bass booster. 1-4 is bass boost, 5 is normal and 6-10 is treble boost. The onboard distortion is an incredible late 60s psychedelic fuzz... which is nuts on a hollow guitar - stand clear of the amp when you hit it. The tuner is a very cool idea... click it on and as you turn down the guitar, a faint E comes up through the amp... so at a gig you could turn down the guitar just enough to get a good blend to tune with.

I purchased mine from another collector in 1997 for I don't know... maybe $300. It's minty mint with a very clean Vox case and the original toolkit. Bridge cover is there, everything is tight and no tears in the pad. I'd value it at around $1300-$1400 right now.

Nice hollow 60s jazz tone... a little thin with the light body and single coil pickup, so if you want to throw flatwounds on something play some smooth jazz, get a Gibson. This would be great for surf, psych rock or anything you need to cut through with. I wish it was 2 pickups, but whaddayagonnado. The distortion is full on crazy for a hollowbody - awesome.

Hard to say on a 40 year old guitar, but considering the shape it's in now and how well it plays, it must have been a monster when it was new.

This thing is incredibly solid. I've taken good care of it, but it's still 40+ years old and looks like new... neck is straight as anything, chrome is good, no lacquer checking, no crumbling binding. I think the thicker lacquer on the Apollos help them stand up better than the Bossman. One of the things I love about this guitar is all the custom parts. Everything from the tuners to the electronics to the bridge are non-standard and unique for Vox. Even the neckplate is a funky size. For someone trying to restore one it would be a nightmare, but I appreciate them not using the same old off-the-shelf Klusons, Fender neckplate etc.

I would definitely take this into the studio, but I wouldn't take it on the road. It's solid as hell, but it's one of my favorites and if a tuner broke or something I'd be in trouble. I couldn't bear to drill new screw holes. :)

Haaahahahahaha! I'll give this category a 10 anyway. If you need it repaired, watch Ebay.

My 2 knockaround guitars are a '81 Les Paul Custom and a '66 SG Standard, but I love the oddballs. My current favorites are the '68 Apollo, a '60s Domino Teardrop 12-string and a '72 Ovation Breadwinner. The Apollo is my favorite though... rare and beautiful.

If it were stolen or lost it would be irreplacable... Never seen another one quite like it.

If you're looking to compare it to something else, I'd say it's closest to an old Gibson ES-125TC... but the P-90 is still chunkier than the Vox pickup, and so is the neck.

first, it looked interesting to me to compare sometimes (as you will see in this review) the Apollo and my Vox Bossman as they seem (at first !) very similar on general shape, pickups and built-in effects - excepted for the shape of the cutaway.
so, this is one of the 60's last generation made in Italy Vox guitars.
the first generation of active electric guitar.
very beautiful intense cherry red fully hollow body with florentine single cutaway, bolt-on neck is straight as an arrow (very fine action), frets are near new, only 2 tiny varnish crackle (almost invisible) and everything (built in distortion and trebble/bass booster) work fine except the e-tuner (which personally I never use), one single coil pickup with volume and tone knob.

I like 60's vintage guitar vibes. And it's perfect for this.
I think the characteristic sound of vox guitars lies in the way of the E,A and D strings sound : a kind of "hollow" sound : you can like it or not (for me it's beautiful) - but when you play full chords, sound is well balanced.
I play it on a 65' Fender Deluxe Reverb ReIssue with so much effects than I don't have the time to list ...
My description of sound is guitar and Deluxe Reverb only - but all my effects sounds fine with the guitar.
dry sound : I dont know if it's come of the different combination varnish-wood (I don't see another cause) of the 2 guitars, but the Bossman has a muddier-bluesier sound than the Apollo. the Apollo as a more modern, more definite and jangly sound - even more than my Vox Aristocrat bridge pickup sound ...
b - when distortion is on, the 2 guitars have a similar sound which is more of a fuzz in fact. very usable from overdrive to full blast (even with some background noise with distortiion at max and you don't play)
c - trebble/bass booster is a little bit unpleasant (to trebbly) when pushed to the extreme trebble on the Bossman / on the Apollo the sound morph more gently to the trebble side of the sound. on the bass side of the booster you can get some Bass sound which may be interesting for something between a guitar and a true full scale bass

Everything is fine on this guitar : action, finish, no background noise.
the quality of the varnish which is way better on the Apollo (thick as on my Aristocrat) than on the Bossman (thinner and I think more easy to "crumble" as I saw on a tiny area of the body)
the Apollo is heavier than the Bossman : it seems the wood used are more compact on the Apollo.
It's so easy to play because boddy is fully hollow and the guitar is perfectly balanced. Neck is very thin and plays like butter.

The Rule : if a vox 60's guitar has been correctly treated : it will last forever. No problem using it live.
Chrome shines as the guitar is just leaving factory.
One important thing : there is a large double-T piece of metal reinforcing the necks of all vintage Vox guitars which prevent in 95% the neck to distort or warp (I can tell this because I bought and eventually resold about twelve 60's vox basses and guitars and only one had a too much high action due to neck bending).
I don't put a 10 because of the varnish which tend to superficially crackle on some guitars.

no more customer support since 40 years ...

I play for 12 years ago.
I owned Fender telecasters (two 60's reissue, one 72' thinline reissue), Epiphone (dot and SG), Danelectro, JazzBass, Burns Bison Bass Reissue ... I sold them all and concentrate on vintage Vox guitars and basses which are very fine instruments ! These are so well made, look extraordinary and sounds so good !
I paid this one quite expensive because it's near mint. but you can get one for less if you're not a maniac of the condition.
If stolen (I would cry) I would try to find another : but it would take time to find one in also good condition ...