Vox V304 Jaguar

This is not a toy "all smoke and no roast": if you want to play with effects, there's no bread for your teeth.

Real cool vintage look. Fabulous key color reversed. The vibrato adds a touch of psychedelia. The sounds are basically two (one and a half?): with brightness, without brightness. You have to plug it to an amp 'cos it don't have speakers. I suggest a tube amplifier (i play the Jag with a fendervibroluxreverb: ecstatic). No memory, no midi and no cards. But, strange to say, despite this it follows everywhere can get your imagination (rather stimulate it). Someone in the 60's must have made a deal with the devil...

Bloody hell, sweating starts here...the sound is unique, gorgeous and, especially, has no time. Simply, is pure and REAL. The most says that Continental is better but somebody said that the Jaguar has a noticeably more cost-effective sound (also that is lighter and easier to repair). I agree.

The jaguar is a fragile organ but easy to repair. It needs attention.

Never tried.

If it's not by chance that you have an organ of this kind be sure that is exactly what it sounds. It's good for garage, funk, soul and rock and adds depth to the sound of a band. Until they decide to rebuild these transistor organs, the only opportunity to hear this sound is to find a used combo organ. The difference with a synth is the same as that between a latex doll and a woman.

Easy, plug it in and turn it on!

Vibrato and something called "bass chords" which appears to let you NOT play chords in the bass section when its on, just single notes...also has bass volume.

The back of it has two seperate output jacks, one for normal output and one for bass output.

I personaly don't need anymore then it offers to be honest! The chrome legs look awesome onstage, and the flat top of the thing is actually a GREAT feature; Guitar stand, table, perfect place to set another keyboard/girlfriend of the drummer

It has pretty much one sound, and it can be varied from harsh to mellow. I've used it mainly through a solid state guitar amp and the thing cuts through anything!

Used it through a leslie as well, and it really DOES sound very good through one.

I used it for 2 years in a rock band for rehersals and gigging out. I tried to be gentle with it, but as we all know that sometimes dosent happen!! One time it got rained on at an outdoor gig; opened it up and used a hair dryer/let it air dry...after the wood had dried off it was as good as new! Never had a problem with it.

However, if you let it sit for awhile, the electrical contacts will get dirty and it'll take some playing/cleaning to get it back to where it was before again. The advice my tech gave me was to just play it, and itll clean itself.

Get a good tech who knows what he's doing and you should be fine.
Mine had to replace some transisters and tweak it a bit before I started using it, as well as replacing the power cable, but it hasn't been a problem.

Dont try vox, I think they'd probably laugh at you!!

Got mine from a family friend who'd had it in his basement for years. It s a great peice of history. Its also great for doing its job, and not much else. It can sound really cool when cranked through an amp.

Go easy on it and it'll be good to you!

You won??t need an owner??s manual....

Just a few sounds, the keyboard action is poor, it was the cheapest Vox organ, so don??t expect too much.

WhenI read the other reviews I wonder what they are talking about. The Jaguar is NOT a THE typical 60s Vox organ. If you want to go for that you have to look for the Continentals. The Jaguar was a very cheap, Italian made organ that frustratet many keyboard players in the old days as it got nothing that the Vox organ sound stood for. You can buy a cheap Farfisa, Hohner or GEM, they all have a similar poor sound.

Pretty reliable except the keys. If you hit them to hard the plastic key will split and hold the whole key down.

Nowadays it??s like an adventure of course...

As I said: if you look for the 60s sound go for a Continental or for a Farfisa Compact. Both a very cheesy and will fit perfectly to that style of music. The Jaguar is just a nightmare.

The one I have is a jem. I bought it for 200 cdn, it was dirty out of tune and needed a good cleaning.
The presets sound like a Vox. If you buy one of these this is the sound you want, I don't want a hammond sound because if i did I would buy a hammond.

This is a plug and play very simple and basic.

The only effect this has is the vibrato,

Very cool sound.

Again, it sounds like a vox, if you another sound buy another organ.

This organ is great for that 60's sound, I mean just look at the list of users for the Vox Continental/Jaguar,

It a very unique sound!!!!

Very 60's

I've never gigged with it............it's in my studio

I think it would be fine as long as you don't trash it!!

Obviously I've never dealt with the company as they stopped making these back in the late 60's, but I have the owner's manual and the schematics sheet for it, so I have a guide as how to repair any defects wihich might occur.

If this baby were stolen I would definitelyt replace it. I actually bought this to sell it and make a profit but it sounds soooooo good, I can't sell it. I have a Continental as well and I plan to keep both.

I love the retro look of it sooooooooooooo cool with the reverse coloured keys and the z chrome stand, orange lid very 60's.

For a 60's/70's band even if this thing didn't work, it looks great on stage.............it's a coverstaion piece, and if it works then you have a great sound as well as a coversation piece.

It's a piece of art with history a la the MONA LISA

Super easy to use. Four preset tones, a bass chord on switch, and a vibrato on swich. It is also equipped with a bass volume knob, and mine has been modified with a vibrato speed knob. You certainly needn't be a synth master to oporate.

It's a pretty strait forward organ with all the needed gizmos to make it sound classic. The vibrato sounds great, especially with my modified speed knob. The bass section has a separate out which would probably sound great but my bass section doesn't work. It has four tone tabs, three of which work on mine. They vary from mellow, to super cheesy reedy sounds. It doesn't lack anything I would expect a combo organ to have, but it isn't equipped with anything unique.

As mentioned, it can get a pretty mellow sound, to a cheesy reedy "I'm a believer" sound. You wont be hearing any of this on a jazz record. Good trashy garage, and nice droney stereolab.

My experience with Vox Jaguars is that they are possibly the most fragile organs around. I have never come in contact with one that was in perfect working order. The bass section on mine doesn't work, and the Flute tabe is pretty messed up. (It works when you lift up the keys 90', and tab on a certain part of the case. The second you lower the keyboard 45' it stops?!?!? weird) The contacts are pretty intermitant. If they contact too hard they dont work, and if they contact to lightly they dont work. The good part is that it seems most of these problems can be fixed by a half brained nitwit such as myself. I managed to get all my keys working after about an hour.

I've never tried.

It's a pretty cool organ, and is worth about $175 Canadian in this condition. I wish I had the legs though. I'm doomed to use a crappy 80's MIDI rock X-Stand when I play live, which is totally degrating!
It looks hell ass sweet though. My favorite aspect is that it is super light compared to the farfisas and the Yamahas, enabling me to carry it to practice without any trouble. It also cuts through my band which has two guitars in it so I need something that will allow me to be heared. I like it.

Not much too it...just plug and play

UH....I guess it has vibrato. Past that you can forget it.

It does one thing well. You can really cut thru a mix with this one. Realistic sounds? Get outa here!

Have had problems playing outdoor concerts in the winter (cold wave concerts). Went way way way out of tune...but still fun!

Everyone associated with Vox is probably dead of old age now.

I traded it away a long time ago...but I wish I had it back! It has a totally cool look and even if it didn't work it would be great to have on stage or in a video. I've been checking garage sales, but they aren't so easy to locate.

Hey, a quick tip for setting up the organ:

It's very easy to set up the legs yourself.

With the lid on the organ, set the Vox on the floor upside down. Fasten each leg with the wing nuts, then the crossbars. Then set the whole assembly on its back, and pick up the organ using the handle on the lid.

Very easy this way, you don't need two people to set it up.

Four tabs: Flute (sounds warmer and rounder than the other tabs, more like a regular organ), Bright (sweet, high, with lots of harmonics), Brass (nice midrange combo organ sound), Mellow (muted combo organ). These four sounds can be combined in any way.

Bass sound for bass keys is totally nondescript tone, but very big and boomy bass sound. Pretty warm bass, but not much character. "Bass Chords" is the same tone produced from the middle range of the keys combined with the same note one octave lower.

Editing sounds is only possible with a soldering iron.

Haven't seen the user's manual.

Unlimited polyphony, but middle range tends to overpower the higher notes. As a pianist, I find the Jaguar's action a bit clumsy. Hard to find the sweet spot where the note is activated.

Effects: vibrato switch, "Contour" knob (tone control).

No expansion, no MIDI, no sequencer.

Brass and flute are completely unrealistic. The Jag has a good sound and is great fun to play with a band. Its reedy, combo-organ sound is strong and sharp and cuts through the mix of guitars and drums. My Korg synth has Vox samples, but I refuse to use them. The original has much more punch.

The sound is perfect for 1960s rock (Kinks, Doors, early Beatles, Sam the Sham. Also effective for "Runaway", although I think they used a Farfisa for that song). I learned the organ part for "Light My Fire". Only needs reverb and a Fender Piano Bass (I'm using a Fender Student Piano for the bass-almost the same sound) to sound exactly like the record. However, most keyboardists lack Ray Manzarek's classical technique and will therefore find the song rather difficult to master. The Jag adds a wonderful touch to old-fashioned guitar-based bands. A member of our band writes songs in the classic 60s style. The Vox sweetens his material wonderfully. Not so great for other styles of music. Because the organ has lots of high-pitched harmonics, it sounds GREAT through a 24db moog filter (run the filter real slow to play "Won't Get Fooled Again" on the organ).

Most people rave about the "classic" Vox vibrato, but I use this effect very little. I prefer to achieve musical effects through voicing of chords and rhythmic comping.

No velocity or aftertouch. Static keyboard.

Needed work when it arrived at my house. Was not playable because none of the "C" keys worked.

Cracked trace on "C" tone generator needed patching. Soldered a wire between the two solder points to close the break. Easy fix. "G" tone generator needed a new cap. Tough diagnosis, easy fix. A friend who is an electrical engineer found the bad part with a scope. Replaced the dual cap in the power supply on advice of another Jag owner when the organ started making croaking noises. Somewhat more difficult fix.

The case was in pretty bad shape. The handle had come off the top cover and the hinges on the case for the stand were badly bent. Replaced these parts at a luggage repair shop for a nominal fee.

Needs TLC. I would probably want to have my Korg with me at a gig, just in case.

Never dealt with Vox. No support from the manufacturer, AFAIK. I wouldn't take a Jag to a repair shop. They would charge me 30% of its actual worth to fix it. Repairs are not difficult if you or a friend know some basic electronics repair.

If it were lost or stolen on my watch, my bassist might hold me accountable, as it is his organ (he doesn't know how to play keyboard, so I keep the organ at my house). I would probably buy another combo organ if I had to replace it; the Vox is a unique sound, but I haven't compared it to other organs from the same period.

Louis (our bassist) brought it over nine months ago. Although I don't own the Vox, I DO own a Korg N5, moog MG-1 and a NanoPiano.

LOVE: Very fun to play for 60s music. Chrome "Z" stand gives the unit a distinctive appearance. HATE: Terrible for non-60s music. Stand is very awkward to set up, requires two people, one holding each end of the organ with one hand, other hand holding the leg up.

Haven't compared the Vox with other combo organs. I use it because it's a free loaner and has a distinctive sound. I doubt that I would spend money on a combo organ. I'm not really a fan of that sound. It just so happens that it's available, it's a unique sound, and it fits with the music my band plays.

The bass keys are a bit limited. I kind of wish they were separate from the main keyboard and had an extra half octave.

It's a groovy-looking keyboard. Definitely looks better than the anonymous, black-drawer DX7 clones most keyboardists use on stage.