Few bass guitars have become so iconic that they are immediately associated with the celebrity that played them. When one sees a Hofner 500/1 violin bass, Paul McCartney comes to mind. A Vox Teardrop bass suggests Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones. The white Vox Phantom IV bass is indelibly connected to Phil “Fang” Volk of Paul Revere and the Raiders.
Phil Volk strengthened his tie to the Vox Phantom IV by taping his nickname, “Fang,” to the back side of his bass. Phil often flipped the Phantom IV over to expose his nickname to the audience.
The unique “coffin” shaped Phantom body style was developed for Vox in 1961 by the London Design Centre and the bass was originally produced by Vox in the UK. A later version was manufactured in Italy for Vox by Eko. Phil Volk played the UK version.
The Vox Phantom IV Bass was offered in the 1962 “Precision in Sound,” the 1965 “King of the Beat,” the “1964/65 Vox Dealer” and the 1966 “Vox, It’s Whats Happening” catalogs.
The Phantom IV bass featured two single coil pickups with four pole pieces. A rotary switch was used for pickup selection. A single volume and tone control were also included.
The 1966 US Vox catalog described the V210 Phantom IV Bass as follows: “Rugged and powerful solid body in striking Phantom design; fast neck with ebony fingerboard; two husky, 4-pole bass pick-ups; adjustable bridge for low action control; fast action pick-up selector switch; polyester finish in choice of colors.”
Phil actually didn’t like the Phantom IV bass but he agreed to play it due to the Raiders’ endorsement agreement with Vox. In a recent interview, Phil said, “The Vox Phantom was awful. The neck was as big as a two by four. If you look at some pictures you’ll see that I put a Fender Precision neck on it. I had to have it custom fitted into the slot where the neck goes. And sure enough, after doing that, I could play the thing, and it really had a good feel to it. If you go to Seattle and go to the Experience Music Project Museum — that bass is hanging there. And it has the Fender neck on it!”
Vox Phantom IV Bass
PRODUCED: 1962–64 (UK) 1965-69 (Italy)
ORIGIN: UK & Italy
TYPE: Solid asymmetrical pentagonal body, 4-string
BODY: Sycamore
NECK: Sycamore (very early models) or maple, bolt-on, 20 medium frets
SCALE LENGTH: 864mm (34-inch)
FINGERBOARD: Rosewood or ebony with white dot inlays
HARDWARE: Chrome cover over 4-saddle raised tail bridge, open gear tuners
PICKUPS: Two single-coil units with 4 pole pieces and chrome surrounds initially then white plastic
CONTROLS: Volume, tone and three-position pickup selection lever switch
FEATURES: Capstan-style truss rod adjuster at body end of neck, most models had a pointless finger rest set near the neck, some headstocks matched body colour
FINISHES: Polyester Black or White although some other colours are known to exist
COMMENTS: It was president Tom Jennings who commissioned the London Design Centre to produce a unique body design for Vox in 1961 and the Phantom was born. Initially the bass version was built in the UK but production was soon sub contracted to EKO in Italy although, unlike today, these models sold at a higher price.
Amazingly when first introduced the Phantom sold for more than a Fender Precision in the UK! The Italian-built models also included a Gretsch style removable padded back cushion with pop-on studs.
Earliest versions had Phantom on the headstock not Vox and as much of the body was covered by a similarly shaped white scratchplate the colour was largely unimportant. The pickups were modelled on the original Fender P-Bass design and worked surprisingly well as a pair. Sadly the Phantom IV has atrocious balance but the good solid sound and unique appearance are still appealing
just...BASS! 