Vox Teardrop Bill Wyman Bass Guitar Vintage Original 1966 Extremely Rare, British Made. In excellent condition, especially given the age of this beautiful instrument.

An opportunity to own a really unique piece of musical history!  I've owned and cherished this guitar for over a quarter of a century but sadly circumstances now dictate that I must part with it.

13-inch wide single-bound laminated maple hollow body arch top teardrop-shaped bass. Made famous by Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones, Vox felt that this bass guitar should be named after its namesake for which Bill lent his name under endorsement. The guitar is an electro-acoustic teardrop model with two pickups and chromed pickups and pick plates. This guitar was the only Vox guitar to be adorned with an endorser's name. It weighs just 6.20 lbs. The body is a rich three-tone sunburst and features a single-bound specific shape curved sound-hole. The laminated maple neck is bolted to the body with four screws and has a single-bound rosewood fretboard with a short-scale length of 30.00 inches. On the back of the headstock is a black decal with "Made in England".

Naturally, given the age, there are some slight signs of cosmetic wear and tear, including a crack to the lacquer on one edge, which should be straightforward to repair if desired, but none of this affects the overall stunning impression, sound or playability of this extremely rare instrument.

Supplied in its own guitar-specific shaped hard case (see photo), with strap and new set of strings.

The Vox Wyman bass was designed in 1965 using elements of the Vox "Phantom Mark III" teardrop design-later called just the "Mark" series and has some of the features from Rolling Stone Bill Wyman's preferred Framus hollowbody basses. His bandmate Brian Jones had been using the prototype solid teardrop guitar for much of 1964 and 1965, and Vox was eager to secure another Stone as an endorser. The laminated maple short-scale neck is very narrow, which was Wyman's preference. Like most production Vox instruments after 1964, this guitar was built in the Eko factory in Recanti, Italy. This is a very light, easy-playing bass with a surprisingly punchy and well-defined tone... definitely one of the better Vox designs. Wyman himself used his prototype for several years in the mid-late 1960's before moving on to Fender and Dan Armstrong basses. "By 1964, the British music scene was exploding with bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Dave Clark Five, and the Hollies—all of whom used Vox amplifiers. Jennings started to pitch Vox guitars to all the major acts, which made them immensely popular, and resulted in a huge demand for the instruments. To keep up with the request for more Vox guitars, Jennings contacted Welson, a small Italian manufacturer who began building a limited number of inexpensive single-cutaway jazz box guitars that were added to the Vox line. Later, a larger Italian guitar manufacturer called Crucianelli was hired by Jennings to build semi-hollow electric guitar models bearing the Vox name. British production of Vox guitars continued simultaneously, and it was common to have the same models built in both factories. British-made Vox guitars have sequential serial numbers stamped on the back of the headstock (and later on the neck plates), while the Italian-made guitars have a different set of serial numbers that is always stamped onto the neck plates." (Andy Babiuk, Vintage Guitar Magazine).

Collection in person only from near A1/A66 junction at Scotch Corner, North Yorkshire. 

Any questions, please just message me!