does anyone know of sources for an inexpensive 'vox phantom' body blank?

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valevale Frets: 1052
edited July 2018 in Making & Modding
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bb/bc/14/bbbc14d12e708e0f703e561f7eae838d.jpg

have noticed more varied budget (£50ish and under) body blanks on ebay and amazon lately. used to be just basics; strat, lp, tele, but now they are doing the other things (jazzmaster and vees).
£50ish (or less). obviously may not be perfect, but good enough for a first project.

strat £25
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Unfinished-DIY-Guitar-Body-Maple-Body-For-Fender-ST-Style-Guitar/332630607514

jazzmaster £50
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIY-Unfinished-Jazzmaster-Electric-Guitar-Body-Basswood-Guitar-Parts-Replacement/392023273922

i've checked CH (main affordable uk site i know of) but obvs phantoms are an outsiders' option, so wasn't surprised by their absence.

is anyone aware of anything out there? vox blanks or kits?

i am going to put a shout out in classifieds here for a project, but that's a highly improbable long shot. so thought i'd ask here too, in case any of you hardcore diyers have seen anything.

thanks all.
hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • steamabacussteamabacus Frets: 1258
    First thought was Brandoni and they do have Phantom bodies, over your budget though.

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  • valevale Frets: 1052
    edited July 2018
    thanks @steamabacus

    triple my budget (£150) alas, but have bought little vintage bits from brandonis in past and they always seemed a cool and reliable company, so may well revisit for finishing touches for this.
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • steamabacussteamabacus Frets: 1258
    At the bottom of that page I notice, "various warehouse soiled bodies, need attention. 20.00-60.00 "  Must be worth a call.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    Damn... if only you’d asked a couple of months ago I could have sold you a complete reissue Phantom bass for £150 :(.

    A friend of mine had one, it was quite nice - very narrow neck, but it played well and sounded good. The balance was surprisingly OK as well, at least on a strap.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    Low rent guitar exotica is the bread and butter of HarrySeven. He probably has guitars and basses, of this sort, in pieces, in one of his storage buildings. Shoot him a PM. 

    vale said:
    i am going to put a shout out in classifieds here for a project, 
    Are you planning to assemble a guitar or a short scale bass? The latter could be tricky to obtain parts for within budget.
    Be seeing you.
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16541
    First thought was Brandoni and they do have Phantom bodies, over your budget though.


    Are they still going - the website hasn't been updated in a very long time and the prices are pretty much what I remember from when I first built a guitar in 2002
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  • steamabacussteamabacus Frets: 1258
    WezV said:
    First thought was Brandoni and they do have Phantom bodies, over your budget though.


    Are they still going - the website hasn't been updated in a very long time and the prices are pretty much what I remember from when I first built a guitar in 2002
    No idea? I would have thought that they would have taken the website down if they weren't still trading in some form or other?
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  • valevale Frets: 1052
    ICBM said:
    Damn... if only you’d asked a couple of months ago I could have sold you a complete reissue Phantom bass for £150 :(.

    A friend of mine had one, it was quite nice - very narrow neck, but it played well and sounded good. The balance was surprisingly OK as well, at least on a strap.
    aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgghhhhhhh! zu spät! i would have been all over that hussie like scarlet fever!

    i didn't even know they did phantom basses but just looked into it and its even shortscale.

    i'm devoted to my little hofner violin (inseperable) but for a matching small solid-bodied companion (with narrow shortscale neck to match) that would have been utterly ideal.

    i was originally asking after a guitar body but you have just expanded my brief.

    thanks for the new info @ICBM ;

    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • valevale Frets: 1052
    just to tidy up stray threads, have just posted a wtb shout for this in classifieds.

    http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/136805/wtb-vox-phantom-variants-of-body-or-whole-project-can-be-old-new-vox-or-decent-copy#latest

    though that's more for an existing guitar, whereas this thread was more on the offchance someone knew of a kit or parts.

    but all roads lead to thingy.
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • valevale Frets: 1052
    edited July 2018
    Low rent guitar exotica is the bread and butter of HarrySeven. He probably has guitars and basses, of this sort, in pieces, in one of his storage buildings. Shoot him a PM. 

    vale said:
    i am going to put a shout out in classifieds here for a project, 
    Are you planning to assemble a guitar or a short scale bass? The latter could be tricky to obtain parts for within budget.
    that's probably a wise idea. and i have a couple of bits he may be into re swaps. will drop him a line this evening.

    re guitar or bass.

    well.... my request was originally for a guitar as i thought vox only did a teardrop bass, not phantom.
    but now ICBM has enlightened me to the existence of the phantom bass reissue (shortscale and narrow neck, so perfect for me), that brief has now broadened to cover either or both.

    re budget, ICBM mentioned his friend sold a reissue phantom bass for £150, so that is exactly my kind of budget. my ignition was £200 so i wouldn't want to go above that. a reissue would easily be good enough.

    as long as a guitar or bass looks right and is functionally sound, i'm not hugely bothered re when it was made, which helps to keep the prices of things i want down.
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    That particular one had been slightly crudely hand-sprayed in something like car paint over the original too-shiny polyester finish, which actually made it look much more like the originals! - but even a non-bodged one should be just about within your budget I think.

    They’re also probably better-made than the originals, with slightly simpler electrics and better modern pickups. The two-saddle bridge didn’t intonate perfectly, but not too bad and/or would be easy to change.

    They also did a Teardrop reissue, which is identical apart from the body shape.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    vale said:
    ICBM has enlightened me 
    Shock, horror. People aged over forty know stuff. :)
    Be seeing you.
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  • valevale Frets: 1052
    ICBM said:
    That particular one had been slightly crudely hand-sprayed in something like car paint over the original too-shiny polyester finish, which actually made it look much more like the originals! - but even a non-bodged one should be just about within your budget I think.

    They’re also probably better-made than the originals, with slightly simpler electrics and better modern pickups. The two-saddle bridge didn’t intonate perfectly, but not too bad and/or would be easy to change.

    They also did a Teardrop reissue, which is identical apart from the body shape.
    big thanks for the extra details @ICBM

    have just been searching around the webs and it seems the original phantom basses were longscale and had superchunky necks ("like a 1955 precision" according to one account).
    so the reissue sounds like the only one i could live with. shortscale and narrow is my ideal.

    re condition, with something this kooky there are the combined forces of 'difficult to find' but also 'difficult to shift'. so i suppose that balances out to both hold prices down while obliging buyers to be open-minded about condition. but for the asking price, totally scarlet fever.


    btw, while i was at talkbass researching i also stumbled across this brilliant thread documenting a pro luthier's build of a clone phantom bass.

    it's by cataldo basses, so demanding of technical skills, tools, etc, light years beyond me, but it may be of interest to others in the modding section. the results are impressive.

    this is the cataldo copy next to the original 1965 vox.

    https://images.talkbass.com/attachments/phantom-comparo4-jpg.471840/

    full thread here https://www.talkbass.com/threads/1965-vox-phantom-iv-clones-two-of-them-to-menace.1086680/
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16541
    vale said:
    ICBM said:
    That particular one had been slightly crudely hand-sprayed in something like car paint over the original too-shiny polyester finish, which actually made it look much more like the originals! - but even a non-bodged one should be just about within your budget I think.

    They’re also probably better-made than the originals, with slightly simpler electrics and better modern pickups. The two-saddle bridge didn’t intonate perfectly, but not too bad and/or would be easy to change.

    They also did a Teardrop reissue, which is identical apart from the body shape.
    big thanks for the extra details @ICBM

    have just been searching around the webs and it seems the original phantom basses were longscale and had superchunky necks ("like a 1955 precision" according to one account).
    so the reissue sounds like the only one i could live with. shortscale and narrow is my ideal.

    re condition, with something this kooky there are the combined forces of 'difficult to find' but also 'difficult to shift'. so i suppose that balances out to both hold prices down while obliging buyers to be open-minded about condition. but for the asking price, totally scarlet fever.


    btw, while i was at talkbass researching i also stumbled across this brilliant thread documenting a pro luthier's build of a clone phantom bass.

    it's by cataldo basses, so demanding of technical skills, tools, etc, light years beyond me, but it may be of interest to others in the modding section. the results are impressive.

    this is the cataldo copy next to the original 1965 vox.

    https://images.talkbass.com/attachments/phantom-comparo4-jpg.471840/

    full thread here https://www.talkbass.com/threads/1965-vox-phantom-iv-clones-two-of-them-to-menace.1086680/
    He got the colour wrong ;)
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  • valevale Frets: 1052
    WezV said:
    vale said:

    (edit)

    btw, while i was at talkbass researching i also stumbled across this brilliant thread documenting a pro luthier's build of a clone phantom bass.

    it's by cataldo basses, so demanding of technical skills, tools, etc, light years beyond me, but it may be of interest to others in the modding section. the results are impressive.

    this is the cataldo copy next to the original 1965 vox.

    https://images.talkbass.com/attachments/phantom-comparo4-jpg.471840/

    full thread here https://www.talkbass.com/threads/1965-vox-phantom-iv-clones-two-of-them-to-menace.1086680/
    He got the colour wrong ;)
    but he got the size just so. did you see this at the end? that's the gauntlet laid down... just for you.

    cataldo: "The actual tracing got destroyed. You may be able to do something with this. The grid is 1 inch. Good luck!" (page 3 of talkbass thread).

    https://images.talkbass.com/attachments/p1060484p_zps13da23e4-jpg.2327470/
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • valevale Frets: 1052
    edited August 2018
    have been thinking more about this one this week.

    i have a guitar neck which i think would be boss perfect, so am pondering what a custom body might cost (if a readymade cannot be found). have to balance budget against not being immortal.

    can any modders here suggest any of the fb resident or allied builders who may be up for a one off phantom body blank? basic-basic multi part alder or something simple.

    it would just be a basic flat (unrouted) blank i need. a potential option may be a single neck pocket rout if i can work out what that should be. but no pickup or control cavities needed, as i'm still trying to work out what i want there. i'm planning 'crazy' in keeping with vox theme. but i have a router and bits for holes and slots (art school frame making days).

    re the body, i think that angular neck pocket chop either side of the neck pocket (see photo below of that) may be the only awkward bit. the rest looks not too complex (to someone who knows nothing about building).

    anyway, if anyone can recommend a potential maker who might be up for that, let me know.

    many thanks.

    https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BEysF5jJCsA/VoGAZdus0PI/AAAAAAAKHBo/RIRdJdfdgOs/s1600/1.jpg
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
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  • valevale Frets: 1052
    edited August 2018
    hey all, does anyone have a phantom template or plan, or could give me a few basic dimensions if they have one?
    body length/, width and thickness. maybe angle of neck pocket slice (called 'tapers'?).
    http://www.tdpri.com/data/attachments/242/242704-2c0a4492399a1f49a8b8b6b87d207eb6.jpg

    i have searched few decent build threads but any links to templates plans are all dead, apart from the gridded bass body template above (cataldo), which i will use for that. but the phantom guitar is the priority atm.
    as there's no symmetry or right angles it's a bit trickier than the average.

    have a random body blank so am going to see if any local woodchoppy places can do the basics for me for a not-too-scary fee. plane and jigsaw cut a basic body outline (maybe even do a roundover) until it looks like this.
    https://farm1.staticflickr.com/759/22483286957_4960031c79_z.jpg

    but i will need to have a basic plywood template (which i can do, just about) for them to stick on and work around. for which i need dimensions. so stuck until i can find that much.

    btw, did you know the 1966 phantoms (built by eko) had some kid of freaky rsj reinforced neck? pretty bizarre and something i hadn't seen before. like this.
    http://www.voxshowroom.com/ct/guitar/jmi_guitars/double_T4.jpg

    thanks, peeps.

    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16541
    for things like this i tend to start with a face on  picture and scale it up or down until a few known dimensions match what they should

    from the pic at the start i would use scale length, string spacing and pickup size (since it seems to have standard single coils)

    you can do it in Paint with trial and error and lots of printing, or use a better image editing suite to scale up more accurately.

    once you have it the right size, print it out and stick it onto a piece of MDF to make  template (don't use a waterbased glue - doublesided tape can work well)
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  • Have you tried Brandoloni?
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