Univox Hi-Flier

Last updated
Univox Hi-Flier
1971 Univox HiFlier U-1802.jpg
Phase II Univox Hi-Flier
Manufacturer Univox
Period1967 — 1980
Construction
Body typeSolid
Neck jointBolt-on
Woods
Body Plywood,[ dubious ]
Poplar
Fretboard Rosewood, maple
Hardware
Bridge Tune-o-matic style with Jaguar-style Tremolo (Phase 1-3)
Stoptail (Phase 4)
Pickup(s) Two P-90 style (Phase 1-2) Two humbuckers (Phase 3-4)
Colors available
Orange sunburst, black, white, natural

The Univox Hi-Flier is an electric guitar marketed and sold by Univox (later Unicord) from roughly 1967 to 1980. With its reversed offset body, the Hi-Flier has an intentional resemblance to the Mosrite Ventures model. A bass version of the Hi-Flier was also available.

Contents

Phases

The Hi-Flier went through many changes, generally divided into four "phases." However, the changes that define these have "transitional" periods, where characteristics from an older phase carry over into early production of a new phase. It is impossible to date these guitars by the serial number as it is uncertain whether records were kept on their production.

Phase One/Phase One Custom

The Hi-Flier model debuted in 1967, with two P-90-style pickups. The design is loosely based on the body shape of the Mosrite Mark 1 and its later iterations, though with a thinner and much lighter body. The top of the Hi-Flier headstock has two U-shaped cuts, echoing the three-notch "M" shape of the Mosrite. The pickguard shape and control layout also mimicked Mosrite.

The first Hi-Fliers have a three-tone sunburst finish, pearloid white pickguard and truss rod cover. These very early Hi-Fliers are distinctly different from later models, having thicker bodies and necks, a "bar" type string tree that covers all six strings, larger fret markers for all frets except the two on the twelfth fret, dual black rocker switches on the pickguard, and a raised chromed-metal(with a painted black background) "Univox" headstock logo.

In 1968, a limited special version, the Hi-Flier Custom, was produced. With this new model, a black finish was offered along with the standard sunburst finish. These are very similar to the earliest Hi Fliers, except that they have a red tortoiseshell pickguard and truss rod cover, often slimmer neck/body (which became standard for all Hi-Fliers around this time period), and a badge that reads "Univox Custom."

In addition, there were Hi-Fliers made that have all the characteristics of the Custom version, but are fitted with a standard "Univox" badge, with no Custom tag. This is likely due to the Hi-Flier Custom being created simply to use leftover stock badges from a previous Univox Custom model (a hollowbody 335-type guitar built in the early 1960s). The factory presumably had many badges left over, and used them on the Hi-Fliers until they ran out, returning to the standard "Univox" badge.

Phase Two

In 1971, a redesign retained the P-90 pickups but included the following changes:

Phase Three

Univox Hi-Flier Phase III guitar UNIVOX GUITAR hi-flier phase3.jpg
Univox Hi-Flier Phase III guitar

In 1974, the Hi-Flier was updated with a new finish option (Natural). Twin humbuckers in black plastic surround rings replaced the P-90-type pickups. These pickups were already in production for the Ripper (Strat copy) and Gimme (Les Paul style). They are extremely high output pickups, with a distinctive open-top cover and three-screw mounting. Though these humbuckers strayed significantly from the Mosrite design, their unique tone and high output have made this a sought-after version of the Hi Flier.

Production of the Hi-Flier reached its peak in the mid 1970s. Consequently, Phase Three Hi-Fliers are the most common variety found today.

In addition, the natural-finish guitars and many later Phase Three guitars (in Black) were fitted with maple fingerboards.

Phase Four

Hi-Flier Phase IV (1977) in sunburst UNIVOX Hi-Flier phase 4 from c.1977.jpg
Hi-Flier Phase IV (1977) in sunburst

In 1977, the Hi-Flier was once again changed. The white and black guitars retained their white pickguards, while sunburst and natural guitars were fitted with black pickguards.

Many had the pickup surrounds in white plastic (from the previous standard black ). The knob layout was changed from in-line tone and volume knobs to a horizontally-opposed knob layout. Knobs were also changed to speed style from the traditional top hat style.

Most prominently, Phase Four Hi-Fliers saw a hardtail Gibson-style stop-bar bridge/tailpiece replace the former Fender Jazzmaster-style separate vibrato and roller bridge setup.

In 1980, Univox discontinued the Hi-Flier.

Notable Users

E of Eels playing a Phase IV Univox Hi-Flier. E eels univox.jpg
E of Eels playing a Phase IV Univox Hi-Flier.

[2]

Similar models

Univox guitars were produced by Japanese manufacturer Matsumoku, which built instruments for many brands, including Epiphone, Aria, Univox and later Westbury. They would often take a standard "house" model they made, and apply a variety of brand names to the same guitar, depending on the market the guitar was headed for. As a result, contemporary guitars identical to the Hi-Flier have been seen under various brands, including

Modern copies include

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Jazzmaster</span> Electric guitar

The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Convention, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s. Its appearance is similar to the Jaguar, though it is tonally and physically different in many technical ways, including pickup design, scale length and controls.

The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar by Fender Musical Instruments characterized by an offset-waist body, a relatively unusual switching system with two separate circuits for lead and rhythm, and a short-scale 24" neck. Owing some roots to the Jazzmaster, it was introduced in 1962 as Fender's feature-laden top-of-the-line model, designed to lure players from Gibson. During its initial 13-year production run, the Jaguar did not sell as well as the less expensive Stratocaster and Telecaster, and achieved its most noticeable popularity in the surf music scene. After the Jaguar was taken out of production in 1975, vintage Jaguars became popular first with American punk rock players, and then more so during the alternative rock, shoegazing and indie rock movements of the 1980s and 1990s. Fender began making a version in Japan in the mid-1980s, and then introduced a USA-made reissue in 1999. Since then, Fender has made a variety of Jaguars in America, Mexico, Indonesia and China under both the Fender and Squier labels. Original vintage Jaguars sell for many times their original price.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Precision Bass</span> Model of electric bass

The Fender Precision Bass is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrument usually equipped with a single split-coil humbucking pickup and a one-piece, 20-fret maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Jazz Bass</span> Fender model of bass guitar

The Fender Jazz Bass is the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. It is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the fundamental frequency. The body shape is also different from the Precision Bass, in that the Precision Bass has a symmetrical lower bout on the body, designed after the Telecaster and Stratocaster lines of guitars, while the Jazz Bass has an offset lower bout, mimicking the design aesthetic of the Jaguar and Jazzmaster guitars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mosrite</span> American guitar manufacturing company

Mosrite is an American guitar manufacturing company, based in Bakersfield, California, from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. Founded by Semie Moseley, Mosrite guitars were played by many rock and roll and country artists.

The Fender Bass VI, originally known as the Fender VI, is a six-string electric bass guitar made by Fender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson Explorer</span> Electric guitar model by Gibson Brands, Inc

The Gibson Explorer is a type of electric guitar model by Gibson guitars, released in 1958. The Explorer offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Flying V, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, which was designed in 1957 but not released until 1982. The Explorer was the final development of a prototype design that, years later, Gibson marketed under the name Futura.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epiphone G-400</span>

The G-400 is an Epiphone solid body electric guitar model produced as a more modestly priced version of the famous Gibson SG. Currently, Epiphone is a subsidiary of Gibson and manufactures the G-400 and other budget models at a lower cost in Asia. Visually and ergonomically, it is almost identical to a 1962 SG.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Jaguar Bass</span> Electric bass guitar

The Fender Jaguar Bass is an electric bass guitar currently manufactured in Mexico by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

The Fender Telecaster Bass is an electric bass introduced in 1968 by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. With few physical changes through the 1970s, it was discontinued in 1979 and reissued in 2007 by Fender's subsidiary Squier as the Squier Vintage Modified Precision Bass TB, which was discontinued in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson Les Paul Studio</span>

The Gibson Les Paul Studio is a solid body electric guitar produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation since 1983. It is a model of Les Paul with some features omitted to appeal to musicians looking for the tonal qualities of the guitar but with less of an emphasis on cosmetics and to reduce the price of the instrument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson L6-S</span> Electric guitar

The Gibson L6-S is a solid body electric guitar. It was the descendant of the L5S jazz solid-body electric guitar. It was the same shape, very much like a wide Gibson Les Paul, but with a 24-fret neck, the first Gibson guitar to have this.

The Fender Bullet was an electric guitar originally designed by John Page and manufactured and marketed by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was first introduced as a line of "student" guitars to replace the outgoing Mustang and Musicmaster models.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duesenberg Guitars</span> German electric string instrument manufacturer

Duesenberg is a brand for electric string instruments founded in 1986 and located in Hannover, Germany. The headquarter is in Hannover, Germany, they are known for using a Plek machine for the levelling of frets and setup. Duesenberg has uploaded a factory production video of how their guitars are made, revealing that most of the production of the guitars is done in Croatia, while the final setup and assembly is done in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson ES-333</span>

The Gibson ES-333 is a semi hollow body electric guitar made by Gibson Guitar Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson Spirit</span> Guitar model (produced 1982-86)

The Gibson Spirit was a guitar model sold under Gibson and Epiphone USA nameplates in the 1980s. This article does not refer to the made-in-China Spirit guitar sold under the Gibson Baldwin Music Education nameplate.

The Jackson DK2M is a superstrat variant of the Dinky line of electric guitars made by Jackson Guitars, specifically the Pro Series. Introduced in January 2006, at one point it became Jackson's top import seller until it was dropped from the 2010 line. Its full name is the Jackson Pro Series DK2M Dinky and was manufactured in Japan using bolt-on neck construction in a scale length of 25.5”. The DK2M had a 2007 MSRP of $857–999, depending on finish, while street price ranged from $600–700. The Jackson DK2M was reintroduced to the market in 2012, and is now manufactured in Mexico. A molded case is optional.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TYM Guitars</span> Australian guitar manufacturer

TYM Guitars is a manufacturer of custom guitars and bass guitar based in Brisbane, Australia, as well as custom instruments the company also repairs, restores, refinishes vintage instruments. The line of custom guitars and basses built by TYM Guitars are influenced by manufacturers such as Mosrite, Rickenbacker, Epiphone, Danelectro, Fender and other models from the 1950s and 1960s, with several replicas and hybrids between different models being built to fit customer demand. TYM Guitars also has a retail shop that sells new and secondhand instruments and accessories from their own line of products and other manufacturers.

The Yamaha Corporation is a multinational corporation and conglomerate based in Japan with a wide range of products and services, predominantly musical instruments, motorcycles, power sports equipment and electronics.

The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele, is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful solid-body electric guitar. Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music.

References

  1. Gill, Chris (20 February 2016). "The Definitive Kurt Cobain Gear Guide". Guitar World. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q4Qcqpu02A | YouTube video featuring Wardner playing a phase 1 Hi Flier.
  3. Mitchell, Brian (April 2013). "Guitarist Interview with Chris Summerlin of Kogumaza". QRD.