Vox Virage VGSC Single and VGDC Double Cutaway Guitars: 2008-2012
Internal View of a Virage Carved Top, Including Tone Bars
Internal View of a Partially Completed Virage DC Carved Back
Seam of Carved Top and Back on Rim of Guitar
From 2008 to 2012 Vox offered the Virage series of semi-hollow guitars, named after the French word for "turn" or "curve." There were two models available:
The Vox VGSC Virage - A single-cutaway, dual-pickup guitar resembling the Gibson Les Paul.
The Vox VGDC Virage - A dual-cutaway, dual-pickup guitar with a body shape similar to the Gibson ES-335.
With suggested retail prices of $3,400 for the single-cutaway and $3,500 for the double-cutaway, the Virage was a professional-grade instrument designed to compete with premium guitars from brands like Gibson and PRS.
3D Contoured Body Both Virage models employed what Vox called a "3D contoured body" (see side profile photo above). Not only are the front and rear of the guitar arched, the body as a whole drops away from the plane of the neck and in effect curves around your body as you play it. This allowed the Virage to better conform to a player's body whether seated or standing.
The Virage's innovative, patented 3D ergonomic body design was the brainchild of Rich Lasner, VP of Guitar Development, and Eric Kirkland, Chief Designer at G-ROK. G-ROK was Korg's division responsible for Vox guitar research and development. Before joining Vox in 2007, Lasner had a distinguished career designing guitars for well-known brands like Ibanez, Yamaha, Line 6, Modulus, and Peavey.
When working out the details for the dual-cutaway Virage, Rich Lasner determined that the size of the ES-335 body was too large to adapt to the desired 3D ergonomic body contours. As a result, Eric Kirkland scaled back the length and width of the ES-335 body about 10% to create the perfect size for the dual-cutaway Virage.
Two Piece Carved Body
There were no laminates in the tops, back or sides of Vox Virage guitars. Both Virage models utilized modern CNC (computer numerically controlled) routing capabilities to create fully carved bodies from solid wood.
Each Virage body started out as two blocks of hardwood. A CNC router carved the inside and outside of the first block, creating the top of the guitar and a portion of the rim. The second block of wood was also shaped inside and out by the router, creating the back of the guitar and the balance of the rim. These pieces were glued together to create a fully carved guitar body. The seam between the upper and lower sections of the body is visible on guitars with the semi-translucent 'ash blonde' finish (see photos at left).
To address the problems with feedback and string balance common to semi-hollow guitars, the team at Vox developed their proprietary "tone bar"bracing system. Conventional laminated hollow body designs, such as the Gibson ES-335, added a separate wooden block under the pickups and bridge to control feedback and provide string balance. Vox took a different approach. As Virage bodies were carved from two solid blocks of wood, it was possible to program the CNC router to include an integral pair of prong shaped tone bars inside each half of the body. These tone bars reinforced the guitar in the area from the neck joint to the bridge, suppressing feedback and improving string balance.
Wood
The wood chosen for a Virage body was determined by the four available finishes: Deep Cherry, Ash Blonde, Sunburst and Black. Deep Cherry bodies were all mahogany. Ash Blonde guitars had ash bodies. Sunburst guitars had an ash top and a mahogany back. Black Virage guitars came with either an all mahogany body, an all ash body, or an ash top with a mahogany back. All were finished in acrylic lacquer.
Hardware and Pickups Instead of using conventional, "off the shelf" parts, Vox designed unique hardware and pickups exclusively for the Virage family of guitars. This included the innovative Three-90 pickups (with wood tone covers and matching control knobs), the satin finished aluminum "MaxConnect™" bridge and the Vox branded "Super Smooth Custom Tuners." All are described in detail below.
Three 90 Pickup The Vox Virage was equipped with an identical pair of "Three-90" passive pickups capable of delivering a multitude of classic tones. These pickups were designed for the Virage project by Eric Kirkland at G-ROK and manufactured exclusively for Vox by DiMarzio.
The Three-90 pickup contained three conventional side-by-side coils that could be configured in various combinations using a pair of three-position "Mode Switches." This versatile pickup design and three-way switching allowed the Three-90 to deliver hot humbucker "lead" tones, "crunch" P90 tones or strat inspired single coil "clean" tones in a hum free, passive circuit.
A CTS master volume control, CTS master tone control and a conventional three-way pickup selector (bridge/both/neck) were also included.
MaxConnect™ Aluminum Bridge The MaxConnect™ bridge was a precision cast, satin finish aluminum assembly weighing a scant two ounces. Vox claimed it had the longest range of saddle adjustment of any bridge on the market, allowing correct intonation from the lightest to the heaviest of string sets. It also offered easy, "straight-in" access for restringing the guitar. Two brass studs, anchored to the guitar's internal tone bars, secured the bridge to the body and allowed precise string height adjustments.
Vox Three-90 Pickup with Wood Tone Cover MaxConnect™ Cast Aluminum Bridge
Vox Super Smooth Custom Tuners - Wave Motif Tuning Peg
Photo Courtesy Parts is Parts (partsisparts.net)
Mother of Pearl Fretboard Inlay with Virage "Wave" Motif
Inverse Heel Neck Joint
Neck The Virage single and double cutaway guitars both shared the same carved mahogany set neck and bound rosewood fretboard. The Virage had a 25⅛" (638mm) scale length making it ⅜" longer than a typical Gibson and ⅜" shorter than most Fenders. The neck had 22 medium jumbo frets, a bone nut and an 11.8" (300mm) fretboard radius. The neck was ~1.69" (43mm) wide and ~0.83" (21mm) deep at the first fret and ~2" wide and .90 (23mm) deep at the twelfth. The neck met the body at the 17th fret. Nine mother of pearl block inlays with the Virage "wave" motif adorned the fretboard (see photo at left).
The Virage guitar neck was designed with a 10.5-degree headstock angle. This angle increased the pressure of the strings over the nut, enhancing sustain. As the neck was carved from a solid block of mahogany, there was no need to create a traditional scarf joint to make the headstock angle. The angle was created as part of the carving process. A mother of pearl "wave" motif was inlaid into the face of the headstock.
The guitar's tuning stability and accuracy were enhanced by the Vox "Super Smooth Custom Tuners," designed for Virage at G-ROK. Each tuner set was composed of six individual, sealed units with chrome-plated cases. Their satin finished, wave motif pegs matched the satin finish of the MaxContact bridge (see photo at left).
A hand carved, custom set-in neck joint with an inverse heel allowed greater access to the upper frets (see photo at left).
The Virage "Wave" Motif It is worth noting that the Virage "wave" motif appears 18 times on each Virage guitar. It is found as an inlay on the headstock, nine block inlays on the fretboard, six tuner pegs and both sound holes.
Country of Origin The VGSC and VGDC Vox Virage guitars were designed in Novato California by G-ROK, Fun fact: G-ROK is Korg spelled backwards. The guitars were built in Japan by Fujigen.
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