VOX Introduces the Virage DC and Virage SC Semi-Hollow Body Guitars

Jun 25, 2008

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VOX, celebrating over a half-century of "Golden Tone" and musical instrument innovation, displays its new semi-hollow body guitars: the Virage™ DC double cutaway and the Virage SC single cutaway.

Combining the expertise of a hand-selected, global group of designers, luthiers, craftsmen and players, the Virage guitars were conceived from the ground up to further the potential of semi-hollow body guitar design.

Early in the development process, the team realized that creating a guitar up to VOX standards would require starting with a blank canvas rather than simply modifying an existing hollow body design. Their goal was to conceive and create well-balanced, ergonomically rich instruments infused with tonal versatility previously unavailable in an off-the-shelf guitar. The resulting new guitars were designed for players looking to move beyond the performance of traditional electric guitars in the areas of comfort, playability and sonic flexibility.

The Virage DC and Virage SC are solid wood guitars with a number of innovative features including ergonomically curved bodies, contoured both along their length and across their width. This unique curvature hugs close to the player, and, when combined with the guitars' slightly smaller than typical body size and their arched-top profile, affords a comfortable right arm playing position unlike previous semi-hollow offerings, as well as overall unprecedented playing comfort. The result is a guitar that "fits" perfectly whether the guitarist is sitting or standing.

Both instruments employ the proprietary VOX Three-90™ Pickup System, which relies on two triple-coil pickups to deliver clean, crunch and lead tones, similar to having single coil, P90 and humbucking-style versatility all in one instrument. Its analog circuitry requires no batteries or active electronics, and provides hum free operation regardless of the tone selected. This pickup system was designed and built in the USA exclusively for VOX by DiMarzio. A three-way toggle makes selecting pickups quick and easy. Users can jump between clean, crunch and lead modes independently for each pickup with a quick flick of each pickup's 3-way mode switch.

The guitars feature Integral Tonebar™ construction that keeps feedback at bay and yields the warm, singing resonance of a semi-hollow instrument with the focused attack of a solidbody. A custom, hand-carved neck joint with an inverse heel offers greatly enhanced upper fret access and comfort in the highest registers.

The specially designed VOX Full Contact™ aluminum bridge provides thick, rich tone with clear harmonics. Extended saddle travel ensures perfect intonation for any gauge string. String loading from the back edge of the bridge enables quick and effortless string changes.

Korg USA Executive Vice President/CMO Mitch Colby elaborated: "VOX was a driving force in the guitar market back in the 60s and has re-committed to establishing a high quality line of guitars with superb playability and supreme comfort. Great attention to all the details, large and small, was lavished on these new guitars, including many custom-designed parts and methods. We believe the new Virage guitars combine the kind of craftsmanship and aesthetics that will appeal to the purist, while delivering the kind of playability and versatility pro players seek."

Both Virage guitars share the following specifications:

Hand-selected tonewoods are used throughout both instruments

Neck - Mahogany

Body - Solid carved mahogany, ash or ash top with mahogany back, depending on finish

Fingerboard - Bound rosewood

Inlay - Mother of Pearl

Finish - Acrylic lacquer

Nut - Bone

Fingerboard Radius - 11.8"

Width at nut - 1.7"

Number of Frets - 22

Fret wire - Medium Jumbo

Scale - 25 1/8" - Specially developed to get the best combination of low note clarity and high note sparkle while remaining comfortable to all guitarists

Pickups - Two American-made VOX DiMarzio Three-90™ custom triple coil pickup system

Pickup Selector - 3-way toggle

Pickup Mode Switch - 2 x 3-position to select Clean, Crunch and Lead modes for each pickup

Controls - Master Volume and Master Tone controls

VOX Super Smooth custom tuners with custom contoured metal buttons

Original design pickup covers and control knobs

Protective hard-shell case

VIRAGE DC measures 14 1/8" W x 41" L and 1 1/2" deep at its deepest

VIRAGE SC measures 13 1/4" W x 41" L and 1 5/8" D

The VOX Virage DC Double Cutaway and Virage SC Single Cutaway are currently available with MSRPs of $3300 and $3200, respectively.

For more information, visit their web site at www.voxamps.co.uk.