Vox Sidewinder IV Bass - H E L P ! !

[Andre Picado]

Well, here i am, another vintage instrument owner dealing with restoration technical problems... i hope someone can help me !

I own a Vox Sidewinder IV Bass for more than 20 years, and sent it to a luthier to get it reassembled and fixed. It came back to me yesterday just like a brand new one, but my luthier couldn't deal with its electronics. In fact i presume the problem is just the wire connections among the pc boards, control plates, the pots, switches and output jack ( its working ok as a passive bass, but none of its wonderful electronic gadgets are working - booster, distortion or G tuner), so i'm looking for schematic diagram of the whole thing. I used to play the bass with those electronic things working, and there's nothing else like them ( i'm not considering changing them for any modern thing !), so i hope someone can give me a clue !

I've seen some unsucessful searches like mine, but it's worth to try !

[David King]

What did it use for power? Is there a 9 V battery clip? I'd start by replacing that clip IF the battery is even in there and still OK.

[movek1]

can we get some pictures

[Andre Picado]

What did it use for power? Is there a 9 V battery clip? I'd start by replacing that clip IF the battery is even in there and still OK.

Hi David, thanks for the return ! Well, the batt clip is ok, in fact one of the loose wires is the red one from this clip. There are another loose wires all over the circuit, and some loose connection points on the pc boards also. So, i'm thinking on rewiring the whole thing now, but i'd be more confident with the diagram on my hands. I will post some photos so you can see the mess i'm dealing with.... Thanks again !

[Andre Picado]

can we get some pictures

Hi movek1 ! Thanks for your return !
I'll post some shots of the whole mess...

[J M Fahey]

ฟDid everything work before being sent to the Luthier for repairs?
I find it quite impossible to get that schematic, unless somebody around here was once a VOX authorized (about 30 or more years ago) and has some yellowing, dusty , rat bitten copy somewhere.
*Maybe*you should try for some Vintage Vox instruments board or forum or whatever.
Good luck, boa sorte pra voc๊.
Qui็แ alguma macumba ajude
Tira e posta fotos nitidas.

[Andre Picado]

ฟDid everything work before being sent to the Luthier for repairs?
I find it quite impossible to get that schematic, unless somebody around here was once a VOX authorized (about 30 or more years ago) and has some yellowing, dusty , rat bitten copy somewhere.
*Maybe*you should try for some Vintage Vox instruments board or forum or whatever.
Good luck, boa sorte pra voc๊.
Qui็แ alguma macumba ajude
Tira e posta fotos nitidas.

! No, in fact the bass was "disassembled" when i sent to the luthier. Even when it was "operational", i suffered with a lot of noises, due to old solders, rusty pots, etc., so i'm taking this chance to get it back to life, as good as i can. The luthier's wood work was great (i'll post the photos later this week). I agree with you about how difficult this may be to get documents about its electronics, but i'm still hopeful... if someone here can get a inside photo of another Sidewinder or Apollo, i'll be gratefull
Valeu !!

[David King]

Andre,
you might try contacting anyone selling an Apollo or Sidewinder on Ebay to see if they can send you a photo of the electronics.

There are a couple of places in the UK that specialize in assembling NOS parts. johnson on the pickup forum put me in touch with one of these outfits: Brandoniguitars.co.uk - brandoni guitars Resources and Information. they might be able to help you out.


Bah! I see their domain died. You can try the wayback machine or google cache to get some contact info.
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://...iguitars.co.uk

Here's an address and telephone number:
tel:02089082323. Unit 3.6. Wembly commercial centre. East Lane. Wembley. Middlesex

[52 Bill]

I rebuilt an Ultrasonic that came to me in pieces once. I was able to find the original Vox assembly drawings, but never a schematic for the FX.

What I found was that the built-in FX were very similar to the circuits used in the plug-in FX that were available around the same time as the guitars. Most if not all of the stand alone FX schematics are out there on the web, so you may be able to put yours back together by reverse engineering the FX boards and matching to the schematics.

[Andre Picado]

Andre,
you might try contacting anyone selling an Apollo or Sidewinder on Ebay to see if they can send you a photo of the electronics.

There are a couple of places in the UK that specialize in assembling NOS parts. johnson on the pickup forum put me in touch with one of these outfits: Brandoniguitars.co.uk - brandoni guitars Resources and Information. they might be able to help you out.


Bah! I see their domain died. You can try the wayback machine or google cache to get some contact info.
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://...iguitars.co.uk

Here's an address and telephone number:
tel:02089082323. Unit 3.6. Wembly commercial centre. East Lane. Wembley. Middlesex

Thanks, David ! I'll follow your suggestions, and post here the results !

[Andre Picado]

I rebuilt an Ultrasonic that came to me in pieces once. I was able to find the original Vox assembly drawings, but never a schematic for the FX.

What I found was that the built-in FX were very similar to the circuits used in the plug-in FX that were available around the same time as the guitars. Most if not all of the stand alone FX schematics are out there on the web, so you may be able to put yours back together by reverse engineering the FX boards and matching to the schematics.

Really ?? Can you send me those assembly drawings ? or tell me where and how did you find them ?? Thanks in advance !!

[J M Fahey]

Hi Andre.
I suggest ann alternative way, it's what I'd do if I had it on my bench.
I would begin by taking pictures, drawing the layout, noting which wires go where, as much info as possible.
Then, I would grab the boards one by one, and trace them.
Given the '60s technology, each of them must be very simple, one or two transistors and a handful of components at most.
Even if *some* value is unreadable, we can calculate what should go there with sufficient exactitude as to make it work.
Having reconstructed the schematic; inputs, outputs, switches or control pots suggest the correct connections by themselves.
Example: any of us, given an unmounted board of, say, a Rat or Tube Screamer would know in a short time where to apply the input signal, where to take the output signal, etc.
Yours might even use Germanium Transistors, or the earliest Silicon ones.
Spend a couple quiet afternoons with a drawing pad, a good lamp and glasses, if necessary, and you'll soon have what you need.
Also search for regular VOX schematics: the distortion must be quite close to the 2 transistor Vox "Distortion" (really closer to a Fuzz); the E or G tuner was available on some top of the line heads, there *was* a Treble and Bass booster pedal, and so on.
And, as you noted, you have a lot of rusty pots , jacks and switches to deal with.
Boa sorte.

[52 Bill]

Andre:
Here is a scan of the assembly drawing for the Vox Ultrasonic guitar. While it will not match your bass, it may help you to re-assemble your electronics.

Best of luck.

[J M Fahey]

กกก WOW !!!!!

[52 Bill]

If you think that the wiring diagram is something, take a look at the Assembly Drawing.