Univox Hi-Flier
| Manufacturer | Univox |
|---|---|
| Period | 1967 — 1977 |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Bolt-on |
| Body | Plywood/Poplar |
| Fretboard | Rosewood, maple |
| Bridge | Tune-o-matic style with Jaguar-style Tremolo (Phase 1-3); Stoptail (Phase 4) |
| Pickup(s) |
Two P-90s (Phase 1-2) Two humbuckers (Phase 3-4) |
| Orange sunburst, black, white, natural | |
Two P-90s (Phase 1-2)
The Univox Hi-Flier was an electric guitar manufactured by Univox and Unicord from 1968 to 1978. It had a very similar appearance to the Mosrite Ventures guitar, though was somewhat different (and much cheaper).
The Hi-Flier went through many changes, and is known as having four phases. However, the changes made that define these four phases have "transitional" periods where characteristics from an older phase carry on to a newer phase, for sometime into the production. It is impossible to date these guitars by the serial number as it is uncertain whether records were kept on their production (the original factory burned down in the 1980s), and generally, the serial numbers run from largest-to-smallest over many years.
The Hi-Flier debuted around 1968. It was loosely based on the Mosrite Ventures model, and featured two P-90 style pickups.
The very first Hi-Fliers had a three-tone sunburst finish, pearloid white pickguard and truss rod cover. These very early Hi Fliers are distinctly different from later models because they have much 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 chrome raised-plastic "Univox" headstock logo.
Sometime in late 1968/early 1969, a limited special version of the Hi Flier, called the Hi-Flier Custom was produced. With this new model, a black finish was offered along with the standard sunburst finish. These models are very similar to the earliest Hi Fliers, except that they had a red tortoishell pickguard and truss rod cover, often slimmer neck/body (which became standard for all Hi Fliers around this time period), and a badge that read, "Univox Custom."
To complicate things even further, there were many Hi-Fliers made that had all the same characteristics as the Hi-Flier custom, but were fitted with a standard "Univox" badge, with no custom-tag. This was a simple matter at the factory because the Hi-Flier custom was created simply to use leftover stock badges from the previous Univox Custom model, a hollowbody 335 type guitar built much earlier in the 1960s. The factory presumably had many badges left over, and used them up on the Hi Fliers, until they ran out and resorted back to the standard "Univox" badge.
A Phase two Hi-Flier retained the P-90 pickups, and early transitional models also retained the plastic "Univox" headstock badge. Changes to the model at this time included:
-String trees changed to separate metal pieces
-Fret markers smaller, and uniform in size
-Three-way toggle switch replacing the earlier rocker switches.
-addition of white finish (options were now: Sunburst, Black, and White)
- Pickguard no longer pearloid or tortoise shell, but rather plain white- three layer.
- Mid-way through the production of the Phase two models, the headstock logo was changed from the plastic "Univox" logo to a 1970's style Block-letter decal under the lacquer finish between the tuners. They would remain this way throughout the rest of production.
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