A mini Phantom and a slimmed-down digital archtop: Vox’s shrinking violets tip their caps to the guitar’s past, present and future

Vox has lifted the lid on some eye-catching additions to its electric guitar line, announcing the arrival of the Giulietta VGA-5TD – a slimmed-down take on its digital archtop guitar featuring a built-in modeling unit and an endearingly minitiarized take on its classic Phantom.

The VGA-5TD largely shares the spec of Vox’s existing Giulietta hollowbody, the VGA-3D. That model already shaved a significant amount off the classic big body dimensions of an archtop, and the VGA-5TD offers an even narrower option.

Early archtop designs were intended to offer increased projection and cut-through prior to the advent of electric guitars, so for the modern plugged-in player who still wants that tone, it makes sense to shave down that big body profile. 

This has benefits beyond straight portability, and the instrument has been designed to be less prone to feedback and, in another tip of the cap to modern convenience, comes loaded with Vox’s Areos-D modeling unit.

Blending the guitar’s natural acoustic tone (with a piezo bridge pickup) and the electric tones of the XLM humbucker with the onboard modeling capabilities should mean it offers a massive range of sounds. 

Via the Areos-D, it can also emulate 12-string guitar, resonator, sitar and banjo sounds, as well as more outlandish synth tones. 

In short: we want a go – and it looks great in that Silverburst-style ‘Faded Silver’ finish.

Elsewhere, Vox has also debuted the Mark V mini guitar – a cute take on its Phantom build (beloved by Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones and Joy Division’s Ian Curtis). 

Appealingly, despite its tiny footprint and 18.75” scale-length – about three-quarters of the full size model – it can still be tuned to standard and has a standard nut width, too.

It comes loaded with two single-coil pickups, a pickup selector and 18:1 ratio tuning pegs. We’ve only seen UK prices so far but at £199 (approx. $240), it’s a pretty tempting offering.

The Giulietta VGA-5TD, meanwhile, is listed at £899 (approx. $1,087).

For more information, head to Vox.