The Vox Telstar (originally made by Trixon as the Speedfire) with its elliptical bass drum, first came onto the US and European music scene in the mid-to-late 1960s. Although it had undoubted potential, the groundbreaking design never seemed to capture the imagination of the wider drumming fraternity, and so it quietly disappeared into oblivion – much like the Sinclair C5!

Fast forward 50 years, and Vox has teamed up with the Sakae Osaka Heritage drum company to faithfully recreate the look of the original design and relaunch the Telstar using the very best of modern technology.

The kit comprises a 14” x 5” snare, a 13” x 7.5” rack tom and a 16” x 5.5” floor tom all in alder, together with the 18” + 12” x 13” bass drum, which is in Russian birch. The shells are all 6-ply and 7mm thick, with the bearing edges at a 45-degree cut with a rounded 3mm outer edge. The bass drum has two internal mufflers, an old-school style adjustable pad on the front head, and an adjustable pad and muffling strip on the batter.

The use of Russian birch for the bass drum has allowed the original chambered design to be opened up in order to maximise resonance. The elliptical shape of the bass drum means that the positioning of the pedal between the left (12”) and right (18”) side of the drum has a noticeable effect, not only on the pitch of the drum, but also on the tone produced by the drum, offering a flexible range of sound options to the player.

All heads are produced by Remo USA, with the snare, rack and floor toms all utilising standard coated Ambassador heads. The bass drum heads also use a coated single ply design, but are specifically tailored to the shape of the drum (vintage collectors will be pleased to hear that spare heads for both the front and back sides are available, and these will also fit the original 1960s Telstar sets).

The Telstar ships with a set of retro lightweight flat base hardware, making it playable straight out of the box. This set includes a flat base hi-hat and snare stand, single bass drum pedal, and a tom arm and cymbal post which both mount to the bass drum.

The textured silver ‘crocodileskin’ finish and heritage Vox Ampliphonic badges complete the pleasingly vintage look and feel of the kit.

With a street price of around £1,999, it will be interesting to see if this revamped original captures the imagination of today’s young cohorts!

Find out more at www.voxamps.com

Competition - win the kit!

Jazzwise have teamed up with Korg to offer one lucky reader a chance to win their brand new Vox Telstar 2020 Maple drum kit, which is launching this spring.

The lucky winner will receive a brand new limited edition kit in 100% Maple shell, finished in a clear lacquer that shows off the natural beauty of the wood.

The competition ends on 14 May 2021. To enter, please visit:

Vox Telstar Competition