Univox Hi Flyer question....

[angree17]

Hi, my mother-in-law gave me this guitar that she has had sitting in her attic since the 70's. It was basically in a time capsule, it has not been played in almost 40 years. it is in MINT condition. It is completly original, and I also have the original case.

from the research I have done, I believe it to be a phase 1 1968 hi flyer, (please correct me if I am wrong) however, it has a tortoise shell pick plate rather than white. All the pictures I have seen of the phase 1 model have been mother of pearl-white.

Does anyone know about the pick plate color, and approximately how much the guitar is worth?

Another cool fact is that my mother-in-law lives, and bought it in Aberdeen Wa. I just thought that was kind of interesting since Curt Cobain was a fan of Univox, and was from Aberdeen.


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[Spud1950]

It is a Phase 1 version. This explains the pickguard issue.
"Phase One
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 1960's. 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 Hi Flier Phase 1 in very nice condition usually sells for around $500-$600.Hard to say what yours might sell for.I've seen some real nice ones but you rarely see them in such superb condition. Just an educated guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if yours sold for $700 - $750 if it were on eBay. You are really lucky to have gotten that guitar. It's a beauty!