G-Rok

G-Rok (Korg spelled backwards- a nod to the Korg Tokyo rehearsal studio GROKS) was established in Novato, California, 30 minutes north of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge in 2007. California has a unique history as the birthplace of a great many innovative guitar makers, from one-man shops to major manufacturers of electric and acoustic guitars. The California guitar community’s rich history of original ideas, innovation and improving traditional methods. This helps drive the G-Rok team to rethink design, function and execution of the guitar making art to deliver wholly new concepts while also revising past Vox classics to address the ever-changing requirements of today’s players.

With Rich Lasner as VP of Development (previously of Ibanez, Yamaha, Peavey, Modulus Guitars and Line 6), Eric Kirkland, Director of VOX Guitar Product Development & Chief Designer (formerly from Gibson and Line 6) and Bob McDonald as Chief R&D Engineer (from Performance Guitars, Tobias, Modulus Guitars, Tom Anderson and Line 6) the G-Rok team began by formulating the concept for a new line of Vox Virage semi hollow electric guitars. It would come to include bold innovations like passive pickups that could function as a humbucking, P90 or single coil with the flip of a switch, and a patented 3D-curved body shape that brought solid-body comfort to a carved, solid wood semi hollow electric guitar.  The innovative instruments won several awards and featured custom hardware, pickups, and electronics.

Person strumming VOX Giulietta guitar while sitting on a gray sofa

Further development saw the introduction of new solid-bodies using the 3D curved features developed for the Virage, and the launch of the 77 and 99 Series laminated semi hollow guitars. Noteworthy guitars like the ultra-short scale SDC-1 Mini, fill out the current Vox line along with innovations such as the Giulietta VGA-3Ds, fully hollow-body guitars with seamless modeling modules built into them.

G-Rok is also involved in reinventing classic Vox guitars, such as the semi hollow Bobcat guitars to meet the needs of today’s demanding players in all musical styles.

Like so, G-Rok continues to pay homage to its storied past while focusing on the changing needs of players across a wide range of contemporary musical styles and modern playing techniques.