In 1972 Gibson produced a series of 'Guitar of the Month' brochures, each dedicated to one of their high end models, the Les Paul Recording guitar, L5-CES, ES-175D, Super 400-CES, ES-355TD-SV and
Byrdland. Each brochure was a single sheet folded into four panels, with details of the instruments themselves, their features, musical purpose, and a little history behind the development of each guitar. Only the Les Paul Recording was a new model; the others were all well established in the Gibson line. Follow the link to see scans and further information on these leaflets and other Gibson guitar catalogues from the CMI and Norlin periods.
The earliest versions of the Vox Stroller were actually copies of an early Japanese electricguitar, the Guyatone (also sold under the brand Antoria) LG50. These Strollers, although short-lived did undergo a few changes before taking on the more familiar Strat influenced style of many mid-sixties UK-built Vox guitars. The biggest difference between early and late LG50-style Strollers (and the two pickup version, the Shadow) was the larger pickup, a shade longer, but noticeably wider used in the very first Vox guitars. Compare this early Vox to a 1963 Stroller with the later V1 pickup. For more information about Vox guitar pickups in general, see the Vox guitar pickups page.
I bought a St. Blues guitar in London, England back in about 1988 from a famous shop (at the time) called Allbang and Strummit. It doesn't have many identifying features, so I got in touch with St Blues and a kind lady spoke to Tom Keckler who also kindly informed me that it was one of only 9 he made as a prototype, with the thought of going into heavy metal designs. They then went bust. The model I have has a neck-through, which there were "only 2 or 3" of. I thought I'd share the pictures if anyone was interested in having a look....I guess none of these have ever sold, so any talk of value would be guess-work on my part, but of course i'd be interested in any opinions...