There are hundreds if not thousands of pictures from the 1960s on the internet of bands using Vox AC30s. A large number of those amps will have been bought on hire purchase. The scheme was simple: the purchaser made an initial deposit, agreed to a certain number of payments (instalments) of a stipulated amount up to the full hire purchase price, and the item was then his or hers (full ownership). Technically it was a "rental" agreement until the full purchase price had been met. Instalments normally spanned a year or two, depending on the total amount in view - ie. the more expensive the item, the longer the payment schedule. Agreements had to be signed off by a householder - a willing parent, relative, or employer - in case of default.

If the buyer could not meet the payments in view, the item could be returned to the shop and the agreement cancelled. For equipment in perfect condition, the full deposit would be returned. The weekly / monthly payments were not refunded though. They counted as "rental". If condition of the item was poor, then some proportion only of the deposit, or nothing at all, was returned.

The agreement having been annulled formally, the shop was free to sell whatever had been returned as "second hand". Indeed, AC30s that had at one time been on hire purchase were a staple of the market in the mid 1960s. Schemes (schedules) could only be offered on new items.

Although it was illegal to sell an amplifier, say, that was still under the terms of an agreement, some individuals (and shops perhaps unknowingly) evidently did. When you went in with your hire purchase payments, the recipient - that is to say the shop that had sold the amp initially - would not necesarily know whether the amp was still in your possession or not.

In the case of outright default, the seller (creditor) had the right to apply to the county court for repossession of the item if notices to resume an interrupted payment scheme were ignored. Sometimes it was a case of "catch me if you can" though.

Below, a detail from a Musicland pricelist of autumn 1963. Musicland was the JMI shop in Bexleyheath (at 88 Broadway), run in the mid 1960s by Tom's son Paul.

To take the example of the AC30 Super Twin Normal. Cash price (outright purchase) was £141 and 15 shillings. Hire purchase was a deposit of £14 3s 6d, followed by twenty-four instalments of £6 5s 1d. Total hire purchase price: £150 and 2 shillings.

Detail from a Musicland (JMI) pricelist of autumn 1963. The HP form is below.

Other shops and outlets had schemes of their own - often a higher initial deposit and slightly higher scheme of 24 instalments (in the case of an AC30). Some profit had to be made. Instalments were normally registered in a cardboard booklet provided by the seller. Sometimes the serial number of the amp was given along with a short note of the model (article), though not always, as in the case below:

The booklet belonging to AC30 serial number 17505T. The chassis, however, is marked BASS.

Serial number 12028T was sold in Manchester - by J. Reno and Co. Ltd (Oxford Street) - in late May 1964. Total hire purchase price was £156 and 5 shillings - a deposit of £31 and 5 shillings and 100 weekly payments of £1 and 5 shillings were envisaged. In actual fact, eleven payments were made of varying amounts through to early November 1964, at which point the amp had been paid for.

Below, the single-sided hire purchase form - actually two stapled together - used by JMI in the early 1960s and probably in later years too. The information required is much the same as on the Musicland form below.

Shots of a Musicland Hire Purchase form. These were sent all over the country, normally in company with the Vox "Precision in Sound" catalogue (Hank and the Shadows on the front); a Musicland pricelist and update; and the "Vox People" brochure.

"Paul Raymond" was in fact Tom's son, Paul.

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