Effectively there were four principal types of chrome AC30 stand in the first half of the 1960s. Early stands (1960-1962) are tubular in construction with flat metal runners and surrounds to support the amp.

1) Detail of one of The Shadows' stands. Note the VOX logo in shallow relief.

In late 1962 a new type of stand was introduced, fully tubular in construction, but with lugs rather than runners to keep the amp in position.

2) Detail of the second type of stand with lugs.

The third type was the swivel side stand, brought to market in early 1964. The mounting hardware enabled the user to angle the amp as required.

3) Swivel side stands.

The fourth type of stand was not really a stand at all but a wrap-over trolley. These were supplied principally with Super Reverb Twin amps.

4) Full trolley - also used in this catalogue to illustrate an AC50. Note the relatively small "basket" on top.

1. Early "tray" stands

JMI evidently provided The Shadows with two tall stands and two smaller ones. Below, the two sets at the NME Poll Winners Concert, 5th March, 1961, one without Cliff, the other with.

Two tall stands, one short.

Two short stands.

A detail of Lennon at the Cavern Club, late August, 1962. One can just see the "VOX" logo on the tray stand of his AC15.

Below, the famous Dezo Hoffman pic of the Shadows, and a detail of one of their early "tray" stands.

Photo by Dezo Hoffman, late March / early April 1962.

Detail, showing the applied/embossed "VOX" logo.

Further details of The Beatles' AC30 stand from a picture taken by Dezo Hoffman at the Love Me Do session, Abbey Road, 4th September, 1962.

Beatles, "Love Me Do" session, 4th September, 1962. Detail of a photo taken by Dezo Hoffman.

Detail of the above.

The same emblem is found on Vox-branded Reslo ribbon mics.

A different way of doing stands - screw-in furniture legs. Mike Dee and the Jaywalkers, 1961.

2. Stands with lugs

January 1963, Cavern Club. A new-style stand with retaining lugs at front and back, and a fully tubular construction.

One of a series of pictures to come documenting old and new-style AC30 stands. Below, The Stones in De Lane Lea studio, London, 7th October, 1963. Note that one of the pins retains its rubber protector.

Pictures of a stand from 1963 with original Kenrick (Shepherd) ball casters still in place, quite scarce these days. Many stands were supplied, however, without wheels. The pins to keep the amp in position, front and back, are fixed only to one surface of the frame, i.e. they do not go all the way through, as in repros.

Detail of one of the Kenrick (Shepherd) casters on an AC30 stand from early 1963. Further shots of the stand to follow shortly.

Below, the registration photos of the new-style tubular AC30 stand, 22nd September, 1964. The wheels are black plastic (made by Shepherd or Rexello), and there are plastic ends to the lugs on the parallel upper bars.

3. Swivel side stands

The earliest adverts illustrating AC30s with swivels seem to be those featuring the Dave Clark Five, issued in early 1964.

"Melody Maker" magazine, 1st February, 1964. Note that the amp represented as an AC50 is actually a T60.

"Beat Monthly" magazine, March 1964. There are at least two variant versions of this ad, both featuring the AC30 and stands. The group was resident at the Royal Tottenham (see the panel, lower right in the ad.) from late January to mid February '64. There is good Pathe newsreel footage of one of their performances.

In company with the Dave Clark Five, The Shadows also had swivel side stands relatively early on. Below, pics of an unidentified concert (Paris?) in 1964:

Note that the amp immediately above has top boost controls integrated in the control panel.

The earliest type of hand-wheel had "VOX" in large cursive letters. In the late summer of 1964 the logo was simplified and reduced in size:

First style of hand-wheel design.

There were also two styles of cabinet mount. The earliest had a circular support around the central screw. The other simply had the screw post.

The first picture above is of the earlier type of cabinet mount. The second shows early and later together. Note the later (post mid 1964) form of logo.

On the 22nd September 1964, Jennings registered the design of the swivel side-stands with the Patent Office in London, submitting four photos. Also registered at this time were the Foundation Bass speaker cabinet "dolly", the Univox stand (the "gigster"), and a revamped tubular stand for the AC30. AC30 side-stands, however, were already in production in early 1964 - see the foot of this page - and the Univox gigster stand had been available since 1953!

22nd September 1964.

Below, pictures of an AC30 from mid 1964 exported to Denmark early on. Note that the remaining (broken) cabinet mount attaches with three rather than four screws.

It may be that these were added later, quite low down, to allow for the extra height of the added wheels. Whether the mounts were supplied by Vox remains to be seen. The other possibility is that they were made by MAX, which produced interesting copies of Vox stands in the mid 1960s.

4. Full trolleys.

Below, an early wrap-over trolley with parallel bars relatively close together and a "basket" section on top to support the amp. Later trolleys have wider parallel bars and no "basket" on top.

AC30 Super Reverb Twin serial number 3017. A "basket" section can also be seen in the catalogue illustration at the head of this page, though the "basket" itself is smaller and the amp in a later trapezoidal cabinet.

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