A note in a British music trade magazine indicates that the TV Front AC30 Twin first came to market in April 1960 - no coincidence that the circuit diagram for the AC30/4 is dated 29th April 1960 - see this page.

Music trade press, April 1960.

Stylistically the TV front AC30s, produced by Jennings from mid 1960 to early 1961, took their cue from Fender amps of the time - wide surrounds and large valance fronts - as had earlier JMI models (the formative AC10s, AC15s and so on).

A page on the the various stories surrounding the creation of the twin speaker AC30 can be found here.

Printed in "Vintage Guitar" magazine, May 1998, a JMI pricelist, undated but certainly mid 1960 given its correspondence with an advert placed in "Accordion Times" magazine, May 1960 - the same range of prices for amplifiers is given - see this page. The single speaker AC/30 is 79 or 85 guineas, the latter for the BASS model; the new AC30 Twin - ie. the TV Front amp - is 100 guineas.

AC30 chassis were of two types: - the AC30/4 with four inputs and the AC30/6 with six (and a substantially different preamp). The AC30/6 was introduced in late summer 1960. See this page.

Various estimates of numbers made have been ventured. Around 200 is probably close to the mark. The earliest amps overlapped with single speaker AC30s, the highest serial number currently known for the latter being 4158. By the same token, production and sale of the last TV front amps overlapped with the introduction of the new split-front cabinets. Serial no. 4347 is split front; no. 4414 is still TV front. How many survive today is difficult to gauge. In the mid 2000s a seller popped up on ebay UK with one for sale, saying that he had another in the understairs cupboard where both had been stored for years. A grab of the ebay page will be given below when it comes to hand. But it is unlikely now in 2021 that too many will emerge in such a way.

Early chassis were made (wired up and tested) at 115 Dartford Road. By late 1960, assembly of runs of AC30/4s had evidently been contracted out to Westrex, in North London:

A Westrex tag on a TV Front AC30/4 (AC34) - late 1960.

A tag signed off by the same inspector survives on a Westrex-made cinema amplifier. For more on Westrex, see this page.

Pictures of bands with TV front AC30s are being assembled on this page. At present twelve amps are known from these early shots.

Cabinets

New section

By late 1960, the standard form of cabinet was the one illustrated immediately below - TV Front, covered in beige/white diamond-patterned rexine, back boards with cutaways, a sort of mirror image of each other.

Serial number 4322.

Screws on the upper edge of the rear board were normally screwed directly into the aluminium of the amplifier chassis. As the lip at rear was extremely thin, a drop of only around 1/4" or 3/8", the holes often gave way, resulting in the need for a series of new ones.

Detail of serial number 4322.

Detail of serial number 4373.

It should be mentioned, however, that one of the genuine amps pictured around the middle of this page - this link will take you straight to it - apparently had no fixing points of this sort at all.

No fixing points on the chassis lip.

As to whether the very earliest TV Front AC30 Twin cabinets (of late summer and autumn 1960) were of the form represented by serial number 4322 - illustrated above - we are unfortunately completely in the dark.

Below, a rear view of one of the factitious TV Front Twins, produced by authors of other lash-ups illustrated on this page. As far as reliable evidence is concerned, all bets of course are off. But the question remains: could the cabinet - grille cloth certainly, and vinyl possibly, aside - be original and early? It is slightly larger than standard cabinets and has rectangular backboards (without cutaways).

That nothing similar has emerged in early photographs tends to point to the conclusion. Early photos of TV Front Twins in standard cabinets are plentiful.

All one can do is wait to see if something that has not been tampered with by known tricksters turns up. In the classic car world, a single-owner or "uncirculated" car is the prize. If a car or "collectable" amp has been through a dealer's hands, in most cases forget it.

Factitious TV Front AC30 Twin.

Speakers

The pairs of speakers could be: Celestion G12 alnico BO24 drivers, 8 ohms and 15 watts apiece, wired in series to produce a total impedance of 16 ohms; Celestion G12 alnico BO25, 15 ohm, wired in parallel to produce a total impedance of 8 ohms; Celestion G12 T3757 oyster finish units, 15 ohm, 15 watts, wired in parallel for 8 ohms; or Goodmans Audiom 60s, 15 ohms and 15 watts apiece, also wired in parallel to produce a total impedance of 8 ohms. An overview of the various types can be found on this page. AC30 output transformers had taps for both 8 and 16 ohms. There is now (September 2024) a new page on Celestion 3757s.

A page from a contemporary Celestion speaker brochure (divided into two for convenience). The BO24 was 8 ohms and the BO25 15 ohms.

Comments on the circuit and further historical information will be added in due course, perhaps only to note at this point that chassis are for the most part AC30/4s, that is to say, four inputs, black control panel, tone controls for both "Brilliant" and "Bass" (unlike the later AC30s that most of us know). The principal purpose of this page for the time being is really to collect together reliable photographic evidence.

Simply to note for the time being that the latest (original) component date code currently known in a TV Front AC30/4 is "CI" = March 1961 on one of the pots in serial number 4373. Also to bear in mind the probability that some of the stray chassis illustrated on the page dedicated to AC30/4s in new-style split-front cabinets may actually be from TV front amps.

Jim Elyea's book, "Vox Amplifiers. The JMI Years" (California, 2009) is a great repository of info on aspects of these amps and other AC30s.

If anyone knows of further examples that should be incorporated on this page, do let me know. Be extremely wary of amps in "custom" colours / non-standard rexine coverings, and be wary of TV Front Twins in general. Many ain't all they seem.

1960

As ever, the question of "date" and what sort of date is in view - the date of manufacture of the chassis of an amp; the date of manufacture of the speakers (often the latest dateable element/component in an amp); the date of final assembly; or the date of sale? It could easily be that some the amps in this section were not ready for sale until 1961. The serial number range in view is high 4100s to around 4300. As a good number of these early Twins have lost their original serial number plates, and often speakers, we are thrown back on the component date codes in chassis - not ideal, but all the same, a good place to begin.

Serial number 4158 - a single speaker AC/30

Simply to mark the existence of this amp, which was probably ready for sale in the autumn of 1960, for general orientation - pictures here. The very first AC30 Twins are likely to have had numbers in the high 4100s.

Serial number 4218 - currently in the USA

Sold in the USA in 2006. The cabinet at that point housed a later copper panel AC30 with egg-shaped footswitch. Speakers were Celestion blues (presumably belonging to the amp from which the chassis came). The serial number quoted in the blurb - 4218 - is that of the original TV front box, not of the later AC30 from which chassis and speakers were taken. The cabinet now has a black handle and houses a black panel AC30/4.

Serial number 4241 - currently in the UK?

Bought second-hand in Watford in 1965 for £60 by Baz Palmer (sitting on the amp), sold later on. Thanks to Baz for the picture. The receipt from 1965 still survives.

Serial number 4290 (not genuine) - currently in the USA

Unlikely to be genuine/original. Note that the serial number plate first appeared c. 2005 on an AC30/4 in a split-front box recovered in red - see this page.

Plate as it appeared c. 2005 on an amp sold on ebay.uk.

Factitious TV Front amp - unlikely to be original.

Serial number 4300 - currently in the USA (?)

Existence recorded by Jim Elyea.

Serial number unknown - currently in the USA

2010

Above, pictures from 2010 when the amp first emerged on ebay. Below a set of pictures of the same chassis (but with changes) and perhaps same box taken in 2013 (also ebay).

Note the presence of the original blue inspection tag; the original control panel (with an added socket for the footswitch); and the top back board with a straight edge. When the amp was sold in 2013 it had two back boards with insets.

One of the pots has the date code "HH" = August 1960, indicating that the amp is likely to have been made in the last quarter of the year. The Goodmans Audiom 61 speakers, perhaps of the same date, may not be original to the cabinet.

Transformers are Haddon and the choke Radiospares. All in all, the chassis is exactly as one would find in an AC30/4 with a "split" front.

Backboards: the upper one has no visible fixing points on its top edge for the chassis, which has three screw holes on its rear lip. The lower board is of the standard "cutaway" form. Are they original, simply covered over with later blue upholstery vinyl? Probably not the upper. Fixing points aside, it does not fit well.

Same amp, pictures from 2013

The control panel of the amplifier is now a repro - note its shininess and the legend "3A. Fuse". All genuine AC30/4 control panels have a Greek alpha for the "A" - see the one immediately below. Whether the amplifier chassis is original to the box pictured is a question. Underneath the brown of 2010 (first set of pictures, above) it is hard to see any blue. The serial number plate comes from another source.

Serial number unknown - currently in the UK

Formerly owned by Mike Handley, a great amp with original transformers and preamp in excellent condition - some black WIMA Tropydur capacitors still in place. One of the original Hunts cathode bypass capacitors in the preamp has the date code "IAY" = 39th week of 1960. The case has been recovered - its condition in 2007 can be glimpsed in the pictures below. A number of resistors appear to have been removed on the lower tagboard, however. Note that the speakers, which are original, have different labels, as in the example below.

The amp above as it was in 2007, sold on ebay UK. Note the identifying patterns of wear on the grille cloth. One can just about make out the absence of some of the preamp resistors at this point too.

Screen-grabs from the ebay auction.

Updated

Serial number unknown - an AC30/6

Well-used, original grille cloth still present. The chassis is a black panel AC30/6. AC30/6s were available from late July 1960 and perhaps a little earlier. In the speaker compartment, a terminal block for the speaker connections as one also finds in an amp pictured further up this page - detail of the latter below. The speakers in the AC30/6, with oyster/sand-coloured frames, are likely to be Celestion T3757s.

Detail of an amp pictured further up this page. Speakers not original. Picture taken before "restoration".

Serial number unknown - currently in the USA

Two-tone covering in light blue and beige - probably not original. Whether the chassis and speakers are original to the cabinet is anyone's guess. The amp is known to have passed through the hands of tricksters. Reproduced in Jim Elyea's book.

Updated

Serial number unknown - currently in the UK (?)

A TV front amp (cabinet recovered) with its original chassis, sold some years back in the UK. The speakers - Celestion T530 alnico "blues" - are later replacments for the originals. The logo is from a late 60s solid state amplifier or speaker cab.

NOTA BENE - compare the arrangement and distribution of Mullard mustard capacitors - and other elements - with the pictures of the TV Front Twin that has been on Reverb.com for some time (still there Jan. 2025). Same chassis. It may or may not matter that the screw holes for the plastic handles in the pictures above are not detectable in the cabinet pictured by the seller. Different grille cloth. Tread carefully.

Serial number unknown - currently in Finland

The amp was found in a cellar in 2009 where it had been since 1969. The box, which has sides and bottom of 1/4" ply, is constructed without finger joints. Sides, top and bottom were red, with black over that. The back panel had beige diamond cloth. The front, with its curved corners, is apparently one piece.

The chassis, a black panel AC30/4, was pretty much untouched when it emerged. The original black WIMA Tropydurs capacitors were still in place - date codes July and August 1960 for their manufacture in Germany - along with its Hunts and TCC filter caps. One of the pots in the preamp has the date code "JH" = October 1960, which suggests that the amp was made at Dartford Road in late '60. Transformers are Haddons and the choke Radiospares. The white pointer knobs are certainly English, perhaps original.

The chassis now has a superb new box, constructed by its owner. Thanks to Valentin for the pictures and info.

1961

In 1961, the sale of TV front Twins and Twins in new split-front cabinets overlapped for some months. Amplifier chassis were the same. The page on AC30/4s in split-front cabs can be found here.

Entry moved from higher up the page

Serial number 4322 - currently in the USA

Reproduced in Jim Elyea's book. Speakers are Rola Celestion G12 B024, 8 ohms apiece.

Serial number 4347 - currently in the USA

Serial number 4347 - registered here - is in a new-style beige split-front cabinet and equipped with Celestion T530 alnico blue speakers. There was evidently some overlap of old and new styles towards the end of the TV front period.

Updated

Serial number in the high 4300s - probably 4373

Hunts capacitors have the date code "HAY" = 29th week of 1960. One of the pots has the code "CI" = March 1961. Speakers are blue and silver label Goodmans Audiom 60s (15ohms apiece), as in the case of serial number 4414 (?), below. Covering is diamond pattern beige vinyl. Note that the cabinet's surround at front is unusually wide. The grille cloth is only 6 1/2 diamonds high (instead of the 8 diamonds of the standard format cabinets above). Transformers are Haddons; the choke made by Radiospares. The original round metal footswitch survives.

Thanks to S., some recent pics of the amp. More to come shortly.

Serial number 4414 (?) - currently in the UK

Sold in 2015. The serial number plate is not of the right type ("200/230V 50 CYCLES"). No pictures of the electronics, but the seller noted that components throughout the amp had 1960 date codes. Front grille cloth replaced. Note that the panel still has the Greek alpha in the legend for the fuse. The speakers are Goodmans Audiom 60s, very likely to be the originals. The original round footswitch survives. A white handle for this cabinet rather than black or brown.

On to black panel AC30/4 in the new style split front cabinet.