Vox AC30 website updates
April 2021
30th April
OK, there is now a dedicated index page for early Jennings Organs. Forthcoming: - pages on 1958-1959, circuit diagrams, and power section chassis. These should build fairly rapidly. Updates will continue to be posted on this page along with updates relating to AC30s.
29th April (3)
The page on Jennings Organs, 1957 is now up. There will be additions to this which will be signalled here shortly.
29th April (2)
A page has now been begun on Jennings Organs in 1956. Existing pages will be expanded (and corrected) as new material comes in, so do check back from time to time. It is to be hoped that numbers of early circuit diagrams (known to survive) can eventually be included, along with a synopsis of the notebooks that Derek Underdown kept from 1953.
29th April
Again thanks to Richard, pictures of serial number 9507N: black textured vinyl, fine-woven brown grille cloth.
28th April (3)
Thanks to Richard, pictures of serial number 7016N: black dimpled vinyl, fine-woven brown grille cloth.
28th April (2)
A picture taken by Derek Underdown probably of the Jennings stand at the "British Industries Trade Fair", London, Olympia, May 1954 - printed in Jim Elyea's superb book on Vox Amplifiers, p. 111 (the date assigned there a little early though). The page on organs in 1954 has been updated
.
The items in picture, left to right, are: J52 Church Organ; a Univox J10 and stand; a Univox J6 keyboard (?) and stand; a J50 Home Organ; and the J51 "Streamline" Organ with matching tone cabinet.
28th April
The page on organs in 1955 has been tidied up a little and will be expanded in the coming days. The ad below, featuring Eric Easton, is the only early one at present to show a J51 with two built-in speakers. One was the norm. It is not entirely clear what the "TONE-ARAMA" circuit consisted of. So far this is the sole mention.
27th April
The page on Jennings Organs, 1954, is now up. Commentary on technical aspects of the design and form of these organs will be provided when the sets of "overview" pages are finished.
26th April (2)
A page on Jennings organs in 1955 has now been set in motion. 1954, and 1956-1961 are in preparation and will appear shortly. It will probably be necesary to create a separate section on the site devoted to organs as the number of pages grows. There is a good amount of material to come.
26th April
Some updates to the page on AC30s with serial numbers in the 5000s: 5169 (thanks to Kevin); and 5784 (thanks to Richard). A further pic has been added to the entry for 5156.
AC30/6 serial number 5169N.
AC30/6 serial number 5784N.
24th April (3)
Serial number 21855N from 1967 currently on offer on Craigslist, Orlando. Thanks to Ihor for the info. More coming soon on late JMI AC30s.
24th April (2)
Entries for the three early amps (early 1961 to late autumn 1961) mentioned in the previous post have now been created:
AC30/4 serial number 4402N.
AC30/6 serial number 4701N.
AC30/6 serial number 4813N.
24th April
Updates coming this weekend - serial numbers 4402N, 4701N, 5784N, 7106N and 9507N (thanks to Richard); serial number 5169N (thanks to Kevin); and 14607N (thanks to Mike). Also further info on the amp with serial number plate 4813N (thanks to Rich).
20th April
A pic from the late 1990s, AC30s assembled in England by CN. Most went to the States. It will probably be possible to trace some in the back pages of "Vintage Guitar" magazine - outlets such as the Hollywood Guitar Center (presided over by the "Burst Brothers") regularly listed new arrivals.
The ratio of beige-covered amps to black is 5:66. This was only part of the total: there were other models of Vox amp, and a lawn full of Marshalls and Parks.
18th April (4)
A detail of an advert placed in Melody Maker, 7th June, 1968, by "Andertons" of Guildford. Note the AC30 Expanded Frequency cabinets for sale at £20 each. These were presumably picked up from the Vox Works when JMI ceased trading in late spring of the year. "Vox Sound Equipment Limited", the company created (in the summer) to carry the Vox name forward, did not produce any new Expanded AC30s.
"Melody Maker" magazine, 7th June, 1968.
Below, an AC30 Expander with Celestion G15 greenbacks with VSEL labels - perhaps an assemblage made off premises.
18th April (3)
Three more Super Twins registered - serial numbers 3625, 3985, and 4834 - along with Super Reverb Twin number 3225.
18th April (2)
A promotional brochure - "Vox People" - from 1963, Freddie and the Dreamers with their blue AC30 Twins on one of the inner pages.
Freddie and the band also featured in an advert in Melody Maker, autumn 1963 - see this page.
18th April
The first AC30 in Ireland is thought to have been purchased in Dublin in September 1961. The amp - an AC30/6 Bass model - is likely to have had a black panel. It was used by "The Caravelles". Thanks to Ted Carroll for the info.
17th April
Recent updates on the main pages: serial numbers 6840B, 6283B, 7776B, 7906N, 9958N, 10081B (Super Twin amplifier section), 13639N, 13763TB, 14308T, 14340T, 14405T and 14832TB. Quite a few more to come.
15th April
Some notes on early "Dallas Music Industries" AC30s (1974 and 1975) and later Dallas/CBS Arbiter (1975-1978):
- At first Dallas probably sold stock taken over from the failed "Vox Sound Limited". Early DMI adverts show an amp similar to the ones produced at the Birch-Stolec factory in Hastings, 1971-1973.
- By mid 1974 a new chassis had been introduced and a circuit diagram drawn up. The diagram, which can be found on this page, is dated 24th June 1974.
- A price for the Dallas AC30 first appears in magazine listings in May 74.
- Amplifiers were produced in the old Hayman drum factory on the Vanguard Estate, Shoeburyness, Essex. Serial numbers of those made in 1974 begin "74", those made in 1975 "75".
- In early 1975 DMI failed, and was taken over by CBS Arbiter, for whom Reg Clarke, former general sales manager of JMI and VSEL, had worked since 1970. Reg was instrumental in overseeing the saving of Vox. Indeed, CBS Arbiter had come close, at Reg's suggestion, to taking over Vox in early 1970 following the failure of VSEL, but the deal fell through. Vox was saved at that point by George Stowe and John Birch, who formed the "Birch-Stolec" group.
- Under CBS, production remained at Shoeburyness. A new style of tagboard was brought in, and a new type of serial number plate.
- "Vox Sound Limited" was set up with offices in central London (57/87 Hampstead Road, NW1), and in 1976 publicity campaigns were launched - full page advertisements in magazines and papers, stands at Trade Shows, and so on.
- By early 1976 a network of European distributors had been established, two from JMI days (P.S.O in Finland, and Musikhaus Embag in Switzerland):
"International Musician and Recording World", February 1976, a detail from the "Vox Ancestry" advert, later used by CBS in its brochures. The advert in "International Musician" was placed to promote the presence of Vox at the Frankfurt Trade Fair.
13th April
Some more material coming on Vox AC30s and "Vox Sound Limited" in the 1970s: from 1973-1975 under "Dallas Music Industries" (part of the John E. Dallas group); from 1975 to 1978 under Dallas/CBS Arbiter.
The catalogue with Brian May on its cover (see below, entry for 5th April) is from late 1977.
The earliest mid-1970s promotional pictures show AC30s with US-style rectangular logos, i.e. of the type issued by the first incarnation of VSL (1970-1972). Note that mention is made in the catalogue below of a "single printed circuit board".
A detail from a Dallas catalogue, probably late 1974.
The same type of AC30 is illustrated in the catalogue issued by "Bell Musical Instruments" in 1974/1975. Bell was in Surbiton, Surrey.
Image from the wonderful Bell catalogue collection on the WEM Owners website.
10th April (2)
Thanks to Neil, pictures of AC30 Super Twin serial number 2939N, produced early in the last third of 1964, now added here.
10th April
A correction to the note on Don Greer, below, 5th April. Don was simply a collector and never formally affiliated with Vox, in spite of the flyer bearing the address "Don Greer, Vox Ltd". The flyer dates from a time when Vox equipment had to be ordered (by collectors, proprietors of shops, and so on) directly from England. Rose Morris was only able to set up a designated distribution system in the US in 1981. Two companies became agents - "Allstate" in North Carolina, and another in Los Angeles. Information thanks to Dave Petersen.
9th April
Following the collapse of the original incarnation of "Vox Sound Limited" in late 1972, a considerable amount of Vox equipment, finished and part-finished, found its way into new hands. George Stow, the company's managing director, sold quantities off in 1973 through his new business "Roxburgh Sound", later "Roxburgh Electronics". Others did the same.
Many part-finished items had to be finished off to make them saleable. These surface every so often to cries of "prototype". But they are usually nothing of the sort: simply perfectly common-or-garden amplifier chassis that have been slipped into new boxes - sometimes ones belonging to a completely different range of amplifiers.
The chassis below is a standard VSL Birch-Stolec made AC30 Top Boost, c. 1971. The box is a reworked "Vox Slave Driver" or "Compact 50" box. See the example on this page.
Sold on ebay in 2007.
8th April
The page on AC30s, 1971-1973, with serial numbers in the 25000s, 26000s, and 1000s is now online. Most, if not all, were made at the Birch-Stolec factory on the Ponswood Road Estate in Hastings. It is possible, however, that a few were made at the Vox Works in Erith before the move to Hastings, which took place in Spring 1971.
Early Hastings-produced AC30s have chassis similar to the ones that Burndept made for JMI in 1967 and 1968. Later Hastings AC30s have an entirely different type of chassis to accommodate printed circuit boards, which must be one of the worst ideas ever where AC30s are concerned.
As mentioned a few days ago, it may be necessary to split this page - and the one on Italian-made AC30s - up in due course.
7th April
Some "Vox Sound Limited" documentation from the early 1970s: catalogue and pricelist of Autumn 1970, drawn up for the "Associated Musical Instrument Industries" Trade Fair at the Russell Hotel, London. The AMII was formerly known as the "BMII" - "British Musical Instrument Industries" association. Also a detail from a pricelist drawn up for the German market, April 1971, showing for the first time, the new Vox AC30 Top Boost Reverb.
These pieces come from the Vox Supreme website, where documentary histories of both "Vox Sound Equipment Limited" and "Vox Sound Limited" can be found.
Detail from the catalogue of Autumn 1970.
A detail from the pricelist that accompanied the catalogue above. Only the AC30 Top Boost ("Treble and Bass Boost") is on offer.
A detail from the pricelist drawn up for the German market, April 1971. Now the AC30 Top Boost, and AC30 Top Boost Reverb ("mit Hall") are available.
6th April
The page on AC30s with chassis manufactured in Italy, 1969-1972, has now been started - available here - serial numbers in the 2000s, 5000s, 6000s, and 30000s, "Vox Sound Equipment Limited", and "Vox Sound Limited".
The page on AC30s manufactured in Erith and Hastings (the Birch-Stolec factory), late 1970-1973, is in progress. Serial numbers in the 1000s, 25000s and 26000s. It will probably be necessary to add a number of cross references and notes to the page just posted.
5th April (2)
Below, pages from the blue version of the Dallas/CBS Arbiter Vox catalogue, late 1977 (not 1974 as previously stated). There are also red and green versions. Production at this point was based in the old Dallas/Hayman drum factory on the Vanguard Estate in Shoeburyness, Essex. Most AC30s made there have "VSL" speaker labels with the Shoeburyness address.
The Hayman drum factory. Photo by Mark Goodwin.
5th April
A set of pages on post-1968 AC30s are currently in preparation and will be posted soon. These carry the picture through to 1972/1973. A further set will cover c. 1973 to the early 1980s.
In the meantime, some material from the USA, summer 1981, a time when Don Greer was ordering equipment directly from Vox (Rose Morris) in England. Don was never formally affiliated with Vox (as stated in this note previously). The pricelist is from "Allstate Music Supply Corp.", which also issued an accompanying catalogue.
Picture from "The Vox Story", ed. Denney and Petersen, 1993, p. 150.
Xerox pricelist from "Allstate Music Supply Corporation". The AC30 Top Boost and Top Boost Reverb are respectively $1200 and 1320.
4th April
Just to add a correction. The amp signalled in the entry for 27th March, below, is serial number 4981N, not 4951.
2nd April
Further pictures of serial number 10348, a copper panel AC30/6 with integral top boost, to augment the ones on this page.
The cathode bypass capacitor has the date code "UF" = June 1963; the resistor "UG" = July 1963.
The checker's initials "DP", the mark for the expanded chassis "X", and the year "64".
Original fuses for the 280v supply to the rectifier.
Updates for October and November 2020.