31st March (2)

It is likely that the Jennings "Univox" amplifier, first advertised in 1952, was designed by Alan Wootton - and probably also the amplifier shown at the "British Industries Fair" in Spring 1954. See Mary Wootton's recollections below - from this page. Alan later went on to develop ranges of equipment marketed under the "Supersound" name - guitars, amplifiers, film stripers, tape decks, and so on.

Further material on early Jennings amplifiers can be found here.

"Melody Maker" magazine, 26th January, 1952.

31st March

A detail from a picture published in the "South Wales Echo", 16th February, 1962 - "The Raiders", a Cardiff band, had just had their equipment stolen - £1,000 worth, a sizeable amount in 1962. The band evidently had an AC15 or AC30 covered in some sort of dark vinyl. The amp was used by the guitarist Dave Edmunds (not pictured).

Whether its covering was similar to the AC30 below is not known. A re-cover seems unlikely.

AC30 serial number 4076 from Jim Elyea's superb book.

30th March (2)

Gamlin Pianos, Cardiff, October 1962, the full range of Vox amplifiers available (thirteen).

"South Wales Echo", 19th October, 1962.

Twelve of the thirteen amps were listed in the Vox pricelist printed in the popular music press in mid May 1962. The thirteenth is probably the T60 bass amplifier. The AC30 Super Transonic, which appeared at the same time as the T60, was presumably left out of account however.

Detail of a pricelist, 12th May, 1962.

30th March

January 1963: a Wurlitzer organ in the Jennings shop - "Musicland" - in Bexleyheath. "Paul Raymond" was Tom's son, Paul Jennings. "Musicland" regularly sold old stock. The Wurlitzer may have been a left-over from 1961 - see this page. Also on offer is an Electro Bass, an upright "stick" bass with electronic pickup, designed in 1956.

28th March

Some promotional pictures from August 1960 and June 1961:

Around August 1960. Note the three white control knobs for volume and tone, and the larger black one for vibrato selection.

The emblem "Vox 15" - not encountered so far on surviving amps.

June 1961. The AC30 Twin with Bulgin chicken-head control knobs.

June 1961. The AC15 with circular black Pekkalit control knobs.

27th March (3)

There is now an index page for Vox AC15s, further material to be added soon.

27th March (2)

Three pages are currently being revised and expanded slightly - early AC30 Super Twins, Documents 1962, and Documents 1963.

The flyer below came from R.S.Kitchen's shop in Leeds. Kitchen later became well known in relation to Marshall amps, but in 1963, Vox was the thing. The unusual thing about the flyer is its anachronism - the front had been designed in the summer of 1962 (the T60 for instance, was still in development). The prices on the reverse are from late 1963 - the AC30 Twin at 115 guineas and the Super Twin at 141 guineas.

27th March

October 1961: Besson had a brand new AC15 in an old type (i.e. TV Front) cabinet. Note at the foot of the advert: "All above models, including complete Vox line, available immediately". From Spring '61 Jennings began to push its amplifiers (and guitars) forward in an increasingly visible way - first the AC30, then other models. By the time winter came, shops and dealers in London, and indeed elsewhere in the country, had begun to offer the full JMI range rather than (as of old) an AC15 here, or an AC10 there.

25th March

August 1960: a short roster of JMI's "name" artists. A number had been on the books since 1959 - Cliff Richard, The John Barry Seven, Chas McDevitt for example - others were longer-standing, notably Bert Weedon, Jack Emblow, Henry Krein, Martin Lukins, and Dave Goldberg.

The Echo unit, advertised by Besson in July 1960 (see yesterday's entry), was first promoted by Jennings in the autumn of 1959. The units were Meazzi Echos, rebadged.

August 1960. The amp pictured is likely to be an AC15 (a stock JMI promotional photo).

24th March

Early July 1960, the Besson shop, just around the corner from 100 Charing Cross Road (the Jennings shop), has an AC15 and AC30 Bass in stock, the AC30 in view being a single speaker model. 85 guineas was the standard price for this amp in Jennings pricelists, and 85 guineas is the same as £89 and 5 shillings. A guinea was £1 and 1 shilling; there were 20 shillings in £1.

Note that Besson also had a Vox Echo unit "on demonstration".

23rd March

A nice little run: serial numbers 8267N; 8268N; and 8269B. Number 8267N is a Twin; 8268N is a Super Twin; number 8269B probably a Twin.

22nd March

A page of material relating to the AC30 in the 1970s has now been started. As there is a good deal more to come, it may be necessary to split it up in due course though. The unsung hero of those years is Reg Clark, formerly General Sales Manager of JMI (1963-1968), and before that a member of staff at the Jennings shop on Charing Cross Road (c. 1957 - 1963). Reg saved Vox in the summer of 1968; almost brought it under Dallas Arbiter's wing in 1970 when "Vox Sound Equipment Limited" collapsed in December 1969; saved it for Dallas (now "Dallas Musical Limited") in the summer of 1973; and helped secure its continued existence when CBS Arbiter acquired Dallas in the Spring of 1975.

21st March (2)

December 1960: four new lines of amplifier in full swing, and a new organ demonstration unit. To accommodate the Model G, along with speaker cabinets and so on, the van that Jennings had must have been large.

21st March

Thanks to Göran, pictures of AC30X ("Expanded Frequency") serial number 11586, now added here.

AC30X serial number 11586.

These amps, which are substantially larger and heavier than standard AC30 Twins, have two 15" Celestion G15 speakers with "Heavy Duty" labels:

JMI label, now detached from its speaker.

20th March

Thanks to Glen Lambert, there is now a page on the circuit of AC/15 and AC/10 no.2 amplifiers - early 1960 to autumn 1960.

Detail of the information panel.

19th March

Copied over from the Vox AC100 website, a piece in the music trade press, 3rd December, 1964, clarifying some details of the deal with Thomas Organ - a first order worth 1 million dollars (around £350,000 at the time), and a "second stage" worth $1.5 million (around £534,000). This corroborates a report, published in the mainstream press on 17th November, which also termed the $1.5 million order a "second stage". Evidently the second order, planned in August, was contingent upon the success of the first (a reasonable precaution for both parties).

Quite how many AC30 Twins were sent to the USA at this time is unknown. Perhaps fewer than one might expect. The main drive was AC30 Super Twins, AC50s and AC100s, the trapezoid cabinet of the Super Twin amplifier section becoming the model for Thomas Organ's own range of amps, developed from mid 1965.

Music trade journal, December 1964.

18th March

April 1963: a demonstration by Jennings presumably of the new Vox Continental in its various versions. The "Electronic Organ Constructor's Society" (of which JMI was a member) still exists. The event is likely to have taken place in the Great Hall of the Northern Polytechnic - now London Metropolitan University.

April 1963.

17th March (2)

A detail from what may have been the last formal JMI pricelist (dated June 1961) before the phasing out of the AC30/4 in the late autumn of '61. Adverts and notes of prices continued to be placed in the back pages of the popular music press though. As mentioned in the entry below (for 13th March), JMI began to push the AC30/6 and relegate the AC30/4 in late September.

June 1961 pricelist. The prices are in £sd. In guineas: AC30/4 Normal = 95 gn. AC30/4 Bass = 99 gn. AC30/6 = 105 gn.

Second page with date.

To give some point to the entry on JMI's deal with Fender (below), a detail from the JMI Fender pricelist of October 1961. Just look at the price of the Twin in relation to the AC30 Twin - over twice as much. Fender business must have been less than brisk.

October 1961

17th March

Posted yesterday on the Vox AC100 website, an interesting glimpse of Jennings's early export drives. The Frankfurt Trade Fair of 1962 had just taken place when Andrew Cameron wrote to the Board of Trade. Frankfurt 1963 was the first continental Fair attended by JMI.

Note that the sales push had to be paused to allow production to catch up. 1962 was an important year for JMI. Burndept and Triumph Electronics were brought in as contractors to push the assembly of amplifiers forward; new transistor lines were in design (these shown for the first time at the Russell Hotel in August); and Tom had grand plans for the redevelopment and expansion of 115-119 Dartford Road, the idea being to bring production as far as possible "in-house", removing the need to contract work out to the likes of Westrex, Burndept, and Triumph. Unfortunately, for Tom's plans the deal with Royston Industries in early 1963 was a necessary evil - and something that became a significant flaw in the company's make up, not at first perhaps, but certainly from 1964.

Music trade journal, April 1962.

Board of Trade journal, March 1962.

16th March

Further to yesterday's entry: at least one Wurlitzer is known to have been at the Dartford Road works in the early 1960s, seen by Robert Valentine, who worked for JMI from 1960 to 1964. Thanks to Robert for the info.

It looks as though JMI applied to become an agent. Wurlitzer issued two full-page adverts in the high-brow music press (October and December 1960) asking for applications.

What happened in the months after January 1961 is still unclear. By January 1962 Harrods (the department store) had replaced JMI as agent for southern England (named as such in a full page advert). Harrods had an important keyboard instrument department in the late 1950s / early 1960s and held an annual trade fair.

As for "Temple Wright Limited", it may be that it simply handled "Church" organs in the south of England for Wurlitzer. Few (if any) British companies parceled out distribution in this way though. Selmer and its agents certainly dealt in all types without regard for end use - "Home", "Professional / Entertainment", and "Church" - so too Jennings's agents.

December 1960.

Detail.

15th March

A short note in the music trade press, January 1961: Jennings now the agent for Wurlitzer organs in southern England. The organs in view are likely to have been for "Home" and "Church" - in other words not the beautiful but gargatuan "Theatre" models (as in Blackpool Tower Ballroom, for instance). The "Side Man" was a sort of primitive drum machine.

January 1961.

For northern England, Wurlitzer evidently selected "Smith Sons and Company" of Manchester:

November 1961.

Currently no adverts placed by Jennings for Wurlitzer are known. If anything comes to light, it will be posted here.

Jennings is unlikely to have acted as agent for the company for long. In summer 1963, at the NAMM show in Chicago, JMI became agent for Thomas Organ Company organs, which presumably indicates that the arrangement with Wurlitzer had come to an end - it could have ended well before that of course. No mention is made of Wurlitzer at the Jennings stand at the Russell Hotel Trade Fair of August 1962.

For Thomas, Jennings set up a new "Division" to handle sales and the assembly of organs sent over as parts from California, this last a canny move to avoid the higher bands of import duty attaching to "complete" items. Importing organs as sets of "components" was cheaper and in many respects easier.

To judge from the note at the head of this entry, JMI certainly envisaged a "separate sales organisation" for Wurlitzer in 1961 (to all intents and purposes a "Division"), and it may well be that organs were shipped over in parts (from Cincinnati) too. This has to remain provisional for the moment though.

Quite what prompted Wurlitzer to choose Jennings or Jennings to agree in the first place is not entirely clear. In the summer of 1960 (and I think in the late '50s also), Wurlitzer was promoted in the UK by "Temple Wright Limited" of north London. Perhaps "Temple Wright" was simply not up to scratch in some way. More doubtless to come on Wurlitzer.

July 1960.

14th March

Two AC15 covers, the first orange canvas, c. 1962, the other maroon plasti-leather from 1964 (but pictured with a TV Front amp).

Serial number currently unknown.

13th March

A detail from the pricelist published in "Melody Maker" magazine, 23rd September, 1961. Some things of interest:

(1) This is the point at which the AC30/4 was being phased out, the price of the AC30/6 reduced from 105 guineas (£110 and 5 shillings) to 100 guineas (£105) to help the process along. An announcement was circulated by JMI to that effect.

(2) The list is the earliest (so far) to give the price of the AC30/6 BASS. The lowest serial number known beyond doubt for an AC30/6 BASS is 4756 (black panel).

(3) The list marks the first appearance of the AC15 TWIN, the earliest known example being the one illustrated by Jim Elyea - serial number 4559. AC15 serial number 4526 (single speaker) is copper panel - illustrated in a Music Radar article on this page. It is likely that copper panels began to be fitted to AC15s in late September / early October 1961. The page on third circuit AC15s will be updated shortly.

(4) October 1961 will also have been the point at which JMI began to fit copper panels to new AC30/6s, some overlapping though with late black panel amps.

Prices at 23rd September, 1961.

12th March (2)

On Fender guitars in the UK in the early 1960s, see Martin Kelly's superb article on Reverb. His forthcoming book on Vox guitars will be just amazing.

12th March

Some notes on Fender and JMI, 1959-1960. In June 1959 the embargo on the importation of musical instruments from the USA (imposed after WWII) was lifted. British companies were now free to purchase and re-sell American equipment. The first high-powered Fender Twin (80 watts ouput) that came to the UK after the lifting of the ban is said to have been bought in 1960 by Tony Dunning (of "Tony Dunning and the Tremolos") from Rose Morris. The amp is now owned by Joe Bonamossa. In a piece published by MusicRadar in 2017, JB said:

"One of my Twins was owned by Tony Dunning who played with Brian Poole And The Tremeloes. The first high-powered Fender Twin ever imported into the UK by Rose Morris [Denmark Street] and Tony owned it from 1960 to 2014 when I bought it from [him]. And that was his amp. A lifetime of music and he had one amp; a Tweed Twin. Think about that in terms of an iPhone. The iPhone just turned ten years old and they made a big deal about it. How many people own the original iPhone? I’m on my tenth. That’s why I collect."

A couple of corrections: Tony Dunning had his own "Tremolos" and was never a member of Brian Poole's. The first Rose Morris shop in the West End, which opened in 1967, was on Shaftesbury Avenue. Denmark Street (the location supplied by the magazine's editor) came later.

In late 1959 / early 1960, Tom Jennings struck a deal with Don Randall of Fender. JMI would distribute Fender equipment in the UK. A series of adverts issued by JMI followed (starting in February 1960) - principally for guitars, and normally including the word "exclusive" somewhere in the text. Perhaps the arrangement, decidedly one-way, was indeed "exclusive" at first. However, by August 1962 things had evidently changed. Selmer presented the "Selmer Fender Jaguar" at the Russell Hotel Trade Fair.

Below, the cover of JMI's Fender brochure, probably circulated in the Spring of 1960. Most of its pictures, in company with those in the adverts for Fender equipment that JMI published in the music trade press, were simply reprinted from American advertising material. Guitars and amps were sold at the Jennings shop at 100 Charing Cross, and later (after mid 1960) at "Musicland", the company's shop in Bexleyheath.

The brochure as a whole can be seen on the Vox AC100 website.

The only amplifier included is the Fender Pro, in its new (or at least relatively new) brown vinyl and dark grille cloth.

The Fender Pro from a brochure issued by Fender (in "Downbeat Magazine") in April 1960. The re-styled range of amps had been shown for the first time at the NAMM show in June '59.

In many respects the newly re-styled Fender amps make the JMI TV Front AC30 - publicised for the first time in May 1960 - seem quite dated to the modern eye. The Jennings Twin really has more in common with the old tweed Twins.

That Rose Morris should have received a tweed Twin in 1960 (the one that JB now has) should not be surprising perhaps. There is no reason to suppose it came direct from Fender. Whether Dick Denney, or perhaps Derek Underdown, had managed to acquire a tweed Twin during the years of the embargo is unknown. It seems unlikely that Fender would send over an old amp to JMI in 1960.

Tom's preference for rear-mounted controls - for guitar amps at least - prevailed until 1966. The mounting of a chassis on a slider board has many advantages in any case over a chassis suspended (by bolts) from the underside of a cabinet top, as Fender's were.

11th March

Jumping a dozen years forward, one of the last full page adverts issued by the original "Vox Sound Limited" in August 1972. For most of 1972 the AC30 had not been much advertised. A new page will gather together the 1970s material - probably to 1975 as a first step.

10th March (2)

Cliff and The Shadows at the Albert Hall, 15th January, 1961 - the "Great Pop Prom" - from 1959 a useful showcase for JMI amplifiers. Note that Bruce Welch has his Gretsch. The TV Front AC30/4s are on their stands, a shorter one for Jet Harris's amp.

10th March

A tantalising detail capturing two of the Shadows' TV Front AC30/4s, probably early 1961 as Bruce Welch has the Gretsch he used for a couple of months at around this time. Note that the amps are not in stands - so not a picture from the set of a "Cliff Richard Show", more likely a TV special.

9th March

Sone notes on the AC15 second circuit - amplifiers built in the first half of 1960.

8th March

A further AC30/4 chassis with no capacitor over R40 (a 47K resistor), pre-dating the introduction of C42 noted on the circuit diagram in February 1961 (see below).

No cabinet. The picture has been enlarged slightly beyond its natural size for better legibility. One of the cathode bypass caps in the preamp looks to have the date code "TTY" perhaps "TYY" = 44th or 40th week of 1960.

7th March

A note on the AC30/4. In parallel with the third circuit AC15, a capacitor was added to the AC30/4's circuit (OA/032) on the 7th February 1961 - C42. For the AC15 and AC30/4 its value was to be 0.033 mfd. For the AC30/6, 0.005 mfd.

OA/032 information panel, bottom right hand corner of the sheet.

OA/32, note of the modification, top right of the sheet.

C42 in place - .033 MFD, over the 47K resistor in the HT line for V8.

Detail from OA/031 for the AC15, third circuit. C42, also noted as a modification on 7th Feb. 1961, is again .033 MFD.

Below, a small series of AC30/4 chassis that were never fitted with C42, starting with those in TV Front cabinets, the position of the 47K resistor (yellow, purple, and orange rings in ascending order) indicated with an arrow.

TV Front cabinet, serial number unknown. Hunts capacitor dated 39th week 1960.

Modified TV Front cabinet, serial number unknown. Hunts capacitor dated 39th week 1960; pot dated October 1960.

TV Front cabinet in blue, serial number unknown. Pot dated August 1960.

Note that in the pictures above numbers of black WIMA Tropydurs are still in place, untouched by the repairman's iron. Below, a detail of the chassis of an early split-front AC30/4.

AC30/4, split front cabinet, serial number unknown.

Naturally, one of the factors that comes into play is the retrospective fitting of C42. In most instances, it is exceedingly difficult to work out what was there (or not) originally. Below, a detail of a late TV Front amp, a red print WIMA in position as C42. Was it added to replace an earlier 0.033 MFD capacitor? Perhaps.

TV Front cabinet, serial number 4x73, Hunts capacitor dated 29th week 1960, one of its pots with the code "CI" = March 1961, C42 a red-print WIMA.

As for the date - 7th February 1961 - that may simply record the point at which the change was added to OA/031 and OA/032, not the date of the change in production itself. It serves, provisionally, as a useful terminus ante quem at any rate.

For the mis-fitting of the capacitor in certain AC30/6s, see the note at the end of Glen Lambert's page here. In AC30/6 circuit diagrams, the capacitor is C41.

6th March

The page on third circuit AC15s, mid 1960 on, serial numbers c. 4060 - 4543, ending for the time being with an early copper panel amp, has now been started here. Additions and updates will be signalled in coming update entries. Although there is quite a bit yet to cover, it seemed useful to kick the page off now. If anyone spots errors, things that should be included/omitted, do let me know.

A coming page on "production" should link up the third circuit AC15 with the AC30/4 and AC30/5 in a more detailed way.

5th March

Just to note in relation to the second circuit AC15 that JMI labelled the EF86-driven channel "Channel I" on the control panel of the amps, but gave it as "Channel II" in OS/005. A couple of additions have been made on the page to make the distinction (and what is being described) clear.

A page on the third circuit AC15 (OA/031) should be up early next week - serial numbers beginning somewhere in the 4000-4100 range, mid 1960. Production of the second circuit AC15 was extremely short lived.

4th March (2)

A new page has been started on the second circuit AC15, early 1960. This was the shortest-lived version of the AC15, produced for only a few months before being superceded by the third circuit amps (OA/031).

4th March

Thanks to Tony, a picture of his Jennings Model B organ. The Model B was advertised from 1956 (price 575 guineas) through to early 1961 (price 750 guineas). Voicings were operated by push-buttons rather than drawbars. The "Jennings Organ Co." badge can just be seen between the two keyboards. A growing set of pages on Jennings organs from 1953 to 1967 can be found here.

2nd March

The page on the early TV Front AC1/15s (first circuit, late 1957 to late 1959) has now been kicked off - available here. Updates and changes will be signalled here as further info gathers. Pages on AC15s built according to the second and third circuits (in 1960 and 1961) will be added in the near future.

Updates for February 2022.

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