The purpose of this page is to collect together notes on the rexine used on Vox Continental organs in 1963 and 1964.

The lid (1963-1964)

English-made Continentals

In many ways, the covering of the inner lid is most problematic - is it orange or red? Depending on the light, it can sometimes appear to be both. Leaving aside the question of whether the factory was always consistent in its production of the fabric, the other necessary caveat is that precise colour, after 60 years, is likely to vary from example to example.

The pictures below are an attempt to provide some points of reference - a shot of the inner lid of a Continental from mid 1963 taken in neutral light, a guide card to bracket exposure.

The light falls best directly above the guide card. The lower left and right-hand sides are slightly out of the main fall.

A one-inch (24mm) square detail to show the fineness of the pattern and the range of gradations of colour caught in and created by the embossed "rivulets":

The colour is a species of what is currently known as "Pimento", the centre point of the main picture being hex code colour: #db5e43. Gradations of the colour can be explored on the icolorpalette website. A good photographic print of #db5e43 matches up extremely well with the vinyl in normal daylight.

In terms of standard commercial colours, Behr Pimento P-180 and Pantone P48-13 C are very close, a touch less yellow perhaps, though the yellow is probably a consequence of the Continental's age. Quite whether the cloth used for Continental lids was specially ordered / commissioned by JMI is unknown at present. It may be that ICI was already supplying such colours for chair-seats and so on, probably not as "Pimento" however.

The main case (1963)

The thin lightly patterned rexine used on Vox Continental organ cases in late 1962 and 1963 is closest in general form to a type of cloth known as "Skivver" [example to come]. Evidently it was not much used - if at all - on amplifiers.

Vox Continental covering, mid 1963.

Below, a detail of AC30 serial number 5650 from the late summer of 1962. A similar type of cloth, though this has a fine geometric "weave" in its embossed surface:

The thin cloth was evidently not hardy enough to survive general rough and tumble.

Thick grey vynide (Late 1963 and 1964)

Regularly used throughout 1964 and into 1965, though not exclusively. Some cases in this period were covered in black, different however from the one illustrated above. The grey vynide - a "slate" or "shark" grey - has a glossy surface and lightly embossed pebble and rivulet pattern, presenting a speckly aspect in some lights.

At least one AC30 with a serial number in the 13000s - 13230 - was covered with this vinyl. It was not used often on JMI amplifiers however.

Published on the 23rd January, 1964, a shot of a local Scarborough band with an early Continental - tall lid, perspex music stand, and so on. The volume pedal may be of the old cast metal ("diving boot") type. The case looks to have been covered in (light) grey or perhaps even coloured vinyl.

The blurb states that the boys had done their shopping in Leeds - doubtless at R.S. Kitchen, an important Vox dealer in the first years of the 1960s. The (full) price of the Continental is proudly given - 260 guineas.

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Documents relating to Jennings (Vox) guitar amplifiers, 1957