VOX MILESTONES

A POTTED HISTORY OF HOW THE VOX SOUND TOOK SHAPE

1951

The Univox, a monophonic synth/organ with a built-in valve amplifier and loudspeaker, is launched. Inspired by a popular French product called the Clavioline, the Univox is allegedly used on the Joe Meek-produced 1962 hit Telstar. By some accounts Jennings had tried to re-cycle the Univox’s valve circuit for guitar use without much success

1958

The AC1/15 amp launched in January, Thomas Jennings’s first big success. Re-named AC15, it featured a Denneydesigned circuit using a pair of EL84 valves driving a single 12" loudspeaker, in a cabinet designed by Jennings. According to legend, the AC part of the name stood for Amplifier Combination. It also conveniently stood for Alternating Current

1959

Vox hit on a masterpiece with the concept of a ‘double AC15’; four EL84s powering two 12" loudspeakers, called the AC30. Hank Marvin stayed with the AC30 as it took a further step in development, adopting a version with a built-in treble boost circuit, which Vox christened the AC30 Top Boost

1962

Vox is approached by Brian Epstein, manager of a band from Liverpool, who were struggling to impress EMI’s George Martin. Sales manager Reg Clarke was initially taken aback when he realised they weren’t just asking for a discount – he wanted the amps for free. A deal was done, and the then unknown Beatles scored a pair of AC30/6s, in return for a guarantee that they would use them exclusively for as long as Epstein managed them

1964

Vox was growing too quickly, money was needed to fund expansion, and Jennings sold his controlling interest to the Royston Industries electronics group and the American rights to the Thomas Organ Company. Royston treated Vox as a cash cow to fund other less successful brands. Sales began to decline. Denney left in 1965 and Jennings and Underdown were fired in 1967. Royston Industries eventually filed for bankruptcy in 1969

1973

After a period of being owned by several banks and finance groups Vox is purchased by CBS-Arbiter in 1973. One of the first things Arbiter did was replace the printed circuit board versions of the AC30 and some other models with hand-wired tag boards that were quite faithful to the original design

1978

Rose-Morris’s infamous distribution deal with Marshall ends. Looking for another brand as a safety net, they negotiate to buy Vox from Arbiter. Rose Morris tinkered with the AC30 several times and there were a few new models, among them the Venue and V125, but they were mostly forgettable

1992

Vox purchased by Korg, who began to sell off the old Rose-Morris AC30s with a view to returning the amp to its original design. A significant historical moment sees Korg’s Vox AC30TB and AC30TBX models (manufactured under license in Marshall’s Bletchley factory) arrive on the market in 1993. Despite the printed circuit board construction, they were far closer to the original Denney circuits than their predecessors...

2002

...And at Vox’s request, Celestion reissued the famous alnico ‘Blue’ loudspeaker associated with vintage AC30s for the 1992 AC30TBX model, while the AC30TB used Celestion Greenbacks. A limited edition launched in late 2002 marked the last UK-made hand-wired AC30

2004

Designed with input from acclaimed New York boutique builder Tony Bruno, the 2002 hand-wired AC30s had a substantially different preamp circuit. They were greatsounding amps, although not particularly well-received by Vox fans. Spiralling production costs were making the British-built AC30 increasingly expensive, particularly in the key USA market. The last UK-made Vox AC30s shipped in 2004, ending 45 years of British manufacturing

2005

Chinese-made AC30CC2 and AC30CC2X hit the market. Production was subsequently moved to Vietnam, along with other hybrid and solid-state models previously made in Korea, including the Valvetronix range. The vitally important relaunch was a success, returning Vox to the world stage. Reinvigorated as one of the top international guitar amplification brands, the quality and consistency of the modern range is better than ever

2017

Vox’s innovative and great-sounding MV50 micro amps range launched with the unusual 6P1 Nutube preamp – effectively a flat, highly compact triode valve – while continuing to please traditionalists with the current version of the AC30, which is just as good, if not better than the originals. Happy anniversary Vox, here’s to the next 60 years!