A Tour of a 1965 English Vox Continental V301J (Great score for our studio)

[@ThePianoforever]

If you like music, you might want to check out my second channel "Milan Recording Studios". Feel free to subscribe and hit the bell icon if you want to! kzbin.info/door/u1LrpmWwK1ztTvIayRar9w

[@danieloherrick6332]

Fond memories. I played one of these thru a Fender Showman amp in the 60s.

[@greatestmusiclive6175]

Thats freaking awesome! Thats the same kind Alan Price played on with The Animals, on songs as House Of The Rising Sun!

[@glasp1]

no shit sherlock

[@godzilla12332]

@@glasp1 Always thought house of the rising sun was a farfisa could be wrong though!

[@deezynar]

You didn't watch to the end of the video, did you?

[@tim.honiss]

@@godzilla12332 In the music video and on live performances they used a Vox.

[@64morgy]

I have played the organ in church for more than 20 years. The first one I played was a Hammond C3. Later I played in other churches and experienced the pipe organ. Then I learned more about the names of organ stops. You mentioned in the Vox Continental that there was a drawbar labeled IV. In another of your videos (the one on the church organ) you mentioned a nazard. Now I'm going to tell you what these terms mean in terms of the Hammond sound. I have a Hammond X66 which has 4 sets of drawbars like the B3 and others like it. Now I'll explain the Nazard 2 and 2/3 in terms of the drawbars, using your finger pressing the middle C. The Nazard is 2 drawbars to the right of the fundamental and it plays a 12th interval of the C, making it sound like a G that is 1 and 1/2 octaves above the middle C. The purpose of the Nazard is to produce a sound like an oboe, especially if the organ doesn't already have an oboe stop. It is blended with the fundamental to make a reed sound. A book on Hammond drawbars will explain it also. The pipe organ has something called a mixture. It can be a mixture III or a mixture IV. That is what the IV is in the English vox continental. On a Hammond organ, the mixture III is produced by pulling out the last 3 drawbars in a 9 drawbar configuration. The X66 has 11 drawbars in each section. The mixture III on a Hammond produces the notes E, G, and C to make a triad. In the X66 if you use these last 3 of 9 and then pull out drawbar no. 10 you get the mixture IV. The 10th drawbar produces a double tone of Bflat and D, while no. 11 produces a double tone of E and G that is progressively higher than drawbars 9 and 10. Mixtures in a pipe organ are used to produce brilliance especially in accompanying the congregation in hymn singing, and the basic pipe stop for hymns is the diapason. I hope this explanation clarifies things for you.

[@Ritzi66]

Yeah .. great information

[@xesh9520]

I really like your videos, thank you for keeping them coming. I would love to see a studio tour if possible!

[@ThePianoforever]

I am sure I will be showing a lot of my studio in the future, but for now a great deal of the studio is under construction.

[@voxcontinental71]

Finally after so many years we have a good review of the Vox Continental on yt. Thank you, it is well done. I would love to hear your version of When The Music's Over on that beast. Keep making great videos : - )

[@ThePianoforever]

I am presently on the road reviewing lots of great instruments, but when I return to the studio I plan on recording more Doors songs.

[@starcloud4959]

Me too.

[@gotnoshoes99]

In case someone hasn't already mentioned it your tuning mechanisms are variable resistors called trim potentiometers or trim pots for short.

[@richferraro4422]

Thanks for the flashback James! The organ is in amazing condition, obviously not a road warrior. I used to put mine together myself by assembling it upside down, which you probably figured out by now. I loved to play in-a-gadda-da-vida back when paisley and Nehru jackets were in style :-)

[@idiosyncraticmushroom3030]

The Doors yes

[@rmking4895]

I got a new one in 66, then traded it and a Vox Superbeatle for a Hammond DV and highboy Leslie I kept the Hammond until 2017 when it finally died when the old barn it was stored in was torn down. Before I got the Hammond, I used to put a couple window fans in front of the Vox speaker for the Leslie effect. It really brings back memories. I was 14 when I got it. By the time 74 rolled around, I left rock and switched over to Balkan folk, especially the Macedonian zurla.

[@panagiotispapadopoulos2083]

I have one of this at home and its beautiful

[@themuseboy]

Wow, the inside of the Vox sure brings back memories from my high school electronics class from 1970-1972 when I built my own circuit boards, looking at all the resistors, capacitors, etc. Thank you James for your great videos and your music.

[@thomasburlefinger8143]

You just showed me how to tune my vox! I bought one a year ago and all the Cs are out of tune. I was hoping it would be that easy but now I know. I am very thankful for that :-) !!

[@powbobs]

Don’’t use metal screwdrivers. A plastic one needs to be used to avoid damage.

[@Greywolf3]

What a fascinating video and beautiful Vox organ! Thank you for showing the circuitry. When I was in radio broadcasting and electronics school in 1963 and 1964 I was introduced to the exciting new transistor technology. Your Vox is beautifully made! I always enjoy hearing you play bits of “Light my fire”!

[@guilhermetavares1975]

Great purchase and very cool to see the inside of this rare instrument! Thank you! You must play some Iron Butterfly stuff on it!! My Mirage, Her Favorite Style, etc. Greetings from extreme south of Brasil!!

[@mattrowlandhall]

Fantastic video. Keep up the interest in this great gear. So glad to hear all about it from someone so knowledgeable and passionate about this era!

[@boldcautionproductions9203]

Really great - you are adding to music history by the stories, and exploring the insides of these keyboards, but also preserving them as well. Such really fine examples, squeaky clean.

[@ThePianoforever]

Thank you so very much. I do feel so very lucky to have these great instruments.

[@kidcalabria]

John Lennon's Vox Continental (which he broke during I'm Down, live a Shea Stadium, 1965) was on sale (but still broken) in New York in 2011 for $ 30 thousand. On the 1966 world tour, Lennon used a Vox Continental 300 (double keyboard). Apart from those by The Doors and The Animals, among other classic records that feature a Vox Continental organ there are The Kingsmen's Louie Louie, The Monkees' I'm A Believer, Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, The Velvet Underground's Sister Ray and What Goes On, The Rolling Stones' Stupid Girl, Bob Dylan's Absolutely Sweet Marie (and also on the album Time Out Of Mind, 1993), The Stooges' Down On The Street (single mix) and bands like The Dave Clark Five, The Blues Magoos, The Remains, The Standells, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, The Damned (who used a Vox Jaguar rather than a Continental, starting on Machine Gun Etiquette, 1979), etc.. The video for Billy Idol's To Be A Lover has guitarist Steve Stevens with a Vox Continental 300. A contemporary Rock artist who often uses a Vox Jaguar is Robert Caruso, as on this track (Indian Summer, 2013): kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpKyh2elpr-si5I . Thanks for posting this!

[@marknowlin8356]

Great list! Thank you. I had thought The Kingsmen used a Vox Continental on "Louie," but it is actually a Hohner Pianet, same as The Lovin' Spoonful used on "Summer In The City" and The Beatles used on some songs in the "Help!" sessions.

[@normanchipman9344]

The Monkees used a Vox. It's front and center on I'm a Believer and is even featured in the video for that song. It uses the low drawbar only, but I open the others a little when playing it on stage with my band. Otherwise it gets lost.

[@starcloud4959]

Wow classic ..i am finding so many of my favourite songs/bands used Vox Continental. Hey what did the Question Mark and The Mysterions use on "96 Tears"(1968) ,do you know??

[@Doctor_Robert]

The Zombies used the Connie a lot on their lesser known cuts; check out "Leave Me Be," "Just Out Of Reach," and "Indication." They are criminally underrated, in my humble opinion.

[@johnmac8084]

Fascinating thanks. Such a mint example!

[@John-E]

In 1966-67 I built a Heath-kit VOX Jaguar organ. Great experience and wonderful playing back then. Wish I still had it......(sigh).....

[@G60syncro]

A friend of mine has a Jaguar, here's some more insight on that model... It was "built" by Heathkit, it was actually sold as a kit that people put together. The case and hardware is the same as the Vox of England counterpart but the insides were slightly different. As you stated, the sound is very similar but they ditched the drawbar section and put preset rocker switches instead. However it features dual outputs and a bass section. So byou had the choice of switching the lower octave to be eithcr regular organ sound or bass or both together. The sound could either all go to the regular output, or if you plugged a bass amp in the bass output, it would split the output with organ on one channel and bass on the other. Very useful in live situations for a three piece band... We could have bass when he switched from his 4 string to the keys. Also, we had to clad the underside of the orange lid with sheet aluminum and ground it to the chassis because he put his Honher Pianet T on top and its pickups would pick up a ton of noise from the Jaguar circuit.

[@tommymandel3326]

LOL I was beginning to think you were never going to make a sound on it. Thanks for an informative video. It certainly is in great shape both cosmetically and sonically. I had one in 1968.

[@CalvinLimuel]

IV in roman numeral to signify mixture (2-2/3', 2', 1-3/5', & 1'). Also the "M" lettering (the reed stop) isn't really a sawtooth wave, but a filtered square wave (according to Arturia).

[@nickh7193]

Calvin Limuel It is a sawtooth wave. It's also a filtered square wave. The vox puts its square waves through individual CR filters, which convert the square waves into approximate sawtooths. My vox is 1964, but basically identical to the one on show here.

[@zeeeman8744]

Awesome instrument ! Thanks for sharing

[@Alenhoff]

Beautiful Continental! Rare to see a UK one in this shape. Great purchase for you. It looks all original, except that the volume pedal is from a later Italian-built Continental. The UK ones have a more rounded shape and show up on eBay occasionally.

[@256byteram]

Awesome. I see Mullard transistors in there, though some have been replaced on the C# board - they're silver cans instead of black painted glass. They're germanium transistors which are less stable than modern silicon transistors. The power connector is a Bulgin connector, used on a lot of British equipment. The component to adjust the tuning is called an inductor. Please don't use a metal screw driver on the tuning slugs! They're made of powdered iron and are extremely brittle. Breaking one can be very difficult to repair. You can get plastic tuning tools easily. Cheers.

[@cunnyfunt5059]

The black painted glass type were OC72 used in many oscillators of this type.

[@gregaltenhofel7326]

I just found this review. I was actually looking to see if you’d done a review of the new one. Pleasant surprise with you and the organ so much of the music I grew up on. Excellent find. I see a Norman Chipman said something about the Monkeys and I’m a believer. Hope you’ve gotten to that. Off to look now.

[@stevehelton997]

How cool , this was the holy grail of keyboards in the sixties , thanks .

[@The_Smith]

Nice when you take the time to get inside and explain the works to us. Keep it up!

[@chrisst8922]

Fantastic to see it in its cases and everything. I live just down the coast from Dartford and often go there. The factory site is now a petrol station.

[@ThePianoforever]

I love to play this Vox Continental. I guess all things must pass, but I hope many will survive for a very long time.

[@michaelbanks5102]

Great to see the keyboard in such good shape. Back in those days a school friend's father used to work at Vox UK building the keyboards and amps - he was quite a 'star' to all the kids. The 'factory' front was just like a little shop front alongside similar terraced 'shops'. Haven't been down that road for some time but will have to take a ride and see if the buildings still exist. Of course when the Beatles were seen using Vox equipment Dartford itself became quite a 'star' town!!

[@medora2499]

I bet some organ pieces from the Baroque era, like Bach's Organ Triosonata in E Flat Major or Händel's Organ Concerto in G Minor would sound killer on this instrument.

[@johnadams5489]

That Vox is in amazing condition. Built in 1965? Wow, incredible. I had occasion to try that particular model back in the late sixties. I played it in a music store to determine if I wanted to buy one. Being that it only had a 4 octave KB and only 6 draw bars, I passed. I had been using Farfisa, who made a dual compact organ which was better suited for two hand playing. I did buy a Vox Super Continental a few years later when they were being made in the US. I had problems with the wooden keys sticking down after taking it out of a cold equipment truck during the COLD winters we use to get in the NE US. I sold it.

[@goodun2974]

John Adams, I can identify with that last bit: " cold winters we *used to get* in the Northeast US". Not particularly cold, or snowy, these days....

[@markmorley327]

This was my first keyboard. I bought it for the specific sound of the bands at the time. I had it paired with a Vox amplifier both of which I bought for $50 each while I was in college. The previous owner had not liked the orangish red and painted it black which looked awful. I also had a ‘74 Vox Combo which I kept until I bought my Kurzweil PC88 in ‘94 which I still have. I wish I had kept both the Vox keyboards. Now I also play a Feurich Grand which is now my primary instrument. I love watching the expression of new students when they come for their first lesson and get to play the Grand Piano.

[@BrianGossard]

Funny thing. I actually have one. I think my dad bought it at a yard sale. It’s been in the house since I was a kid in the 80s. I’ve hardly played it. Only recently realized its actually an iconic instrument.

[@pieceworkstudios]

You do really good presentations. This is such an iconic instrument. I of course love the Hammond tone wheel organs but there's something neat about this one too. I also love the Farfisa organs. Thanks for showing all about this 👍

[@hottotty13]

Absolutely beautiful.

[@griffinedwards1404]

I imagine that unique tuning system could be really useful if you're into just intonation and that kinda stuff… overall all though the vox is probably one of my favorite instruments, it's neat sound and iconic look are perfect

[@alancordwell9759]

The parts you adjust are called pot-core inductors, and they are the inductance element of an L-C oscillator. Each of the generator boards has an oscillator running at the highest pitch you need for that note- say 2ft pitch, and a chain of dividers that produce the 4ft, 8ft, 16ft etc octaves below. Those round mains connectors used to be common here in the UK for a lot of gear like guitar amps and so on before the IEC connector came along. They were generally made by a company called Bulgin and many people call them that. Great video BTW, gets my sub :-)

[@ThePianoforever]

Thanks for the great info, and thanks for subscribing! Always looking for cool instruments to review, stay tuned for more!

[@McSynth]

Excellent review of such a classic piece of music history. I lived in Dartford, Kent for over 10 years. You'd be surprised how many of the locals know nothing about Dartford's place in the scheme of things...;-) P.S. The mains socket / plug and cable was a standard develoved by a company called Bulgin. It was used in many U.K. electronics / music/ broadcast kit for many years until the ubiquitous (and safer) I.E.C. standard became the norm. Hindsight's a wonderful thing., If only the vibrato had a speed control.....and maybe a mod wheel to regulate the intensity.....;-)

[@binkyrcd]

my brother had a vox guitar amp of which the literature featured a picture of the beatles on it as a selling point.i was a kid back then but still remember it.

[@Jm4steam]

Very nice, interesting videos.

[@whitechannel2669]

Excellent conditions and complete with all it's accessories: I guess this situation is quite rare!

[@David-tw2vx]

Glad All Over or Bits and Pieces are suitable songs by the Dave Clark Five who also used the Vox Continental back in the day. Thanks for the video!

[@astrogabalus1630]

Be sure to use a plastic screwdriver made especially for those variable resistors (potentiometers) or capacitors (depending on the design) for they could break. The main reason for using a non-metallic screwdriver however is not to influence the circuit you need to adjust. When a metal screwdriver is used the circuit goes out of tune as soon as you remove the tool. Thanks for the demonstration. Lots of memories resurfaced from the 1960s when I was a repair technician. The Conn electronic organs were notoriously hard to tune for they used much too many oscillators. The Hammonds never went out of tune… and they still work after all those decades. As you very well surmised, the rounded squiggle is the symbol for a sinusoidal waveform giving the fluty sound. The M squiggle is the symbol for a sawtooth waveform outputting that reedy sound. This keyboard instrument is perfect for music by the Doors indeed.

[@freddiepirotta8164]

Hey James, That's very impressive. I don't know how British the Continental actually was in design or manufacture, but the thrust behind these transistor organs was the decline of the accordion industry in Italy in the face of Rock 'n' Roll initially, and then the Beatles. Everyone wanted to switch to guitars and the industry had to get modern to survive. Farfisa was actually an alliance of Italian accordion makers (Fisarmonica = accordion) Charlie Watkins WEM (Watkins Electronic Music) had been a specialist importer and maker of accordions in the UK before switching to guitars and amplification and he later re-entered accordion making. He put together the then gigantic 1000W rig used for the Stones in the Park concert and Tom Jennings was also a prime British mover with Jennings Musical Instruments - JMI -whose brand name was Vox. I'd like to hear Chris Montez's "Let's Dance". The organ on this clip could be a Farfisa. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3bNe6RvmJagl6s

[@omarbell4579]

Great video. I hope you'll make a video of the Continental (and other combo organs if you have some) going through a Leslie.

[@zhou_sei]

10:28 "trimpot", a miniature potentiometer typically for setting and forgetting a particular resistor value. please don't electrocute yourself: capacitors can hold a charge even after the circuit is removed from its power source, and i'm assuming that this keyboard's plug goes right into a wall socket... even if you don't get electrocuted, you could still get shocked hard enough to injure you if you poke around randomly in the power section of this keyboard.

[@kostis2849]

Except they are not trimpots at all, they are little adjustable tuning coils, like the ones you d find in an old AM transistor radio. Move the ferrite in and out, tune the frequency.

[@miriamn9657]

Oh, you can indeed touch the tone generators and other things except from the shielded power supply. When I remember right, most of it works with 8.something volts. One interesting thing was that you should use a plastic screwdriver or other non-metalic instrument for tuning, as a metalic screwdriver would change the inductivity of the coil and you would spend hours poking around in the dark. A friend of my father worked for the Federal German Post Office (which was the official authority for radios those days) and had an officially calibrated frequency counter at hand. His organs were always 'officially tuned'.;-)

[@HazeAnderson]

"please don't electrocute yourself" spoiler --- he did not

[@NeighborhoodCarReviews]

The first three drawbars are the octaves according to 16' 8' and 4' pipes sounding as a C1, C2 and C3 note octaves. The IV drawbar is a mixture control that mixes the upper G3, C4, E4 and C5 notes which represents the 2 2/3', 2', 1 3/5' and 1' pipes on a pipe organ, which, as you stated, are overtones and not intended to be used on their own. The first red drawbar, as you stated is a sine wave mix and the M drawbar represents a reedy tone.

[@michaels.chupka9411]

Steve nieve! okay, so his is the super Conti, but that Vox sound.

[@Stevorific1]

I think Dave Clark Five used that, too. Pretty cool! ( "Because" and many more. It's right that I should care about you...)

[@Tekno5_Official]

The Dave Clark Five is the first band I've seen use this organ. Mike Smith was the one who played the organ in the band.

[@audiomez]

True live, but a customized one in the studio (as well as other instruments)

[@somdhomestead9031]

Ah high School band memories. We all wanted a keyboard player with a Vox. Our band did not have one. 96 tears was one everyone had to play. BTW- I believe that adjustment is a variable capacitor. A circuit analysis could identify it's intended purpose. Be careful with those parts as I'm sure you won't be able to buy exact replacements from back in the 60's.

[@telliott]

96 Tears was the first song I thought of. Great instrument!

[@Carol120454]

The forerunner of those transistor based organs (big, though, not portable) that were popular in the late 60's, early 70's. Every mall had a store with them, with an organist playing them. I always looked at them with my mom. She wanted to buy one, my dad said no. I played accordion and wanted to learn organ/piano. Well, now I own a Yamaha keyboard with every imaginable keyboard instrument voice programmed into it, but they don't say which is a Hammond organ, or a Vox Continenal, or a Fender Rhodes, you have to figure that out by the sound. That's fun to do though, and I feel so spoiled. I still love my antique but restored and in perfect shape acoustic piano though (belonged to my husband's grandmother) and I wouldn't give it up for the world. Still have two accordions too. If I had the room, and the money, I'd probably be an instrument collector like you. Thanks for all your videos, I always learn a lot from them, keep up the great work!

[@ThePianoforever]

Carol120454, I agree that they have a lot of sounds, and many more or less can come close to what they are trying to imitate, but in the end only a Vox sounds like a Vox, and only a Hammond sounds like........

[@TranscendentBen]

I had a Farfisa MiniCompact when I was about 12 (about when the Beatles broke up), which was similar (a transistor "combo" organ), but of course Farfisa wasn't the "desirable" brand name. In recent years I found a Vox Jaguar at a thrift store, in rough condition, but still playable. Mine does NOT have the chrome stand with it, which was a unique and very cool feature of the Vox organs. Apparently from the video, the stand was optional and came in a separate box (the MiniCompact had four straight legs that stored in an area underneath the organ). As you said, the Jaguar is similar to the Continental but with 'stop' switches (like the Farfisa and many other organs) rather than the Hammond-like drawbars. The tuning devices are variable inductors, or coils, with the slot turning a threaded iron slug that changes the inductance, and thus the frequency of the oscillator. Electronic (non-tonewheel) organs made through the mid-70s worked this way (afterward, many used a top-octave chip). A guitar tuner, as long as it can tune all 12 notes and not just the guitar-string notes, should be good enough to tune an organ like this. For bands that used Vox organs, watch and listen to videos of the Dave Clark Five! He played a Continental, as you can see and hear in every video. Some videos I only see "Vox" if anything on the organ, but in "BECAUSE--THE DAVE CLARK FIVE (NEW ENHANCED RECORDING) 720P" about 40 seconds in, the video pans across a still pic with the "VOX Continental" badge on the organ.

[@rongrantga]

I think the tuning pods are potentiometers. We had one in our band during the sixties. The stand goes on easier if you leave the organ in the case and invert onto the floor and install the legs upside down. Cool video! Nice to see one in such shape.

[@myofficegoes65]

Those might be variable capacitors. They usually are more reliable since the adjustment is moving a metal slug within a coil of wire. Variable resistors sometimes get "scratchy" because of the physical contact between the wiper arm and resistor track

[@normdeplume6133]

Those are tunable coils. The screwdriver slot you see is in an adjustable ferrite core.

[@einekleinenachtmusic]

I played Vox Continental, Farfisa Compact, Farfisa Profesional, Farfisa Vip 400, Yamaha YC 30 in sixties and seventies.

[@ThePianoforever]

It must have been a great time.

[@Tool-Meister]

I had the Continental with a Fender Dual Showman and the Fender Leslie speaker. Sounded a lot like an B3 when set up properly.

[@bernardofitzpatrick5403]

Awesomely cool, man!

[@dx7guy]

Some of the early Vox Organs (said Thomas Organ on name plate) some had Wooden Keys & some Plastics Keys ... On House of The Rising Sun, on the very last, hit the minor 9th chord (a,c,e,g,b) :-)

[@lostinbeauty7129]

First of all, all the best to you on this, J. S. Bach's 334th birthday. This was really fascinating. The sound brought me back to my teenage years, the "British invasion" and all that. Couldn't at first make out what you were calling the legs until I realized you were saying "zee legs." Here it would be "zed legs," of course.

[@prestige2000rider]

Thats an amazing little keyboard James. Lots of gems like that around for the finding. Have a look on my youtube in there is a Interview with LA producer Jay Graydon he talks about the Lost Rhodes E. And how they resurrected it and used it in many of his and other session players recordings out on the coast. A very rare Rrodes.

[@ThePianoforever]

Rhodes from 71, 72, 73 are known to be the very best of the era. We have just acquired a 73 suitcase that was stored in a closet since it was new. The capacitors needed to be changed, but little else. We will leave in a few days to go pick it up.

[@CurtisMcLeodMusic]

Love how you do these videos. Keep them coming man.

[@cialboc]

My first keyboard in 1968...I was very young

[@francesnieznay6623]

thanks,you need to run that through a very large over driven tube amp such as a V-4 or super beatle,marshell,ps400 100 or more watts., been there done that. Again thanks,brings back memories.

[@calvinstulip]

Awesome lesson! Subscribed.

[@Tocsin-Bang]

I hate it when people think of 1965 as old or vintage. I started my first full time job in 1965.

[@stevegamiello6476]

Any Dave Clark 5 record but “Because” is a good example of the Vox

[@alexhando8541]

Fun fact: the LTD in "JENNINGS MUSCIAL INDUSTRIES LTD." means that Jennings Musical Industries was a public limited company, which means it had shares.

[@peterking2794]

The three pin mains input connector was made by a British firm called 'Bulgin'. They're now very rare and expensive to buy. So, look after the one you have!

[@Mrpoulenc1899]

Wow how very Sixties is that vox, Orange cover and Negative keyboard, and what they used to call solid state, all transistor: the components you are fluxed by are variable resistors, of a slightly unusual design, but if they are the tuning component then that would indeed make sense. (mind have a care they look like they may have ferrite cores which mean you use plastic or even wood tools on them, they are a little fragile and can crumble.) (update - could indeeed be a potentiometer, hence the ferrite core, though pots were usually in their own individual little tin box or canister ?) Very nice vlog James, thank you, and how apposite that an English man should be replying to a vlog on an English keyboard, very interesting to see under the cover so to speak. The Beatles connection has some credibility as they had a deal with the company for Amps, so it would not be too much of a stretch to see them using the companies other products. The devil in me was wondering what that would sound like through your wonderful sounding Leslie speaker ? Many thanks to you once again James your film was both facinating and entertaining. Quite by chance this very day i have had an email From Steinway with some interesting information upon the and indeed their harpsichord pianos, as featured in your recent vlog, i will see if i can find a way to forward the email to you or attach it to you tube perhaps, if that fails i will just relate what they have to say: - most strangely the words English and Orange appear in their text ! All good wishes, Regards Simon.

[@Mrpoulenc1899]

Thank you Kirk, my mistake, i had it on too low a res and too small a screen to make out the correct details, so at least that was an easy change to make; thanks for putting me right. regards Simon.

[@Mrpoulenc1899]

Thought you may be interested to lean the retail list price of your Vox Continental back in 1965 - £208, 19 shillings. the S Stand was £12, 12 shillings (the shillings would indicate this was pre-decimal.) Also discovered that The Thomas Organ Company of Sepulveda, California, Manufactured the Continental under licence ! Kind regards Simon.

[@thomasmoher9089]

Question Mark & The Mysterians 96 Tears

[@lastgleeming]

Nice!!!!

[@orangeflipflop485]

My Yamaha CP-20 from the late 70s uses the same locks, I guess they were popular. Love your vids btw!

[@ThePianoforever]

I have a 1972 Fender Bass that also uses them.

[@RolandTumble23]

So did mine. Kind of regret selling it, but I needed the room and did make a small profit (sold for $100, after paying $75 at Goodwill).

[@frankgarcia918]

Sounds great I'd like to hear a cover of the iron butterfly theme and in a gadda da Vida some time

[@roberthurless4615]

Those little devices are called “Potentiometers”. Or in industry parlance pots. That is such an amazing find to get one of these in that condition. I am 63 now and back in the day I wanted one of those so badly.

[@georgiaguardian4696]

It sounds very DIGITAL. Digital keyboards/pianos have really come a long way and advanced so much.

[@ThePianoforever]

Love my Vox.

[@verdatum]

I sometimes shop for Vox Continentals when I like to pretend that I'm not poor. This one is in absolutely incredible condition. Nice purchase.

[@ThePianoforever]

It took years to find this very early English Vox, but without question worth the wait.

[@TVPiles]

That is not a screw head, that is a ferrite core used frequently to build sine wave oscillators in "the good old times"

[@edisone1]

Seek out an Aeolian Orchestrelle, for to be amazed & to amaze the rest of us. They pre-date player pianos, and might even have been the inspiration for player pianos.

[@ljduvall1097]

Place the organ upside down and install stand before the lid is removed. (after up righting)

[@craigbrowning9448]

The First Transistor Oscillator Organs were built by Gulbransen in 1957, though it still had a Tube Amplifier.

[@kingberger1241]

I want to hear a cover of "Let's Go Get Stoned" by Joe Cocker, nobody ever talks about that one, or "With A Little Help From My Friends" by Joe Cocker. I also like "Inna Gadda Da Vida" by Iron Butterfly.

[@uncoolben79]

Was just mesmerised watching the dude play this in house of the rising sun!!! Had to find out what it was lol Nice vid bro!

[@DorianKYounger]

Could you highlight the Farfisa 'Professional' Organ? I love Sly Stone and know he used one. Would love to hear it.

[@JeanSuki]

the tuning mechanism are trim pots

[@MildredGlutz]

“96 Tears” - Question Mark and the Mysterians, “Wooly Bully” - Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs

[@keyboardresource]

The only Beatles song I know that has a Vox Continental is I'm Down (played by Lennon live on the Shea Stadium video in a Jerry Lewis Lewis/Little Richard manner).

[@jordanzish]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the circular tuning components are probably potentiometers (basically a variable resistor), and the expression pedal is probably sharing parts with the VOX wah guitar pedal. They're built like tanks and reusing a preexisting enclosure is just a cost saving no brainer, that is assuming the VOX wah wah predates the Continental. My first instrument was guitar so of course that was my assumption (although I had a Crybaby myself).

[@donr2670]

Great video - love vintage gear - thanks! Will second the comment of @256byteram using plastic tool for tuning.

[@timothysobina6777]

Loved your Vox Continental video! I have a Super Continental in very nice condition, but, the keys click clack a lot due to the rubber silencers need replaced. Would you by chance know where I could get a replacement set of these silencers for my Super Continental as well as a set of Z legs and an original Vox volume pedal? I am looking VERY forward to seeing future videos. Thank you VERY much!

[@ThePianoforever]

I believe the parts are available on the secondary market, but I have not purchased any parts to date so I am a not aware of the supply sources that you would use. Let me know what you find out.

[@PaulTheSkeptic]

96 Tears is a good one for the Vox Continental.

[@ThePianoforever]

Yes it is. I think that will be coming up in a cover soon.

[@Tomcat721]

Midnight Confessions by the Grass Roots would be a good tune on the Vox.

[@craigbrowning9448]

Gulbransen built Electronic Organs with Solid State Tone Generators since 1957.

[@l3p3]

These round things are called potentiometers (variable resistors)!

[@paulhause9040]

I don't think anybody mentioned it yet, but ? And The Mysterians' song "96 Tears" has that cheesy Vox Continental sound in it.

[@johnadams5489]

Paul Hause A lot of groups used that organ back in the sixties. The Monkeys used for the intro to "I'm a believer" and of course Paul Revere and the Raiders used it throughout their career.

[@NPB0067]

The Dave Clark Five had many hits in the late 60s using the VC....

[@JerehmiaBoaz]

The archetypal song to play on a Vox is of course 96 Tears by Question Mark & The Mysterians!

[@ThePianoforever]

How about the Animals in "House of The Rising Sun".

[@JerehmiaBoaz]

@@ThePianoforever Even though House of the Rising Sun is a much better song technically, the 96 Tears organ is an absolute earworm. I also like the contrast of the dark lyrics and the childlike organ piece, which makes it hard to listen to Aretha Franklin's version that lacks this ironic twist.

[@hottotty13]

Believe that pedal case is the same Vox used for the first guitar wah pedals.