My VOX Amplifier Collection & Story

[@stonewalljackson7590]

No doubt, Vox amps were the coolest looking amps ever.

[@Luke_dude_9]

Legendary collection Paul! Was definitely cool seeing all the Vox amps. Also enjoyed hearing how your dad was able to restore those amps and very cool seeing those Vox amps on display at Rick’s music world along with the memorial picture with your dad.

[@guitargearconnection]

Thanks Luke! Appreciate all that. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ksharpe10]

Such a thorough Go thru on these Amps, they made alot of models. I used to own a Super Beatle, thought it was a Great sound, loved the distortion pedal, and it's sound. NEVER tried jumping channels to see if I then could utilize the MRB channel because I liked some of the sounds that the MRB could do to, I had the silver bell/bulldog we called them speakers you give the number in the video, one of my Horns was blown out, Vox seemed to be almost the only company doing Horns in Amps, i think Acoustic did them too and maybe Kustom. I currently own a Vox/korg 1993 the 1st year of the Marshall built ones, mine has the celestion greens, gives a more punchy sound, the Alnico are more brighter sounding, and way more expensive to buy, maybe the ultimate would be one of each in a cab like Matchless does.

[@guitargearconnection]

Thanks for the comment! Those old vox amps are just so cool!

[@perrystanleyNumber9]

Freakin LOVED this video! Until now I knew virtually nothing about Thomas Organ Vox amps. Really amazing collection and and I enjoyed the drive and peek at your area of the country! Very enjoyable watch!

[@guitargearconnection]

Thanks Perry! Appreciate that!

[@Jamman610]

There’s a place where the factory was and a lot of Vox amps are buried there. Saw it on a documentary.

[@Tony-w5x]

I thought my 7 amps was something! What a stunning collection. That’s a beautiful piece of music history…

[@guitargearconnection]

Thank you!

[@BlackDogOriginal]

I’m surprised you don’t have a UL series model. I know they’re rare, however. Great collection.

[@guitargearconnection]

I do and I don’t. Though some “experts” might disagree, if you have to replace any of the essential & nonessential components, the sound is greatly changed. Plus they are just wayyyyy too much money lol

[@jfinester]

Amazing collection! Seeing those Cambridge Reverbs really took me back-I bought one new in 1966 to upgrade from my little Japanese Melody practice amp. When I finally got good enough to play with good musicians, I got into a band with a bunch of guys who had 45-watt 2-12” Fender amps-the bass player and the keyboard player each had Bassmans, and the other guitar player had a Pro Reverb-my 1-10” 15-watt Cambridge Reverb couldn’t keep up! At the time, I was playing a Vox Phantom XII guitar as well…I wound up trading the Cambridge Reverb in on a Fender Bandmaster, and the Vox Phantom got stolen, and I wound up in late-1967 with a Gibson SG Standard, a much better choice than the Phantom XII for the way I was trying to play; Clapton-style blues. I still wish I’d been able to keep the Cambridge Reverb as a second amp, but as a teenager then I had to trade it in to afford the Bandmaster. I had the whole Vox setup too-the footswitch, the chrome stand, and a cover. Looked cool, but it was underpowered for the gigs I was playing. Also-I believe the Vox Berkeley II and the Cambridge Reverb shared the same amp chassis. Your Berkeley head with the Cambridge nameplate could be original, if they’d run out of Berkeley namplates. Unless you know differently…

[@guitargearconnection]

Thank you! And seems like you had a decent collection yourself! That’s awesome!

[@hoboroadie4623]

Well, that sure makes my little pile look rather shabby. Nice stuff! 👍

[@guitargearconnection]

Thanks 👍

[@KaiserSoze-dp1hw]

Epic collection!!!! I love my Vox Student and AC30 head and cab

[@marcraibert4514]

An amazing collection. Congratulations.

[@Brian-cc3kh]

Amazing collection and I love the passion about Vox amps that you and your dad shared. I am curious how many of the JMI SS Vox amps made it over the the USA. I would also like to see more comparisons between the JMI SS amps and the Thomas built SS amps.

[@guitargearconnection]

Thank you! I need to look up exactly how many different variations there were. There were some odd ball ones too. At least 10!

[@1953MMike]

Fantastic collection! 😎

[@ARWest-bp4yb]

Going from a Squier to a Super Beatles, now that's one giant leap!😄 Fellow MA guy here, we're on the North Shore. Have you ever been to Bill's Music in Peabody? He has tons of vintage gear and I know I've seen some Vox stuff there over the years. Thanks for the tour Paul!😍👍👍

[@guitargearconnection]

Been to Bill’s a bunch of times! Great place & definitely have gotten a few things there over the years!

[@elirosen1391]

For you and the GT&E gang, is an episode about "Fixing a Hole" a possibility for the future? I'm just dying to know what amp George was using. Honestly, I want it to be the Conqueror, but I think it was probably the Hybrid. I hope you guys will put that madness to rest.

[@guitargearconnection]

Yes! That’s on our list. Hopefully I’ll be making a video soon demoing the Conqueror soon & I’ll run through all the sounds in that song.

[@elirosen1391]

@@guitargearconnection Yes! I can't wait to hear it! That's such a hard sound to replicate, especially the distortion.

[@marcdanielnelson317]

excellent video. fun stuff! Vox and paper towels!

[@guitargearconnection]

Thanks Marc!!!

[@AmiGuitar]

vox heaven

[@philhood4604]

Were most of these amps made in USA under license?

[@invoxicated]

I have a Berkeley II and it sounds very tube like probably due to the Germanium transistors. I had a dead mint Berkeley III and didn't care for the sound compared to the Berkeley II. The III had the reverb circuit in the normal channel and was disappointing in the tone department. Vox should have had it in the Brilliant channel. How is it that 99.9% of the the Thomas Vox amps got their control panels all banged up? I know back in the 60s when these were used and they got hauled around quite a bit. But many had covers to protect them. Could never figure that out. I have a nice Royal Guardsman and a Viscount which I was told by my friends from the UK its pronounce Vy Count. Just sayin. These solid state amps have a bad rap in the tone department but with todays pedals and effects boxes you can get sound really great tones. Plus most of the bigger Vox heads had the MRB circuit that when used with different pedals gives you a vast array of tones. Vox tube amps are great but the solid state amps are versatile. I also have a Pacemaker tube amp and use it with a Berkeley II cab. I run it though a Vox Tone Lab. Great sounding set up.

[@guitargearconnection]

That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing that!

[@JukiTash]

6:21 Are you the guy who bought those last few t1088s that popped up on reverb a few months ago??? 🤣

[@guitargearconnection]

Maybe 🤣🤣🤣

[@trd4life302]

Love the vid content! Big Beatles fan here also a bedroom warrior. Bought a 2nd hand AC15CC1X recently. After a few weeks, started having issues with the standby switch where it no longer works now(no sound) also noticed reverb decay is too long even at low settings, no gain at all(even after tubes replacements) I dont know if this thing is even worth fixing or if I should just go used againfor the better AC15C1 models or a used AC30CC2? Handwired models are nice but trying to keep budget low. What are your suggestions bud? Cheers!

[@philhood4604]

Were many of these amps made in USA under license and nothing to do with JMI UK Vox amps?

[@phoenixlandingstudio6594]

That Vox Korg AC30 with the blue speakers looks awesome! Why did it have ‘Korg’ in its name? Thanks.

[@gedztrez8814]

Korg bought Vox in the 90s so I’m guessing it has something to do with that

[@guitargearconnection]

No it wasn’t specific to the name! Just a reference to a specific grouping of AC30’s built by Korg!

[@morganbaldridge9540]

I have a '67 Vox Berkeley that the trim is yellowed. I noticed that some your amps also appear to have yellowed trim istead of white. Is this failey common? Thanks for your great vids!

[@guitargearconnection]

Yup! They all yellow lol it’s rare to see one still white!!!!

[@guitargearconnection]

Enjoy it!

[@morganbaldridge9540]

@@guitargearconnection thank you for the info!

[@bobhinley5410]

What was the Vox amp with one 18 inch speaker? Westminster maybe?

[@guitargearconnection]

Yes!

[@natedanna9155]

Paul. I have a mid 60s Buckingham in need of repair. I.d like to use the services of someone who is proficient in The Buckingham Solid State Thomas Organ series. Do you know of any tches in the Phoenix Az area or someine I can ship it ti for service? Thanks

[@guitargearconnection]

No unfortunately I do not know anyone in the area! But for the most part they really are easy amps to work on. If someone says they’re difficult, they just don’t know what they are doing!

[@meherclermehercle1698]

💎

[@joestarr05]

First