Vox Beatle/Super Beatle Solid State *LOCAL PICKUP ONLY* Head and Cabinet Amplifier (1967)
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Item #14057
Vox Beatle/Super Beatle Solid State *LOCAL PICKUP ONLY* Model Head and Cabinet Amplifier (1967), made in Sepulveda, California, serial # 1053756, black tolex covering finish.
The truly iconic Vox brand originally belonged to Jennings Musical Industries (JMI) in Dartford, Kent. Owner and founder Tom Jennings initially specialized in accordions and keyboards but brought in two young engineers, Dick Denney and Derek Underdown in the later 1950s. Denney's vision led to the creation of the first Vox branded guitar amplifier under the in 1958, the now-legendary AC-15. Jennings, Denney, and Underdown stayed on board when JMI was later sold to Royston Industries in 1964. Both Jennings and Denney would be gone by 1967 and Royston bankrupt by 1968, but early Vox amplifiers will forever be remembered for JMI's partnership with a promising young band of upstarts fresh out of Liverpool.
The vox brand is inextricably linked with The Beatles; in one of the first major equipment endorsement deals negotiated by manager Brian Epstein, JMI's Vox amplifiers were used exclusively by the band in public until Epstein's death in 1967. From the AC-15 and AC-30 through the AC-100 and the gargantuan 7120, Vox amplifiers were synonymous with the most famous band on earth.
The story of the Super Beatle began when JMI chief engineer Dick Denney travelled from Kent to California in October 1965 to facilitate the distribution agreement between JMI and Thomas Organ, who had bought the rights to build and sell Vox amplifiers in the United States. Thomas was a pioneer in solid-state circuitry and presented their innovations to Denney. Burned by the failure of solid state germanium output transistors in the earlier T60 bass amp, Denney was unwilling to commit to a full solid-state design but was intrigued by the wide range of features and effects that could be produced by Organ's solid state preamp designs.
Thomas Organ (by now operating largely independent of JMI) decided to move ahead regardless, and hired the solid state electronics engineer Sava Jacobsen to analyze "what made a Vox sound amp like a Vox amp" and then create solid state circuits that could recreate that tone. This resulted in the development of a modular three channel solid state preamp for their AC-30 clone, followed by modular solid state power amps which would be combined with the solid state preamp first in the 35W "Viscount" and then in the 120W "Super Beatle."
Introduced in 1966, the Thomas Organ-produced Super Beatle replaced JMI's AC-100 Super DeLuxe in the US and Canadian markets. The Super Beatle features a trapezoid head cabinet, three channels of 120 watt RMS solid state circuitry, thirteen control knobs and a plethora of foot switchable effects. The Super Beatle and AC-100 Super Deluxe speaker enclosures and trolleys were nearly identical in function and appearance. Both included four Celestion G12 Alnico speakers and two Goodmans Midax horns.
The amp head was rated at 120 watts RMS and 240 watts peak into the 2 ohm load of its accompanying V414 enclosure. This first generation V1141 model of the Super Beatle features three channels: "Normal" with tremolo and reverb, "Brilliant" also with reverb (selectable to either channel through a central knob) and Bass with MRB "Mid Resonant Boost". The "Normal" channel has a "Top Boost" rocker switch while the "Bass" channel featured a sweepable frequency tone control called "Tone-X." The plywood cabinet featured eight plastic "one-pin' corners, a Vox logo handle, six plastic air vents with Vox logos, a horizontal Vox name plate in the upper right corner of the grill and a "Solid State" badge in the lower right corner. A four button foot switch with a 1/4" TRS plug controls the reverb, tremolo, distortion, and MRB.
For The Beatles' 1966 world tour, Thomas Organ argued that while touring America they should be playing through Vox Amplifiers made on American soil. To that end, Thomas Organ provided over a dozen Super Beatles, which were also used by supporting acts the Remains and the Cyrcle. Reg Clark and the team at JMI insisted that the supporting acts would also be required to use Vox amplifiers, which created tension with the Remains who had just signed their own deal with Fender!
On the tour, The Beatles played through the Thomas amps with the heads facing backwards for easier access to the controls, the head-and-cabinet combos being so tall that reaching over them to the back-mounted controls proved difficult. The typical tour setup featured four amps in the backline, two stage right for Paul and George and another two stage left for John's guitar and Vox Continental organ. Unfortunately as with much relatively new and unproven technology, the Super Beatles proved to be less than entirely reliable on stage, it was not uncommon to see three or four backups present behind the band throughout the tour.
Still, this exposure made the Super Beatle a much desired piece of gear for thousands of up-and-coming bands, and for a while Thomas sold quite a few of these VERY expensive units to ambitious rockers. The advent of Cream, Hendrix and the Marshall stack the next year changed the paradigm, but for a moment in time this was the most desired amp setup in the world! Today this complex and imposing amp setup has a niche connoisseur's appeal, forever inextricably linked to those four boys from Liverpool and with its own unique sound and style.
Height is 11 in. (27.9 cm.), 26 1/2 in. (67.3 cm.) width, and 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm.) deep.
Cosmetically, this Super Beatle is in very nice condition. It displays wear and tear typical of a gigging amp, "ragged, but right" as they say. The black Tolex covering shows moderate wear overall with a few tears around corners and edges; most notably at the top right corner of the cabinet back panel. The grille cloth on both head and cab is wonderfully intact and without any notable signs of tearing or fraying. The badges and gold piping is all original and intact as well.
The stamped metal control panel shows typical dents and dings from use but all switches and knobs are original and still functional. The feet on the head have been replaced but the vents are original and undamaged. The Super Beatle is situated in its original wheeled Vox metal rack, allowing for tilting of the speaker cabinet. The amp also retains its original four-button footswitch.
Electrically, apart from the addition of a 1/4" speaker output jack at some point in the past the amp is nicely original. The four 12" alnico Celestion G12 speakers are original to the amp and all bear the code 3350 706 B. The two original Goodmans Midax tweeter horns bear the serial numbers 28822 and 31396, respectively. All speakers are in fabulous shape and test and sound great.
The vintage American-made 2N3055 power transistors are all original to the amp. The tone pot on the "Brilliant" channel has been replaced, as well as the reverb tank (with a period Gibbs/Hammond tank of the same model). The original will be included with the amp as well. The reverb channel-assign knob is a bit worn and occasionally will exhibit some intermittent noise when turned, but remains perfectly functional, thus we have made the decision to leave this virtually irreplaceable rotary switch as-is. A custom-made female-to-female XLR speaker cable is also supplied.
The amp has otherwise received our typical maintenance and servicing, including replacement of all electrolytics, cleaning of sockets, pots and jacks, a grounded 3-prong power cord and all circuits inspected and functions tested. While these early Solid State units are outmoded technically and seen quirky today, when built this was a state-of-the-art amplifier rig, suitable for the most important stages in the world. Overall Very Good + Condition.
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The truly iconic Vox brand originally belonged to Jennings Musical Industries (JMI) in Dartford, Kent. Owner and founder Tom Jennings initially specialized in accordions and keyboards but brought in two young engineers, Dick Denney and Derek Underdown in the later 1950s. Denney's vision led to the creation of the first Vox branded guitar amplifier under the in 1958, the now-legendary AC-15. Jennings, Denney, and Underdown stayed on board when JMI was later sold to Royston Industries in 1964. Both Jennings and Denney would be gone by 1967 and Royston bankrupt by 1968, but early Vox amplifiers will forever be remembered for JMI's partnership with a promising young band of upstarts fresh out of Liverpool.
The vox brand is inextricably linked with The Beatles; in one of the first major equipment endorsement deals negotiated by manager Brian Epstein, JMI's Vox amplifiers were used exclusively by the band in public until Epstein's death in 1967. From the AC-15 and AC-30 through the AC-100 and the gargantuan 7120, Vox amplifiers were synonymous with the most famous band on earth.
The story of the Super Beatle began when JMI chief engineer Dick Denney travelled from Kent to California in October 1965 to facilitate the distribution agreement between JMI and Thomas Organ, who had bought the rights to build and sell Vox amplifiers in the United States. Thomas was a pioneer in solid-state circuitry and presented their innovations to Denney. Burned by the failure of solid state germanium output transistors in the earlier T60 bass amp, Denney was unwilling to commit to a full solid-state design but was intrigued by the wide range of features and effects that could be produced by Organ's solid state preamp designs.
Thomas Organ (by now operating largely independent of JMI) decided to move ahead regardless, and hired the solid state electronics engineer Sava Jacobsen to analyze "what made a Vox sound amp like a Vox amp" and then create solid state circuits that could recreate that tone. This resulted in the development of a modular three channel solid state preamp for their AC-30 clone, followed by modular solid state power amps which would be combined with the solid state preamp first in the 35W "Viscount" and then in the 120W "Super Beatle."
Introduced in 1966, the Thomas Organ-produced Super Beatle replaced JMI's AC-100 Super DeLuxe in the US and Canadian markets. The Super Beatle features a trapezoid head cabinet, three channels of 120 watt RMS solid state circuitry, thirteen control knobs and a plethora of foot switchable effects. The Super Beatle and AC-100 Super Deluxe speaker enclosures and trolleys were nearly identical in function and appearance. Both included four Celestion G12 Alnico speakers and two Goodmans Midax horns.
The amp head was rated at 120 watts RMS and 240 watts peak into the 2 ohm load of its accompanying V414 enclosure. This first generation V1141 model of the Super Beatle features three channels: "Normal" with tremolo and reverb, "Brilliant" also with reverb (selectable to either channel through a central knob) and Bass with MRB "Mid Resonant Boost". The "Normal" channel has a "Top Boost" rocker switch while the "Bass" channel featured a sweepable frequency tone control called "Tone-X." The plywood cabinet featured eight plastic "one-pin' corners, a Vox logo handle, six plastic air vents with Vox logos, a horizontal Vox name plate in the upper right corner of the grill and a "Solid State" badge in the lower right corner. A four button foot switch with a 1/4" TRS plug controls the reverb, tremolo, distortion, and MRB.
For The Beatles' 1966 world tour, Thomas Organ argued that while touring America they should be playing through Vox Amplifiers made on American soil. To that end, Thomas Organ provided over a dozen Super Beatles, which were also used by supporting acts the Remains and the Cyrcle. Reg Clark and the team at JMI insisted that the supporting acts would also be required to use Vox amplifiers, which created tension with the Remains who had just signed their own deal with Fender!
On the tour, The Beatles played through the Thomas amps with the heads facing backwards for easier access to the controls, the head-and-cabinet combos being so tall that reaching over them to the back-mounted controls proved difficult. The typical tour setup featured four amps in the backline, two stage right for Paul and George and another two stage left for John's guitar and Vox Continental organ. Unfortunately as with much relatively new and unproven technology, the Super Beatles proved to be less than entirely reliable on stage, it was not uncommon to see three or four backups present behind the band throughout the tour.
Still, this exposure made the Super Beatle a much desired piece of gear for thousands of up-and-coming bands, and for a while Thomas sold quite a few of these VERY expensive units to ambitious rockers. The advent of Cream, Hendrix and the Marshall stack the next year changed the paradigm, but for a moment in time this was the most desired amp setup in the world! Today this complex and imposing amp setup has a niche connoisseur's appeal, forever inextricably linked to those four boys from Liverpool and with its own unique sound and style.
Height is 11 in. (27.9 cm.), 26 1/2 in. (67.3 cm.) width, and 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm.) deep.
Cosmetically, this Super Beatle is in very nice condition. It displays wear and tear typical of a gigging amp, "ragged, but right" as they say. The black Tolex covering shows moderate wear overall with a few tears around corners and edges; most notably at the top right corner of the cabinet back panel. The grille cloth on both head and cab is wonderfully intact and without any notable signs of tearing or fraying. The badges and gold piping is all original and intact as well.
The stamped metal control panel shows typical dents and dings from use but all switches and knobs are original and still functional. The feet on the head have been replaced but the vents are original and undamaged. The Super Beatle is situated in its original wheeled Vox metal rack, allowing for tilting of the speaker cabinet. The amp also retains its original four-button footswitch.
Electrically, apart from the addition of a 1/4" speaker output jack at some point in the past the amp is nicely original. The four 12" alnico Celestion G12 speakers are original to the amp and all bear the code 3350 706 B. The two original Goodmans Midax tweeter horns bear the serial numbers 28822 and 31396, respectively. All speakers are in fabulous shape and test and sound great.
The vintage American-made 2N3055 power transistors are all original to the amp. The tone pot on the "Brilliant" channel has been replaced, as well as the reverb tank (with a period Gibbs/Hammond tank of the same model). The original will be included with the amp as well. The reverb channel-assign knob is a bit worn and occasionally will exhibit some intermittent noise when turned, but remains perfectly functional, thus we have made the decision to leave this virtually irreplaceable rotary switch as-is. A custom-made female-to-female XLR speaker cable is also supplied.
The amp has otherwise received our typical maintenance and servicing, including replacement of all electrolytics, cleaning of sockets, pots and jacks, a grounded 3-prong power cord and all circuits inspected and functions tested. While these early Solid State units are outmoded technically and seen quirky today, when built this was a state-of-the-art amplifier rig, suitable for the most important stages in the world. Overall Very Good + Condition.
