this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message vox vox logo showing product categories type private industry musical instruments founded 1947 founder thomas walter jennings headquarters dartford kent england area served global products electric guitars bass guitars amplifiers electronic organs electric ukuleles electric mandolins parent korg website vox website vox is a musical equipment manufacturer which is most famous for making the vox ac30 guitar amplifier the vox continental electric organ and a series of innovative but commercially unsuccessful electric guitars and bass guitars . citation needed founded in dartford kent england vox has been owned by the japanese electronics firm korg since 1992 . contents 1 history 1.1 beginnings 1.2 the ac30 1.3 other amplifiers 1.4 instruments 1.4.1 guitars 1.4.2 bass guitars 1.4.3 organs 1.4.4 guitarorgan 1.5 decline 2 current products 2.1 renewal 2.2 night train 2.3 valvetronix 2.4 valvetronix xl series 2.5 cooltron 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit beginnings edit the jennings organ company was founded by thomas walter jennings in dartford kent england after world war ii . jennings s first successful product was the univox an early self powered electronic keyboard similar to the clavioline . in 1956 jennings was shown a prototype guitar amplifier made by dick denney a big band guitarist and workmate from world war ii . the company was renamed jennings musical industries or jmi and in 1958 the 15 watt vox ac15 amplifier was launched . it was popularised by the shadows and other british rock n roll musicians and became a commercial success . the ac30 edit main article vox ac30 the vox ac30 amplifier in 1959 with sales under pressure from the more powerful fender twin and from the shadows who requested amplifiers with more power vox produced what was essentially a double powered ac15 and named it the ac30 . the ac30 fitted with alnico magnet equipped celestion blue loudspeakers and later vox s special top boost circuitry and like the ac15 using valves known in the us as tubes helped to produce the sound of the british invasion being used by the beatles the rolling stones the kinks and the yardbirds among others . ac30s were later used by brian may of queen who is known for having a wall of ac30s on stage paul weller of the jam who also assembled a wall of ac30s rory gallagher the edge of u2 and radiohead guitarists thom yorke jonny greenwood and ed o brien . the vox ac30 has been used by many other artists including mark knopfler hank marvin who was instrumental in getting the ac30 made pete townshend ritchie blackmore john scofield snowy white will sergeant tom petty the echoes mike campbell peter buck justin hayward mike nesmith peter tork noel gallagher matthew bellamy omar rodriguez lopez dustin kensrue and many others . other amplifiers edit ac30 top boost once the beatles became tied to vox amplifiers a deal was struck early in their recording career whereby they would be provided vox equipment for exclusive stage use the quest for more power began . john lennon s first vox was a fawn coloured twin speaker ac15 while george harrison s was a fawn ac30 with a top boost unit installed in the rear panel . they were later provided with twin black covered ac30s with the rear panel top boost units . paul mccartney was provided with one of the first transistorized amplifiers the infamous t60 which featured an unusual separate cabinet outfitted with a 12 and a 15 speaker . the t60 head had a tendency to overheat and mccartney s was no exception so he was then provided with an ac30 head which powered the t60 s separate speaker cabinet . as the crowds at beatles shows got louder they needed louder amps . jennings provided lennon and harrison with the first ac50 piggyback units and mccartney s ac30 t60 rig was replaced with an ac100 head and an ac100 2 15 cabinet . lennon and harrison eventually got their own ac100 rigs with 4 12 2 horn configurations . in 1966 and 1967 the beatles had several prototype or specially built vox amplifiers including hybrid tube solid state units from the short lived 4 and 7 series . harrison in particular became fond of the 730 amp and 2 12 cabinet using them to create many the guitar sounds found on revolver and sgt. pepper s lonely hearts club band . lennon favoured the larger 7120 amplifier while harrison preferred the 730 and mccartney had its sister 430 bass amplifier . vox super beatle exhibited at museum of making music in the early 1960s the brothers grim became the first american group use vox amplifiers . joe benaron ceo of warwick electronics inc. thomas organ company the united states distributor of vox along with bernard stockly london importer of challenge pianos to the united states arranged for the boys to have full use of the tall super ac 100 vox amps 4 12 speakers . the solid state version of this amp known in the usa as the super beatle was produced to cash in on the beatles vox affiliation but was not nearly as successful as the valve ac30 and ac15 models . a modern popular rock artist known for use of the super beatle is tom petty and the heartbreakers although in the april 2008 issue of premier guitar lead guitarist mike campbell revealed that the super beatle backline was on their thirtieth anniversary tour at least primarily used only as a stage prop though petty used his on a couple of songs . in the group s early days the vox equipment was chosen because it was relatively inexpensive in 1976 yet had a handsome appearance . a photograph included in the article showed campbell s guitar sound was coming from other amplifiers hidden behind the large super beatles which campbell stated were a tweed fender deluxe and a blackface fender princeton together behind the super beatle and an isolated vox ac30 that i have backstage in a box . the monkees concealed themselves in large empty vox cabinet and emerged from them as a grand entrance to the opening of the shows on the 1967 tour and they used real vox amps for the performances . instruments edit guitars edit vox phantom vi vox mark vi vox s first electric guitars the apache stroller and clubman were modelled after solid body bolt neck fenders which at the time were not available in the uk . a four string clubman bass followed shortly after . these first guitars were low priced had unusual tv connector input jacks and were produced by a cabinet maker in shoeburyness essex . vox president tom jennings commissioned the london design centre to create a unique new electric guitar and in 1962 vox introduced the pentagonal phantom originally made in england but soon after made by eko of italy . the first phantom guitars were given to the echoes to trail and were used by them until 1970 . they were used on many of the recordings by the echoes and records they did with other artist such as dusty springfield . aside from the unusual body and headstock shapes phantoms featured copies of the fender stratocaster neck and its attachment the strat s three single coil pick ups and standard vibrato bridge that in this case copied a bigsby unit . aside from being a bit awkward to hold for seated playing the phantom guitars now approached professional quality performance and price . phil fang volk of paul revere & the raiders played a phantom iv bass which for was eventually retrofitted with a fender neck . it was followed a year later by the teardrop shaped mark vi the prototype of which had only two pick ups rather than three and was made specifically for brian jones of the rolling stones again using a bigsby like hank marvin bridge . by the end of the decade stones bassist bill wyman was shown in vox advertisements playing a teardrop hollow bodied bass made for him by the company subsequently marketed as the wyman bass . many guitar gear authorities dispute that he ever actually used the instrument for recording or live performance . see also vox bass guitar . vox experimented with built in effects and electronics with guitars such as the cheetah ultrasonic and invader offering numerous built in effects . ian curtis of joy division is known to have owned two white vox phantom vi special effects guitars which had push button effects switches on the scratch plate . amongst many innovations were the guitar organ which featured miniaturised vox organ circuitry activated by the contact of strings with fret contacts producing organ tones in key with guitar chords . this instrument was heavy and cumbersome with its steel neck and external circuit boxes and rarely worked correctly but was a hallmark of the ingenuity of this company . vox guitars phantom xii is right white one in the mid 1960s as the sound of electric 12 string guitars became popular vox introduced the phantom xii which has been used by tony hicks of the hollies captain sensible of early english punk band the damned and greg kihn and mark xii electric 12 string guitars as well as the tempest xii also made in italy which featured a more conventional body style . the phantom xii and mark xii both featured a unique bigsby style 12 string vibrato tailpiece which made them along with semie moseley s ventures model 12 string mosrite the only 12 string electric guitars to feature such a vibrato . the stereo phantom xii had split pickups resembling the fender precision bass each half of which could be sent to a separate amplifier using an onboard mix control . vox produced a number of other models of 6 and 12 string electric guitars in both england and italy . vox wah wah pedal vox tone bender guitar pedals and other effects including an early version of the wah wah pedal used by jimi hendrix and the tone bender fuzzbox pedal used by jimmy page of the yardbirds were also manufactured . vox v 809 repeat percussion effect operated by pp3 9 volt battery direct plug in or by in line cable in 1967 vox introduced a series of guitars which featured built in effects such as distortion fuzz tone repeat percussion percussive tremolo treble bass booster and a wah wah operated by the heel of the picking hand pushing on a spring loaded lever over the bridge . the delta phantom style guitar and bass the starstream teardrop 6 string and constellation teardrop bass had such effects . vox also pioneered the first radio microphone system which freed singers from being connected by a microphone cable to their amplifier or pa . vox standard 24 vox virage dc vox had experimented with japanese manufacturers at the end of the sixties with the les paul style vg2 and in 1982 all guitar production was moved to japan where the standard & custom 24 & 25 guitars and basses were built by matsumoku the makers of aria guitars . these were generally regarded as the best quality guitars ever built under the vox name . however they were discontinued in 85 when production was moved to korea and they were replaced by the white shadow models although a number of white shadow m series guitars and basses are clearly marked as made in japan suggesting a phased production hand over . in 1998 vox amplification ltd korg reissued many of their classic phantom and teardrop guitars . in march 2008 vox unveiled the semi hollow vox virage dc double cutaway and sc single cutaway