Hatin' on Keys

[mate stubb]

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[MikeT156]

Quote by ITGITC:

 

"Mike:

 

I've often wondered about that - the Vox amplifiers.

 

Some are good and some are not so good, huh?

 

From your post, I take it that the UK version was good (or else the Beatles wouldn't have used them, right?)"

 

Vox was hit or miss from what I recall about their equipment. Back in the sixties, I knew a band that had two English built Super Beatle amps. They had nice tone and were plenty loud enough, but when Vox licensed Thomas Organ to build Vox amps in the USA they came out with the Super Beatle amp pictured in this thread (Triangular amp head on the chrome stand)that band wanted the new amps because of all the effects that were added on the new models. Same speaker arrangement, 4 12" speakers and Midax horns in the cabinet.When the Beatles came to America to do concerts, Thomas Organ would provide the American made amps for them to use on tour. When they went home, they stuck with their English made Vox equipment. As I mentioned previously, our lead player had that Thomas Organ Vox SB amp for years and we never had any problem with it. Great tone, nice effects. Pretty too.

 

Thomas Organ also mfg Vox Organs. It sounded OK for the time period, but it couldn't handle PA winters. After taking it out of a cold truck, the Continental's keys would stick DOWN. Not much use for it. I sold it after using it less than a year.

I told the buyer about the keys sticking down in cold weather but he didn't care. He wanted it.

 

As far as later Vox amps, since Korg took over the product line, I think they made a lot of improvements to the Vox line. Ever listen to Brian May? Great tone. The AC30 tube amp is kind of a rock legend.

 

I used a Fender Bassman amp with my RMI piano and it was a pretty good match, it was the action on the RMI I hated. It was a pretty solid instrument, but, no dynamics. We have it SO good these days.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Mike T.

[burningbusch]

YVox amplifiers are a good example. I never heard one that sounded good.

 

If you live long enough you'll hear just about anything. So RMIdude doesn't like Vox amps. I'd like to understand how Ved Mehta's legendary "wall of sound" would have been possible without their five Super Beatles.

 

http://www.purgatorycreek.com/img/VedMehta.gif

 

In the parlance of the day, Bite Me RMIdude.

 

Busch.

[MikeT156]

Quote by Burningbusch:

 

"If you live long enough you'll hear just about anything. So RMIdude doesn't like Vox amps. I'd like to understand how Ved Mehta's legendary "wall of sound" would have been possible without their five Super Beatles."

 

Different people like different tone in guitar amps. Tom just never heard a Vox amp that sounded any good. I never cared for the "Beach Boys" tone of Fender guitar amps, but I had a Fender Bassman amp for my pianos for a long time. It handled that well for the time period I had it. Back to Vox, the local music store that handled Vox had a fair amount of problems with Vox amps compared to Fender. Some models were worse than others, from what they told me. And then...came Marshall.

 

Mike T.

[ITGITC]

In the parlance of the day, Bite Me RMIdude.

 

Busch.

 

I'm sure you meant to add a smiley face there, Busch.

 

The point is, and I will readily admit it, I didn't hear all the VOX amps. In fact, I DID admit it.

 

Mike said that some were made in the USA and some were made in the UK.

 

Were there VOX amps that I haven't heard? Could they possibly have sounded good?

 

Well, yeah.

 

So, hey. I've learned something. I'll give it another listen, perhaps... one day.

 

Maybe.

 

So, ummmmm, bite me back - buschdude.

 

[burningbusch]

I never use those emoticons.

 

Maybe I should

 

But it seems too much work , especially when I know that you all know exactly what I mean

 

Yeah, smiley face thing. Yeah, that's what I meant to put there.

 

Busch.

[ITGITC]

Yeah, smiley face thing. Yeah, that's what I meant to put there.

 

Busch.

 

 

Hey. I'm misconstrued all the damn time.

 

I guess that's why I use everything I can get my hands on so that you can understand what I'm saying through this Southern accent.

 

 

[MidLifeCrisis]

I never played in a band that used a Vox amp so I can't render an opinion other than I loved the way the Super Beatle looked and I lusted after one.

 

One brand I never cared for was Acoustic. There were big (in both the popular and size categories) for a while. Their claim to fame was a clean sound produced by those ungodly horns. One guitar player I played with traded his Ampeg for an Acoustic. We almost killed him. The sound was attrocious.

 

For guitar I love the sound of an old Fender, especially a Twin.

 

The best sounding amp I had back in the day as was an Ampeg VT-22 that I piggybacked on top of an Ampeg B4 bass cabinet. Two 12s, two 15s and tons of raw tube power. I still long for the sound of my Rhodes played through that rig.

 

[ProfD]

I never use those emoticons.

 

Maybe I should

 

But it seems too much work , especially when I know that you all know exactly what I mean

 

Yeah, smiley face thing. Yeah, that's what I meant to put there.

 

Busch.

Hmmm, I don't know. The emoticons make you look different.

[Bosendorphen]

So...it was solidly built. So was the Edsel. In it's defense I will say that RMI's only all electronic competition was the Univox electronic piano and it not only sounded terrible but was built badly as well.

 

Not mine. My band mates dropped it about 6 feet from a truck onto hard concrete during a load in and didn't tell me. I never noticed a scratch and it worked perfectly for years afterwards. I WAS pissed when they finally told me a year later!

 

It had a whiney piano sound which was improved through an MXR chorus box. But its harpsichord was decent for the time.

[retrokeys]

Wow. I'm glad somebody's worked. Maybe it was a later edition. Mine was serial number 0059. The major weak point was the key contact system whch was a length of spring stretched under the key which when pressed made contact with a u-shaped length of wire. Really primitive when you think of it. The springs constantly broke and I'm a B3 guy, so I wasn't hitting them hard. You're right, the harpsichord was passable but even with wah wah, never could give up the funk.