Combo Organ Heaven: Vox

Probably most well-known for the amps made famous by the Beatles and other British Invasion bands, the Vox name is also synonymous with the most well-known of Combo Organs - the Continental. But they made several other models as well, many not nearly as common. To learn more, click on one of the links in the table below :

History	Some history of the Vox organs (as well as I've been able to assemble it)
Single Continentals	The single-manual Continental, in all of it's (surprisingly many) variations
Dual Continentals	Dual keyboard models: Continental II, Super Continental, Continental 300, Baroque and Futura
Jaguar	The venerable Jaguar, and it's close cousin, the Corinthian
Riviera	A little-known late-60's product of Vox Sound, Ltd.
Jennings	Later incarnations in the Vox tradition, as produced by Tom Jennings
Others	Some fairly strange stuff here.
Resources	Additional Vox resources, for further reading
Credits	List of those who helped out so much with all this
Information, Please	Vox owners - I need your help!

Like most Combo Organ brands, complete, consistent information on the history of Vox organs is often hard to come by. I've done a fair bit of research, and what follows is, I believe, a pretty accurate representation. It's an assemblage of all the history I've been able to gather from various sources, and is my attempt to present it in a complete, concise form. There are probably still errors and omissions, so please contact me (by clicking on the link above) with any corrections/additions you may have.

Vox began life as "The Jennings Organ Company", producing home and church organs. So despite their huge notoriety as a major amp manufacturer, their roots were actually in organs. They were incorporated as "Jennings Musical Industries", or JMI in 1957. The "Vox" name was being used on amps at least as early as 1958.

Dave Linsell kindly provided the scan at left, of a 1959 Jennings Organ ad in the British publication, "Musical Opinion".

Probably Jennings' first "portable" keyboard instrument was the Univox (the model J10 is shown here). Usually assumed to be the instrument used on The Tornados' "Telstar" (although it may actually have been a Clavioline, but that's another story), it was born in the very early 1950's. It's been called the predecessor to the Continental, but the two really have little in common other than their origin.

Contrary to popular belief, the Univox is NOT a Clavioline. I'll let Derek Underdown tell it in his own words:

"The Clavioline keyboard was on the UK market before the Univox.. Clavioline originated in France and was imported for the British market by the UK/French company "Selmer" (based in Charing Cross road, London). Their main product were woodwind & brass instrument sales. They were not really into electronic products though the Clavioline was a good product. It was also expensive.

Tom Jennings saw the market potential and already had a good slice of the keyboard sales for accordions etc. Tom found a local electronic engineer, Les. Hills, who studied the Clavioline and designed another circuit different to the existing French patent. Unfortunately the product was not at all reliable, with most units breaking down almost as soon as they got to the end customer. Some of this problem was due to instability in the earlier circuit design but mostly due to choice of suitable components and mechanical shortcomings.

Les had only been employed for the circuit design. The mechanics having been cobbled together by the accordion service men at the time. I was head hunted by Tom to sort out the reliability problems. This took a few months of circuit, component testing plus improvements to the mechanics. This was in 1951 period.

In about 1951/1952 the Univox took off in a big way due to its competitive price and Tom's country wide marketing program. The first version was the J6, single keyboard model, later followed by the J10 with two rows of Tone & effect tabs. All models were supplied with metal screw-on clips, to fasten it under the right hand side of a piano. Later we designed an adjustable chromed stand that enabled the user to do gigs in other locations with out having to screw on fixing brackets each time. Most customers in those days were either Pub owners or pianists playing Pub gigs.

So, No the Clavioline was not the same as the Univox, only catered for the same market."

The Continental was introduced in 1962. It's unusual and futuristic shape was the invention of a design company (identity unknown) hired by JMI. Derek Underdown and Les Hills were the behind the technical design. The Continental underwent several design changes over the years. JMI produced Continentals for about 3-4 years, after which production was taken over by Thomas Organ and EME. For more details (and there's a LOT of 'em), click on the "Single Continentals" link above.

From "The Vox Story": "A major part of the Jennings Musical Industries business at the time was still electronic organs. Earlier in 1962 the Continental I organ was launched but because of the strong Vox name it was marketed as the Vox Continental I organ."

The Tornados were then seen playing the Continental, even though it wasn't used on the recording of "Telstar"

Interesting quote from Dave Linsell about Les Hills: "Les Hill's produced some really odd things, including a mechanical/electronic 'Leslie' simulator comprising a rotating magnet which actuated a ring of reed switches through which the organs signal was passed. The switches had a successive combination of right/left phased circuits, causing the sound to shift around the room when linked to a stereo amplifier system. It sounded good at the time!!"

JMI, Thomas and EKO formed a joint venture and spawned a company named EME (Elettronica Musicale Europea, or "European Musical Electronic"). Here is Derek Underdown's account of the beginnings of this relationship:

"The consortium was first instigated in 1957 when Joe Benaren (Thomas), Ennio Uncini (EKO), together with Tom Jennings, Dick Denney and myself had a special meeting in Porto Fino, Italy, to discuss both the commercial and technical details of setting up the operation. This led to the following---

a.   Thomas sent an engineer to stay at and liase with the now formed EME joint factory and I spent several weeks, on and off, liasing with the engineers and purchasing guys at EME to bring them up to speed.
b.   Thomas sent their engineer, Stan Cuttler, to our UK factory, to get aquainted with our methods of production etc.
c.    Tom Jennings, Reg Clark (sales mgr.) and Dick went to Thomas factory for a joint promotions/show occasion and to see their contribution. Date I think was about 1957/8 by then."

I was quite surprised to hear that the EME venture had begun early. I inquired further, and Derek added this:

"Most of the initial talks between these companies began early November 1957 in Portofino, Italy. There was obviously some time lapse between this date and the finalisation of legal matters and setting up the factories/ marketing/ production/ dealerships/ actual sales to customers. I was not involved after the November talks except to assist with setting up the EME plant/ parts/ quality control systems etc. Earl Wolfe (Thomas organs) took over then and resided in Italy. This could have taken the timing just into the 1960's but not certain."

I think the date was probably early 1960's, or at least some significant time passed between certain events. EKO didn't even exist as a company until 1959. Also, I understand that Dick and Reg didn't actually go to America till 1964 or '65. The first orders Thomas placed with JMI were in 1964, and Reg wasn't made Sales Manager until around 1962. According to EKO Directing Manager, Stelvio Lorenzetti, the year was '62 or '63

Here's an interesting photo - Tom Jennings (on the left) with EKO president, Oliviero Pigini. The date is unknown, but was probably around 1960-62. Click the picture to see an enlarged version. Here's the translation of the caption to English:

"A friendly handshake between Oliviero Pigini and Tom Jennings, founder and president of VOX, at the beginning of of EME. "

(Thanks to Emanuele for helping with the translation)

EME had a huge manufacturing plant where Vox (and EKO) organs were made. At the time, EME was the largest organ production company in Italy (Eko was also distributing Vox and Marshall through a company called COMUSIK). In addition to Continentals and Super Continentals, EME made the Continental Baroque, one version of the Jaguar, the Continental 300 and the Corinthian. EME production of Vox instruments began in 1965 and continued through 1978.

From Micke Lindgren: "Oliviero Pigini was the president of both EKO and EME until 1967 when he died in a car accident. After that Ennio Uncini was to head EME until around 1969/1970 when he resigned and founded his own company JEN in Pesacara. Ennio had been with EKO since the start in 1959."

Demand for the Jaguar exceeded EME's production capacity, so another company, GEM (Generale Elettro Musica), produced one version of that organ (the first version: V304 model), and also the little-known Vox Junior. I believe GEM's production may actually have preceded EME's. According to Tersino IIari, JMI was collaborating with GEM even before EME got started, and that they wanted to have at least one model produced by GEM. He thinks this may well have been the V304 Jaguar (the early model). GEM also manufactured the Howard, and the Jaguar is indeed very "Howard-like" internally (see the Jaguar page for details)

Contrary to other reports, I can find no evidence that JEN ever produced any Vox organs. As noted above, JEN didn't even exist as a company until 1969/1970. They did, however, produce the Vox Piano, and the "String Thing", both were re-badged versions of JEN production products.

In 1964, with the EME venture underway (or nearly so), Tom Jennings signed a contract with Thomas Organ to distribute Vox amps and organs in the US. They began by importing and selling UK-built equipment. Thomas knew that demand for the equipment in the US would far exceed JMI's production capacity, so they also began manufacturing their own Continentals in Sepulveda, California for a short time in early 1966. These were the "V301H" models, with wooden keys, White/Red drawbar tips, and incompatible oscillator board design (most Italian and later UK Continental oscillator boards are interchangeable). Production of the V301H models was primarily overseen by Frank Galanti (possibly related to the Galanti family of GEM fame). Shortly thereafter, (once EME was in full production, I presume) Thomas discontinued the V301H and began marketing Italian-built Continentals exclusively.

JMI went through a lot of financial problems in the mid 60's. According to "The Vox Story", the Royston Group acquired ownership of JMI in 1964, the name was changed to "Vox Sound, Ltd.", new production facilities were provided at Vox Works, West Street, Erith, and production of organs was moved there by 1965. Later in the book however, they say the name change happened in 1969.

1969 - Royston Industries go into liquidation and are put into the hand of the receiver. After nine mouths of uncertainty the Corinthian Bank becomes the new owner of Vox. The name changes to Vox Sound Ltd...With the Royston Groups take over of Vox and the Thomas Organ Company�s control of Vox�s U.S. operation, Tom Jennings resigns.
1970 - Vox Sound Ltd is sold to a consortium comprising of John Birch and George Stowe of Stolec Electronics and the Schroder Bank. Manufacturing was moved to Hastings where a few organs and the AC30 were made....
1972 - CBS Arbiter, the UK Fender importer make an offer to buy Vox Sound Ltd. Accepted by George Stowe, Vox has a new owner for the forth time. Production moved to the Dallas Arbiter factory in Shoeburyness...
Arbiter reintroduces the Vox organs with the re-issue of the Continental I and Continental 300.

Much of this is probably correct, but I do want to correct one point, based on discussions with Derek Underdown and Dave Linsell: Tom Jennings did not resign. He and Derek were both laid off (i.e., "fired") within a week of each other, after the buyout. This happened around 1967.

Dave Linsell offered this recollection of the dealings: "Not much was recorded about this, but during 1970 Vox Sound Ltd. came under the ownership of Michael Birch, CEO of the Birch Stowlec group, which had part ownership of Stow Electronics. The operation in Erith was closed, and a new facility was set-up in Hastings, East Sussex . This lasted until the eventual sale to CBS-Arbiter two years later."

Tom Jennings may have been out of the Vox picture, but he certainly wasn't out of the organ business. Here's what Dave Linsell has to say about the new venture:

"Around 1968 the Jennings name again emerged under the banner Jennings Electronic Industries (JEI), located at the same site in Dartford. They went on to produce a range of amplifiers and organs such as the J-series, ... Similarities to the Continentals were more than a co-incidence, incidentally."

And finally, Here's an odd tidbit I ran across (from a VERY reliable source!): JMI distributed Farfisa organs in the UK - Whoa! Let's not even get into that!

Identifying the manufacturer and country of origin of Vox organs has always been problematic, especially when it comes to the various Italian models. According to Derek (and this is a second-hand "quote"), once JMI were taken over, the new company continued to put Jennings badges on their organs as well as Vox Sound badges [or Thomas Organ badges, I presume], it didn't matter to them, as they owned JMI. In fact, Derek is confident that the Italian factory would have been supplied with a quantity of JMI badges which would have been slapped onto Jaguars and Italian made Continentals in Italy! This would explain the existence of "imposter "organs - those with name badges indicating JMI/UK origin, but clearly constructed in Italy.

"The badging of organs is something that was a little inconsistent. Again, in later years (from Vox Sound days, rather than the earlier JMI period) UK badges were only put on UK-manufactured instruments. They were made in Erith , Kent, not Dartford . Thus you can deduce that any Vox Sound labeled instrument is a true UK model, but the Jennings badge may appear on Italian-made models"

"I'm going to be a bit controversial here, but I wouldn't be surprised if EME continued to manufacture under an earlier JMI agreement (i.e. with a Vox name badge) even past the point at which JMI had folded???? This would account for the apparent parallel production/badging that has caused so much confusion."

Much more information on identification is available on the different model pages.

Emanuele Placidi' Continental page It's in Italian, but you can use Freetranslation.com or AltaVista's Babelfish to translate it (Babelfish seems to handle this site better than Freetranslation). He has some information on repairs and restoration (but it suffers a lot with a web translator, so find a friend who speaks Italian).

Dave's Continental Site Click on "Vox". Lots of good information there, including close-ups and detailed specs on the drawbar tips (or "dollies"), tips on oscillator repair, and a set of samples for your sampler.

"The Vox Story": A book by David Peterson and Dick Denny. History and info on Vox Guitars, amps and organs. It's real heavy on the amp side of things, but there's some good organ stuff in there too, and plenty of history - fascinating reading for gearheads. Available at JK Lutherie (click on "Guitar Books", "Other Brands", then "Vox") or direct from the publisher, The Bold Strummer

Vintage Paper reproduces old catalogs and literature from a handful of guitar manufacturers. They sell several Vox items, as well, that include the organs. Best one is the 1968 catalog reprint. 32 pages, including full pages for Continental, Jaguar, Super Continental and Baroque for only $10 - such a deal!

JK Lutherie Sells numerous books about guitars and guitar history. They carry "Beatles Gear", "The Vox Story", and a few Vox catalog and price list reprints.

If you own a Vox (or Jennings) organ of any kind, I'd be very interested in hearing from you. As you can see, I've assembled quite a bit so far, but there are still a lot of gaps, and I'd love to fill in as many as possible. Please contact me (click on the Contact link above), and let me know what you have. Feel free to send along pictures, serial numbers, dates, models, anything you think would be useful in adding to the information bank. If I use any of it here, I'll be happy to credit you for the submission.

A big "thank you" goes out to the following folks for their help in this endeavor:

Derek Underdown (Tech Director/Chief Engineer at JMI/Vox from around 1951 until 1967)
Dave Linsell (Electronics design engineer at Vox Sound, Ltd. from 1969-1971)
Stelvio Lorenzetti (EKO general director)
Tiziana Costantinidis (secretary and translator, EKO)
Terzino Ilari (former technician and rep. at EME)
Gianni Giudici (GEM representative)
Henry Badowski (Vintage equipment enthusiast, and quite knowledgeable about many aspects of Vox and other British gear)
Micke Lindgren (The "Swedish combo organ nut". Bulldog-extraordinaire at prying information out of the Italians)
Greg Fritz, for much info on the V301H models
Andy Babiuk, author of "Beatles Gear"

Others, in no particular order: Jim Elyea, Barry Carson, Dave Barraclough, Ihor Boyko, Mark Jamieson, Sandy Alexander, Ralph Sherman, David Egrefin, Derek Evans, Emanuele Placidi, Kirk Slinkard, Antonio Teixeira, Francisco Rodriguez(no relation to the organist for "? and the Mysterians"), Daniel Means, Christian Zeidler, and probably a bunch more I've forgotten.