Amps & Effects
Vox Amps
Vox amplifiers are the reason this site exists in a small but real way. The AC30 — introduced in 1959 to give Hank Marvin more volume than the AC15 could manage — became the defining sound of British guitar in the 1960s, and the guitarists who played through AC30s were often playing Rickenbackers. The two brands are historically inseparable in that moment.
Tom Jennings founded Jennings Musical Industries in 1951; the Vox name appeared on amplifiers from around 1958. The AC15 and AC30 are the instruments the company's reputation rests on — the Top Boost circuit added to the AC30 in 1961 gave it the chiming, harmonically dense treble response that George Harrison, John Lennon, Brian May, and Tom Petty all leaned into. The diamond grille cloth and the cream-and-black livery became as recognizable as the sound.
Amps & Effects