anyone know anything about VOX bass amps?

conoro2 · #1 05-25-2008, 09:10 AM

i've seen a VOX amp head in Dublin city centre and i'm fairly sure it's a bass model. i can't find any info on it on the web, but i think it'd be a good alternative to the Marshall i had my eye on, mainly cos it's less rock and roll and the tone sounds great on VOXes i have heard. anyone have any advice or experience with these amps or know do they have more than one input, i need one for my bass and one to plug in a laptop for mixing up the bass. i wanna get a decent sized amp, to replace the rubbish 15w hunk of junk i have at the mo.

Bassmec · #2 05-25-2008, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by conoro2

i've seen a VOX amp head in Dublin city centre and i'm fairly sure it's a bass model. i can't find any info on it on the web, but i think it'd be a good alternative to the Marshall i had my eye on, mainly cos it's less rock and roll and the tone sounds great on VOXes i have heard. anyone have any advice or experience with these amps or know do they have more than one input, i need one for my bass and one to plug in a laptop for mixing up the bass. i wanna get a decent sized amp, to replace the rubbish 15w hunk of junk i have at the mo.

VOX amps are very variable in quality dependent on the exact model
they go from great in the late sixties to absolute trash by 1988.

Bassamatic · #3 05-25-2008, 09:53 AM

I believe that they also used some very hard-to-find transistors in the outputs, so they may be hard to repair. However, some models had very good tone.

conoro2 · #4 05-25-2008, 10:22 AM

thanks, hopefully i'll be in town soon and i'll check out the model. good to know they're not all rubbish anyway. cheers

johnk_10 · #5 05-25-2008, 01:58 PM

when most people mention vox bass amps, they are usually referring to the Essex (2x12 combo) or the Westminster. the Essex doesn't have much power and the Westminster came in two power levels. the early ones were 60 watt heads and the later ones used the super beatle 120 watt (@2 ohms) power section. they sound good but are not all that powerful. i have had three of them in the last three years and all of them were very reliable (although i might have been lucky as i have heard that some people have lots of problems with their's)

i think that the best vox head was the V125B. it was a 125 watt tube head with 5 band EQ. i used to run mine with 6CA7's to give it a little more fullness. the 125 watts compared to 150 watt amps (even though it has a relatively small output transformer), and compares, in volume, to a 300-400 watt solid state amp.
2 cents.............

rushpowertrio · #6 03-21-2011, 12:45 PM

I recently acquired a Vintage VOX V125 Bass Amp (Head and Cabinet) for a guitar trade. It is in near mint condition with all original electronics and tubes but the original black diamond grill cloth has been replaced with a vintage brown looking grill cloth. Looks and sounds fantastic. Can anybody tell me what this vintage amplifier is worth in today's market?

BigOldHarry · #7 03-21-2011, 12:50 PM

Vox amps for bass were never *great* - they are like many builders from the 60s who made bass amps - more like guitar amps with bigger speakers. I've played through several over the year and while I will agree they "look cool", they sound like crap.

But I'm sure that because they are old, they will be deemed great.

johnk_10 · #8 03-21-2011, 02:23 PM

actually i think that the V125B is a great sounding bass amp. it was built in the late 70's when VOX (JMI) was going after the Marshall Super Bass (JMP/JCM) market.
i prefer to use them with more than the stock 1x15cab, but IMO, even that cab sounds really good.

isold my V125 head for $1K about 4 years ago, since i just wanted a little more headroom.

AwkwardLoudness · #9 03-21-2011, 03:55 PM

Vox made great guitar amps in the early days, but it was all downhill after Jennings sold the brand in 1964. Hence, there's a steep price curve on the pre-1964 Vox amps.

Some of the Vox Super Beatle amps, the ones made in England (not so much the Thomas Organ one made in the USA), were decent solid state bass amps. The V125B made in the late 70s to early/mid 80s is decent too.

If you want Vox-y tone in a vintage tube amp with decent power, then find a vintage Selmer Treble N Bass 100w version. Use a cab with JBL K140, Goodman, or EV 15" speaker(s) to get that vintage tone.

Thornton Davis · #10 03-21-2011, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnk_10

actually i think that the V125B is a great sounding bass amp. it was built in the late 70's when VOX (JMI) was going after the Marshall Super Bass (JMP/JCM) market.
i prefer to use them with more than the stock 1x15cab, but IMO, even that cab sounds really good.

isold my V125 head for $1K about 4 years ago, since i just wanted a little more headroom.

Actually johnk_10 the V125 and V125B were designed and made during the Rose-Morris ownership of Vox, it wasn't a JMI product.

TD

KramerBassFan · #11 03-21-2011, 06:38 PM

+1

Not a JMI product...

And Awkward, Jennings didn't sell VOX in 1964, he just more or less allowed Thomas Organ in Sepulveda CA to put the VOX name on pretty much whatever they wanted too. All was fine and good, Thomas Organ got to sell "VOX amps" in the USA, and JMI got to sell Thomas Organs in the UK... that lasted for about 15 minutes. And then the whole Jimi Hendrix/Marshall craze came about, which certainly helped to put a nail in the VOX as a big contender.

For awhile actually, VOX had a half decent bass set up - a Foundation 18 inch cab or two with a AC100.

johnk_10 · #12 03-21-2011, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thornton Davis

Actually johnk_10 the V125 and V125B were designed and made during the Rose-Morris ownership of Vox, it wasn't a JMI product.

TD

oops. yeah, you're right. the one that i had only said 'made in england' on it. it was a great amp though. mine was the "lead' V125L version, but it was almost the same amp as the V125B version. i really liked it.

RobJ · #13 03-21-2011, 07:51 PM

I had an Essex back in the early '70s for a short time. It looked cool but wasn't what I'd call great sounding, actually calling it decent sounding might be a stretch. I paid next to nothing for it and feel I got my money's worth.

davidgoldman · #14 03-21-2011, 07:56 PM

I had a Vox Essex Combo in the mid 60s. I blew the speakers twice the first month I had it. It was fine in small places but terrible in large venues. I got a refund and got a Sunn.

sub006 · #15 09-21-2012, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KramerBassFan

+1

Not a JMI product...

And Awkward, Jennings didn't sell VOX in 1964, he just more or less allowed Thomas Organ in Sepulveda CA to put the VOX name on pretty much whatever they wanted too. All was fine and good, Thomas Organ got to sell "VOX amps" in the USA, and JMI got to sell Thomas Organs in the UK... that lasted for about 15 minutes. And then the whole Jimi Hendrix/Marshall craze came about, which certainly helped to put a nail in the VOX as a big contender.

For awhile actually, VOX had a half decent bass set up - a Foundation 18 inch cab or two with a AC100.

Actually, Tom Jennings did sell a controlling interest in Vox to the Royston Industries conglomerate of Britain around the same time. Vox became one of almost 20 divisions. Jennings resigned in 1967 and started a new amplifier company with Dick Denny and a few of the old Vox inner circle.

Royston went belly-up a couple of years later and Vox passed through about eight different owners in 15 years. Korg bought them in 1992 and has owned, nurtured and grown the brand ever since, but no significant bass amps yet!

Read all about it in "The Vox Story" book co-authored by AC15 and AC30 designer Dick Denny, who was also a good enough jazz guitarist that he also served as a demonstrator.

plexibass · #16 02-28-2013, 02:20 PM

Here is the best info on both versions of the v125. I just bought the bass version.

http://www.voxshowroom.com/uk/amp/v125.html

I really want the cab now.

**Giorgetto** · #17 02-28-2013, 02:33 PM

I'm sure the earlier Vox amps were better than mine but I had a new Thomas Organ era Vox Super Beatle around 1966. It was a beautiful amp but was the most unreliable amp I've ever owned. It stopped working at least 3 times in the first month that I owned it so I had to sell it for a loss. Soundwise it was just ok but really didn't have enough low end to speak of, mostly just honky sounding mids and highs.

I did get a chance to play through a Westminster however and it was not very powerful but actually had better lows than the Super Beatle.

Just my 2 cents.

BassmanPaul · #18 02-28-2013, 03:26 PM

Being one of them old buggers that grew up in the UK, I still get a lift when I see them on a stage. The "Top Boost" AC30 is one of the best guitar amps ever made. I used a loaned AC30B at a gig at the Silver Blades ice skating rink in Liverpool. I was amazed just how well it handled everything I threw at it.

In my view JMI manufactured VOX amp were good. US made were lousy and the RM ones I have no knowledge of.

Vince Klortho · #19 02-28-2013, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plexibass

Here is the best info on both versions of the v125. I just bought the bass version.

http://www.voxshowroom.com/uk/amp/v125.html

I really want the cab now.

Guitar Center has a few used ones for sale. I guess that's only useful if you are in the USA though.

Jazzdogg · #20 02-28-2013, 10:37 PM

I had a Vox combo amp in high school (1960s). I don't remember the model number, but I remember it sat in a chromed cart with casters, and it was challenging to wrestle the amp and cart in and out of a tiny '67 Fiat fastback!

I just found an image on Google that looks very similar:

http://archives.rickresource.com/old...ents/43786.jpg