Mark 1 AC100 SDL ("Super de Luxe") trolleys
Late 1964
Page updated 12th October 2022
A detail from a JMI promotional drawing produced in early September 1964 - a Mark 1 trolley and amp in a thick-edged box. Note the basket for the amp. The cab has corner protectors.
Four AC100 SDLs ("Super de Luxe") were produced in early August 1964: two for The Beatles, two retained by JMI for loan and promotional purposes. These last were shown at the Russell Hotel Trade Fair later in the month. See this page.
On 27th October 1964, that is to say not long before the production of the cab pictured on this page, the design was submitted to the old Patent Office in London:
Pictures taken for JMI at some point in October 1964. The cabinet is probably the one that Brian Jones had in Paris and Brussels, 20th and 21st October. The amp is of the new thick-edged type.
Thereafter only a handful of cabinets with basket-top trolleys were made - six more at the most. These were also resevered by JMI for loan and promotional purposes. No band other than The Beatles had its own AC100 SDLs until Spring 1965.
Surviving examples
At present, two early AC100 SDL cabs and trolleys are known to survive: one found in Denver by Mitch Colby, the other recently (September 2022) in North Virginia. Both are in excellent condition, lacking only their original casters.
The tubing is 3/4" in diameter. Standard (later) AC100 trolleys have 7/8". The basket top measures 17 3/4" x 10 5/8" (outer dimensions); the outer edges of the parallel side and top bars are 6 3/4" apart. Standard production trolleys are 9". The relative narrowness of the parallel side bars can be seen below. Thanks to John for the details.
Serial no. 225, found in Denver. For more on this promotional amp and cabinet, see this page. Note that the cab (and the amp) have no corner protectors.
Side view of the cab and trolley found in North Virginia. The parallel bars on later standard production AC100 trolleys are considerably wider apart.
Further pictures of the speaker cabinet and trolley illustrated above can be found on this page.
Photos of bands with Mark 1 trolleys
The Beatles
Below, a small selection of shots, most well known, to illustrate various aspects of the cabinets and trolleys. A page on the trolleys for 2x15" cabinets devised by JMI in mid 1964 will be available soon.
Paramount Theatre, 20th September 1964. The trolleys have had their casters removed. Note the relative thinness of the uprights, narrower than the double lines of string round the cabs.
Lennon mucking about on the set of one of the Christmas Shows, 1964; in the studio.
The Beatles at City Park, New Orleans, 16th September, 1964. Note the corner protectors on both cabs.
JMI Loans
A small selection of pictures of bands with AC100 SDL loan units. For a more extensive overview, see this page.
GRANADA TV, September 1964
A Granada TV band competition, late September 1964 - "Ready, Steady, Win" - the Bo Street Runners won the equipment (note the early AC50 trolleys too), and "The Harbour Lights" won the Commer van.
THE STONES
A rare early colour picture of an AC80/100 - The Stones, Brussels, 18th October, 1964, rehearsing at the American Theatre for their appearance on Belgian TV (BRT). Picture from "Muziek Expres" magazine, April 1965.
Brian Jones on stage at Olympia, Paris, 20th October 1964.
THE KINKS
Top, the Kinks on "Top of the Pops", November 1964; underneath, the Yardbirds possibly on the same show - note the equipment is the same.
San Diego, Apex Music, 29th August, 1965
Below, a picture of the Apex Music Vox stand at the San Diego Teen-Age Fair, Vacation Island, 29th August 1965 - the trolley probably with an early basket top.
Apex Music / Thomas Organ Vox promotional stand, San Diego Teen-age Fair, 29th August, 1965 - the slogan: "Vox. The British Sound". The catalogue of that name had not yet been issued however.
Mark 2 trolleys - parallel bars on top
The new-style trolleys, introduced in early 1965, had parallel bars all round, the distance from outer edge to outer edge: 9" instead of the 6 3/4" of the Mark 1 trolleys. Tubing was 7/8" in diameter. A good number of AC100 SDLs with Mark 2 trolleys were exported early on to Thomas Organ in the USA, the earliest surviving example being serial number 236 (black panel). Three were present at one of the Shindig touring shows in May - see this page.
Below, a photo of serial number 392 (speakers with May 1965 date codes) for general orientation. Its casters are later replacements. To follow, a set of photos of the trolley dismantled.
AC100 serial number 392, exported to the USA in the summer of 1965.