Mark 1

May to October 1964

The first and perhaps only Mark 1 trolley issued by JMI was made for Paul McCartney and delivered in time for The Beatles' appearance at the Prince of Wales Theatre, 31st May, 1964.

Material on Paul's first AC80/100 amplifier can be found on this page. His second, issued in October 1964, is illustrated and discussed here.

Below, some pictures from the summer of 1964 to illustrate various details - the basket top for the amp to sit in; the closeness of the loop of the frame to the handwheel; and on the handwheel itself, "VOX" in cursive lettering (the early style).

Blokker, Holland, June 1964.

Scarborough, August 1964. Later in the month trolley and cab, along with the rest of the The Beatles' equipment, was flown to the USA for the band's first major American tour.

An overview of AC100 Super de Luxe trolleys can be found on this page.

Mark 2

Later 1964 to 1965

In early October 1964, JMI provided McCartney with a completely new trolley, speaker cabinet, and AC80/100 amplifier set. The previous set, which had certainly survived the US tour intact, was evidently felt to be too bumped and bruised for stage use.

The new equipment was first seen in public on the UK tour of October and November 1964.

Notable features of the trolley: the tall loop of the frame above the handwheel; tubular bars at front and back of the basket on top (the earlier trolley had flat bars); and the "VOX" logo in an upright rather than cursive font.

Barcelona, June, 1965. Photos taken in October and November 1964 show the same trolley but not so well.

Paul's trolley and cabinet were last used for the last time in public on the USA tour, autumn 1965. There is a high likelihood that they still survive (in the UK).

Designs

A series of photos taken in August 1964 shows that JMI had in fact embarked on the design of the new (Mark 2) trolley while The Beatles were on tour in the States. Three formats were produced and registered with the old Patent Office in London in early September.

1) A trolley of the type issued to Paul a few months later.

2) A variant design with parallel bars above the handwheel (much as on the AC100 Super de Luxe trolleys). Los Brincos, a Spanish band, had one of these trolleys in 1965.

3) A braked version, probably envisaged for Public Address appliciations. 2x15" cabs were often used for PA.