JMI Vox AC80/100 loan amplifiers - 1964
From Spring 1964, JMI provided a number of AC80/100 amplifier sections for key public events. The amps were normally paired with closed-back bass or 2x12" speaker cabinets. From August 1964, the loan units were generally AC100 SDLs. "SDL" = "Super De Luxe", signalling the presence of a tall 4x12" guitar speaker cabinet in a trolley. Occasionally one also sees AC80/100s with 2x15" bass cabs.
NME Poll Winners Concert, 26th April, 1964.
Two thin-edged AC100s on one of the wheeled platforms on stage.
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 Rolling Stones - 18th and 20th October 1964
On Belgian TV (BRT), 'Tienerklanken', Brussels, Amerikaans Theatre, 'World Fair’, 18th October.
Above, the Stones at Olympia, Paris, 20th October 1964. The AC100 SDL was used by Brian Jones.
Royal Command Performance - 2nd November 1964
Brenda Lee, Royal Command Performance, London Palladium, 2nd November, 1964. On stage, one of the JMI loan AC80/100s (with basket-top trolley). Also on the bill were: Tommy Cooper, The Bachelors, Cilla Black, Millicent Martin, Kathy Kirby, Morecambe and Wise, Gracie Fields, Jimmy Tarbuck, The Shadows, Cliff Richard, Bob Newhart, and Lena Horne.
The Beatles were in Belfast on the evening of the 2nd, along with Sounds Incorporated, which had sometimes served as Brenda Lee's backing band. Sounds Incorporated backed Mary Wells on the Beatles' November tour.
Glad Rag Ball - 20th November 1964
Click for a larger image
Above, pictures of Gene Vincent on stage with "The Londoners" at the Empire Pool, Wembley, 20th November 1964. Note: the thick-edged AC80/100 (no corner protectors) and SDL cab, the thin-edged AC80/100 on the drum riser, the early AC50 large-box trolley with a "basket-top" rather than parallel bars, and the Rickenbacker 325 belonging to the guitarist far right(a thing known for some time to Rickenbacker afficiandos).
Top of the Pops, November and December 1964
The Kinks and The Yardbirds (line-up with Eric Clapton) using the same Vox loan gear.
Unknown venue and date - late 1964
A rare colour shot of Gerry and the Pacemakers on stage in late 1964 venue yet to be identified, at back an early AC100 SDL. The bass set is a Foundation Bass cab and another AC100 or perhaps AC50. The large letters far left may spell "BEAT".
No other pictures of the Pacemakers with an AC100 SDL have so far come to light. On the TAMI show in October 1964, the band is seen with an early AC100 bass set belonging to Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas.
A detail from the pic. above. The amplifier's thick-edged box has no corner protectors. One can just about make out the lines of the basket top of this early trolley.