VOX AMPLIFIER COVERS, 1964-1967
The purpose of this page is to gather together examples of the covers provided with Vox amps from c. 1964 - 1967. Earlier covers will be added in due course.Later covers for Vox amplifiers, speaker cabinets and PA equipment, can be found on the Vox Supreme website.
In 1964, there are broadly speaking two types of cover - one with heavy cursive "VOX" logos, the other plain coloured. Material at this point is thick "plasti-leather".
Cursive Logos
The baggage car sequence from "A Hard Day's Night" - shot in mid March 1964. Covers for the AC50 amp and cab, probably black given their intensity.
Paul's first AC80/100 in Abbey Road studios - note the logo on its cover. Detail from a picture, probably taken prior to or during the "Baby's in Black" session, published in Beatles Book monthly.
An AC30 cover in red and the amp to which it belongs: brown grille cloth, charcoal tolex and a copper control panel.
A single speaker AC10 cover. The AC10 was probably from early 1964, thin-edged box, brown grille cloth, serial number in the mid 4000s.
To date no examples of AC50 covers with such logos have come to light (though that is not to say none exist) - only heavy plain green, brown and maroon so far.
Heavy plain covers: 1964
Sylvie Vartan with The Beatles, photo session at the Olympia Theatre, Paris, January 1964. Note the covers of the backup AC30 cab and amp - brown for the former, red/maroon for the latter.
Old pics, though still useful, of red/maroon covers for a reverb unit and AC30 head.
A rather care-worn T60 cover in maroon; all the seams are good, however. For a T60 cover in dark green, see further down this page.
AC50 mark 1, serial number 1034. Early 1964. Heavy dark brown covers for amp and cab.
AC80/100, serial number 177. Late 1964. Heavy brown covers for amp and cab.
Chocolate brown, mid or late 1964. Covers for a pair of LS40 linesource pa speakers.
Chocolate brown, mid or late 1964. The amp has silver Celestion T1088s - so after May 1964 - but still a copper panel. Tolex is basketweave.
Light green for a diamond input AC50 mark 1 from the second quarter of 1964.
Both T60 amplifier covers, the green probably close to that of the AC50 above (given variables of light and so on).
Above, Cherry Rowlands with The Beatles backstage at Scarborough, 9th August 1964. Click for a larger image. At John Lennon's foot, one of the early AC50s in its cover (no logo). Picture from Alamy.
The Stones playing Cleveland Public Auditorium, 3rd November, 1964. Photos by George Shuba. Bill has his AC80/100 and two Foundation Bass cabs. The one behind Keith has Bill's AC50 on top, as spare, in its black (?) cover, no logo.
1965 and on
In late 1964 / early 1965 black covers make their appearance across the range of amps and cabs. At first they are made of heavy plasti-leather, much as earlier ones. Handle surrounds were generally of light or dark brown leather. During the course of the year the covers became lighter and thinner, and fitted amps and cabs more closely.
Often these new black covers are awkward to pull over the corner protectors. See the pic below.
The Who at the Richmond Jazz and Blues Festival, 5th August 1965. Note the covers on the two AC100s at back of stage. They're slipped on only so far as the lower corner protectors. Surviving AC100 covers fit extremely closely - one has to lever them gently over the protectors on the lower corners of the amp cabinet.
Vox AC80/100 serial number 392 in its cover.
In 1965, logos were often omitted. One regularly finds plain black covers (much as one finds plain coloured ones in 1964).
On the right, the type of logo used from 1965-1967. On the right, the new logo adopted for the solid state range in 1967. One finds AC30 and AC50 covers with this new style - ie. with bold surround - but so far, not AC100s.
In re. AC100 SDLs, no cover seems to have been provided for the 4 x 12" cab - only for the amp section.
If one sees an AC100 cab with a cover it is likely either to be from a Super Beatle, fitting snugly to the cab itself, and with slits down the sides to allow the pivot wheel to protrude through; or it is from a Supreme, fitting over the trolley, but with a late logo - the letters "VOX" surrounded by an ovoid in white.
The cover for an American series 90 cab - identical to the ones provided for an American Super Beatle. Note the slit at the side to accommodate the pivot wheel.