Vox at the British Musical Instrument Industries Trade Fair, 1966
21st - 25th August
As in previous years, the Trade Fair took place at the Russell Hotel, Russell Square, London. The Vox showing in August 1964 is outlined on this page, and 1965 here.
Music trade press, June 1966. Promotion for the show.
The main Vox display was mounted in the "Oak Room" on the ground floor. Smaller displays were in a set of rooms on the first floor (135, 141-143).
Present were: Tom Jennings, Dick Denney, and Reg Clark; probably also Ray Pyman, Dave Roberts, Eddie Haynes, and representatives from JMI's promotional department.
The key thing for Vox in the 1966 show was the new solid state line: the "Beatle" (later renamed Supreme), Defiant, Conqueror, Supreme (later renamed the Virtuoso), and Traveller for guitar; and the Super Foundation Bass, Foundation Bass and Dynamic Bass for bass. The Conqueror, in an early stage of development, is pictured in the article from "Beat Instrumental" magazine, below. For more on the pre-production solid state amps, see this page on the Vox Supreme website.
Early Vox Conqueror at the Russell Hotel show, August 1966 - detail from the piece in "Beat Instrumental" magazine.
Other items picked out for mention in music trade reports (preview and review) are the two-manual Continental; the Mando-Guitar; a "new type of speaker" (the Gyrotone in infant form); various guitars; an "entirely new conception of an electronic musical instrument", which must be the Vox Bijou, an electric dulcimer produced initially for Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones; and a number of accessories, among which are the "Keetaar" (never put into production) and the frequency tuner (illustrated in ads but produced only in small numbers).
Music trade press, August 1966.
Below, one of the best short reviews of the JMI stand at the Fair. The "Circlophonic Sound System" was the predecessor of the Vox Gyrovox/Gyrotone.
Music trade press, September 1966.
The advert issued by JMI to coincide with the preview reports of the Fair featured - slightly anachronistically - the Beatles at the Washington Coliseum, February 1964.
Detail from the report on the Fair in "Beat Instrumental", October 1966, further down this page.
The Guardian, 26th August, 1966. Report from the last day of the fair. Note that orders were placed for the new solid state range - Conqueror, Defiant, Supreme, and so on. These amps did not appear on the market until Spring 1967, however.
"Beat Instrumental" magazine, October 1966, review of the Russell Hotel Fair in August.
Crescendo magazine, September, 1966. Brief mention of Jennings in the penultimate paragraph.
"Cash Box" magazine, 10th September, 1966.
"Cash Box" magazine, 17th September, 1966.
On to the page for the Russell Hotel Fair, 1967.