Vox at the British Musical Instrument Industries Trade Fair, 1967
20th - 24th August
As in previous years, the Trade Fair, one of the most important events in the manufacturers' calendar, took place at the Russell Hotel, Russell Square, London. A page on the Fair of 1966 (at which JMI first unveiled the new solid state range) can be found here.
Advert for the Fair issued by AMII in the music trade press, June 1967.
Below, the advert placed by Jennings in the music trade press to coincide with its displays. A version was also placed in "Beat Instrumental" and "Music Maker" magazines, repeated later in the year. Stars of the show: the solid state range of amps, the new "effects" guitars, he Jaguar and Super Continental organs, and the wah-wah pedal. As ever, a number of items displayed - "try-outs" - did not make it to production in JMI's time. This was the last Russell Hotel Fair attended by the company.
Music trade press, August 1967.
The advert notes that Vox would have five rooms at the show: The Oak Room, a fairly substantial space on the ground floor off the Winter Garden; and rooms 135, 140, 141, 142 and 143 on the first floor. For an outline plan of the stands and rooms of the Fair in 1963 (the same system of numbering as in 1967), see this page.
Music trade press, August 1967.
The music trade press indicates, however, that only three rooms were taken: the Oak Room, 134a and 135 - probably a better record of fact. Representing JMI were: Tom Jennings, Reg Clark, Ray Pyman, Colin Barratt, Eddie Haynes, Mick Borer, Dick Denney, Dave Roberts, Mike Carr, Kathy Nye, and Adrienne Dixon. Mike Carr, a respected jazz organist, was brought in to demonstrate the organs, which had been set up in room 135. Mike later went on to endorse Hammond.
At the foot of this page, Kathy Nye is pictured with Tom Jennings and Dick Denney.
One of the images published to accompany one of the preview reports in the British music trade press.
August 1967, German music trade journal - review of the JMI display.
As Thomas had taken over the distribution of its own organs in the UK in late January 1967, Jennings no longer needed to display or advertise the company's keyboards or accessories. Thomas pulled out all the stops (sorry) in its ads for the show though - three full pages, one in colour.
The Vox stand at the BMII fair, late August, 1967. Detail from a slightly larger original. Pic. originally printed by Jim Elyea, "Vox Amplifiers".
Detail from a photo of the stand at the London Trade Fair, a small stack of wallets of promotional material on the PA amplifier.
One of three surviving wallets picked up at the Fair by Don Miller of "Frank's Jewelry and Music", Graham, North Carolina. More to come on a new page shortly.
Photographed in the autumn 1967 - a kink-fronted LS60 column, designed in tandem with the Gyrotone and horn units in the main picture above.
As mentioned above, a number of items displayed at the Fair were never put into production - see this page. The trade shows served in many respects as a means of gauging interest in new products. The psychedelic lights, which feature in many of the photographs from the Fair of 1967, were ultimately sold off in the summer of 1968 along with the disco console - details on the page linked above in this paragraph.
Below, also posted on the Vox Supreme website, photos from a set of taken taken for JMI before 31st August, 1967, and probably before the Trade Fair, of the original Vox disco unit, two turntables only and a microphone. The modified Vox Continental organ stand had brackets on which the lid could be set.
The disco unit was sold off when "Vox Sound Equipment Limited" got going in the West Street Works. The idea was revived, however, in by "Vox Sound Limited" in 1970. See this page on the Vox Supreme website.
A detail of the display, the disco unit side on.
Tom and Dave Roberts (the Vox demonstrator); Adrienne Dixon, Reg Clark and Kathy Nye. Kathy - and probably Adrienne also - worked on the promotional side of things at JMI.
Dave Roberts and Dick Denney - one of the pictures accompanying Gary Hurst's review.
"Beat Instrumental" magazine, October 1967 - from Gary Hurst's report of the show at the Russell Hotel. The amplifier used by Denney and Dave Roberts, JMI's chief demonstrator, is a Defiant. Note that the article gives *peak* power output for the amplifiers.
Below, a further pic of Dick Denney at the Fair, demonstating his Vox Escort "Special" - "Special" indicating that the new electronics were built in:
New built-in electronics were the thing - see Gary Hurst's review of the show above. An effects box incorporating the electronics that went into the new range of guitars did not make it into production.
A further shot taken at the British Musical Instrument Trade Fair, 21-24 August 1967, key members of the Vox team lined up. The poster on the right is a large-scale version of an ad placed in "Beat Instrumental" magazine (and elsewhere). The guitar is a "Teardrop" Mark VI Special.