Vox Beatle Head

Price Paid: US $350..

Features: 9
Vox Beatle V1143 amp with three channels (normal, brilliant and bass), 120 watts with tremelo, reverb, mid-range boost, repeat percussion and E-tuner. Separate speaker enclosure with chrome trolley has two 12-in. Vox silver bells in the top section and two 12-in Eminence Delta Pros in the bottom section of the enclosure. It has more than enough power to rattle the caulk off the windows in our house. I haven't used the repeat percussion effect.

Sound Quality: 10
My daughter plays an old Duosonic throug it; I use it mostly with a '59 Fender Stratocaster. The combination of the pick-ups on the old guitars and the Vox silver bells really makes the amp chime. It's hard to describe, but the highs are incredibly appealing. I also own other Vox amps: '67 Vox Berkeley, '67 Buckingham, '67 Viscount and '67 AC-30 . . . this amp is substantially better than all of them, except the AC-30 sounds better in its own special way. Sometimes, I switch off the Vox silver speakers and just play my Precision bass through the bottom section. The amp is solid state and has no annoying hums (unlike my old Fender Bassman).

Reliability: 9
This amp is 37 years old, so I'm sure it might have had its moments. I've heard others mention that Vox was unreliable, but I haven't had any problems with it. In the late 60s, our band used three of the smaller Vox amps (Buckinghams and Berkeley) almost daily for two years without any problems. I'm glad I haven't had any problems with this Vox Beatle.

Customer Support: 5
Thomas Organ went out business decades ago, so I'm not sure who repairs the old Vox amps. I replaced some of the "cosmetic" parts from North Coast Music. They have great service.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing bass and guitar for over 35 years. In the past I've enjoyed playing my bass through my '66 Fender Bassman with dual 15-in. JBL speakers. These days I enjoy recording and playing my guitar mostly with my Vox AC-30. I bought the Beatle amp for my daughter so she could sing and play her guitar without touching my gear. The sound of the Celestion blue bells in my AC-30 and the silver bells in the Beatle cabinet . . . simply amazing.

Submitted by Haro Kagemoto at 09/13/2004 15:04

Price Paid: US $275.00 used

Features: 10
I have a 1967 Beatle 1141 head that I use for classic & modern rock. Its the standard 3 channel 120 watt solid state version with the 4 button footswitch. My tech has just gone thru the amp & told me it now is putting out about 150 watts-more than enough power to kick ass on many newer amps! Its loaded with reverb,tremelo, MRB, & distortion. Back then there was no such thing as overdrive or master volumes so thats the only thing I would add, but I'm not going to cut up a classic! This was the first true arena amp capable of being heard over crowd noise. For 1967 its cutting edge.

Sound Quality: 9
Normally I play my Rickenbacker 620 thru it but I alternate about 8 other guitars in my collection. This amp is a very early solid state design that couples the preamp & power amp differently that later amps. I suspect thats why it has a unique sound. Very bright & punchy on the high end-lots of headroom. The treble boost on the normal channel will cut thru concrete! I do prefer the tube amps for a fuller sound but its a respectable lead guitar rig in my opinion. To be fair I'm not utilizing the Beatle 4-12" cab but its smaller relative Buckingham 2-12" unit. I'm sure that limits it somewhat. The distortion is very muddy but back then most were. This is the first amp to incorporate that as an onboard effect along with MRB which is the predecessor to wah wah but in 3 fixed settings. It is very clean if you go straight up, even at high volume.

Reliability: 8
As I mentioned this was a very early solid state design so I have to rate it in that context. Any bonehead who wants to compare it to a modern amp is probably of rookie experience. Actually the Beatle was more prone to overheating failure due to the high wattage output. The heat sinks were inadequate for the power. My tech has installed additional heat sinks in mine so no problem as yet. I have the lower watt Royal Guardsman & Buckingham versions of this amp & they are less vulnerable due to less heat. Stock I would give this a 6. My version is at least a 9 so I'll compromise.

Customer Support: N/A
No more Thomas organ!

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing since the mid 60's. I've wanted one of these since I saw the Beatles in concert in 1966 (really!). It is a big bulky thing even with the smaller Buckingham cab but its major historical. All the big acts of the day used them at least in America. It took me 38 years but now I have one. Its not going anywhere! If you find one buy it before Tom Petty does!!

Submitted by Rob B at 08/25/2004 06:11

Price Paid: 50 (Euro) used

Features: 9
Thomas organ VOX super Beatle V1141 made in 1965 or 66. It is a solid state 120 W amplifier. Extremely loud and clean. Three channels, normal, brilliant and a bass guitar channel. It has reverb, tremolo and some kind of noisy fuzz. Very versatile for its day. It has a 4 button footswitch as well.

Sound Quality: 8
Many of us VOX lovers find Thomas organ VOX products utter worthless in terms of sound. I happen to disagree in this case!!! Most complainers do not actually own a super beatle! I am the proud owner of a JMI VOX AC30 (2 x) and a JMI VOX AC50 and I must say that the Super Beatle stands in its own right. Ofcoarse it is NOT an AC30, but there is definitely some Dick Denney connection in the machine. It is intended for high clean volume levels. Although it is a solid state, it is soundwise not unsimilar to a clean valve amplifier. This can perhaps be explained by the class A (!!) driver in the power stage which utilises an output transformer (!!) and the limiter in the preamp. I use it with a Gibson ES135 and a Fender strat. Both guitars give nice sounds. The Fuzz is somewhat unusable in nowadays terms, the tremolo is wonderfull, so is the reverb. I use it with 4 celestion blue alnico speakers (the best....). At low volume levels (home use) it is better than an AC30 and AC50. At higher levels the AC30 winns for me above any other.

Reliability: N/A
I do not know yet. I obtained this amplifier 5 months ago for 50 Euro's in a zillion bits and pieces ready for the scrap heap. subsequently spend another 250 Euro to completely restore it to its former glory (thank you north coast). A few transitors in the preamp stage were blown, but easy replacement is readily available (use modern ones please BC550C). The preamp capacitors were all fine. No noise, whistling, or oscillations there. The power amplifier still has its original transistors. Surprizing perhaps, because one tends to read only disaster stories about blowing transitors in Super Beatles (and blown speakers as a result....). Well, I am going to use a speaker fuse anyway for security as celestion blues are expensive.

Customer Support: N/A
Not needed for me. Schematics are available. Search the net.
However if you are a electronics nono. Please think twice before you buy. Only a well serviced, well regulated amplifier will give you satisfactory sounds. This is where it goes wrong for most people. Complaining about bad sound quality, but not having the bias propperly set! Yes, also transistors need bias... and it is a relatively simple job to do if you know how to do it....

Overall Rating: 8
I will never part with it.

Submitted by Eric-Jan van Duijn at 08/06/2003 01:12

Price Paid: US $699.00 ea.

Features: 3
(2)- Vox Super Beatles (solid state variants) / manufactured in 1967 @ Ft. Vox El Segundo, CA.

Amplifiers were used for bass guitar (Fender Precision,Gibson EB-3 and Hagstrom 8-string). Inputs were parallel slaved. The Super Beatle had too many useless "trick" electronic effects. The engineering group who designed the Super Beatle should have spent more time and money focusing on reliability and power rather than on trash sound effects.

The four Goodman 12-inch speakers (each cabnet) would last 2 or 3 weeks before blowing out. I replaced them ultimately with JBL D-120's. This extended the life cycle to several months before each subsequent blow-out. Cabnets were nice looking but too heavy for air freight. The airlines kept dropping them and busting the particle board enclosures (even self-contained in anvil road cases)! Chrome suspension frames (cabnets) were nice looking but rattled and fell apart every gig! Grille clothe was too thick - restricting speaker efficiency - so, I cut out each grille along the distinctive cross-member, leaving a nice looking geometric configuration (actually, I stole the idea from Ed Jones - bass player for Sean Bonnywell's Music Macine). Thanks for that, Ed!

I finally ditched the entire assembly in lieu of a pair of Marshall 100 cabnets driven by a Sunn 2000S head. Greatly improved sound, power output, reliability, and durability on the airlines.

Rating is for Vox Super Beatle. (Sunn 2000S and Marshall combo = 9).

Sound Quality: 9
Fender Precision (standard)Bass.

There isn't a more versatile bass guitar ever designed or built.

Studio and road Jazz, R/B, Rock, Folk and Country.

The Fender / Sunn electronics combination is quiet! A hard combination to beat for any money.

Crank the volume up around 7 and roll back the bass setting and the four-tube 6550 tube amplifier makes those Marshalls bark. Jack Bruce would be proud...

Roll up the bass setting and You'd think Harvey Brooks was slap'n wire.

The best combination is a balanced 5 + 5 (treble / bass) on pretty much any volume setting below 10. By positioning how the strings are attacked and where (relative to the pick-ups) on the Fender Precision, infinite sounds are attainable.

Distortion characteristics are moderate.

Reliability: 9
The Vox Super Beatles were largely unreliable (Rating = 2). The Sunn 2000S has been very reliable, although I generally carry a spare amp too.

Regular maintenance scheduling is the key to keeping any tube amp in top condition. I always carry pairs of dynamically matched (spares) 6550's as well.

Rating is for Sunn 2000S / Marshall combination.

Customer Support: 1
Vox was very friendly on the front-end...the selling portion of business. When they had to start eating amplifier repairs and complete head units, they became very distant.

Same for their speaker replacements. Not a reliable partner.

The Sunn head units are maintained by myself, and the Marshalls never have been a problem.

Rating is for Vox equipment.

Overall Rating: N/A
Been playing since 1962, professionally. I own miscellaneous electronic recording equipment, 1961 Fender Strato-Caster, a custom manufactured PA, and electric piano.

Can't replace my P-bass or Strat. Both are pre-CBS 1962 units.
I'd hunt down whoever stole it and bury them. If they were lost...well, I'd worry about it when that particular bridge had to be crossed.

What do I love about it?
Habit is a groove. Humans are creatures of habit...ergo, creatures of groove. Every groove has its high and low spots. Mine has more highs than lows and I like this feature.

I don't hate anything except Liver, Boyd Grafmeyer, Yasser Arafat, and the Monkeys.

I shopped seriously, until I found what I liked. I have looked at virtually every product available on the commercial market. I took each product out on a gig road-test and worked it before making up my mind.

I've used my kit to play rooms as small as Isadores (Righteous Brother's Club in Newport Beach, CA.) and halls as large as Festival Hall in Osaka, Japan (Seats 15,000 folks). In the small rooms, a single bottom works perfectly. In the larger concert halls, a double-bottom is best in conjunction with two-2000S heads (one head per Marshall bottom).

Submitted by Dr. A.T. Coe at 04/23/2002 19:25

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 9
I got the amp in the late 60's (maybe 1967 ???) This was the same amp model that the Beatles had used (when they were not using what looked like A-30's. It was a head and cab set up. The unit attached to a metal tube stand that allowed you to tilt the cab up to (as I remember) about 45 degrees. The head remained level on the top of the stand. VERSATILE???? in the 60's??????? We all sounded like the British Invasion bands when we used our Beatles and SUPER Beatle Vox amps. For heavier tunes I used a Marshall stack or Sunn Stack.

The amp had three channels -- three totally separate channels: (1) Microphone -- with just a 1/4" jack, (2) Guitar (as I remember it also had two imputs here - one was marked "bright", (3) bass. You could plug in your mike (I used an EV 336 -- EVERYONE did) into one channel and you had total control of it, and your guitar or bass into another channel and control it with its own knobs too. There was no channel switching or effects other than reverb. Spring reverb.

It had enough power to play anywhere. I remember it having about 6 tubes. My band played arena size venues in the days BEFORE miking the amps.

Sound Quality: 10
I played a "new" Gibson Les Paul on a SG style body (1961 model) and a Rickenbacker 330/12. The Vox amp was the perfect sound for the music of the day. It would work well with most of the Alternative tunes of today.

To distort this amp you just turned it all the way up and it FUZZED. I used a Dallas Fuzz Face and a Vox Wah with it.

The Vox sound was very clean....still is on the new ones. I like the sound of a Vox amp.

Reliability: 9
I toured the world with these amps. They survied beter that we did!

In those old days you could buy power tubes at any 7-11 store so it was easy to maintain. I don't remember much problem with this amp -- it just kept on working. The cloth grill covers did take quite a beating - even through the covers and in the road cases.

Customer Support: N/A
I had this amp for 4 or 5 years of hard road use --- never had a problem. I'd kind of hate to try and get warranty service on a Beatle amp today.

Overall Rating: 8
I have been playing since 1957. I made a good living at it between 1967 and 1970 (the Disco killed a lot of music!)
I have owned most everything made. Marshalls, Fenders, Acoustic, Sunn, Kustom --all of the amps they made in those days. I used Gibson guitars with a few Rickenbackers and a Gretch "Country Gentleman" at times.

I sold it about 1972. I still kick myself. I have seen two of them here in the Dallas, Texas area in the year. (Pepperland and ZOO MUSIC)
I plan to beg for one this Christmas....hey we old guys need to relive our youth!!! Most of us wasted it the first time around.

I used this amp...because the Beatles did. Then I fell in love with it. I also had a Vox Foundation Bass Amp that I'll review in this site. If anyone else has one for sale.....PLEASE let me know.

Submitted by Prof Wayback at 09/06/2001 12:14