Guitar Reviews for you: Rare Vox AC4 c.1964 smooth vinyl covered amplifier - the one that got away!

                                             

The VOX AC4 smooth covered valve amplifier circa 1964

The very rare 'smooth' vinyl VOX AC4

This is a bit of a retro review in a number of ways, reminiscing over a rare version of an old VOX AC4 amplifier I owned which got damaged in a house move which I should have kept!

The simple control panel layout

I was on holiday in Truro in Cornwall in 1985 and saw a small Vox amplifier in a music shop for £59! I had to have it. I had to wait a few days to get home to try it and it was really great. it hadn't been used for years as it had an old round pin plug on it. Plug changed, it fired up and sounded great.

It was an early 1960's VOX AC4 with Vibrato effect. The rare thing about it was the covering material which I have not seen on another Vox in the flesh.

Not shown in the back is a small divider shelf that slides in to provide a baffle between the speaker and circuit board. A small, hardwired 'egg' footswitch was wired to the amplifier which engaged or disengaged the Vibrato 'Tremolo' effect.

I had heard in a music shop of 'Blue Cabinet' Voxes but the only Voxes I had seen were the Black Tolex covered type. At the time this Vox was made, Jennings the makers of Vox were very busy with keeping up with supply due to the popularity of their amplifiers which were almost used exclusively in pop music from the Shadows onwards.

The smooth covering variation was used on the early AC series amplifiers with darker covering It isn't as rugged as the more plastic Tolex but I like the smooth covering.

The simple circuitry of the AC4

The AC4 I had was covered in a dark Grey colour smoothish vinyl, with a slight blue tint in the covering -  hence the 'Blue Cabinet reference' . Now, it reminds me years later of the Rexine material used on the old Routemaster bus interior wall coverings, so I am presuming this vinyl on my AC4 was a Rexine type of material in this special shade for Vox as I haven't seen any otherwise as light, they are usually a darker grey colour.

Small though this amplifier was it had big sound and I used it with a Watkins copycat for the Shadows sound. A friend made me a reverb unit which ran on 2 x 9 volt batteries and you could wind up the gain on the unit to make the Vox sound like it was a 100 watts!

It sounded great for playing along to the Shadows tracks.

A fabulous old amplifier, now very rare and expensive! The one that got away, sadly.

But I now have bought a near new AC4 C1 in Blue (below) which I will do a review of in another article.

Although this has no tremolo effect like the original,  it may be possible to modify it and add a footswitch, in which case I could add a reverb tank.

The debt we owe Cliff Richard - his generosity kick started 1960's popular music - here's why

1959, the Pink Jacket, the Fiesta Red Stratocaster - 

Cliff Richard at the early height of his fame

If you've ever been fortunate to meet Cliff Richard in person, he's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, regardless of who you are - whether you are a celebrity, royalty or just a plain, ordinary citizen.

So why do we owe Cliff such a great and perhaps unrealised thanks? Its quite simple really, because without his generosity, the course of popular music and our way of life might have been very different.

Cliff on his ATV show in 1960, with the Shadows

Before Beatlemania, there was Cliffmania. Many commentators and writers who put pen to paper about 1960's popular music, miss out one very important fact, that there was musical life before the Beatles. There was a phenomena that virtually dominated the musical charts from 1959-63. Cliff Richard and his backing band The Shadows. Both together and separately.

Cliff on the set of Expresso Bongo with the Shadows

Cliff was just one of a number of 'faces' of the late 1950's that came through the conduit of the legendary 2I's club in Old Compton Street, Soho, London to find fame and fortune in the music industry. At that time, it was the place to be seen, heard and  also hired. 

Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, Wee Willie Harris, The Vipers - all names that in 1958 became household names due to an unprecedented growth in music came through this legendary coffee bar. 

The teenager was now a major player financially as well as socially in society. The old guard of tweed jacketed people in authority was now giving way to modernity. Suddenly progress was being made and the past was history.

This is the guitar and the player that made musical history  - 

Hank B. Marvin and the famous Stratocaster Cliff bought him

Backing Cliff in 1958 were schoolfriends from his hometown of Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire. Soon it became obvious that a quartet of players who orbited around the 2I's club should become Cliff's backing group. The Drifters as was, changed line-up and in 1959 became the Shadows, displacing Cliff's former schoolfriends.

Lead guitarist Hank B Marvin of the Shadows (as the Drifters name was changed to in early 1959), needed a guitar to show off his obvious talent. Cliff organised the import of the first Fender Stratocaster into the UK. A Fiesta red painted guitar, with Birdseye maple neck and gold plated hardware. Perhaps one of the most important guitars in the history of music.

It was a sensation then, in Hank's hands it became a guitar that launched the careers of thousands of guitarists who either became famous, or in most cases just enjoyed playing and still do.

Hank Marvin in 1961 with his second Red Stratocaster - 

George Harrison stated years later - 'No Shadows, no Beatles.'

Hank Marvin took the Fender Stratocaster, the Vox AC15 amplifier and the Meazzi echo machine and blended those into a cocktail of sound that remains unique. 

Hank's signature sound, whether backing Cliff or on the Shadows recordings was amazing, it was the sound to emulate, his technique the thing to follow. Even in 1964, Beatlemania had not diminished the presence in the charts of Cliff and the Shadows.

As early as 1960, Cliff had plenty to write about

Cliff was in 1960 about to help change the music scene in Britain forever. He pushed for his Recording Manager Norrie Paramor, to record the Shadows in their own right. They had a tune in mind called 'Apache' that Jerry Lordan had offered them.

When they recorded it in 1960, Cliff was on the session as a musician. The track was sensational, suddenly and indeed overnight, many bands seemed to discard their singer and reform as an instrumental band, intent on getting Hank's sound.

The Shadows continued to perform continually with Cliff until 1968

a series of reunions have also occurred over the years since.

The gift of that guitar to Hank led Hank to develop a technique that gave him a career and also helped Cliff enjoy such longevity in the music business. From that seed of generosity, you can count off a whole line of people who are famous today who were inspired by what Hank was doing - Players including Brian May, Mark Knopfler, George Harrison, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton and many more.

Brian Epstein took the Beatles to watch the Shadows in 1963 so that they could see their stagecraft, such was their impact on music. The combined talent of the various Shadows line-ups over the years enabled both Cliff and the Shadows to enjoy lasting fame and appreciation, but their musical legacy also pushed others forward too.

In 1983 I was at last able to afford a decent guitar that fitted the bill and started to play along to Cliff and the Shadows old material, they were at the time still releasing records and doing the occasional reunion, it was a revelation and has provided me with music I still play today.

It all started with that red guitar Cliff bought for Hank Marvin.

So we have a lot to thank Cliff for. Besides that, he's a very nice chap too.

The Shadows Apache at 60 - perhaps the greatest guitar instrumental of all time - a look at how it started

The Shadows in 1960 - their album covers were
great news for Fender guitar sales

In 1960, The Shadows recorded 'Apache', an instrumental written by Jerry Lordan; 
a tune that would change musical history and laid the foundation for 1960's music.

Hank B. Marvin of the Shadows with his new 1959 Stratocaster

Turn on a radio in 1960 and the music likely to be coming out would likely be from Cliff  Richard featuring his backing band The Shadows or from the Shadows own recordings.

Thanks to Cliff Richard's stratospheric rise to fame in 1959, he remained at the forefront of British popular music through the next decade and beyond.  

As the Shadows first hit single 'Apache' celebrates its 60th birthday in 2020, lets look back at how that started, why it endures and why Cliff Richard's generosity helped shape popular music in the 1960's.

By unintended consequence, it helped launch the careers of artists such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, Mark Knopfler, not to mention encouraging many thousands of amateur guitarists since, to develop their enjoyment of the guitar and pursue it as a lifelong hobby.

Cliff Richard and the Shadows on the Oh Boy television show in 1959

Hank Marvin plays the new Stratocaster on an early public outing

Mention the tune Apache and the version most people will associate with a performer will be the Shadows. Drop the needle to the vinyl and the distinctive Bongo drums played by Cliff Richard heralds an echo laden guitar intro devised by Hank Marvin, that instantly introduced the world to what would become Hank's signature sound.

Cliff in the famous pink jacket with Hank's original Stratocaster

Jerry Lordan was on a tour package with Cliff and The Shadows, when he played the tune to Hank and Shadows bassist Jet Harris. The rest of the group heard it and decided to record it at their scheduled session after the tour.

Bad news for them that Bert Weedon had already got this tune in the can for an LP of his that was as yet unreleased. Cliff Richard had been pushing Norrie Paramor his Producer to give the Shadows a single record slot, Apache was agreed as their contribution to the single but Norrie wanted a new arrangement of Quartermaster's stores as the A side. 

The Shadows Apache EP cover -

with later guitars, not used on the recording!

Norrie was insistent on 'Stores' being the A side, it was musically a weaker track, only saved from mediocrity and repetition by Hank's solo and accompanying fills. So, like the case of Cliff's Move it in 1958 where Schoolgirl crush was slated for the A side, Norrie took the test copy of the record home and played it to his daughters, Apache was the clear winner.

History was repeating itself. When Jack Good heard Move it he was blown away, the other side of the platter did nothing for him. Play the Apache single to day and flip over to Quartermaster's stores and you'll hear an immediate and obvious difference.

On the Expresso Bongo film - the film outing for the 59 Stratocaster

a great pity that this film was shot in monochrome!

When Apache became the A side of the disc, the rest was history. For a while after, bands often ditched their lead singer and went instrumental. The Fentones for example rested Shane Fenton (Later to be come Alvin Stardust) whilst they recorded two tracks The Breeze and I and the Mexican. 

Suddenly, Hank Marvin was the guitarist to follow for the technique and sound. He had a unique sound and style. Apache was the single that launched a thousand bands. Hank Marvin had true guitar genius, he did then and he still does.

Cliff Richard's ATV show featured the Shadows heavily

Most British people had only seen a picture of Buddy Holly's Fender Stratocaster on a record cover or perhaps on a clip from the Ed Sulllivan show on the television. 

When he and the Crickets played in England at the Elephant and Castle in 1958, a few saw the actual Stratocaster in the flesh at the shows. Hank was the first to own one in the UK.

This clever EP cover design removed Cliff Richard in the foreground

Due to a post-war trade embargo, Cliff Richard had to send for Hank's Fender Stratocaster as a personal import. The one that the Shadows chose was the top specification, Fiesta Red painted body, gold hardware and with a birdseye maple neck. 

At 120 guineas, it was not cheap, that was about 10 weeks wages for an ordinary worker! Probably £4000 in today's money in comparison.

Cliff Richard impersonating Hank Marvin, playing Apache 

on the original guitar through a Vox AC15 - from Cliff's ATV show 1960

Hank's guitar was a revelation. But it was only a part of the story. For those interested, the guitar was a Fender Stratocaster, no 34346. The Stratocaster had a 'contour' body that was cut on a bandsaw with reliefs cut away on the front and back so the player could 'mould' with the guitar. The 1954 design was futuristic and even looks great decades later. I don't think it has been bettered.

The design was a sensation, but was also relatively simple to produce. Against the hollow bodied Gretsch 6120 which came a year later in 1955, the Stratocaster looked modern. The Gretsch looked old-fashioned.

With three single coil pickups, tone controls and a vibrato system (erroneously called a Tremolo by Fender), the Stratocaster guitar was functional and modern. The slim C shape neck introduced in October 1958 was easy to play, an improvement over the 56-58 V shape neck.

A Fender Custom shop 1959 Stratocaster built under the supervision of Greg Fessler - essentially this is a reproduction of Hank's original Stratocaster, with a few modern lifts such as 5 way pickup switch, flatter neck and wider frets. I just had to have one.

The beautiful Birdseye Maple neck as Hank's guitar was built with on mine

Rarely seen in colour photos, Hank's guitar put him right out in front of the crowd. But he also had the technique to match the bright, modern guitar he played. That's what got him the job with Cliff on the Kalin Twins tour and the rest is history.

The early Vox AC15 amplifier

Hank originally used a Selmer Stadium Truvoice amplifier on the early Cliff Richard recordings, it is on the 'Me and My Shadows' album with Cliff Richard. The next move was to the Vox AC15 combo. This is the single speaker one, Vox added another speaker and the AC30 was born.

The Shadows blazed the way for Vox to become the amplifier of choice almost exclusively for instrumental bands from 1960-63 when the instro craze was in full swing. It would lead to the AC30 which would become worldwide renowned.

Jet Harris and Hank Marvin with the famous Stratocaster - 

From the Shadows first album cover.

The Shadows had their thunder stolen on the American market by Jorgen Ingmann's version of Apache which was released over there, although it was not as good as the Shadows version many believe.

Late out of the starting gate into the charts was Bert Weedon with his version of Apache in response to the Shadows release, but it didn't have the energy or the sound of the Shadows version, which remains the definitive one for most discerning listeners.

Ironically, the follow up single to Apache was suggested to be Walk don't run, it was deferred in place of Man of Mystery which became a massive hit.

Walk don't run became the Ventures signature tune just as Apache had for the Shadows and around the same time too. The Ventures covered Walk don't run in 1960, it featured in a number of films which also helped propel it to a massive US audience.

60 years on Hank is still giving us that unique sound

Apache has endured. Although the instrumental guitar sound lasted a few short years in mainstream pop terms in the 60's, the Shadows thanks to their association with Cliff were able to enjoy it until 1968, before embarking on various solo projects and reunions since, even charting into the 80's.

Hank Marvin is one of the great guitarists, without his great sound inspiring thousands of guitarists since 1959, popular music might have been very different. 

George Harrison paid the ultimate compliment - 'No Shadows, no Beatles.' John Lennon said that until the Shadows were on the radio there was nothing worth listening to.

If Cliff hadn't bought that first Stratocaster and pushed for Norrie Paramor to record Apache, who knows? Certainly Fender may not have made so many Fiesta red Stratocasters!

Apache endures and rightly so. 60 years on it sounds dynamic and fresh. And I was one that was spurred into getting the Hank Marvin sound because of it.

In 1982 a school friend of mine had the Shadows Apache single and we listened intently to it frequently, in awe of Hank Marvin's sound. The 45rpm single sounded more vibrant and alive than the LP version, Dave reckoned it was the material that the single was made from, it sounded dynamic and fresh. I wondered if I could ever emulate that guitar sound I was hearing on the record? It would take some time.

Pete Townshend had a similar experience of Apache, the tune resonated in his head as he walked home from a practice with a band he played in before the Who.

Me and Dave were just a couple of the thousands who were inspired to take up the guitar by Hank's playing.

Dartford's Fiesta Red Cellulose 400ml aerosol guitar paint from Rothko and Frost review

Using Dartford's Cellulose paints on my Fiesta Red Stratocaster project guitar

Bare bones of the Hank Marvin Stratocaster project - 

Mexican Std 2018 neck, locking Tuners for the neck and 

Kinman Impersonator pickups for the 'engine.'

For this project, I started with a bare wood Hosco Vintage pattern Stratocaster Alder body with the intention of finishing it with Cellulose guitar paints from Rothko and Frost's Dartford's product range.

The guitar body was carefully sanded down and I used Dartford's White sanding sealer 400ml aerosol as the base coat.

White sanding sealer

Fender use a grain sealer on their guitars which is sprayed on and does what the name implies, fills any irregularities of the wood. Most bodies are sanded well and I used a very light fine paper flour grade type to get a final finish. 

The Hosco body with White Sanding Sealer Primer applied, ready for top coat

The Hosco bodies are very well made and finishing before spraying is negligible. 

Application

I found with the sanding sealer that it seems to get 'sucked in' to the wood on the initial coat. I sprayed a tack coat on and watched it almost disappear and the wood 'fuzz' up in places where little strands stood up. But not to worry....

I simply waited until the coat had dried and they broke off. I ensured that they would not cause any visual defects and applied a few more coats of the sealer, allowing it to do it's job of filling and sealing.

Left to dry for a few days, I then set about carefully rubbing down with 1200 grade wet and dry paper. I used water with a few droplets of washing up liquid as this stops the paper clogging. 

The filler part does clog the paper, so you need to rinse the paper and remove the wet slurry from the guitar surfaces and wipe with wet kitchen paper. Once the rubbing down was done, I wiped over with clean running water and dried the body. The body was washed again before the top coat and thoroughly dried. 

Hycote Filler primer -  extra step

I decided to use Hycote Filler primer from a 400ml aerosol as an intermediate paint layer as it works with both Cellulose and Acrylic paints and provides a strong white blocking colour base. As I was going onto what had been a bare wood body, I know that paints can sink and these Acrylics tend to work well, it may not have been necessary to use this, but I wanted a really sound finish. In time the paint may sink as Cellulose is prone to do.

First Fiesta red top coat applied - 

it looks redder than it really is due to the lighting.

Dartford's Cellulose 400ml Fiesta Red top coat

I was very pleased with the colour match on this paint, it looks very much like the original Pre-CBS colour I found inside a 1961 Stratocaster trem route which I had the colour copied.

The white primer rubbed down, I decided to go for the final coat stage. The Fiesta Red went on well, I sprayed a 'dust coat' over to see how the paint would go on to the body for speed of the paint from the can and covered the guitar over, applying a thicker coat over this and leaving it to dry.

Fiesta Red top coat applied 

The next coats were done close together, allowing the paint to almost dry. They weren't thick coats but enough to give good coverage. The remainders would be done the next day if the weather was good and after a careful light rub down.

The paint flowed out well, there was a slight 'orange peel' effect on the surface but this was pretty much gone as the paint relaxed as it dried out.

Fiesta Red top coat in the workshop as sprayed -

it worked well, glossy from the can

Fiesta Red top coat might look 'pink' -

but in daylight to the eye it looks the right shade.

Overall findings

The paint was the right shade and went on easily. I've sprayed a lot of paints from spray guns and cans and this was easy to use. The coverage was good and you might want 2 cans to do a guitar depending on how thick the finish is to be.

I got a shine from the can and after a day or so, it flowed out as it dried and any slight orange peel was lost almost entirely.

Building up the guitar

The paint did create quite a bit of dust which means that it contains a lot of paint solids and isn't just thinned out leanly, which is why it is not cheap to buy. 

Fixed a solder wiring joint problem and it sounds great

I let the paint harden off for around a week, cut it back carefully with Farecla G3 compound by hand and then assembled the guitar up as you can see.

I've now completed the guitar and it sounds and plays nicely. 

**Please note that Dartford's have now made their 400ml colour paints a thicker mix and these give better coverage. I have sprayed a Stratocaster body and it looks great even though it hasn't been polished yet.**