Domino Super Reverb Piggy Back Amplifier (1964 - 65)



2_Footer
© 1996 - 2024 The Vox Showroom, all rights reserved. No use on online auctions, eBay or Reverb.

 Domino Super Reverb Amp photographs were supplied
by a completed Reverb listing from London Vintage Guitars
and are presented in the Vox Showroom for historical purposes

The "Domino" series of guitar and bass amplifiers were entry level products first introduced by Jennings Musical Industries (JMI), the parent company of Vox, in 1963. JMI targeted their affordably priced Domino amplifiers toward students, beginners or those on a budget. While Domino amplifiers lacked the sophisticated appearance of their Vox counterparts, JMI often incorporated a simplified version of classic Vox circuitry in their Domino designs.

The "Domino Super Reverb Piggy Back Amp" shown on this page was an exception to this rule. Although this Domino amp had a rather plain appearance, it incorporated the complete, single channel chassis from the Vox AC10SRT, also known as the "AC10 Super Reverb Unit." The 2x10" Domino speaker cabinet also utilized the Elac speakers from the Vox AC10SRT.

The amplifier section had an all tube, 10 watt RMS circuit. Aside from Reverb, Tremolo Depth and Tremolo Speed, the only other controls were a Volume and a Tone cut control. A single button foot pedal was included to actuate the tremolo. The tube complement was one ECC83, three ECC82, two EL-84 and a EZ81 rectifier.

Tonally, this amp is a wonder. It offers a great clean tone with a sparkly top end. It can also be overdriven into a harmoncally rich yet smooth distortion.

Many amps equipped with the AC-10 "Super Reverb" chassis were equipped with a traditional (and separate) anodized aluminum control panel. While gray anodized control panels seem to be more common, red panels were also produced. However, some AC-10 "Super Reverb" chassis, such as the one shown at left, do not have an anodized control panel. The control panel nomenclature on these amps was silk screened directly to the leading edge of the aluminum chassis as a cost saving measure.

The amp circuitry used the infamous Vox crystal phono cartridge based reverb pan. Tom Jennings, the president of Vox, resented having to pay the $1 per amp licensing fee charged by Hammond Accutronics fee for the use of their patented reverb pan. Instead, he designed his own reverb pan, just barely skirting the patents on the Accutronics unit.

The reverb pan designed by JMI used two 1 volt output ACOS GR71 or two Sonotone 2T crystal phono cartridges for drive and receive transducers. A single delay spring was connected to the needle saddles of each cartridge. About all one could say about the JMI reverb pan is it worked to a degree, but the tone and depth of the reverb was certainly lacking when compared to Fender amps of this era. Furthermore, this phono cartridge based reverb pan would easily slip into a howling acoustic feedback if the amp was played too loudly.



JMI Domino Super Reverb Amp

Output Power: 10 watts
Tube Complement: 1 x ECC83, 2 x ECC82, 1 x EZ81, 2 x EL84
Control Panel: two inputs
one volume control
one tone control

one tremolo depth control
one tremolo speed control
one reverb control
one power switch
one power indicator lamp
one mains voltage selector connector
Speakers: Two Elac "Silver" 10" with Vox stickers
Size: Head: ~9" H x ~24" W x ~6.5" D
Cabinet: ~18" H x ~27" W x ~9" D
Accessories: Foot pedal
Price: £47/5/0 (from the 2/1964 JMI Vox Price List)



3_Footer




The VOX Showroom!


Photos and editorial content courtesy Gary Hahlbeck, North Coast Music


Any and all material presented herein is protected by Copyright.
© 1998 - 2024 The Vox Showroom and North Coast Music, all rights reserved

The images and editorial content in this web site may not be copied or reproduced
in online auction sites such as eBay, Reverb and Craig's List. Sellers may provide a link
to the Vox Showroom web site if they wish to refer to this copyrighted material.


URL: http://www.voxshowroom.com/uk/amp/042-domino_w_reverb_piggyback.html