Vox Concert 100 Amplifier and 4x12 Enclosure
1987-1988




Concert 100 Amplifier (front) - Photo courtesy Kenny Howes
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It wasn't that unusual for Vox founder, Tom Jennings, to make
personal visits to his dealers in the UK. During such visits, Jennings could offer the dealer information about new items from Vox, support for existing products and listen to comments and suggestions regarding areas where changes and improvements might be needed.

Rivals
In 1966, Jennings made one such visit to the Marshall Drum Shop, a Vox dealer located in Hanwell, a London suburb. Jennings was aware that Jim Marshall had recently started to manufacture amplifiers in the basement of his shop. Jennings was concerned about this development. It reminded him of the humble beginnings of Vox in the back room of his store in Dartford, Kent.

When Tom Jennings addressed the subject of these new "Marshall" amps with Jim Marshall, the visit between the two strong willed men became heated. Jennings hoped to convince Marshall to cease building amplifiers and concentrate on Vox. This was not to be. After the visit, a newly motivated Jim Marshall pressed forward with the production of his amps. Marshall now harbored a long term goal to "crush" Vox in the market.

By late 1967, Tom Jennings had been fired. Vox was in bankruptcy as a result of the collapse of the Royston Group. On the other hand, Marshall was on the rise with their amplifiers used by such artists as Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix.

Marshall had grown to be one of the largest amp manufacturers in the world during the 1970s and 1980s. After numerous ownership changes, Vox struggled to simply stay in business.


Rose Morris
Marshall became so busy producing their amplifiers that they appointed an outside firm, Rose Morris of London, to handle the sales and distribution of their products.

The relationship between manufacturer and distributor soon became strained. As Marshall's manufacturing capability grew, they pressed Rose Morris for more and more sales. Furthermore, Marshall was displeased with the 55% premium Rose Morris added to the price of the amps when sold internationally.

Rose Morris Purchases Vox
While the popularity of Marshall amps continued to grow, Vox was getting little traction in the marketplace. After five years of middling sales, Dallas Industries decided to put Vox on the market in 1978. Rose Morris was able to purchase Vox from Dallas for a bargain price.

Rose Morris feared that their Marshall distribution was nearing an end. Should they lose Marshall, Rose Morris would shift their efforts towards Vox.

Marshall refused to renew their distribution contract with Rose Morris when it expired in 1980.

The Concert 100
After Rose Morris and Marshall parted ways, Rose Morris was freed from the concern of building Vox amplifiers that too closely resembled a Marshall. Introduced in 1987, the Vox Concert 100 closely followed the design of the Marshall 100 stack.

The preamp section for the single channel Vox Concert 100 head featured three 12AX7 (ECC83) tubes plus Volume, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble and Presence controls. Like a 100 watt Marshall, the power amplifier stage was powered by four EL-34 tubes.

The 4x12 enclosure was available as a slant baffle (similar to the Marshall 1960A) or as a straight baffle (similar to the Marshall 1960B) enclosure and either featured an oversized Vox logo. The cabinets were rated at 8 ohms and loaded with four Celestion G12T-75 speakers.

My thanks to Kenny Howes for the photographs of his Vox Concert 100 half stack.


Concert 100 Amplifier (rear) - Photo courtesy Kenny Howes






Model Dimensions Weight
Concert 100 Head
9.875" x 29.5" x 7.875"
44 lbs.
4x12A/B Speaker 29.25" x 29.5" x 13.75" 88 lbs.




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