Close-up: The Super Beatle and Beatle Amp in Vox Literature

North Coast Music offers this lithographed reproduction of the fold out 1965 "King of the Beat" for sale in the North Coast Music web site. This catalog includes all the Vox amps, organs, guitars, and effects sold by Vox in the 1965 model year.

Click here to go to the web page in the North Coast Music web site that offers this catalog.


The 1965 US Vox catalog predates the start of the US production of Vox amps. The amp models shown in this catalog are the UK models with new British sounding names for the US market. The amp depicted in this catalog as the "Super Beatle" is actually the AC-100, an all tube amp that the Beatles actually used in 1965. Very few were imported to America.





North Coast Music offers for sale in their web site a lithographed reproduction of the fold out 1966 "Vox: it's what's happening" catalog. This catalog includes all the Vox amps, organs, guitars, and effects sold by Vox in the 1966 model year.

Click here to go to the web page in the North Coast Music web site that offers this catalog.


The 1966 Vox product fold out catalog features the V1141 and V1142 VOX Super Beatle amplifiers. Thomas Organ claims in their description of these amps that they were "the choice of the world famous Beatles and many other famous groups." Contrary to this statement, it is unlikely that the Beatles had even tried this amplifier at the time of the publication of this catalog.

The V1141 and V1142 amps are mentioned in this literature. The V1141 had distortion. reverb, tremolo, and MRB, along with a four button foot pedal. The V1142 lacked the distortion feature and had a three button foot pedal.




North Coast Music offers for sale in their web site a lithographed reproduction of glossy fold out 1967 Vox catalog. This catalog includes all the Vox amps, organs, guitars, and effects sold by Vox in the 1967 model year.

Click here to go to the web page in the North Coast Music web site that offers this catalog.


The 1967 Vox product fold out catalog features the new V1143 and the continuation of the V1142 VOX Beatle amplifiers. A major typographical error can be noted in the product description of the "V1142" Beatle amp. The V1142 did not have the distortion, or "fuzz" effect, so it would have a three, not a four button foot pedal. The catalog shows a four button pedal with the V1142 offering.

Thomas Organ dug deeply into their Vox artist endorsee picture files to make the cover of this catalog. From left to right one will see Phil Volk from Paul Revere and the Raiders, Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones, Chas Chandler of the Animals, Paul Revere of Paul Revere and the Raiders, Hilton Valentine of the Animals, the late Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, the late Drake Levin of Paul Revere and the Raiders, and again Phil Volk, this time also with Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders.

Of all of the stars shown on this cover, only Paul Revere and the Raiders played the Vox gear offered in the United States by Thomas Organ. The rest of these artists depicted from this era played Vox amps made by JMI Vox in the UK. Having owned US Vox amps in the 1960s, I always wondered why I could not get the same tones on these amps that the Beatles and others had on their recordings. Thomas Vox preferred that I not figure that out!

In addition to all the Vox amps, organs, guitars, and effects offered by Vox in 1967, this catalog also offered, of all things, Vox banjos. Anything with the Vox name was magical in 1967, the year Vox peaked in the US market.








North Coast Music offers for sale in their web site a lithographed reproduction of the 32 page 1968 Vox catalog. This catalog includes all the Vox amps, organs, guitars, and effects sold by Vox in the 1968 model year.

Click here to go to the web page in the North Coast Music web site that offers this catalog.



The 1968 Vox product catalog fetaures the V1143 VOX Beatle Deluxe amplifier. The marketing department at Thomas Organ referred to the V1143 as "Private First Class in Sgt Pepper Lonely Heart's Club Band," a humorous statement considering that the Pepper's album featured no Thomas Vox amps in the recording. In fact, the only documented use of Thomas Vox amps by the Beatles was during the 1966 US tour, and this not by the choice of the Beatles. The Beatles used their JMI (UK) 7120 and 4120 amps through the rest of the 1966 world tour, but Thomas Organ insisted that the Beatles play the American made amps in the US leg of the tour.

I have heard that the Beatles were quite insulted by the name "Super Beatle" (nothing was superior to the Beatles themselves), and they insisted the name of the amp be changed to simply "Beatle."






North Coast Music manufactures many replacement and restoration

parts for the Super Beatle under license from Vox. These parts are
available exclusively at North Coast Music. Some are shown below.




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Photos and editorial content courtesy Gary Hahlbeck, North Coast Music


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