The 1970 "Green" Vox catalog marked the next stage in both the financial decline and the loss of popularity of Vox in the marketplace.
This decline started in 1963 with sale of Jennings Musical Instruments to the Royston Industries conglomerate followed by the sale of US manufacturing and distribution rights to Thomas Organ in 1965. Royston looted the profits made by Vox in the UK to fund the failed development of an aeronautic transponder device by a different division of the firm. Eventually this led to the resignation of Tom Jennings from Vox and the bankruptcy of Royston (and Vox) in 1967.
A number of the officers that worked for Vox purchased the assets of the company from the receiver bank in 1968 and continued on as VSL, or Vox Sound Limited. VSL seemed doomed from the very start, Vox was rapidly losing favor in the marketplace.
By 1969, Marshall Amplification dominated the British music scene and Vox Sound Limited again went into bank receivership. The assets of Vox were held by the Corinthian Bank. The "Green" 1970 Vox catalog and accompanying price list are from this Corinthian Bank period. The 1970 catalog slashed the number of product offerings to only a few if the most popular items.
My thanks to Jim Elyea, author of "Vox Amplifiers - The JMI Years" for sharing this 1970 Vox catalog with the Vox Showroom. Click on the catalog page to proceed to page 2.
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