I made up my mind

One of the worsed things in my life is my indecision before I ever commit myself to a project or something I drive myself nuts doing my best to make up my mind. It's a wonder how I got married and not suffer from any remorse. Well, I spent hours I mean countless hours trying to figure out what I was doing with this amp. Well to make this amp what it once was is a losing battle its too much money to spend on the original gril cloth, pipping and a new Vox logo. But of course the, trollys to angle the amp which is not to original spec and is a $250.00.  So I decided to go totally non-original. So on January 12, 2019, I committed myself to purchase Tolex, grill cloth hardware and leather handles. Now all of the material has arrived but not the handles. Since I got them for an awesome price and they are coming from China. They are expected to arrive by February 4th  thru the 26th. Now each nih=ght I have been micro-managing Amazon and waiting for them to arrive. I am looking forward to the next post. Peace Out!

Where I am at...

Wow, it has been a while since I have written anything on this project. Bringing something back to life takes a lot of planning. When you make a quick fix it is not always the right thing to do, and later we think of why we did what we did and most of the time is to save money or just to get the friggin thing finished. What Stalled the project was the guitar I started in 2010. 

          Through out my life I have been enamored by Eric Clapton "Fool" guitar. This guitar was always an inspiration for me, there was always a playful very childlike elements to the designs that came out of the psychedelic years that was transferred into the design of the guitar.  Designed by a group of artists known collectively as The Fool. They ran a psychedelic clothes boutique in swinging London, which the Beatles and the rest of them often patronized.

The Fool guitar he use when playing with Cream, I have also heard that "Layla" was written playing the guitar.

          My Guitar I used one of my original painting " A Look of Love" which I painted in 2001 while living in Florida. Where I had a burst of ideas that came and went on canvas.

"A Look of Love" by Peter Andolfi 2001

Then nine years later this guitar was born, based upon a Ibanez guitar body this guitar became a mystery to most who saw it all were in wonder of the guitar.

 

The guitar in 2010

 The photo above is the condition of the guitar from 2010 till March 2015 when I decided to finish the axe and give it a similar feel to the "Fool Guitar".

 

My axe here is almost finished need a strap

and a set of straplocks to complete

All the projects have to be almost complete to move upon another and each project has a life of its own and path it takes you upon. there have been different projects along the way here are two more.

Strat Project Had issues with the Black and white for years So this year I went Black!

Les Paul project 1997- 2006

          Now Back to the Vox right now my main concern is the cabinet since the flake board is is making me flaky I need to make a hard choice in what I should do. Replace the bottom or fill it and tolex over it.

Henry Gross 's is real name from Sha Na Na

The left front bottom

Front Bottom

 I want to replace the bottom board and cut out the piece of flake board and glue it inside with a card displaying the history of the amp. This is a $20.00 dollar choice that would make or break what it is worth. This amp has seen the stage at Woodstock and the Fillmore East in 1969 and 1970.  I want this to be a OME style amp but lets see where I am lead this time... Thanks for reading. 

Direction

Yes Easter has pasted and things are getting back to normal here. I was still vacillating about the original factory look and a total custom until I saw this video on youtube explaining the differences between stains and dyes. WoodWorkWeb was very instrumental indirectly helping me decide what direction I will go.
Check this out his video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3Ysfw0LmMw

Now I have decided to do the wood grain and dye the wood to bring out the grain I just can't wait to start this project. First of all I was told not to plug in the amp and try to run it, just have the cap job and have all the components checked.  Then the last thing I do is re-cone the original speakers and mount them in the new cabinet. I have taken my planning here to a new level which my blog here has helped.

This past weekend I spent a bit too much time in Home depot and took a good look at oak and the poplar. I first think oak will be too heavy for this application and poplar is a right fit. Poplar is harder then pine and is light  in weight and the grain was not bad.

 This is a plan for how its going to be finished

I now have a start of a materials list:

Sure-Wood Forest Products 1 in. x 12 in. x 6 ft. S4S Poplar Board
Model # 1X12X6 POP-3PL
$27.98                (Two Boards 29" long & Two Boards 24" long)

3/4 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. HD Maple Plywood
Model # 263012
Store SKU # 263012
$39.88 / each         (27.5" x 22",  7.75" x 27.5", 15" x 27.5")

American Wood Moulding LWM 238 1 in. x 1 in. Pine S4S Square Moulding
Model # 238-8   Store SKU # 213600      $2.43 / linear foot

Now for the vents at the top I was going to use this treatment to the cabinet:

Next issue is what finish should I do a dark, light  or medium...
I will see what I come up with next. Thank you for taking the time to read this and follow me. Peace

Brother and Sister are very much the same...

The schematic came yesterday for the amp and funny that the Viscount and the Buckingham is the same amp but in different cabinets.

The Viscount  and the Buckingham Reading about these two have one difference and that the e-tune was stock on the buckingham and only came on the V1154. Mine does not have this. One of the other things I would love to do is to put a grounded plug on this amp. 

One of the things that burns me up is that it is a made on a flake board construction and I HATE flake board. I have been watching videos for making finger joints for the corners.

This was great to see but just need to start working on this bad boy

Besides the kinds of joints I would love to construct in the building process I have other  concerns. So if I do the woodgrain I was thinking of a light tone so when I apply the black hardware it will have a wonderful contrast look. I will use the original handles and buy black Metal corner protectors like these.

The original corner pieces were plastic  and yes I have to change them with these

The handles are like this but since everything is going to be renovated the tarnished brass or if they are brass will be made black or cleaned up and sprayed with clear coat to make them shine for the rest of my life.

The handles are pretty cool they have the VOX logo on them

Now the other dilemma is the speaker grill what do I do there? Do I go with VOX or do I make it one of these...

 I love the look of these 

There are many areas where I have to decide what I am doing and once I do, I will have my path... Happy Palm Sunday! God Bless!

First cut is the deepest...

Choosing the correct direction for this project is very difficult committing to building either a custom or renovation to a fully stock box is my dilemma. Well last night I bought the circuit schematics for this vintage solid state amp. Yes!  I said solid state this is the first of the solid state amps in production.

From the VOX Showcase website:

Designing the Solid-State Circuit Thomas Organ developed a few all tube Vox models for the US and Canadian markets, but Thomas felt that the future of guitar amplification was in transistorization. To that end, Thomas Organ hired a brilliant solid state electronics engineer, Sava Jacobsen, to analyze "what made a Vox sound amp like a Vox amp" and then create solid state circuits that could recreate Vox tone.

Jacobsen started his tone analysis with the AC-30. After his tone analysis was completed, Jacobsen developed a modular three channel solid state preamp for his new Thomas Organ AC-30 clone. This new preamp section included tremolo, reverb, a top boost switch and an MRB (mid range boost) circuit. Jacobsen also developed a 35 watt modular solid state power amp to interconnect with the new preamp. The resultant amp was the Thomas Organ answer to the AC-30TB, the Vox Viscount.

Jacobsen aware that the maximum audio output of the Beatles' Vox AC-30 amplifiers had become no match to the level of their screaming fans. In response, JMI started development of  the flagship solid-state Vox was produced by Thomas Organ in the US from 1966 through 1970.

The Viscount, The Royal Guardsman and The Super Beatles all had the same control panel layout and effects features. The lead channel (channel one) had reverb, tremelo, and fuzz effects. The mid or (channel two) had MRB (mid range boost- positions one two and three), Reverb, tremelo but no fuzz.

Over the Viscount, Vox and Fender crossed paths over a new line of solid state amps and in 1964 the project was dumped since Leo Fender sold the company to CBS and the new owner just wanted to keep the technology as is.

This is the amp in its Original State from Vox It is 1967 V1153

Well this week I buy a plug and some compressed air to blow out the dust and dirt from the electronic components. Then I will plug in my Les Paul and clean the pots of the amp and see what this amp can do. I have been holding off to before I tried this because any dirt in the pots need to be cleaned and I just want to get a vacuum inside there to suck up all the dust and age old crap from the Fillmore East and my uncle Chicks basement in Woodside, New York.

This would be great, if I fix the plug and there is nothing wrong with electronics I would welcome this... I can just picture it: and here is the video...

This is a 1966 Viscount  similar to mine maybe even a 

V1153 which came out in 1966 The V1153 is a preferred 

model as the later models were loaded up with gimmicky 

features that were often problematic.

I have a great friend who said he would give me a hand so I purchased the schematic which I am sure will look similar to this:

This is for the later model VOX Viscount V1154

I have this choice to make on what direction I need to go, but until I can focus upon this project with my dogs determination to finish it, I am stuck with this RAT.

My amp in its current state

Here we see a familiar face to this 1967 Advertisement  for VOX amps...

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog... 

Too many paths but only one way to go...

When it comes to such a project the hardest thing is to find out what your direction is. I keep vacillating between just fixing the bottom board and re-tolexing the whole thing or build a new cabinet and have some fun with the wood grain and make it look like a piece of furniture.  If I spend the money on the wood I commit myself to building a custom Vox Amp one that George Harrison would of loved to have. Then I could make it totally all original and can get about $1500.00 for it if I sell it. If I do the work why would I want to sell it it will be something no one has. This is the first drawing I have done in many many months since my life got so busy. I find myself writing to you all and sometimes it just takes the whole weekend to finish what I just have to say. In this drawing I have mapped out the raw parameters and the dimensions of what I want to do.

 Please note when you click on this file I have attached questions for myself.

I am just so on the fence with what I want to do I feel as if a choice like marriage I feel she is a keeper and it is louder then a AC30 and neck and neck with a Fender Twin Reverb. I would never need to buy a half stack Marshall. These are the amps the Beatles used on Revolver LP and earlier. They may be solid state but they are the best since Fender and VOX worked on them.

This is a photo of who? I don't know, but look at all the Vox amps...

I hate indecision and what I hate more then indecision is me feeling this way. I just need to finish my studio and workshop and then I can take sometime to do something each weekend that will not kill me or break the bank.

This is one direction

the other

Things that make me go hmmm...

Yes there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run...

Stairway to heaven lyrics fit the bill for this tonight... Hey all welcome back to my thoughts on this project. Now I have two directions I can go, I can fix the wood at the bottom and the sides to re-tolex the cabinet and make it original but then I have to spend $250.00 for the trollies which angle the amp. or go totally custom and make a new cabinet and make it a high gloss wood grain with a Black speaker grill… just food for thought for this evening. Tell me what your thought are.

I like the medium color  of these two but I am not sure how much I really like it...

Oak cabinets would be a bit heavy like what I have now ... choices are good to have.

I have to copy the amp  but would love to make finger joints for the sides to give that pro look.

these last three is really where I would like to take it...

And here she is in her former glory

Thanks for reading... God Bless!

-Peter