What a mess!

[Ethan]

I just got a reverb tank for my '65 Vox Cambridge Reverb (finally!). While I was installing it, I figured I'd have a peek inside as I've had it for a year or so but never opened it up.

Yuk! I can't believe the lead dress in this amp! It's a completely hideous mess. The guys at Thomas Organ must have been really drunk. I'd try to draw a layout for myself, but I think I'd go crosseyed.
Amazing thing is, it sounds fine. In fact, it sounds great. Very little noise and stable as a rock. Is sloppy lead dress a typical trait of Thomas Organ Voxes, or was mine just made late on a Friday afternoon? Anybody have much experience with these?

Also, anybody know a good source for a replacement back panel?

Peace-
Ethan

[Ballz]

Ethan - the proper place (apart from here, of course ) to ask these questions is probably the Plexi Palace VOX forum. Check out
http://www.vintageamps.com/PlexiPalaceU ... =forum;f=2
Collectors and Vox wizards / repair guys hang out there, so your chances are good.

Cheers /Richard

[zaphod_phil]

I've seen the guts of some vintage AC30s which IMO were simply disgusting! P2P wired, but extremely messy. I don't know if they were all made like that or not. However, I would guess that what looked a mess to me was a proven layout that Vox's assemblers knew and could build perfectly every time...

[Ethan]

Phil,
Disgusting... That's a perfect word. No other word works quite as well in this application.
It sounds really good, though, so I'm not changing a bloody thing! Original caps, completely untouched in 40 years as far as I can tell (although it's clearly seen a lot of gigs) and it's still quiet as a mouse and sounds really great. I would never have thought it possible.
They look like the original tubes, too!
Just goes to show that amps, too, can be really ugly but have a great personality!

Ethan

[Plexi]

Look in there SS amps..those are a huge nightmare for working on..

Richie