'''Vox''' è una marca storica di amplificatori per strumenti musicali, chitarre elettriche, effetti a pedale e accessori. Insieme a Marshall e amplificatori per chitarra elettrica.

==Storia==
La '''Vox''', inizialmente nota come ''Jennings Organ Company'' e successivamente come ''Jennings Musical Instruments'', fu fondata verso la fine degli anni cinquanta da Tom Jennings e chitarre elettriche e amplificatori per chitarre elettriche.

Gli amplificatori a valvole anni sessanta da gruppi come gli Shadows i Beatles e i Rolling Stones. Gli AC30 di quel periodo sono diventati veri e propri pezzi da collezione. 

La Vox si è cimentata anche nella produzione di chitarre elettriche e bassi elettrici, collaborando negli anni sessanta anche con l'italiana Eko. Molto famosi sono anche gli effetti a pedale e soprattutto i pedali wah-wah.

La notorietà della Vox è data inoltre dalla produzione di organi elettronici portatili a transitors, in particolare il primo e più celebre modello è il Continental. Nato in origine come prima alternativa portatile e leggera rispetto agli organi Hammond, ha dato il via alla proliferazione di un'intera generazione di organi elettronici portatili "combo", adottati negli anni'60 in moltissimi gruppi rock e beat. Fra i gruppi più rappresentativi che ne hanno fatto largo impiego sono gli Animals ed i Doors. 

'''Vox''' is a musical equipment manufacturer which is most famous for making the guitar amplifier,  the Vox electric organ, and a series of innovative but commercially unsuccessful electric guitars and bass guitars. Founded in Kent, England, Vox is owned by the Japanese electronics firm Korg since 1992.

==History==
=== Beginnings ===
The Jennings Organ Company was founded by Thomas Walter Jennings in Dartford Kent, England after World War II.  Jennings' first successful product was the Univox, an early self-powered electronic keyboard similar to the Clavioline. 

In 1956 Jennings was shown a prototype guitar amplifier made by Dick Denney, a big band guitarist and an old workmate from The Shadows and other British rock 'n' roll musicians.

thumb|right|200px|The Edge's [[Vox AC30|AC30 amplifier visible during a 2005 U2 concert]]

=== The AC30 ===

In 1959, with sales under pressure from the more powerful Fender Twin and from The Shadows, who requested amplifiers with more power, Vox produced what was essentially a double-powered AC15 and named it the AC30. The AC30, fitted with alnico magnet-equipped Queen (who is well known for having a wall of AC30s on stage), Paul Weller of The Edge of Crystal by New Order.

===Other Amplifiers===
Once The Beatles became tied to Vox amplifiers (a deal was struck early in their recording career whereby they would be provided Vox equipment for exclusive stage use), the quest for more power began. John Lennon's first Vox was a fawn-colored twin-speaker AC15, while George Harrison's was a fawn AC30 with a top boost unit installed in the rear panel.  They were later provided with twin black-covered AC30s with the rear panel top boost units.  Paul McCartney was provided with one of the first transistorized amplifiers, the infamous T60, which had an unnerving tendency to overheat and smoke out.  McCartney's was no exception, so he was then provided with an AC30 head which powered the T60's separate speaker cabinet.  As the crowds at Beatles shows got louder, they needed louder amps to keep up. Jennings provided Lennon and Harrison with the first AC50 piggyback units, and McCartney's AC30/T60 rig was replaced with an AC100 head and a 2x15" cabinet. Lennon and Harrison eventually got their own AC100 rigs, with 4x12"/2-horn configurations.  From 1963 through 1966, The Beatles had several prototype or specially-built Vox amplifiers, including hybrid tube/solid-state units from the short-lived 4- and 7-series.  

In the early 1960’s the Brothers Grim became the first American group to be featured with Vox Amplifiers. Joe Banaron, CEO of Warwick Electronics Inc. / Thomas Organ, the United States distributor of Vox, along with Bernard Stockly (London) importer of Challenge pianos to the United States, arranged for the boys to have full use of the tall super AC 100 Vox amps (4 12’ speakers) which later became known as the “Super Beatle.”   This solid-state amp known as the "Super Beatle" was produced to cash in on the Beatles-Vox affiliation, but was not nearly as successful as the tube AC-30 and AC-15 models.  A modern popular rock artist known for use of the Super Beatle is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, although in the April 2008 issue of Premier Guitar, lead guitarist Mike Campbell revealed that the Super Beatle "backline" was, on their thirtieth anniversary tour at least, primarily used only as a stage prop, though Petty used his "on a couple of songs."  A photograph included in the article showed Campbell's actual guitar sound was coming from other amplifiers hidden behind the large Super Beatles, which Campbell stated were "a tweed Deluxe and a blackface Fender Princeton together behind the Super Beatle, and an isolated Vox AC30 that I have backstage in a box."

=== Instruments ===
==== Guitars ====
Vox's first electric guitars, the Clubman and Stroller were modeled after the Fender neck). It was followed a year later by the teardrop-shaped Mark VI, the prototype of which was made specifically for Brian Jones of Ultrasonic offering numerous built-in effects. Amongst many truly unique innovations were the Guitar Organ, which featured miniturized VOX organ circuitry activated by the contact of strings with fret contacts, producing organ tones in key with guitar chords. . This instrument was heavy and cumbersome with its steel neck and external circuit boxes,  and rarely worked correctly, but was certainly a hallmark of the ingenuity of this company. 

In the mid 1960s, as the sound of electric 12-string guitars became popular, Vox introduced the Phantom XII, which has been used by Tone Bender fuzzbox pedal, used by Jimmy Page of the Yardbirds, were also manufactured.

In 1982 production was moved to Japan, where the Standard & Custom 24 & 25 guitars were built by Matsumoku, the makers of Aria guitars. These are generally regarded as the best quality guitars ever built under the  Vox name. However they were discontinued in '85 when production was moved to Korea and they were replaced by the White Shadow models.

thumb|left|Vox's wah-wah pedals were used by [[psychedelic rock guitarists Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix; and also by hard rock guitarist Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.]]

==== Organs ====
The Vox brand was also applied to Jennings' electronic organs, most notably the Vox Continental of 1962, which was immortalized by Alan Price on the Animals' track "House of the Rising Sun", and later used by Paul Revere of Paul Revere & the Raiders, as well as Ray Manzarek on most songs recorded by The Doors. Doug Ingle of Iron Butterfly used it on "In A Gadda Da Vida" and other songs of the group. Mike Smith of The Dave Clark Five and Rod Argent of The Zombies were also made frequent use of the instrument.Peter Tork of the Monkees can be seen playing the unusual looking Vox organs several times during the Monkees TV series (1966-1968). In newer popular music, the organist Spider Webb of the UK garage band The Horrors can be seen using a Vox Continental. A famous Vox organ riff can be heard on "96 Tears" by Question Mark & the Mysterians.

The Continental and other Vox organs (such as the Jaguar and Continental II, Super Continental, and the Continental 300) share characteristic visual features including orange and black vinyl coverings, stands made of chromed steel tubing, and reversed black and white keys on the keyboards. The English wood key single manual continental (V301J) has become increasingly collectable, although the wood key American-built (V301H) and plastic key Italian-built models (V301E, V301E/2 and V302E) are also commanding premium prices. Jennings sold production rights for the Vox Continental organ to an Italian subsidiary of Thomas Organ in 1967. Under the new production agreement, the Continental was gradually and subtly altered in quality and sound, and reliability became questionable. For example, Rhodes Bass Piano, which was the bass instrument for The Doors in concert.

=== GuitarOrgan ===
In 1966, Vox introduced the revolutionary but problematic Rolling Stones also tried one; when asked by the Velvets if it "worked", his answer was negative. 