Vox Essex bass amp? Anyone got one to take some pictures??

[R.G.]

I'm working on a Repair Supplement to the Vox Owner's Safety Net manual for the Essex line of Thomas Vox amps. I have the original repair guides from Thomas, but the preamp was constructed on tag board and I don't have pictures of that. I've scoured central Texas, and can't find one either. Could I prevail on an Essex owner to take a few pictures inside the amp?

[Leo_Gnardo]

RG! Your lucky day, maybe. Took a snap for you inside an Essex abandoned here years ago. Gnarly hand built on tag strips all right. Let me know if you need any detail shots. This came out unexpectedly well, hope it helps.

[Tassieviking]

I would love to see the schematic for that one, just don't ask me to trace it.
I wonder how much planning went into that layout to make it that neat and tidy.

[loudthud]

Wasn't there a Heathkit version of that amp ?

Vox/Thomas Service Manual: (Hope this link works)
https://music-electronics-forum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=44358

[R.G.]

Wow Leo! My lucky day indeed! Thank you.
Would you prefer to be credited by your group handle, actual name, or not at all? (I've run into some people who want to remain anonymous)

@TassieViking: As L.T. mentions, it's in the Thomas Organ service literature. I can post it here if the link doesn't work.
@ L.T.: the link doesn't work for me. None of the links to attachments or schematics work for me, for some reason.

Edit: that picture is of the bottom of the control panel for an Essex V1042 or V1043. The V104 had only a one-transistor "preamp". The V1041 adds a two-transistor limiter. The V1042 and V1043 have the two-transistor Tone-X switching circuit shown on the bottom tag strip. It got gnarly by accretion, like a coral reef - they just kept adding on more tagstrip stuff to make new models. If it had a tuner module on the cabinet back panel, it's a V1043, the last one in the series.

[Mick Bailey]

That's an impressively clean amp. The unsupported inductor hanging on by its leads looks interesting.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Wow Leo! My lucky day indeed! Thank you.
Would you prefer to be credited by your group handle, actual name, or not at all?

MY lucky day, the day I can do something for the Notorious R.G. Wow, I get a photo credit? Leo Gnardo will do just fine, much obliged!

How about the power amp inside? I'm muddling thru a project at the moment (rebuilding a Marantz 15 hi fi amp, slow slow going) but if you need the power amp photo let me know, I'll get to it later on.

[g1]

Wasn't there a Heathkit version of that amp ?

Vox/Thomas Service Manual: (Hope this link works)
https://music-electronics-forum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=44358

That one didn't work, but this links to what should be the same Essex svce. manual: https://music-electronics-forum.com/...chmentid=44358

[R.G.]

MY lucky day, the day I can do something for the Notorious R.G. Wow, I get a photo credit? Leo Gnardo will do just fine, much obliged!
/QUOTE]
Absolutely you get photo credit. BOTH people who eventually buy a copy will see it.
Oh, wait. All three people. PM me your address and I'll send you a copy when it gets put up for publishing.

/QUOTE]
How about the power amp inside? I'm muddling thru a project at the moment (rebuilding a Marantz 15 hi fi amp, slow slow going) but if you need the power amp photo let me know, I'll get to it later on.

If you feel inclined, sure, I'd love it. I have a photo of the power supply/amp chassis inside the cabinet, but if you feel like opening it up and snapping some shots inside it, that would be a very thick layer of icing on the cake. And it's also OK if you don't feel inclined now or in the future.

Near as I can tell, the power supply and power amplifier chassis was re-used from a previous Thomas Organ organ. If the factory service lit can be believed, only about half the PCB is populated, that being just the power amp circuits. As expensive as PCBs were in the early 1960s, I can't feature Thomas making a new PCB for the Essex, and making it 2X too big, as well as empty.