Nobody goes this in depth on the analysis of the band! Thanks for the attention to detail!

Wow.. this guy goes WAAAAY back. Great work brother!

Brian May likes this.

Interesting side note: when The Beatles were playing a show for Swedish radio during their 1963 tour, the Vox amps hadn't arrived so they borrowed Fender amps from the other band playing the show

Greatest band to ever walk the earth... the Beatles got me writing and loving music and Hendrix got me loving guitar and poetry.

My favorite was the AC100 used in 64-65 period. "I Feel Fine" "Ticket to Ride" "Day Tripper"...just great sounds.

The 100W Vox head Paul used (mentioned at 21 minutes) ended up in a recording studio called Fairview in Hull, East Yorkshire. I used it on a session my band was doing there, lovely sound & tone with my '78 Precision.

Thank you for the most comprehensive history of the Beatles amplification that I’ve seen anywhere, with the bonus of having so many historical photos. I own the “Beatles Gear” book, but this video covers all of the amplifier material in a much more pleasant format that I can listen to driving in the car or through headphones while I’m babysitting the kids. I sincerely appreciate the amount of work that you put into the details and accuracy and I watch and listen to this over and over and always pick up new information. Thank you for the kind of content that makes KZfaq worth watching.

I remember back in the 60's when the Beatles hit the USA, I was bass player in our band & I went out & bought a VOX bass amp ( I forget model), I think it had 2 10" speakers, and a Hofner bass. I liked the Hofner cause it was smaller & lighter than a Fender. Plus Paul used one....

A very interesting and detailed account of the Beatles amps. I too had a VOX AC30 when I played lead guitar in a semi pro SE London band from 1964 to 1967. The top boost (brilliant) channel was incredible! The best sound ever. In 1968 I joined another band but moved over to bass. The worst thing I ever did was to put my AC30 in part exchange for a Vox T60 bass amp. I agree 100% with all the comments in the video. The amp was forever blowing up the OC28 germanium power transistors. I worked as an electronics technician so I did the repairs myself, but it was almost a monthly task! By 1972 I'd had a gut full of the T60! It had a crappy sound also, so I 'reversed engineered' our lead guitarist's 100W Marshall head and built my own version. I did it for £25 would you belief only having to buy the 4 x EL34 power valves and getting the mains and speaker transformers wound. I keep the T60 speaker cabinet, removed the 12" speaker and managed to fit another 15" speaker into it. So 2x 15" and with the home built Marshall 100W head it sounded great. Around 1980 I thought my playing days were over and sold the amp and cab for £150. Also my Fender 1972 P bass for the same price.... Another big mistake! Some 20 years later (in 1998) I joined another band, so had to re-equip myself! I got a secondhand (1980) Marshall SB 100 head with a Marshall 2 x12" bass reflex cabinet which I still use to this day and never had a problem with it.

Wow, I thought I saw all the photos of The Beatles and 90% of the photos here I've never seen! I really appreciate the time it took for this amp documentary! Bravo!

I always wondered whatever happened to the Fender Twins that George and John had while recording Let It Be. I’d kill to have one of those today.

Thanks for bringing back some great memories. I worked at Brian Kelly's repair shop on Stuart Rd. Waterloo, Liverpool in the 60s. The shop was called Alpha Sound Services and we used to service all the gear from whichever bands were either local or in town for a gig. Most bands (groups) were appearing at Allinsons Theatre Club in Litherland and Brian Kelly Also ran the Litherland town hall dance club where he would book The Quarrymen, Gerry and sometimes Beryl Marsden, The Merseybeats, Billy J Cramer and ocationally an "out of town" act. Several would be on the same bill for 10 shillings entrance fee. Most amps were single end record player types (EZ Rectifier) with one ECL 84 Triode Pentode (pre-amp and main am in one envelope). Later Guitar amps used ECC 83s as Phase splitters and 2x EL84s as a push pull output stage and then remarried the top and bottom halves through the output transformers. Power output increased later on using EL34s as output with a 400v DC HT line and a negative 32v feedback circuit. I remember repairing amps with CREAM stenciled on them but I was so into The Beatles that I did not realise who's amps they were until I moved to the states and was told by my American Wife. I still have lots of great stories of those times and Marshall Ams.

That elusive sound, with a permanent sunday feeling, eternal childhood/christmas vibe, finally explained, thank you.

Some Beatles historians have suggested why the Beatles didn't use the new Marshall sound system for their concerts in 1966. The Who were using that sound system at the time while later in the year both Cream and Jimi Hendrix were to use it well. Though probably the reason was that the Beatles were fed up with touring and the screaming girls in 1966 that improving their concert sound was a low priority by then.

I was playing in a band in Hereford England in 1965-1966. Our lead guitar player Alan who was about 5' 6" turned up with an AC100 for a practice session. I recall that jokingly we asked him how he was going to move this monster around on his own without a hoist. It was pretty spectacular back then, not least its great sound and volume but the chrome stand was something else. I recall we played one night in London at the famed 2 eyes coffee bar and had to haul this monster down tight stairs to a basement. Great days.

Amazingly informative video that must have taken hours of hard work to research and compile all the information, but I dare bet that non of The Beatles had any idea what valves or indeed anything about the amplification they used.....they just wrote and played their amazing music for us all. Congratulations on this awesome historic video.

Fascinating. I almost fell out of my chair when I heard Brian Epstein asked for 25% but Brian got stuff done and made himself worth it.

My very first amp was the VOX Super Beatle V11 41 (with the distortion effect) shown at the 28 minute mark along with the chrome swivel stand. Bought it in 1976 for $300 out of the back storage room of a local guitar shop where it had been collecting dust. I hauled that thing around the country with me for 42 years until a basement flood finally delivered its final blow (sigh).

The early Vox AC30 was just 2 AC15's in the same cabinet, each feeding one of the speakers. That means it was effectively a 2x15watt stereo amp.

It was around 1968 I was given a blown T60 solid state head and a destroyed matching bass cabinet (black vynyl with brown torn speaker cloth) ... I sent the speakers away and had them re-coned and distinctly remember that they were a 12 inch and a 15 inch speaker ... it stuck in my mind that was an odd design for two different speakers to be working along side each other. The T60 head was a lost cause and kept failing under pressure, so I switched to a 100 watt all tube Selmer bass amp which was housed in an all steel cabinet shell.

Outstanding! You could have almost named this video; 'really, really rare photos of the Beatles'

I appreciate how he includes the valves used, speaker brand and type, as extant amps may not be so configured.

My dad bought me a used Super Beatle in 1969. It blew up in a dramatic shower of electronic fireworks after a few hours use. I traded it for a white sparkle Kustom 100. I wish I still had both of them.

I'm glad this video was made. As a Beatles aficionado and owner of some of these amps, I was impressed that the Vox Foundation was mentioned. This bass amp was used by PMC for a short time but is usually overlooked in any type of retrospective. Great job! Thank you.

Excellent! I love it that the guys went to somewhat bigger amps to cut through the screaming. Great video.

Wow! So much more technical information than I had expected. I really appreciate that the research was done to determine exactly what kind of tubes were used in the pre and power amp stages of each amplifier. Very interesting! Thank you!

I am watching this again - what a labour of love this video is ! Typical of The Guitar Show !!!

Seeing those lovely old units reminded me I need to buy more De-Oxit. 😸

what a great video... I love that there was this "vague" era of amplification where there wasn't much difference between vocal PA and guitar amplifiers. It was simply, "how can we amplify the band?". How magical. (edit: I recently just started looking for an all tube, hi powered amp... and I was so surprised to learn that you can play guitar through pretty much any amp, even fender PA amps. An Ampeg SVT although meant for bass, plenty of guitars have gone through them. I guess that's what the early days were like... an amp is an amp is an amp).

We were Canadian Beatle fans. Had a folk band, not quite up to the Beatles stature, but were trying. We though Vox was the key to our success . Our lead guitar had a Super Beatle amplifier with wawa pedal, I had a Vox Jaguar organ, and our drummer had a Ludwig kit with Weather King skins. We also had the smaller Essex Base and the Vox PA system with Ampeg Amp. We had done a good job at convincing Detroits Capital records affiliate that we had talent, but it just wasn't true. We were once told we had one song that stood out.... but it was "I am a rock", by Simon and Garfunkel. We even tried having jackets made out of Vox cloth... no success. Loved the Beatles, sad that we never made it. Met lots of bands that went on to fame, but not us. Great times, great video!

This is the best in depth detailed cover of the Beatles amps ever made! Great job. Love it.

So interesting and filled with wonderful details. Terrific!

Thanks Ramon! A lot of hard work went into this!

Brings back memories of the last band I was in. Had 2 Super Beatles, a Buckingham and a Fender Bassman.

very thorough job ramon....as always.....but i really enjoyed this.....thanks for all the work.... vox really knew how to keep a customer happy in those days

Very engaging! Amps could really define a band, as we all found out in the years that followed.

My first amp was an ELPICO which gave a very clean sound..The next was a Selmer grey amp with 2 chyannels and 4 inputs.This was also a clean sweet amp but with not much "bite"I think I had a vox transister amp next with more bite but not a sweet sound'One day in 1968 I discovered the FEnder Super Reverb,and I immediately "found my sound" A great clean amp but with bite.I had the very best complete rhythm sound via a Gibson 330 guitar. We had two guitars and I was rhythm bass and harmony.the settings were as follows. Rhythm channel Volume 4, treble 8, bass(very critical) around 4.Too little =no bass,too much=booming.All due to 4 10inch speakers giving a good bass bottom.treble boost switch ON .Guitar neck pickup volume 8, tone around 4 (may have been other way round?) Folk would not believe I had no bass player.We used to have 1500 ballroom dancers in great room of grosvenor house hotel Parl Lane London dancing to just my rhythm guitar,two mikes voices into Carlsbro PA 60 watt no monitors.How times have changed !

The amp I always loved best was the Vibrolux with the twin 10 speakers. Cranked up, the tone was awesome but I little under powered for live work. I traded this up in 1971 for the twin reverb. I still have it but by the time I was 27, I was told by the quacks I had hearing loss and gave music away. Not long ago, my son started playing, so we resurrected the old amp after it blew up turning it on, putting in matching valves, a transformer an several new capacitors. Even with Standard Fender speakers, it still has an amazing tone.

Really like the series

So guitar amplification grew with "The Beatles". What else did they influence and inspirate about which we don't yet know? What a gig, though: struggling at the beginning, having to "nick" an amplifier, struggle to afford guitars -- to biggest band in the world, and all the amplifiers and guitars one could want for FREE!

the fotos of the very early pre beatles bands are very interesting.....you can actually sense and feel the talent and determination of John, Paul and George to play "their" music...it will be a long time yet for talents like that to be seen or heard again.....and all that with bare minimum of "equipment"......:-)

I've owned and played darn near every Fender amp since 1960. We all started small in the early '60s, and built up to the Showman amps. I still have (and play)my 1966 Bandmaster. I dreamed about but never acquired any Vox amp. I only wanted one because I would see a wall of Vox amps on the stage whenever any British group (Beatles, Stones, DC5, Hermans Hermits, Clapton, Yardbirds) play on stage or on TV in the USA! I always wondered how they managed our 120 volt power outlets in the USA when all those British VOX amps required 220 volts, 50 Hz power? None of my amps had an option switch on the back! In those days, the BAND provided all the sound for instruments, the 'house' generally provided mikes and house PA speakers for the vocals! Hence, we all learned to set up monitor speakers facing the band at our feet so we could hear what the audience was hearing as we sang! These days... I see guitar players showing up all around Las Vegas venues with NO AMP at all! They may have a foot-pedal set-up, but expect to plug into some house provided amplification system, along with mikes for vocals. At best these days, about all you'll see on stage for live performances are some very small (i call them Practice) amps. A tiny Fender 10-15 watt amp (I have a "Frontman 15R" Fender amp) and we hope they will put a microphone in front of it and feed it to the sound man in the back of the room and he'll put it on the big house speakers with the vocals! Its a crazy world of guitars and amps these days, especially if you are in the live show business.

Obviously a labor of love. It shows! Thank you Sir!

So amazing how things were in the old days, great video! Really enjoyed it :-)

I dug the pic of young Mal Evans and the screen time he held, it wasn't lost on me.

Young people watching this don't realize the money involved, or how puny/strong the amps were. Today, a practice amp that will fit under one arm has more than 10-watts. But, then no one had heard anything louder. My setup c. 1969 was top-of-the-line; a Fender Super-Reverb Amp with an absolutely fantastic 40-watts. Forget what I paid for it, probably because I don't want to remember --- it was a fortune. A new Telecaster I couldn't afford ($150 new) so I got a used sunburst finished one for $75. It was made about 1958 (I have no recollection of anyone referencing guitars by year then). Added a FuzzFace and CryBaby pedals and I could cover Iron Butterfly all day. Something I never see mentioned these days is that every electric guitar I ever laid eyes on then used flatwound strings to avoid the creak when sliding or bending. Nowadays string noise is and has been part of the desired sound.

Wow! That is a lot of very interesting details. Cheers from Las Vegas.

@The Guitar Show , excellent technical research work on your part. I'm sure McCartney and Starr, still today, would commend your great historical documentation here. It would be interesting and entertaining to hear them interviewed today, as inspired by this excellent video that you have produced. Thanks so much for this.

Brilliant research! Thanks from California US of A. The AC30 is a beast of power. I can't imagine the Beatles live in the Cavern. It must have been very loud! I own an AC15C1 and it sounds terrific. Beatles and Fender! OMG! Its a creamier sound overall, no mids.

It's history and yet still refreshing to watch and learn something from it. Great job!

That was really interesting - the info on the amps and the photos, most of which I have never seen, made this quite enjoyable for this Beatle fan.

Great video. Very well researched, good details and very well sourced photos.

Watched it Monday early morning made my day ! Thank you

I got a real education here, lots of old questions finally answered. Enjoyed this video thoroughly! Great job!

Excellent video Ramon!! i can tell you put a lot of work into making these videos, which is very much appreciated. cheers

incredibly accurate, detailed, historic accounting of the world’s Greatest band, The Beatles’ equipment.

Well done, Ramon, well done. Most enjoyable. Bravo.

Wow. How interesting. You are a wonderful documentation. Thanx, sonny

Brilliant info for us Beatles fans...Well documented and put together vid...Thank you

My Vox AC30 was made, as far as I can establish, in about November of 1963. Makes you wonder who first owned it.

What an awesome 😎 video/doc/rockumentary about The Beatles amps. Meticulously researched, superbly narrated - full to the brim with facts, specs, statistics and miscellaneous titbits. Lordy !! I’m in my element hearing these facts. Thank you 🙏 for putting together this great series. Please keep doing them ?!? They’re so interesting. Cheers 🥂. Rx Ps- incidentally I’ve had a Jennings Vox AC/30 that was built in 1962 - I bought it in 1985 and it’s still ‘the’ best guitar 🎸 amp I’ve ever heard in my life. Still own it but it hasn’t worked in a while as the valves are shot due to masses of gigs as it was my main amp on the road. It is gorgeous and to me priceless. No amp gets near it in pure quality of sound. The louder it is - the better the sound. Most amps tbf go the opposite way. Turn em up and they go all muddy and horribly toppy - take the top of your head off. But not this baby ! Warm glassy tones to die for - and overdrive that just sings back at you in just the most aesthetic way imaginable. Anyway - that’s me - I’ve been bangin on for ages so wishing you all a merry day and all the best for the future. Xx 💋

I had access to a Vox Super Beatle back in the seventies that had a foot switch, w reverb, distortion, +others! I loved it!

I was in a band and we played around quite a bit. I really loved the sound of our lead guitar players Fender Jaguar thru the Vox Super Beatle amp. But in the year we owned it, we never got to use it in a show. Two practice sessions and it quit. It would spend months in Calif and we get it back and there it goes again. After a year we traded it on a Fender Dual Showman. It worked for years. But I still liked the Vox sound.

Terrific research and detail presentation. Thanks, Ramon!

Very in depth history here. Thanks. Was told a few years ago the outro to Birthday was Paul switching the top boost circuit off and on while the note decayed. Great tone on that track, what ever was used.

You have quite handedly preserved an important history .. You are loved and remembered in my books as well as everyone who knows to remember details !!

Great research and brings back many teenage passions at the time great rare pics too brilliant stuff

Thanks I have been waiting for this video for a long time great job

Many of the stills in this video are quite interesting.

I remember Battles of the Bands in the high school gym late sixties when a combo would have no PA, maybe two amps total, and the singer would have his mike in a spare channel on a guitar amp. As long as you could hear everything nobody complained.

Well done on this vlog! I salute your attention to detail and content!

I love the leather jackets and leather pants. I can only imagine how loud a quiet ride in the car must have been. The deafening silence of sweaty stinky creaking leather

The last amplifiers used by The Beatles were proudly made in my hometown of Fullerton, California USA, by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, along with the famous electric guitars Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster.

My brother had a Vox Buckingham. It was so powerful compared to what we'd been using it scared the hell out of me. I could still remember how it smelled when I powered it up.

What an informative and entertaining presentation!

Vox Super Beatle: beautiful amp!!

Great compilation. Some of those amps (e.g. Sgt. Pepper era) must have sounded dreadful in isolation but all play a crucial part in the Beatles story.

I’ve only recently started geeking out on guitar and music gear history and this video (and your entire channel) is amazingly detailed and informative. Thanks for your hard work! Immediately hit that subscribe button.

Thank you for your unique perspective on the history of the Beatles. I thought I had seen it all but was so surprised by your early photos of the pre Beatles. I loved looking at this thru the detached lens of specs rather than the standard story we have come to know. Thanks very much.

This appeared on my feed so I watched and enjoyed... but then found that this channel has other fascinating videos. Peter green, Danny Kirwan... darn! Now I have lot’s of catching up to do! (Love what I’ve seen so far).

You deserve more views for this...

Man!! Super precise and informative I didn't realize honestly what most of the VOX amps even were until I watched , they basically create the half stack for the Beatles that's nuts , but I can see why they would go with the twins in the end, it's insane to me that the rooftop was the last time they ever played live like ever ... Love the Beatles

Beatles gear book is an awesome reference too , thank you for the video. Top notch

Thank you!!

Brilliant unfussy delivery of material assembled with real scholarly finesse. The slow montage of stills illustrating the gear would be interesting in itself but you’ve added so many valuable insights and much obscure historical information. It would be good to know what Harrison, McCartney and Lennon thought of their solid state alternatives to valves. These videos are a genuine contribution to knowledge and took great skill and hard work to put together. Thank you. It’s all the better to praise them knowing you are a superb guitar player.

Fantastic video!!! Great back story on the tech behind the Beatles sound. Thank you!!!

My Friend Ramon...l have watched your show w Admiration and glee .. but this is my Favorite !!! w the exception of the one done on the steps of E M I ...that is also w o compare. Keep up the Good Works and My Best to you and all concerned. BEATLES FOREVER !!!!!!!

19:00 New year's eve - Finsbury Park Astoria - I was there (with the guys from my band!) We were in the first row of the balcony, and had been able to hearBily J Ktamer, cilla Black and the her backing band (??) and other acts but when the Beatles went on . nothing - just screaming. I didn't enjoy it ! Some time later ('73?) I was dragged by friends to the same venue to see ELO. That was the night that started my hearing loss! Appallingly loud - ten years between the two gigs.

Hey Ramon! That wuz really cool... I can imagine how dismal those solid state amps sounded next to AC30's... The AC30's w/ the Top Boost mounted on the back (?) ...I bet those were amazing. Thanx so much. Been trying to get me playing up to speed when using an amp w/ no natural compression... this is a real challenge (Egnater Rebel 20) cheers

The sax player in one of my bands played through a Vox super beatle being fed by an Echoplex. It was a huge sound! He carried it around in the trunk of a jet black Cadillac Sedan DeVille.

excellent documentary! Job well done!

Paul’s Rickenbacker was an RM1999, even though it was given to him by Mr. Hall. It was the export model. There was no model 4001S on US price lists, and the only model that matched that not deluxe trim (no binding, dot inlays) was the single pickup 4000.

I wonder whatever happened to all these amps and also with all the complicated deals that occurred during the early days who actually really owned them. The guitars crop up at auctions or family members find one so would it be a similar outcome with the amps. Excellent and informative thank you for the time and energy spent on this I’ve subscribed.

In 1965, I purchased a Vox Essex Bass amp. The fact that I had a Vox amp actually got me my first paying gig in a local band Kalamazoo MI band. It was terribly under powered, but looked great on stage & gave the band "street cred". At that time, no other local band had a Vox in their inventory, however the Fender Bassman amp was a much better piece of equipment. Even when I left the band in 1966, the band wanted to buy it from me. The Super Beatle amp was a primo piece of equipment for Rhythm & Lead guitars & any band using a Super Beatle was considered a top group at that time (1965-67).

Very nice, detailed and really informational. Must have taken some time to research all this.

I’m a Beatles gear nut and you got all the details. Nice job. Good picture choices too

Love my AC 15 and AC 30

Excellent! Top marks for full Nerd-Out - proud of you!

On the '66 tour, one of the members of the supporting acts commented the Thomas Organ (U.S. VOX) Super Beatle units were very loud, but quite temperimental units as stuff was always going wrong with them. An example is when The Who were using these units at the Monterey Pop Festival, where you can hear the problems with them.