My newest UK Vox Continental

featureSometimes the third time is the charm.

In October 2018, I found a 1965 UK Continental for sale near me. It had some significant flaws: A host of small electronic issues.  The drawbars didn’t work properly and the markings were well-worn.  The lid was a bit stained and beaten up. The original Mains and Vibrato switches and the original power connector had been replaced.  The keyboard had a mushy feel to it.  But it had what a real estate agent would call “good bones.”  Most of the organ was in great – and original – condition.  By swapping the best parts I had gathered from two other ’65 UK Continentals I had owned, this one had the potential to be an amazingly original and good-looking Continental.

(Just for the record, I’ve not been tempting bad vintage keys karma by parting-out Vox organs.  In moving parts between organs, I’ve still left all of them fully functional.  And all three organs were ’65 models, made in the same plant in Dartford, Kent, so all the parts are the proper, original ones for each of the organs.)

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There was only one problem:  The owner was asking nearly $4,000 for it. But being an optimist,  I contacted him, and patiently explained that his price was far beyond the organ’s value.  (Especially since he needed to sell it quickly before moving across the country.) In the end, he sold it to me for a very fair price.

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First the good stuff:  It came with a shiny, original UK stand and an original UK stand case that was in pretty good shape.  You don’t see either of these very often.

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The gray cabinet had only minor bumps and bruises, rather than the usual large areas of ripped vinyl and bare wood.  The original audience-side Vox Continental badge looked almost like new.  This is very unusual. On the early UK models, the paint scratched off very easily from the plastic plates, so most of the surviving ones are missing most – and sometimes all – of the paint.  And in fact, many are completely gone:  Vox glued them to the Rexine vinyl, which resulted in many of them falling off over the years.  (On the US-built version of the Continental, the badge was secured with screws  along its perimeter. On many Italian models, the vinyl was typically cut away behind the badge so the plate could be more securely glued to the bare wood.)

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The keys were in great shape.  There were no broken key contacts. The power supply and the pre-amp had been re-built with new capacitors. And, for the compulsive collectors among us, it appeared that virtually all the screws were original, inside and out.  It even had the rarely seen black clips on the back of the orange lid to hold the screws that keep the lid on.

So, I got to work with the goal of making this organ as perfect as I could by substituting parts.  I installed a drawbar assembly to have one in better cosmetic shape.  I installed original Mains and Vibrato switches.  I removed the modern IEC power receptacle and replaced it with an original round Bulgin power connector and power cord.  I swapped pilot lamps to replace one that flickered with one that glowed steadily.  I swapped orange lids to use the better of the two.  I swapped all 12 of the tone generator boards, because I knew my “old” boards were stable and tuned well. I fixed a ground issue that was causing a hum with every note played.

drawbars

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One of the problems with these UK Continentals is that the keys often feel mushy, and can bounce after you play them. It feels like you can make them sound by barely touching them, which is annoying.  Here are a few tips to overcome this:

I swapped a few of the coil key springs at the end of the key sticks that looked a bit stretched out.  And then I removed the spring steel key return springs under the key contact assembly and bent them carefully (and slightly) to provide more tension. This made a major improvement in the keyboard feel, giving the keys slightly more resistance to being pushed down and made them spring back to the rest position with more speed and force. This helps quite a bit, but you do risk breaking the “fingers” if you’re not gentle.

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A couple of years later, my friend Nathan taught me an even better trick to allow you to regulate the feel of the keys.  The top of each of the coil key springs attaches to a little hole at the end of the key stick, and the bottom of the spring is hooked to a metal channel on a bracket. The bracket is held in place by about five screws.  The bracket has elliptical-shaped screw holes, so you have a bit of upward or downward adjustment you can make to the bracket. You can add tension by re-positioning the bracket downward, or reduce tension by moving it up. You may want to unhook all the springs from the channel before you re-position the bracket. This will make a significant difference in the feel of the keys. My keyboard now feels great!

The organ came with an original UK-style volume pedal, but I preferred the one I had with the other organ, so I swapped them, too.

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I polished the stand, all the little hardware pieces (latches, hinges and glides) and the control panel. Cleaned the Rexine.  Used grease pencils to restore the original look to the stamped Mains and Vibrato labels on the control panel and the numbers and symbols on the drawbar pulls. Vacuumed the inside of the organ. Scrubbed the leg case. Cleaned the keys.  Shined up all the vinyl with some 303 Marine Aerospace Protectant.  (I use this on all my amps and vinyl-covered keyboards.  It leaves a very slight shine and a UV-protective film – and isn’t greasy like ArmorAll.) And I carefully transplanted two souvenirs from the other UK organs:  Paper tags on the wiring loom with the first names of some of the women who painstakingly pieced together Vox looms, Rene and Carol. These women were all patients in Stone House, formerly known as the City Of London Lunatic Asylum, in Dartford, Kent. The facility had a contract for patients to assemble these for Vox. But then I dug deeper into my “new” organ and found another loom assembler’s name, Merilyn.

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This came from the wiring loom of a 1966 Vox Continental assembled in the Dartford, Kent factory More documentation that the wiring looms were assembled by the women of Stone House.
Okay, this is pretty geeky: I found a photo of an original Vox UK power cord and, after doing some shopping at an antique lamp supply website, I came up with this near-perfect replica. Hey, why not?

My organ was missing some of its original wingbolts, but my friend and Classic Keys co-author David Robertson created a set of chromed, replica wingbolts that are so beautifully crafted that they look like fine jewelry.  Thanks David!) 

An original Vox UK wingbolt (left) looks somewhat crude next to David’s beautifully crafted replica (right).

After owning the organ for nearly two years, I discovered a quirk I had not noticed before:  All of the footage drawbars played the same volume on the 5 setting as they did on 4, and the same volume on 8 as on 7.  (I guess I never noticed this, since the drawbars generally got louder as I pulled them out.)  Here was the trouble spot:  The circuit boards and resistor ladder (which provides progressively less resistance to the signal as the drawbars are pulled out).

 

This is the view you get under the drawbars by lifting the keybed.  The problem was that some of the number levels of the drawbars were shorted to each other. This can occur if a stray piece of solder bridges the levels. But in my case, apparently little bits of copper dust that wore from the traces on the boards caused a short between levels.  Cleaning each of the boards carefully and thoroughly with a pipe cleaner soaked in a little 99% isopropyl alcohol solved the issue, and the drawbars now work properly.

backside

Of course, a proper Vox Continental needs a Fender Rhodes Piano Bass. In this case, it’s my near-mint 1972 sparkle top. Light My Fire!

Here’s an oddity about a ’65 UK Continental: The top bars of the stand are too long to enable the transport lid to be used when the organ is on the stand. The latches don’t have enough clearance from the stand to be secured. So the lid can’t be used during assembly or dis-assembly of the stand. Vox solved this on later Continental models by shortening that top bar (and by cutting the bar ends at an angle slanting away from the latch on the Italian models).

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If you’re taking a Continental on the road, you surely need a vinyl cover to protect it from bumps and bruises.  Mine is in great shape:

The original UK slipcovers came in a wide variety of colors:  Black, red, gray, and beige. A friend — and fellow Vox Continental-aholic –had this handsome replica of an uncommon beige one made up for me:

 

And here’s the “case candy:”

 

The warranty envelope.

The Thomas Vox-style warranty card. Since Thomas was the US licensee and distributor of Vox products, it handled US warranty claims and repairs of these UK-made organs. The warranty covered “defects in workmanship and material arising from normal usage for a period of one year.”  Unfortunately, the warranty only obligated them to provide replacement parts. They didn’t have to cover labor for installation of the defective parts, and the owner even had to pay for shipping. So, they could have met the terms of the warranty by sending you, say, a bag full of transistors. (But most likely, they would have sent you a whole new board if you had a troublesome tone generator card or preamp board.)

The four-page owner’s manual. It was dated February, 1963, even though it was provided with 1965 organs. The photo on the front shows a “square top” model that Vox no longer made, with a Perspex music stand. Inside, there were a couple of references to that obsolete model. Rather than updating and reprinting the manual, Vox or Thomas assigned an employee to make corrections with a pen.  (I’ve seen three of these, and they all have pen corrections in the same spot, done in the distinctive handwriting of that employee.)

This little vinyl bag held the seven wing bolts used to assembly the chrome z-stand.

Now, everything works like new! It sounds great and plays wonderfully. It is virtually all original.  Cosmetically, it’s like most of the instruments in my collection:  At first glance, it looks like new, but there are a few minor blemishes that make it look like it was used lightly for a short period of time, and give it a little vintage authenticity. And it’s got that special vibe from being an original British model.

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All in all, it’s about as nice, original and complete a UK Continental as you’re likely to see these days. (And, no!  It’s not for sale!)

And, in case anyone is wondering, these are the three UK Continentals that donated parts to my “keeper Continental”  That’s the one on the right!

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Hear the sounds of a Vox Continental:

14 thoughts on “My newest UK Vox Continental

  1. Alan: on a British Connie 301J….where the 2 cross braces meet…what size wing bolt is needed? It’s not the same size as the other bolts? Also, replacement bolts will fit on any Connie?

    1. ALL the UK 301J wingbolts are 18G 5/16W bolts, which I believe is an obsolete thread measure used in the UK in the 1960s. But this semi-ugly US replacement will work: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-5-16-in-18-x-3-4-in-Zinc-Plated-Stamped-Steel-Wing-Screw-806928/204276140 That bolt will work for the center braces location, the two locations on each side of the organ and (if you have an original UK stand) the two threaded locations on the bottom of the legs.

      If you are using a US or Italian Z-stand with your 301J, they use 1/4″ bolts in the bottom of the legs. Like these: https://www.homedepot.com/p/1-4-in-20-x-3-4-in-Zinc-Plated-Stamped-Steel-Wing-Screw-806888/204276051?MERCH=REC-_-pipsem-_-204276140-_-204276051-_-N

      If you have a replica stand, the threading on the legs could be either measure.

      If you have original wing bolts from a US or Italian organ, you can swap the t-nuts inside the UK case to 1/4″ ones to change the threading. Doing that to the locations on the legs can be done, but not nearly as easily.

      Alan

      1. Thank You so much for your response and the info! It’s very much appreciated! I did not have any grey hair before I bought my Connie! 😝

  2. Hi mate, great job on your Connie. I’m after some wing bolts for mine. Could you help if at all possible?

    Thank you

    Ricky

    1. Thanks. (And sorry to be so slow to moderate your post.) Are you looking for original wing bolts (very hard to find) or functional replacements? The wing bolts are different dimensions on different Continentals. Was yours made in the UK, US or Italy?

  3. Great website. I just acquired a Vox Jaguar organ in very good condition. I need to know if the Jaguar came with a volume pedal? Mine does not have one. Also, do you know where I can find the “break apart hinges” for the top cover? The half-hinges on the cover side are missing. Thanks so much!

    1. Congrats on the new acquisition! The Jaguars are great fun to play. The answers to your questions are “yes” and “yes.”

      Your Jag came with one of these: http://www.craveguitars.co.uk/home/features/effects/feature-1960s-vox-volume-expression/ You can find them on eBay and Reverb.com, but they’ve become collector’s items, and tend to sell for at least $200. Any inline volume pedal works fine as a substitute, however.

      North Coast Music has the hinges you need, as well as many other Vox organ parts: https://reverb.com/item/9799101-break-apart-hinges-for-vox-organs

      Enjoy your Jaguar!

      Alan

      1. Hi Alan, Thanks for your quick response. I contacted the person that sold me the Vox Jaguar and she found what appears to be the original volume pedal for the Jaguar along with another two-button footswitch. I don’t know what that is for. I can send you photos but don’t know how to do that on your forum. This person also has a ton of old Wurlitzer and Rhodes keyboards parts and chassis that are in different states of disrepair. She also has a bunch of leslies (mostly single speeds) that her late husband was in the process of converting to dual speed. She lives in Salt Lake City but you can make contact through me. She also has a nice B3, 122, 145, other keyboards, effects, and stuff. She intends to sell everything but she doesn’t want to just give things away. Let me know if you are aware of anyone that might be interested in buying the lot of stuff that is still not working and in different states of disrepair (leslies, speakers, parts, Wurlitzers, Rhodes, etc). IMG_7383.HEIC
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      2. Is anyone aware of a schematic diagram that matches the Vox Jaguar Service Manual?  I am going through the diagnostic procedures on page 11 of the service manual; specifically test points 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 that are supposed to help one troubleshoot the lower base tones from the walking base contacts.  On Test Point 8 they reference resistor R304 and capacitors C302 and C304.  These component reference designators do not exist on the schematic that I have for the Vox Jaguar.  The same is true for Test Point 10; it references Q103, 104 and 105.  I can guess which transistors they are but it would be very helpful to be able to exactly correlate those reference designators with each physical part on the board.  Also, is there a source that explains the functionality of the Bass, Low “C” Divider, and Vibrato Oscillator Board?  It appears to me that the both the Bass and Low C dividers require input signals from an “off-board” source to be divided down to lower frequencies.  With my oscilloscope I can see no signals present on the Bass Divider Input or Low C Divider Input, and consequently no output signals on those divider circuits.  I will greatly appreciate any assistance that anyone could provide.
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  4. Hi Alan, LOVE the book!! I wanted to ask if I might be able to use your picture of the Stone House tag for a social post. We have a vintage Continental here at the studio but it is an American made unit. We were servicing it yesterday (reseating the cards) and I was telling the “ladies of the loom” story.

    Cheers!

    Bryan Clark
    Producer
    Blackbird Studio
    Nashville, TN

  5. Alan: is there any way a cigarette burn on the orange tolex be removed or at least be made less noticeable? Also, is an orange top interchangeable between a Connie and a jaguar?

    Thanks
    Rob

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