I just bought this rather beat-up Vox BM1 Escort practice amp from the seventies, or maybe early eighties today. I'm thinking seventies, as it doesn't have an IEC power connector, and the grill cloth is the red/brown colour.
The back panel looks different to the one on Vox showroom and other photos that I've seen, so not sure what’s going on here - maybe it’s from a different production run or regional difference? The rotary battery/power selector switch has been replaced with a standard toggle switch, and the volume pot doesn’t look original; apart from that, all working as it should.
My first thought on this one - it's a little monster. Way louder than I thought it would be, and the driven sound is cool. I really punished my ears testing this... slightly regretting it now. It seems to like running somewhere between half and three-quarters volume, with the tone in a similar position depending on the input used. It's also pretty happy with the volume on full - it really fires off some attitude. I think it would be interesting to record this little thing running hot.
Clean sounds? Can't say I spent much time in this area of the amp.
VOX BM1 ESCORT - SOLID STATE PRACTICE AMPLIFIER
- One channel, two inputs. Normal and Brilliant
- Single tone and volume control
- Battery or mains power switch
- 5” Elac speaker (Elac were used in a lot of Vintage Vox amps, quite sought after)
- Powered by a single TB810S IC amplifier
- Output for extension cabinet
- Manufactured from the mid-seventies to early eighties
- The cabinet is approximately 33cm x 22cm x 13cm, and it probably only weighs a couple of kilos without a battery
- Battery is a PP9 - 9v, 5aH, 6cm x 5.5cm x 8cm
The batteries are large, expensive and are reported to not last long, which I believe is why Vox created this version with the option to run off mains power. As a busking amp, you would want to make money petty fast, as you would need to make $20 just to break even with the cost of the battery.
VOX ESCORT SCHEMATIC
IC AMPLIFIER DATASHEET
can't wait!
ReplyDeleteHi Colin - are you in to small amps? I saw this on Facebook marketplace and being so cheap and close by I thought I would grab it.
Deletehi Andy, i,ve only built one very small amp, which you'll probably know, Ruby Tuby, sounds good through my mesa boogie 22 12" speaker, but not too good through small speaker, maybe because i'm not using guitar amp type speaker, i'm planning to build some more small amps (my dream is to build a champ type amp)
ReplyDeleteHi Colin - I hadn’t heard of the ruby tuby. Will have to check that out.
DeleteI think the speaker in this little Vox must add to the sound, as there’s nothing special about the circuit. Might also be the way the amp on the chip distorts as well.
Champs are cool - I’ve occasionally thought about building a valve amp, but have never gone down that rabbit hole.
hi Andy, i've thought of a champ kit but that seems, like not much of a challenge, best to do everything from scratch. i'm a bit nervous of the high voltages involved with valve amps
ReplyDeleteFair enough - the prospect of electrocution is not a great thought. I've generally avoided it because it's a little expensive to do well with a proper cab, transformers and speaker. Maybe one day.
Deletethink i found Ruby Tuby layout on tagboard effects blogspot
ReplyDelete