Thomas Walter Jennings

Thomas Walter Jennings, also known as Tom Jennings (b 28 February, 1917 in Hackney, London, England) was the founder of the company that produced the first Vox Guitar amplifier.

Beginnings

Tom Jennings was an accordion player and served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during World War II. In 1942, Jennings was discharged on medical grounds and went on to work at a munitions plant in Kent. It was here that Jennings met amateur guitarist Dick Denney. Denney played with a local big band and on occasion, the two played together. Denny also had an interest in electronics and radio technology.

The first shop

Around this time, Jennings had started repairing accordions and trading in second hand musical instruments. In 1946, Jennings set up his first shop in Dartford Kent and began importing accordions. He also started inventing new products, the first being the Univox Electronic organ, which was a huge success, and became the springboard from which he would build his instrument-manufacturing empire.

The first Vox amplifier

During the early 1950s, keyboards were Jennings' main interest, rather than guitars, although he did attempt to modify organ amplifiers for use with electric guitars, but had little success and the project was shelved. Dick Denney however, was also experimenting with amplifying guitars and succeeded in producing a 15 watt unit paired with a 12 inch speaker. After adding a tremolo unit, he produced two more prototypes, one of which was taken to Jennings. Tom Jennings offered Denny a job with his company now named Jennings Musical Industries (JMI), which Denny accepted as engineer.Denny continued to develop his prototype and in 1957 the AC2/30 was launched, the first guitar amplifier to be branded under the Vox name.

References

Korg Magazine. Guitarist Edition, 50 Years Of Vox. Summer 2007 [http://www.korg.co.uk Korg U.K.]

External links

[http://www.voxamps.co.uk Vox Amps UK]