Vox Berkeley Super Reverb Twin

1965 Vox Berkeley Super Reverb Twin

1965. The Beatles. Vox. What more can you say?

This 1965 model Berkeley is the original all-valve (tube) powered version that Thomas Organ produced in Sepulveda, California in small numbers from late 1965 through mid 1966. This one was partially restored by its owner “65mosrite,” giving it some fresh outer cosmetics obtained from the now-defunt North Coast Music, of course, and some re-wiring and replacement of resistors and capacitors where needed.

I was fortunate enough to buy this amp from Richard H. (aka: 65mosrite), and couldn’t be happier. Below is a full description of the partial restoration work done by Richard in 2012 and 2013. I purchased it from Richard in 2014.

North Coast Music, who runs The Vox Showroom, has some excellent data and stories related to the famous amplifier. I have provide some links to those pages below.

My Berkeley SRT Gallery

Work performed on this amp

…my 1965 Vox Super Berkeley V8 all-tube vintage guitar amp in excellent functional condition – absolutely everything works great! Lush reverb, beautiful tube bias tremolo, and killer tube overdrive without shattering your neighbors windows – this is pretty much a US-made Vox AC15!

 

New grillcloth, white piping, gold fascia, some new corner pieces and misc. small hardware – all from North Coast Music, an excellent Vox dealer and licensed repro parts manufacturer. I’ve left the original tolex intact with some repairs to the damage from previous owners. All logos have been repainted, but are original. I like my amps to retain some character from previous use, only repairing whats absolutely necessary.

 

Amp has been completely recapped with Sprague Atoms and high-temp Japanese Nichicon caps bypassing the old can cap that has been left in place for aesthetics – no holes drilled for anything. I’ve only used existing screws to mount the Nichicons on a period correct NOS tag strip. NOS carbon comp cathode resistor installed, along with precisely matched carbon comp grid resistors – all left at original values. I’ve left the original fully-working coupling caps in place for that authentic vintage Vox tone. I’ve installed a 10W Dale 100ohm resistor to knock down the B+ to acceptable levels (AC line voltages are a little higher than they were in the 60’s)- this keeps the EL84’s within operating specs for longer life. The “Death cap” line reverse cap has been removed so you don’t have to worry about possible instant death or shock when you touch your amp or guitar;) Vintage Sylvania and Raytheon preamp tubes, vintage Sylvania rectifier, and new matched pair of Electro Harmonix EL84’s. New preamp tube retainers.

 

Speaker cab has new high-end 10″ Weber Alnico Blue Pups – similar to the famous Vox-equipped Celestion Blue and Gold Alnico speakers. They are rated at 16 ohms (per original Vox Berkeley specs) 30W each for a total of 8 ohms and 60 watts power handling. These fit right in using existing hardware. The Weber website describes these as: “Bright, chimey, later/smooth breakup, aggressive, articulate, compressed at high volume”…and I concur – they are a great match for this amp. 

New speaker cable using existing vintage 3-pin XLR connectors. Upon request, I will also include with the sale the original 10″ Celestion English-made 7442 ceramic speakers in rough condition – they have some surface rust and need to be re-coned with new voice coils – again, this is free, but only upon request. Otherwise, I’m going to sell those separately or get them re-coned myself.

 

The spring reverb has been repaired from shipping damage from a return (this is why I’m not accepting returns or shipping this item again) – the output transducer coil and 1 of the spring retainers/magnets was replaced with vintage Accutronics parts of exact same specs. The repaired reverb sounds identical to its previous original state. I have pics of this repair available immediately upon request.

 

Trolley is in almost mint condition – but 1 screw has been replaced with a similar high quality stainless screw. Comes with homemade head clamp – fits & looks great – very similar to the original.

 

Condition: Good overall exterior condition – considering age. Excellent functional condition. Flaws: Scuffs, scratches, minor dents, repaired tears in tolex (bottom of cab and left side of cab facing front) – see pics.

Free local pickup is preferred. I will consider driving within 4 hours or so from Sharpsburg, MD 21782 – but arrangements MUST be made before purchase, otherwise I will refund and re-list immediately. I will not ship this again unless buyer contacts me first, agrees to pay actual shipping costs (I will provide shipping receipts for verification) and has enough technical knowledge to re-assemble the amp – I will re-list and refund if buyer does not make contact before auction end. For shipping, I will need to disassemble the spring reverb and secure the springs, remove all the tubes (there is no labeling on chassis of where tubes go), take apart the trolley, disconnect cables, and ship in 3 boxes. As an example of costs, actual shipping to New York ended up costing approx $75 for all 3 boxes and mandatory full insurance – shipping without insurance or signature puts me at risk and I will not accept that. I will be available to assist re-assembly over phone or through email if necessary, but a lot of patience and some basic knowledge of tube amps will be required. Payment must be made within 72-hours via-Paypal or bank transfer only -no cash or checks of any kind, unless other arrangements are made before purchase – otherwise I will re-list. No returns accepted on this large vintage item – so it’s being sold AS-IS. Happy bidding! SOLD!

 

UPDATE: I made a crude youtube video of this amp in operation on 28DEC13:

Vox Berkeley SRT Video

Here is a video by 65mosrite, who worked to restore this awesome amp!

The Beatles and their VOX Amps

External Links

Excellent page from The Vox Showroom: The Vox Berkeley Amp

And another: The Vox Berkeley Super Reverb Tube Amp Head – Model V-8

Randy September 23, 2015 at 10:49 am

I notice that the V8 head pictured has the original flat handle, but the cabinet has the later Vox logo styled handle. Did Thomas Organ sell them paired that way when they ran out of flat handled cabs but still had the older style heads? Or is this a (fairly insignificant) mix’n match.
I have the same head with flat handle, but my cab has no handle and no holes that I can find?!? Mysterious.
Thanks
Randy

REPLY

alex September 26, 2015 at 10:57 am

Hi Randy!
I really don’t know the answer. I checked at the Vox Showroom website, and they have photos of V8 Berkeley’s that have both types of handles. Go figure? Maybe Thomas Organ was using both types at the same time? If I learn anything more about this, I will let you know.

Thanks for visiting Tone Gems.
~alex