The Vox Continental Story - A Mini-Documentary & Medley Performance by Cam Forrester

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ม.ค. 2025

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  • @DR-pd4sv
    @DR-pd4sv 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    The group I was in from 1961- 1970 was The Echoes who were sponsored by Vox in 1962. We had the job of trailing their equipment. They set us up with two AC30, a Foundation bass amp with an 18inch speaker (which I still have it was the prototype of this speaker box, with the handles on the outside of the cabinet. This made it hard to pack squarely. I suggested they should be inverted the handles into the cabinet, which they did on later models) They also gave us the first Continental. This we used on many of the recordings we did of our own and other artists. I also played the Phantom Bass Guitar from 1961 until 1966 when they gave me the Cougar bass guitar to trail. The group also used the six string Phantom Guitar as well as two PA systems one with 8" speakers, the other 12" speakers. I always went to the musical instrument expos back in London catching up with Dick Denning and Larry Macari. Dick was a genius that's for sure!

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Thanks so much for sharing your story - very interesting indeed! I just had a listen to a couple of your records; really great sound! The Phantom guitars had such a distinctive tone. I also read that you also went on to be Dusty Springfield's backing band? Amazing!

  • @zenartist
    @zenartist 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    You forgot to mention 96 Tears one of the definitive Vox riffs

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  5 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@zenartist There are too many to mention...but in all honesty this one I was not familiar with - so thank you very much for putting it in front of me, it's fantastic!

    • @surfercrow
      @surfercrow 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@CAMFORRESTER “96 Tears is the best Rock ‘n Roll song ever” - John Lennon.

    • @randalclarke5487
      @randalclarke5487 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      If not THE greatest Continental riff/song ever!!

  • @NormanRoberts-ij7fc
    @NormanRoberts-ij7fc 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Great video, thank you! I have a Continental II purchased well-used from Frank Hessy of Liverpool in the mid 60's. It has plastic keys and the rear X braces which you say was on the Italian model. However the plate affixed says "Manufactured by Jennings Musical Industries, Dartford, Kent". Model is "TC/2M" and serial number is "0505". Over the years I have changed many transistors and capacitors to keep it going! Still in love with the sound!

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  หลายเดือนก่อน

      Glad you enjoyed this - thanks for your comment! And I do recall reading that a lot of the Italian organs were incorrectly given serial plates that suggest they were built in England. I think the reason was something like using up old stock of plates before creating new ones, but I'm not certain!

  • @nicksalt4346
    @nicksalt4346 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Nice video, thanks for making and sharing 👍

  • @Musician-Lee
    @Musician-Lee 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Having had a Vox Continental in my band in 1964, I found this really fascinating. The Jennings/Vox story is a massive part of British music history and this is a fantastic presentation. Thank you!

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it! Please share it you are able to! ;)

    • @Musician-Lee
      @Musician-Lee 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Definitely sharing it. By the way, you mentioned the bumpy ride early transistor amps had, well we had a Burns Orbit, one of the first transistorised amps and it was prone to picking up the local minicab radio system when we were playing around Leytonstone. Right in the middle of a song you’d get an instruction to pick up a lady in xyz street.. very weird.

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@Musician-Lee Haha! That's hilarious 🤣

  • @crazypainter56
    @crazypainter56 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I have a UK 1965 continental and a 67 Super and a gray top super and a AC 30-great stuff

  • @christhedemocrat
    @christhedemocrat 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Very nicely done

  • @TK-fk4po
    @TK-fk4po 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Great documentary as usual! Although the sound is definitely an acquired taste, I think, for the right genre and vibe it’s perfect. And I absolutely applaud doing things inconveniently and tinkering and restoring old pieces of electronic equipment. Bravo!

  • @edwardmorris8141
    @edwardmorris8141 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Wow, I think that is kool.. I was curoius about what organ they used in 60's Psych Rock!

    • @MisterBrain
      @MisterBrain 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

      It was usually the Vox or the Farfisa.

  • @chrisst8922
    @chrisst8922 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Visually it's a stunning piece of design to rival any of the 60's icons be they Rickenbacker, E-Type, Concorde or mini skirt. Why Korg didn't reverse the key colour of their version is beyond me. Really enjoyed the performance of Light My Fire, you'd never think it's all one hand.

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I completely agree RE Korg! And thanks; yeah Manzarek's left-hand bass style of playing makes that the right hand have to pull out all the stops! ;)

  • @richardc9325
    @richardc9325 หลายเดือนก่อน

    i love my 1966 continental

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@richardc9325 Just seen your videos - nice job! Keep at it man, and get yourself in a band if you aren't already 🎹

    • @richardc9325
      @richardc9325 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@CAMFORRESTERThanks, Im currently in a band but I use the new Korg Vox continental its very good playing live you should review it

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@richardc9325 Your cover of 'Light My Fire' was awesome! What type of music does your band play?
      I haven't played the new Continental, but I imagine it's very similar to the Nord Electro?
      Are you into The Velvet Underground? I did a cover of 'Sister Ray' with my Continental which you might like - John Cale's organ solo in the middle is like Manzarek, but on amphetamines! 🤣
      th-cam.com/video/-L78zhtG1ow/w-d-xo.htmlsi=sEouBFT0L30wxslD 😉

    • @richardc9325
      @richardc9325 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@CAMFORRESTERYeah our band is heavily influenced by the doors, we are in Los Angeles and grew up with it being passed down to us. The new continental is very lightweight and easy to setup i recommend you play one if you can access it, i'll definitely check out your other videos

  • @Zavijava1
    @Zavijava1 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Really great history and nice to hear a few of those classic Continental songs...thanks

  • @BenCDaugherty
    @BenCDaugherty 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Fantastic as always brother! Got to work this morning, and a smile was brought to my face when one of my favorite TH-camrs uploaded a video of one of the coolest vibiest keyboards of all time 😎

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  5 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Glad you enjoyed it bro! 😉

  • @russellurwin7396
    @russellurwin7396 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    House of the rising sun, magic. How about an indepth tutorial? Love your presentations.

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  5 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Thanks! Unfortunately the organ has been sold, so I can't do any more videos with it...although hopefully the chords/solo should be fairly easy to work out from the bird's eye view of the keyboard, with a little trial & error perhaps?

  • @Freakaboogie
    @Freakaboogie 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    cool stuff

  • @Phillip-y6d
    @Phillip-y6d 18 วันที่ผ่านมา

    😎🤟

  • @petermgruhn
    @petermgruhn 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    6:50 - Would Reed also play the Vox on occasion, or is there a story behind this pic?

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      He probably noodled on it from time to time, but not at live shows - Cale was bassist/organist/violist

  • @TheFuzzman66
    @TheFuzzman66 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Did you remove the felt mutes from your Country Gentleman? Great video as always!!

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Nah they are there! They're just hidden a little by the light and dark colour of the guitar.

  • @organfairy
    @organfairy 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    There is a step in organ history that is missing: Between the technically simple combo organs of the 60's and the later Hammond revival there was "the age of the hyper space super organs" - or whatever it should be called. The most fantastic - but unfortunately unaffordable for practically anyone but a few - was Yamaha's GX-1. Lowrey had a range - Gotye paid homage to them in the song "State of the Art". There was Wersi that was played by a plethora of famous touring organists, and both Elka, Technics, GEM, Solton, and many others made them from the early 1970's to mid 1980's.

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      In this film I was focusing on the Vox Connie and anything directly relevant to it, but yes that is indeed another interesting development in organ history!

    • @CuLozus
      @CuLozus 28 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Lowrey was insanely good

  • @wmfthe5th376
    @wmfthe5th376 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Superior sound of the Hammond organ? No, the different sound of the Hammond organ. Nice history and playing, though :)
    I started collecting combo organs because of Stereolab. Bought broken ones for cheap, fixed them myself and enjoyed them
    in between bouts of fixing them again. That's why you should always have more than one combo organ. The one that always
    sounded good and cut through the mix no matter where I played it was the Fender Contempo, and it has the nicest key action too.

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  5 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@wmfthe5th376 I'd be interested to hear your reasoning for asserting that the Hammond organ isn't superior to transistor organs...

    • @wmfthe5th376
      @wmfthe5th376 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@CAMFORRESTER If we're talking about superior sound, that's like saying a Les Paul sounds superior to a Strat; a matter of opinion. A Hammond won't sound like a Vox, or a Farfisa. The Hammond has percussion and lots of extra footages, But a Yamaha YC series does too. You can also pick up a Vox or Farfisa by yourself and fit it in the trunk of a compact car. There's still a lot of snobbishness against combo organs by Hammond players, but all organs are cool in their own way and if the sound inspires you in a way that nothing else does it's superior to you.

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@wmfthe5th376 I understand what you mean, but I think snobbishness is a harsh word. I have owned and played several Hammond and Vox organs and played several other combos, and have thoroughly enjoyed them all for what they are, but I personally see combo organs as derivative - the Hammond not only pre-dates them by a quarter century, but the tonewheel organs also out-lived (the Vox at least) by four years, and I do believe there is a good reason for that.
      History has proven that the tonewheel sound has tonal quality, and innate versatility that transistor organs just don't. There are examples of its use in almost every genre of music, and the sound has never really gone out of fashion (and through a straight amplifier - not a Leslie - with just the right drawbar registration, the Hammond has the ability to sound remarkably bright, and very similar to a Vox). Also they were a masterpiece of engineering, and the quality of their production was incredible.
      Transistor organs were a fantastic electronic development, but they have a characteristic sound that is more limited. They are fabulous in their own right, but the sound has not stood up to the test of time in the same way, or had such a far-reaching appeal as the tonewheel sound. It was simply of its time.
      You mentioned guitars; I think a good analogy would be a Rickenbacker - glorious guitar, glorious sound, but a very specific sound nonetheless...whereas Gibson or Fender are arguably more versatile and usable across a wider spectrum of musical styles.

  • @vicibox
    @vicibox 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Back in the 60s we all aspired to owning a Hammond but, couldn't afford one. Like everybody else, I could only afford a Vox Continental II with bass pedals. The years passed and we had the revivals through punk etc. Now I am retired and I bought a Hammond SK1. The irony is that I always have it set to Vox Combo which I much prefer to Hammond which I find too bland. Ho hum - winks ;-)

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      They all have their uses! I've just bought an Elka Panther...

  • @mikesaunders4694
    @mikesaunders4694 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Shame you sold it….lovely looking (& sounding) thing and it’s errr orange, what’s not to love! I know nothing about musical instruments even though my missus is a piano teacher. I’ve found with audio amps of that era though that germanium transistors produce a nicer rounded fat tone compared to silicon, with a great valve like mid range. The Vox looked to be loaded with carbon composition resistors though which are notorious for absorbing moisture over the years and drifting high in value which will impact the rest of the circuit. If you kept it would’ve been worth changing those to carbon film.

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  5 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Yeah I definitely had to replace several resistors (indeed, with carbon film ones), but I always tend to work by "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", with regards to changing the whole lot...plus there are hundreds of them in there! 😅

  • @MisterBrain
    @MisterBrain 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Very jealous and shame you're selling it.
    If you're on a budget and can't afford a Vox Continental, the Yamaha Reface YC does a pretty good imitation.

    • @CAMFORRESTER
      @CAMFORRESTER  5 หลายเดือนก่อน

      I would have loved to keep it, but I just couldn't justify it sitting there barely getting used unfortunately. As soon as I found a buyer I made sure to film these videos before saying goodbye though! And yes, I've played a YC and they are indeed very good!