Rickenbacker 300
Series & Vox AC30
Crystal clear sounds from both sides of
the pond! Rickenbacker had kicked around
since the ‘20s after being founded by
lap-steel player George Beauchamp and
Swiss craftsman Adolph Rickenbacher. The
company would jump head first into the
rock scene with its semi-acoustic, thru-
body constructed 300 guitars, known for
their distinctive shapes and jangling tones
from the maple bodies and “Toaster Top”
pick-ups. The 300 series would forever be
intertwined with the Beatles when John
Lennon played his pawn shop 325 (obtained
during the band’s early days in Hamburg)
on the band’s legendary Ed Sullivan
performance.
power while still maintaining tonal clarity.
Later players like Tom Petty, U2’s The Edge,
and REM’s Peter Buck would splendidly use
this beautiful top end,
while Brian May’s
Queen would use
the extreme volume
for creamy hard rock
goodness.
Sharing the stage with Lennon and the
boys would be the British born Vox AC30,
a souped-up version of the company’s
earlier 15-watt model
built to compete with
Fender’s higher volume
amps. Paired with
Celestion Alnico blue
speakers, the AC30 was
known was providing
crystal clear tones and
balanced harmonics
even as volume
increased. The Beatles
would demand higher
volumes for the bigger
shows they played,
but early amps never
crossing 60-watts meant
Vox could have a lot of
ToneReport.com
39