The Sound of History

This month, we celebrate the pioneering sounds of Vox, the trailblazing British company that gave birth to some of the most viscerally exciting tones in rock history, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. It’s a massive achievement given the ups and downs of the industry in Britain over the past six decades. To read the whole quintessentially British story, in which E-Type Jags, chip shops and pure engineering talent all play their part, turn to page 58 — I’m sure you’ll join us in wishing Vox a happy birthday. While we were making the feature, we got talking about the ex-George Harrison AC30 explored in detail on page 74 and other famous bits of kit that have stepped from the floodlit stage of history into the relative obscurity of private ownership. In this case, those closed doors were kindly opened up to readers by owner Carl Nielsen for our feature. But what about the less well-documented gear once played by famous guitarists that slipped into obscurity without a trace? It’s a tantalising thought that some ‘lost’ guitar amps and effects used on classic albums are probably being played right now by some unsuspecting owner. Bernie Marsden, of Whitesnake fame, who tackles the mysterious subject of why some guitars have mojo in his column on page 36, reckons that guitars should come with logbooks like cars, which each new owner must stamp and keep to pass onto the next picker. We all thought it was a great idea.

On a sadder note, as we went to press with this issue we learned of the death of Steely Dan’s Walter Becker (see obituary, page 31). A very fine guitarist himself, Becker had the additional distinction, along with writing partner Donald Fagen, of coaxing some of the finest guitar playing we’ll ever hear from stellar players such as Larry Carlton and Elliott Randall. And what songs....Becker was a major dude by any reckoning. Look out for a full tribute to his ’Dan work next issue. In the meantime, I’ll be putting The Royal Scam on and remembering.