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Vox Fakir Newey Brothers Ltd

LaurentLenclud

New Member
I found that Amp here in Belgium and I was interrested in knowing more about its origins in Birmingham. Do you know Newey Bros Ltd ?
 

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That's very interesting!
The only Newey Brothers in Birmingham that I am aware of are the manufacturers of hairpins etc...
I know Laney amps originated in the West Midlands but didn't think Vox were.
Perhaps some of our musician members can help?
 
Welcome to the Forum, LaurentLenclud.

We have threads on this Forum about Newey Brothers and Newey Goodman - both of them active in Birmingham in the manufacture of pins, hatpins and other fasteners. Neither thread makes any mention of electrical equipment of this type. There is an electrical distributor named Newey & Eyre in Birmingham too. Can any member explain whether these companies were/are in any way linked with each other - and how a piece of electrical equipment such as an amplifier bore the name "Newey Brothers"?

Chris
 
I think it is more likely that wireless, in the context of 'Manufacturers of buttons, hooks and eyes, hairpins and wireless accessories' referred to items being made without wire rather than anything to do with what we now call radios. I suspect that the item shown in post #1 may have been owned by Neweys and they stuck one of their labels on it for identification.
 
Here is a picture of the amp ... Maybe I am wrong with the thread. I will search this forum about informations. Thank You.
 

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Laurent, welcome.
If you look at Post No.4 you will find that the VOX company started in 1957. The companies history is detailed on their web site. They commenced operations at Dartford, Kent.
 
The 'VOX' logo and surround doesn't look like any VOX amp that I have seen and the grille style doesn't look right either. 'Fakir' is a curious name to use also, not like any of the well known amplifier names. It isn't like VOX to describe the 'insides' either i.e. 'FET' 'all silicon', that sounds more like early Japanese attempts to break into the US market.
 
There is information on this company at this address Gracies guide to British industrial History. Its states they also did wireless accessories

I don't know if this pins down the date or not, but that entry reads as follows:
"Manufacturers of buttons, hooks and eyes, hairpins and wireless accessories. Records from 1864 to 1934 are stored in Birmingham City Archives."
If that means they were making 'wireless accessories' by at least 1934, then this amp has no connection with the Vox company based in Dartford, Kent - as that company was only started in 1957.
 
Here is a picture of the amp ... Maybe I am wrong with the thread. I will search this forum about informations. Thank You.
I don't know whether this helps or not, but the fact that it uses FETs (Field Effect Transistors) means the earliest date it could have been made was the mid-1960s (when FETs became commercially available at a reasonable price), and that information being displayed so prominently suggests that it was built when FET amps were quite a novelty.
 
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