"big" being a rather vague word. As in when did they start using the proper Fender e.g. amps? I guess those were the first; before Ampegs.

1964.

In 1964 they soon started using the minimal, but powerful touring set up they would use, give or take a few changes here and there, up to and including the summer 1966 tour of USA.

That set up being - Keith and Brian using Fender Showmans, Bill using a UK made Vox AC100 with two 50 watt Vox Foundation Bass speaker cabinets, one on each side of the stage.

For the Autumn 1966 tour of UK they moved on to the UK made valve/solid state hybrid 7 and 4 series amplifiers. Keith and Brian using Vox UL-760's and Bill using Vox UL-460(Bill sometimes used the UL-460 head during summer 1966 tour of USA). Keith sometimes used the Fender Showman in place of the UL-760 during the UK tour.

Vox UL-760: [www.voxshowroom.com]

Vox UL-460: [www.voxshowroom.com]


For 1967 Euopean tour they used the new UK made Vox solid state amps. Brian and Keith used Vox Supreme's, Bill Vox Super Foundation Bass.

Vox Supreme: [www.voxshowroom.com]

Vox Super Foundation Bass: [www.voxshowroom.com]



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2012-03-03 17:42 by His Majesty.

Thank you very much Philip. I knew you'd reply.
What prompted my question was that I just saw a picture from '65 on stage. And the guitars are both using brand new Fender amps. Big old animals. The Showmans. It surprised me; didn't know they were around that early. Since the 67 tours are mainly with Vox ( I thought) I assumed that they still hadn't tapped the Fenders yet.

Hey His Majesty, keep on rollin with the Stones Amp Timeline. I'm diggin it.

In addition I personally I have two burning questions:
1. What was Keith using at his latest gig at the Appolo Theater I wonder? Hard to tell with all those botique beauties lined up on that stage.
2. When did he start using the Mesa Boogie Mk1 with the built in EQ?

much thanks! peace

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Naturalust
Hey His Majesty, keep on rollin with the Stones Amp Timeline. I'm diggin it.

In addition I personally I have two burning questions:
1. What was Keith using at his latest gig at the Appolo Theater I wonder? Hard to tell with all those botique beauties lined up on that stage.
2. When did he start using the Mesa Boogie Mk1 with the built in EQ?

much thanks! peace

1. His '57 Twin, it's right behind him.
2. The first pics I have are from tune ups on the '75 tour, but according to Randall Smith, founder of Boogie, he first delivered a couple of MK1's to the rehearsals in Rotterdam '75. I personally believe the guitar sound of Slave is a Boogie. First public outting of a Boogie with the Stones is March 3/4, 1977, El Mocambo. Smith was asked to supply 8 Boogie MK1's to the Stones -he made 10 in February '77, of which he shipped eight to Toronto, Canada, one to Andy Summers of the Police, and one to their distributer in Munich, Germany, who sold it to PRS, a musical instrument and lighting company in Munich. The whereabouts of this amp, number 808 are known: after being rented to studio's and gigs throughout Germany it was sold to the captain of the German Olympic jumping horse (what's that in English?) team. This guy was a collector of Boogie amps. In About 2006 this guy sold this amp, with EQ, Reverb and Altec Lansing speaker to me, and I still have it to date, and I just popped in a set of fresh tubes.

Mathijs

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Mathijs

2. The first pics I have are from tune ups on the '75 tour, but according to Randall Smith, founder of Boogie, he first delivered a couple of MK1's to the rehearsals in Rotterdam '75. I personally believe the guitar sound of Slave is a Boogie. First public outting of a Boogie with the Stones is March 3/4, 1977, El Mocambo. Smith was asked to supply 8 Boogie MK1's to the Stones -he made 10 in February '77, of which he shipped eight to Toronto, Canada, one to Andy Summers of the Police, and one to their distributer in Munich, Germany, who sold it to PRS, a musical instrument and lighting company in Munich. The whereabouts of this amp, number 808 are known: after being rented to studio's and gigs throughout Germany it was sold to the captain of the German Olympic jumping horse (what's that in English?) team. This guy was a collector of Boogie amps. In About 2006 this guy sold this amp, with EQ, Reverb and Altec Lansing speaker to me, and I still have it to date, and I just popped in a set of fresh tubes.

Mathijs

Wow.....quite interesting.

Never underestimate the power of an AC30! Them things is loud!

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vudicus
Never underestimate the power of an AC30! Them things is loud!

For the gig at Paris Olympica in 1964 Brian used a Vox AC100 with 4x12 speaker cab whilst Keith used a Vox AC30.

in 64 on the Mike Douglas Show they used a bunch of rented blond Fender piggy back amps..that is the earliest I can recall them using bigger gear...in Europe they used the Vox gear they endorsed.

Wasn't that when they hired Bill Wyman?

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treaclefingers
Wasn't that when they hired Bill Wyman?

Bill often sais he got the job because he had a spare AC30.
I think he underestimates how good he really is!

I read an interview with Keith where he said once they got to the states, he started using a Fender amp so him and Brian had different sounds.
I'm guessing this is more of a Studio thing, as most live shots I've seen they're both using the same amps, wether they are Voxs or Fenders.

Also worth noting that Bill used Sunn amps instead of his Vox rig during some gigs during 1966. The 1966 European tour for example. The Sunn amps are also shown in some Aftermath era recording session photos.

Thanks for that info Mathijs, just what I was looking for. I love those Mk1 and Mk11 boogies. Nice story of the chain of custody of your amp. I wonder if the Stones or their people are still the owners of those other 8 amps? I assume nos. 800-807?

They still show up every now and then in shops here in California, I have one in the barn, I'll have to dust it off and see what the serial number is. If it is one of the 800-807 series of numbers I'll be one happy camper. Have to open it up to see if Keith stashed anything in there.

I still play through a 1937 Gibson EH-150 amp. They were made for the lap steels and have and instrument AND a mic channel. It just spanks the air with warmth still after 75 years! Hard to believe they were so close to the holy grail so long ago. I don't know what I'd do without it. peace