When I started with the company these organs were built one at a time. In the same area as the valve multi-manual church console models, this space also doubled for servicing.

My early experience in mass production was put to use. A storage area was cleared & set up for batch production. This enabled us to build them faster, but not up to Henry Ford's rate.

This photo, from before the production line was set up, shows an early stage of assembly. A colleague with a case during drilling and fitting. 2 covered console organs are also visible.

The market was increasing rapidly, many famous names used the Continental. Britain does not have many success stories in the field of electronic musical instruments. This is one of the few, a brilliant design, exceptionally well executed. Including reverse key colours & striking Z shaped legs.

On these early machines each 'generator' is built into a metal chassis. Twelve of these mounted in a rack & coupled by 11 pin plugs. The 4 octave keyboard is wooden & good quality. The contact assembly is adapted from the valve ogans. Including removal of the conductive polymer bussbar cover, intended for a slow noise-free attack.

This gave a sharp attack, with a distinct click. Six drawbars are used for tone setting, obviously inspired by the Hammond organ. Four with ivory knobs for 16', 8', 4' & Mixture. Two maroon ones are marked with sine & sawtooth wave symbols. These give a soft flute like tone & a sharp reed tone to the white drawbar settings.

The four tone harmonic mixture, together with the reed timbre, enables this instrument to cut through a mix. Even a screaming, distorted guitar can't drown it out. Definitely the ultimate group organ. Only the Farfisa Compact comes close (also germanium).

The drawbar assembly uses printed circuit switches standing vertically. This adds over two inches to the height of the trademark orange top. During production I had the idea of re-building this assembly upside down. Cutting a hole to drop it through the key-frame.

This worked well, allowed a sleek lower top & looked good. However, after building a few, it became obvious that the extra work was slowing production. It was reluctantly decided to revert to standard. So these versions are rare, effectively a limited edition.

This picture is one for the archives. It is the first slimline top VOX Continental, hand built by Ron Lebar in 1963.

Camera was a Kodak Retinette, I saved up to buy it, lens 'wide open' at f2.8 using 'available light'. Film was Ilford 800 ASA "pushed".

Taken, developed & printed by Ron Lebar. Using a dye transfer technique & home made enlarger.

The organ is shown, with its distinctive wooden music rest, before packing for sale. Crepe paper protective wrapping on legs & stays can be clearly seen.

It was the only one built quite like this, all before it were what is now known as 'square top'. With the high rectangular lid housing the upward facing printed circuit switches of the drawbar assembly. Nothing else was in that lid, which is why I made this version.

Mac, the guy in charge of the organ department, helped me with this one, the wooden music rest, with Vox logos, was his idea. Normally a perspex music rest was an optional extra.

The few made after this used a sloped rectangular form, easier to make than the curve. This still slowed production, so the style reverted back for the remainder of that run. All sub-assemblies were produced in batches by sub-contractors & many were in stock.

So the dates quoted for models in 'Combo Organ Heaven' (an excellent site), may in some cases be the date when batches of parts were made, not when the organs were finished. Parts were made in quantity & may have remained in stock for a year or so. A similar discrepancy occurs with other classic instruments. During my time building them, we never date stamped the finished instrument. No-one thought they would become classics.

Location is the Jennings' Organ Company factory at West Hill, Dartford. This occupied part of a building, the larger frontage being a petrol filling station. Next door was a field, with a large shed housing a Vox sub-contractor, later being used by the Service Department. To the right of that was a small row of semi derelict shops. One of these, a former fishmongers, was used for organ parts storage, upstairs housing the Design & Research Department.

On the publicity shots of the factory, the larger filling station was replaced by a mirrored copy of the VOX reception frontage. To make the little place look like a much bigger stand-alone building.

To resolve arguments over the name. Before I joined, the company name had been changed to Jennings' Musical Industries. Everyone there still called it Jennings' Organ Company & this was still on factory paperwork. It was also on the early model's name plates, up to & including the plastic keyed Continental II.

The contact assembly was by then a purpose made unit, no longer an adaptation, with round silver plated busbars instead of flat nickel plated. My inverted drawbar (slimline) modification was adopted at the sub-contract stage & became standard.

When the first dual manual model was introduced, the almost indestructible wooden keyboard was replaced by an Italian all plastic type (SKA). Due to the unique reversed colours, the fragile keys are not available as spares.

Later still an even more draconian design change was implemented, with the models 300 & 300H. The highly reliable germanium master oscillators became silicon & the divider chains were replaced by integrated circuits. These are non-standard parts, used only in the music industry. Less reliable & more expensive than standard computer logic types. They also have deliberately different pin connections & are no longer available.

This is a 300H, the first production model with preset keys & integrated circuits. An early one with round can dividers, which have proved unobtainable. Requiring a modification to each generator to use standard parts.

It also has left hand bass on the lower manual, switched from the pedals. This appears to be an after-thought, contacts are stuck to the manual frame underside, with double sided adhesive tape and tend to fall off.

Percussion was introduced at this time, continued on subsequent models, always sounds distorted. The reliable switched drawbars are replaced by cheaper & less desirable slider potentiometers.

Models after this were made in Italy, these use the standard keyboard for Italian organs of the period. Steel shafted keys, with thin, fragile plastic shells glued on. They often fall off or break. With, of course, the slide-pot drawbars.

The other is an EME Italian built model 300, unfortunately minus its name plate. Steel shafted plastic shell keys, slide-pot drawbars and integrated circuit dividers. Not much resemblance to the English models, apart from the general case shape.

The Continental II above, with its case lid off.

A credit to Derek Underdown, its designer, now it has been serviced. I wonder, did he suspect it would still be in use, over forty years later?

On the left is the EME Continental 300's interior, showing the 'rats nest' style layout. to the left of its generator boards is the open power supply, with exposed mains connections.

Italian manufacturers obviously saw no point in the, typically English, neatly laced cable-forms of the original model.

They also saw no point in the safety aspect of a power supply enclosed in an earthed metal case.