VOX V847 Wah Wah USA 1994-2006
The Vox V847 Wah-Wah pedal was offered by Vox from 1994 through 2006. It was produced under contract to Vox by Dunlop Manufacturing of Benitia CA. Dunlop also produced two limited editions of the V847 for Vox: the gold plated V847G (1994) and the V847UJ (2002-2004) with Union Jack graphics. Vox replaced the Dunlop produced V847 with the Chinese made V847A in 2007.
Wah Production Shifts from Thomas Organ to Dunlop
Thomas Organ owned the sole rights to produce Vox products in North America from 1965 through 1979. Thomas Organ was a subsidiary of Warwick Electronics who also produced televisions, stereos and radios for Sears. Warwick Electronics was owned by Whirlpool.
Even though Thomas Organ ended Vox amplifier production in 1972, they continued to produce Vox wah and Crybaby pedals throughout the seventies. While some wah pedals were produced for Thomas by JEN in Italy, many others were produced at the Thomas Organ facilities in Sepulveda CA.
Japanese competition for the consumer electronics business at Sears proved too much for Warwick. Whirlpool sold the Warwick television factory and it's lucrative production contract with Sears to the Japanese firm Sanyo Electronics in December 1976. Soon after, Whirlpool shuttered the Thomas Organ plant in Sepulveda CA, signaling the end of Warwick Electronics. Thomas Organ was reorganized as the "Thomas International Corporation" and relocated to the north west suburbs of Chicago. Vox wah and Crybaby pedal production continued in Chicago, but not for long. The loss of interest in home organs caused Thomas to permanently close their doors in 1979, ending Vox wah and Crybaby production.
Prior to 1981, Dunlop Manufacturing had concentrated on producing guitar accessories such as slides, capos and picks. Founder Jim Dunlop became aware that due to the closing of Thomas International, the iconic Crybaby pedal had been off the market for some time. After some research, Dunlop made an offer to the appropriate parties and purchased the rights to produce the Crybaby wah pedal. As the Vox trademark was now held worldwide by Rose Morris in the UK, Dunlop could only produce pedals with the Crybaby branding.