The first VC3s were made by a company in Plymouth called ‘Patronics’. Then we sub-contracted manufacture to the old ‘Neve’ company in Kelso, Scotland who made most of the later ‘enhancer’ types. After I redesigned the PC board as EQ rather than enhancer, we subcontracted their manufacture to a company in ShenZhen, China, but they worked from our PC design and the quality control was very good….. this was not a Chinese product!
When you google ‘VC3’ the 4th entry down is the handbook for the original VC3V2 dating from 1999.
All the versions with enhancer and my name on the front are originals made in the UK. The later ‘made for the US market’ versions are called Q3 and do not have a signature on the front. 